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Join hosts Byrd and Matt as they discuss all things giant monsters, tokusatsu, and Japanese fantasy films. Come here for a regular dose of everything Godzilla, Gamera, King Kong, Ultraman and everything in between!
Episodes
Monday May 11, 2020
Monday May 11, 2020
Byrd and Matt are joined by Ron Bonk of home video label SRS Cinema to talk about their history and recent kaiju film releases. SRS has been an established video label for obscure independent genre films for years and just recently they have dipped their toes in the world of tokusatsu/kaiju with the Reigo/Raiga Trilogy, Attack of the Giant Teacher, and their upcoming release of Norman England's film the iDol. We talk to Ron about the origins of SRS, his work as a director, his love of horror, SRS' recent line of kaiju home video releases, and much more. Relax and join the conversation!
Sunday Apr 26, 2020
Sunday Apr 26, 2020
Byrd, Matt and Tom join up with the Movie Graveyard podcast to take on one of the most controversial Godzilla movies ever made! Of course, we're discussing the 1998 Tristar reboot! We give a full audio commentary and dive into a variety of topics including the film's long development process, the massive marketing campaign, the fallout after its release, whether the film did more good or bad for the franchise all these years later, and much more! So listen along and enjoy the discussion!
Monday Apr 13, 2020
Monday Apr 13, 2020
Byrd, Matt, Tom and Kevin review the recent short film Howl From Beyond the Fog. Directed by Daisuke Sato and with a creature built by legendary monster maker Keizo Murase, this period piece is about a blind girl and the monster who protects her, as greedy developers threaten to take over her family's land. Using an all puppet human cast and a fantastic monster suit, it offers a new aesthetic in the world of kaiju films. So what did the gang think of it? Listen and find out!
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Join Byrd, Tom, Matt, and Kevin (of Maser Patrol/author of Kaiju for Hipsters) for an audio commentary on 1964's Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster! Join us as we discuss some trivia, history, and even do some myth busting on Ishiro Honda's Showa classic. There's not much to do in quarantine, so why not watch a movie with us? Listen in and enjoy!
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Byrd and Matt emerge from COVID-19 quarantine to discuss Kinji Fukusaku's pandemic panic film Virus, arguably the most ambitious Japanese film ever made. Along for the ride are authors John LeMay (The Lost Films) and Kevin Derendorf (Kaiju for Hipsters, Maser Patrol blog). The film shows how a fast acting virus spreads across the globe and wipes out all of the human race except for a small population in Antarctica. Based on a novel by Sakyo Kumatsu (Submersion of Japan), Virus had the largest budget of any Japanese film at the time and had a star studded cast of international stars including Glenn Ford, Masao Kusakari, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Sonny Chiba, Chuck Connors, Henry Silva, Bo Svenson, Robert Vaughn and more. So how does the lofty disaster film fare? Listen and find out!
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
On July 12, 2019 at G-Fest, Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski held a retrospective panel on Bringing Godzilla Down to Size, the documentary feature film that they wrote and produced for Classic Media. Directed by Norman England, this eye opening documentary went to great lengths to highlight the history and enduring legacy of Japanese special effects films. Join Ed and Steve as they share highlights of the film give a behind the scenes look at how it all came together!
Thanks to Ed and Steve for letting us share this and to Christopher Marti for recording the audio.
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
On July 14, 2019, Akira Ifukube student Reiko Yamada and pianist Patrick Godon performed a piano concert of the composer's music at G-Fest 2019. Following that concert, Ifukube's biographer Erik Homenick hosted a panel discussion with Yamada as well as conductor/composer John DeSentis (Kaiju Crescendo concert), film historian Patrick Galvan, and Japanese film fan Tyler E. Martin. The panel discussed Akira Ifukube‘s life and career as one of Japan‘s foremost composers. Several of the maestro‘s film scores, such as Godzilla (1954) and Rodan (1956) were closely analyzed. Enjoy!
Saturday Jan 25, 2020
Saturday Jan 25, 2020
Byrd and Matt are joined by Chris Marti to discuss two apocalyptic Toho disaster films. First up, we talk 1961’s harrowing The Last War, a story chronicling the events leading up to World War III and the helpless civilians stuck in the middle. Featuring excellent performances by Akira Takarada, and Frankie Sakai and some of Eiji Tsuburaya’s very best effects work. We follow that up with the banned end of the world epic Prophecies of Nostradamus from 1974. This bizarre film shows us giant slugs, nuclear explosions, food shortages, cannibals, mutants, giant bats, and everything in between! We’ll discuss both films, as well as numerous real life nuclear scares throughout history, Nostradamus, aborted sequels, Toei’s rare apocalypse drama The Final War, and more! Join us as we talk about the more depressing corners of Toho science fiction in this stacked episode!
Sunday Jan 05, 2020
Sunday Jan 05, 2020
More of Byrd's appearance on blogger/author Keven Derendorf's Maser Patrol Podcast with Justin Mullis sees the trio review Criterion's recent Showa Godzilla box set. Also discussed is the complicated history behind why the set turned out the way it did and what content did/did not make the cut. The two also discuss Mill Creek's massive and ambitious Ultraman release slate, as well as discuss the Ultra Q and Ultraman blu rays. It is a good time for tokusatsu on home video, so enjoy the discussion!
Sunday Dec 29, 2019
Sunday Dec 29, 2019
Byrd appears on author/blogger Kevin Derendorf's Maser Patrol podcast with blogger Justin Mullis (Man Creates Dinosaurs) to discuss the history of the Godzilla series on home video in North America. We go through the various VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray releases, all leading up to Criterion's long anticipated box set (which will be reviewed in detail in part 2 of this podcast). So relax and get ready to take a trip down memory lane!