G – “Gamera” to “Gummo”
GAMERA THE INVINCIBLE (1965)
GAMERA Vs. GAOS (1967)
Gamera continues his career as “hero” in his third outing, saving the world from giant bat, Gaos, who’s been awakened by a volcano and looks a little like Rodan. A child’s psychic connection with Gamera is the key to victory…again.
** – Gill Man Recommends with Reservations
GINGER SNAPS (2000)
GINGER SNAPS 2: UNLEASHED (2003)
Ginger may be gone but Bridgette is still infected with her sister’s werewolf curse. When she’s mistaken for a strung-out teen she ends up in a drug clinic and separated from her wolf-suppressing home remedy. It’s Girl, Interrupted meets The Fly – which might not be for everyone but it pushes my buttons. Emily Perkins stays true to her character and the original’s tone and carries the movie with ease. Should be as well loved as the original because it’s equally as fun. There’s a killer opening credits, lots of stylish cinematography, Canadian accents and an all-girl group-masturbation dream sequence that brings the house down. The werewolf looks a helluva lot better too. The downbeat ending is a great surprise but kind of a bummer. A prequel followed. ***
GIRL IN LOVER’S LANE, THE (1959)
A charming little B Melodrama in which transient train-hoppers are the heroes. The two young drifters settle down for a beat in a small town that ends up bringing them nothing but trouble. A youthful Jack Elan plays the menacing village idiot slash handyman. There’s a back-alley brawl, a whorehouse and a murder before things wrap up. The dialogue is pretty tight and the ending is shockingly sad. **1/2
GODZILLA ( 1998 )
An abomination almost not worth discussing except as a curiosity. Primed to be the summer blockbuster of 1998, this miserable piece of crap was considered a huge disappointment for Universal. From the same geniuses who assaulted an earlier summer with the stupefying Independence Day, this Godzilla bears no resemblance (either aesthetically or tonally) to any To-Ho productions. Even Godzilla: 1985 had more to recommend. The first sign of trouble is the cast. Our hero? Matthew Broderick. The fact that this Godzilla doesn’t look like any Godzilla we’ve ever seen helps us to disqualify it completely from the complete Godzilla experience. The high-tech special effect destruction becomes tedious fast. A swarm of baby Godzillas (?!) attack in a sequence ripped directly from Jurassic Park. The entire production was a complete miscalculation failing to attract new Godzilla fans and offending those who hold him dear. For shame, Universal!
*- Gill Man Rejected
GODZILLA’S REVENGE (1969)
The title is a misnomer. Godzilla gets limited screen time and doesn’t exact his revenge on anyone. This is more a kid’s movie. A bullied young boy daydreams himself to Monster Island where he is schooled on the finer points of self-defense by Godzilla and son. The premise feels a little like that of The Neverending Story. There are some choice island moments involving a mixed pot of other Japanese rubber-suit monsters but there’s not much else to recommend it.
*1/2 – Gill Man Indifference
GOJIRA (aka Godzilla) (1954)
The original Godzilla movie puts the rest of the popular Japanese series in perspective. Unlike the giant green hero he’d become in the later kid-geared movies, this Godzilla (Gozirra is the original Japanese pronunciation) is an obvious metaphor for the atomic bomb (the movie followed the bombing of Nagasaki by only a few years). More of a heart-wrenching disaster movie than sci-fi monster pic, this story concerns itself with a young military couple forced to betray a tragic eye-patch-wearing collegue from their past, to save Japan before it’s stomped and torched right off the map. What’s amazing is how emotionally effective the movie is now, especially if you’re most familiar with the re-dubbed Americanized version which inserted new scenes featuring Raymond Burr (more effectively than you might expect) as an American reporter covering the devastation. The American version’s focus is on the scif-fi thrills, though it DOES manage to retain some of the original’s dramatic heft. But it’s missing Gozirra’s heart and the sense of urgency that made the movie such a powerful hit upon it’s original release. Director, Ishiro Honda, would direct most of the series through the sixties, watching his monster slowly morph from a devastating metaphor to a lovable giant monster protecting Japan from regular monster attacks which evidently just become a part of normal Japanese daily life. While most of those offer their own goofy appeal, Gojira is must-see sci-fi.
****
GRINDHOUSE (2007)
GUMMO (1997)
Talk about your style over substance, this mostly incoherent movie produces some interesting visuals but not much else. Xenia, Ohio was hit by a serious tornado in the seventies and was left economically devastated afterwards…except not really. (I grew up near Xenia and there was a tornado but it’s still a nice place to live.) There’s retarded suburban hookers, kids killing cats, kids killing grandma and a boy in pink bunny ears. It’s gained a cult following in the vein of Eraserhead, good mostly for the shock value and gross-outs. Pssst — Harmony Korin is a hack. **
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