Godzilla Attacks Worcester Again!

I just recently found out some great news. The folks at the wonderful That's Entertainment! comic book store (actually it's now described as a "Pop Culture Emporium", which better describes all the stuff they sell) in Worcester, MA are putting on another "Godzilla Attacks Worcester" (also referred to as "Godzilla Invades Worcester") show at the Elm Draught House cinema in Millbury, MA! The second installment of this (hopefully continuing) series takes place on Monday, March 26 at 6:00 PM. I realize that's not much warning, but it appears that this show came together rather quickly. I just heard about it myself a couple days ago and figured I should make an attempt to spread the word.

Last year's show was an awesome evening of Japanese monster movie fun. That's Entertainment collaborated with the Elm Draught House to show two Godzilla films on the big screen (via DVD projection). In addition, they gave away a bunch of cool raffle prizes during the intermissions. The intermissions were also filled with fun Godzilla related shorts and classic drive-in intermission ads. Not only that, but the crowd was able to partake of the Elm's extensive menu throughout the night. Along with the standard popcorn, candy and soda, the Elm also offers beer, wine, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, nachos, taquitos and ice cream (among other things). I actually wrote two pieces on the last show--one before it and one after it. Here they are if you want to get an idea about what's involved:

Godzilla Attacks Worcester

Godzilla Attacks Worcester 2: The Recap

Here are a few images from last year to set the right mood

The crowd enjoys the Kaiju action

Godzilla prepares to attack one of the Elm's pizzas

"Godzilla vs Gigan" starts

Intermission time!

The start of "Godzilla: Final Wars"

The That's Entertainment gang raffle off the goodies

I can only assume that the format will be similar to last year's program. They don't announce which two movies they will be playing until showtime. I was a bit concerned about this last year, but when you're talking about Godzilla movies does it really matter which ones they choose to show? Last year's films were a great combination of the old: "Godzilla vs. Gigan" (1972) and the new: "Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004). It would seem a safe bet that they'll follow this blueprint for the second show as well. I'm kind of hoping that one of the movies they will show will be "Destroy all Monsters" (1968), which was just recently released on DVD by Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock (here it is for sale at Amazon.com). We will just have to wait and see...

That's Entertainment is putting this show on for free. Monday at 6:00 PM might not seem like the best time to be putting on a show like this, but Monday is the only day of the week that the Elm Draught House is closed--and this the only night it's viable. Don't forget, it's FREE! The only hitch is that you have to visit their store on Park Ave. in Worcester before the show to pick up the tickets (one per person). I picked mine up on Wednesday--and was able to get two because I had the Tiny Beast with me! Last year's show was very well attended, so if you see this before Monday and want to go, hurry up and get down to That's Entertainment. Tell them Monster Dad sent you!

My tickets to the show!

Here's a piece on the show in the latest issue of Worcester Magazine

The Wearin' O' The Green (And Red)

As I write it's a bit after the witching hour, also known as midnight. St. Patrick's Day has come and gone. Not being Irish myself (except for this one day a year I suppose) I didn't really do a whole heck of a lot to celebrate this March 17th. That's kind of unfortunate, as this St. Pat's Day happened to fall on a Saturday. I originally had a half-baked plan to watch a couple of the "Leprechaun" movies. It was half-baked because there was no way I'd be able to pull it off with my Little Monsters around. Yes, I've introduced them to horror movies and monsters over the past few years, but that's all been pretty harmless stuff. I'm certainly not going to force a six-year-old and a two-year-old to watch something as "real" (in the horror sense) as a "Leprechaun" movie. The so-called plan was in fact so bold that I considered watching a double feature of "Leprechaun"(1993) and "Leprechaun 2". I have only seen the first "Leprechaun" movie (the one with Jennifer Aniston) once--many years back--and have never seen the second one (that I recall). It would have made for some interesting viewing I'm sure.

Anyway, I DID at least manage to down a number of bottles of Killian's Irish Red on this fine day, and as the evening was drawing to a close and everyone else in the house was sleeping I made an attempt to see some sort of "Leprechaun" movie. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't offer the first or second movie in the series (or third or fourth for that matter) in their Instant Viewing selection. However, they DO have "Leprechaun in the Hood" (aka "Leprechaun 5: in the Hood") (2000). A friend actually recommended this one to me a while back for its sheer silly strangeness, so it seemed like a nice way to close out St. Paddy's Day 2012.

I have to say that, while not a "good" movie by any means, "Leprechaun 5" certainly didn't disappoint. Warwick Davis (well-known "little person" also seen in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" and "Willow") stars as the titular little green man (as he does in all the installments in the series) and Ice T plays a pimp turned rap producer and gets to chew a lot of scenery to good effect. Other than a couple instances where I was surprised (and a wee bit disappointed) that some of the killings were done off-screen or with a minimum of gore and detail it was overall a pretty fun (and funny) romp through the dangers of taking a leprechaun's gold and the repercussions of doing so. Now I just have to see the first four movies, as well as the sixth one: "Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood" (2003). I'm particularly looking forward to "Leprechaun 4: In Space" (1997).  Something tells me that it's not a huge problem that I started off by watching the fifth movie first. This isn't exactly the "Godfather" saga we're talking about here!

Top O' The Mornin' (after St. Pat's) To Ya!

