G-Fest 2010

As some of you know (aka probably none of you), I went to G-Fest this summer with my brother. What is G-Fest you are asking yourself? It's the nation's largest and most intense gathering for Godzilla fans (and all kaiju for that matter) that takes place over a three day weekend. My brother loves Godzilla and I love monster movies and ridiculous things in general. I've been pretty slow to post about the event and pictures, but I am doing so now, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the festivities. Well as much as you can, the pictures don't really do the event justice and are in no particular order. There were a ton of activities and sessions that we missed because neither of us had ever been to chicago, so we split the time between checking out the city and checking out G-Fest. There was a bunch of filming going on for G-Fest movie starring the official mascot, G-Fantis as well, that's what the little mini city was for. For me the highlights were the merch room and costume contest. I grabbed a bunch of great movies and some old '60s sci-fi model kit which had some weird star wars connection (one would think vis the cantina, but I'm not sure, there's Darth Vader, C3PO and R2D2 images on the side of this, but I can't read Japanese). The image below isn't mine, I should prob take a picture and update this later, but I have been so slow to get this up, I may as well get the rest up. Anyways, enjoy!

some crazy fan art, godzilla fans are seriously engrossed in this world!

Here's a video highlight reel the organizers put together. You can briefly see me in it, but I won't say where. There are also a ton of other videos from the event if you just search "g-fest 17" on Youtube.

The whole experience was pretty ridiculous, and I would definitely go back. The fans alone are worth going to see, ha. I wish there had been Kaiju Big Battel event going on that weekend also, those are freaking amazing! Would have been great, oh well.

G-Fest is organized by the publishers of G-Fan, a magazine devoted entirely to Godzilal and kaiju culture. The magazine is pretty amazing, and if you're at all interested in Godzilla, I recommend subscribing. If you're good at internetting, you can probably find some issues online, but there are many many back issues still available on their site if you're interested.

Ultraman Monsters Dance to MJ

Yeah I don't know, but it's awesome.

via monster brains

Wizard World and Kaiju Big Battel!

As we’ve mentioned previously, there’re a couple great events happening in Philly this weekend we think you should check out, so we’re recapping here. First of all, NerdFest, aka Wizard World Philadelphia starts this Friday and runs through Sunday. In addition to the usual comic guests, there will be a bunch of great sci-fi and b-movie actors on hand to sign your crap. Regulars like Lou Ferrigno, Peter Mayhew and Ray Park will be on hand, along with Ted Raimi, Tom Savini, Edward James Olmos, Darcy DeMoss and Max Brooks, author of World War Z. There’ll also be a partnership with the Video Game Expo to doubley nerdify the event this year, with competitions and retro gaming tables all weekend. These events are nuts, so get your tickets early! And if none of this has convinced you yet (what’s wrong with you?!), then maybe the premiere screening of Blood: The Last Vampire on Friday night will!




Secondly, this Saturday night is Kaiju Big Battel’s All Out War 2 at the Trocadero! If you can’t enough monster mayhem on screen, come watch tiny cities crumble live, right before your awe-struck eyes. As if all this wasn’t enough, there’s also the added bonus of the Rigor Mortis Revue Sampler Zombie Burlesque show as part of admission! Can a weekend get any better than this?! NO! Get your tickets now!



We’ll be on hand at both events, naturally, so if you can’t make either for whatever silly reasons, check back here. You can get updates and pretend you were there to impress (or offend) your friends.

The Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

Don't be fooled. I know this poster and the movie’s title would lead you to believe there are a bunch of dinos and birds in this piece. In fact, there aren't any dinosaurs or monster birds in Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds if you want to get technical. What we do have are two prehistoric monsters though, a Plesiosaur and a Rhamphornycus, which aren’t true dinosaurs. But I will concede that the title is truly epic, and that I am truly a nerd.

There are quite a couple remarkable things about this movie, though, that I think make it worth viewing, starting with its crazy Japanese-Monster-Disco soundtrack. This kind of soundtrack isn’t really that unusual, if not expected, from the kaiju movies of the ‘70s. You’re running, you’re scared, there’s a monster chasing you or about to fight another crazy monster, you might as well boogie, right?



In contrast to, let’s say, a Godzilla movie, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds is fairly gory! There’s enough lost limbs and decapitation to satisfy the Clarence Boddikers of the world, but frankly...there’s not enough monster in this monster movie. I would like to think that the director, Junji Kurata, was trying to pull of a Jaws effect by not giving away the beast too early. What’s more likely is that the “dino” model looked like crap and he didn’t want it to be so obvious. And that notion, is only mocked by the disc’s packing with a huge blurb that says “HIGHEST BUDGETED TOEI FEATURE OF ITS TIME!” Yikes. We don’t even get any “monster birds” until the last 20 or so minutes.




All in all though, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds holds a special place in my heart as it reminds me of the days when TNT had MonsterVision and TBS showed ridiculous flicks like this on a regular basis, including many Godzilla movies. Those hours spent watching rubber suited men slap each other around really shaped my brother and me. He is still an avid Godzilla buff and I still enjoy watching men in rubber suits battle...by that I mean KAIJU BIG BATTEL!! If you’re in Philly on June 20, do yourself a favor and check it out!



Buy Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds / Rent It