On My Shelves: Godzilla 2014

       I have previously written on Godzilla as a franchise and what he meant to me from my childhood onward. Now Legendary has finally released the second American-made Godzilla movie (after the disastrous 1998 movie) and I have seen it.      THIS is what Godzilla is intended to be. Before I move into detailed and possibly spoilery discussion, I want to just say that this was a great Godzilla film, one of the best of the entire franchise. It includes all but one of the elements I outlined as key elements of Godzilla, and the one it [ Continue reading... ]

Under the Influence: Godzilla

         One dull, rainy weekend in the early 1970s, when I was living in Latham, NY,  my brother and I were bored, and my father turned on the TV and checked what was on. This didn't take long, since we could receive exactly 4 channels – Channel 13 (CBS), Channel 10 (NBC), Channel 6 (ABC), and Channel 17 (PBS).        He stopped at one and settled back in his chair. "I think you'll enjoy this."        At first we didn't get it. It was a bunch of Japanese people, occasionally with a guy I recognized as usually playing [ Continue reading... ]