Separated at Birth 4: Luis Guzman and Trog

Okay, I know I keep saying that this isn't supposed to be an ongoing series. It really was meant to be a one-off thing, but I just keep getting hit with these strange "Separated at Birth" instances that are simply too odd to not share here. Click on the links below to see previous entries in this wacky series:

Separated at Birth

Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Stiles

Tim Tebow and Bigfoot

Reese Witherspoon and Sister Bear (Berenstain Bears)

Today's example of celebrity doppelgangers has to rank right up there with Tim Tebow and Bigfoot in the oddball category. I had an opportunity to go to the movies this past week. Although there wasn't anything playing at our local theater that I had a burning desire to see I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to see something. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" (2012) was one of the flicks I was considering.

I had no real desire to see it, but a friend recently gave it a surprisingly good review so I figured it was worth a shot. There aren't a lot of characters in this film, and the most notable of those who are in it are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Vanessa Hudgens (popular in the not too distant past in the "High School Musical" series) and the great (and ubiquitous) Michael Caine. Josh Hutcherson would probably have to be considered the "lead" character if not the "star", but isn't really known for much (to me at least) other than starring in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008)--which this movie is a semi-sequel to. These four actors are the ones featured in most of the promotional images for the movie.

But there is one more person who is part of the core group of main characters in "Journey 2"--Luis Guzman. Luis is a frequently used comic relief character actor who shows up in many roles but who generally doesn't get a lot of attention. I found it interesting that he's one of only five main characters, yet it was kind of difficult to find a photo that featured the entire cast (like the first poster above, where he's actually front and center).

Luis Guzman (on the right, in case you couldn't guess) with Michael Caine in "Journey 2"

In this movie Luis Guzman plays a typical goofy sidekick-type character, always bumbling around and spouting funny lines. While not as famous as Michael Caine or as good-looking as The Rock or Vanessa Hudgens, Mr. Guzman really stood out for me while watching the film. It wasn't because of his screen presence or undeniable magnetism or anything like that. It was just that something about him seemed strangely familiar. He seemed to remind me of someone. Once again I got this feeling that I had seen his face before somewhere--and not in one of his other movie or TV roles. It was something that just didn't seem to make sense, and that made it difficult to pinpoint. Then, as the story unfolded onscreen, I suddenly remembered where I had seen him (or at least an image similar to him) before. It was the titular character in the movie "Trog" (1970).

This movie seems to be best remembered as Joan Crawford's final role in a feature film, but I personally remember watching it as a kid on the classic Boston-area Saturday afternoon TV show Creature Double Feature. As a kid I found "Trog" to be a very effective horror movie about a caveman-type creature trapped in time until he is released upon twentieth century England. I just saw the film again a couple months ago and still like it. It may have more to do with a nostalgia for the memories of watching it as a kid then how good it actually is, but I thought it held up pretty well. And the scene where Trog attacks Michael Gough as he closes his car trunk is still a pretty effective scary moment. The scene where Trog impales the town butcher on one of his own meat hooks is still pretty disturbing to me too.

Of course Trog is a fictional character from a movie that came out over forty years ago. The actor who played him was hidden behind a mask that was even more fictional. But I still believe that there is some "missing link"--as it were--between Trog and Luis Guzman. You be the judge...

Epilogue

I just noticed that Luis Guzman was born in 1956. That means he would have been around 14 when "Trog" was released. While I'm sure he looked quite a bit different at 14 than he does now, just think how much the filmmakers could have saved by hiring Luis to play Trog rather than spending all that money on the prosthetic mask and make-up for the creature. Who knows, maybe remake-happy Hollywood will see this blog and decide to do a new version of "Trog"--and give Luis Guzman a well deserved starring role!

Bigfoots or Bigfeet?

I've been a big fan (for lack of a better word) of Bigfoot almost as long as I can remember. I was a kid during the 1970s, which I always consider to be the "Golden Age" of Bigfoot. For whatever reason it seems like more movies, documentaries, books and magazine articles about Bigfoot came out during the 70s than at any other time. Someone could point out the recent glut of terrible Bigfoot and Yeti horror movies that have inexplicably popped up in the past decade or so, but I can't really take all that stuff seriously. There has also been an uptick in more "serious" documentaries too, but I still think the 1970s really can't be beat for a time when Bigfoot was in the public eye and a part of pop culture.

The book BIGFOOT from 1976

My poster for "The Mysterious Monsters" (1976)

One of my early Bigfoot experiences came when my mother brought me to a retirement home where she went regularly to visit a friend. I stayed in the car (Volkswagen Beetle) while she went in. This was back in the days when kids sat in the front seats of cars without car seats, booster seats or even seat belts and no one blinked an eye. It was also a time when those unrestrained kids could be left in the car alone while parents went into stores and other places without those parents having their kids taken away from them by the state. Anyway, I was sitting in the car reading an issue of Boy's Life. This issue had an article about Bigfoot in it that I was very excited to read. Of course it also terrified me at the same time. It was a story about a big, burly trucker who went to sleep in his rig, only to be woken up by noises outside. A Bigfoot creature pulled him out of his truck "like a rag doll". I always remember that description. It seemed to make the story all the more scary to think that this big tough guy could be thrown around like a rag doll. To top it off, I had my Chewbacca Star Wars action figure with me. I had never really thought of it before, but in that moment Chewbacca reminded me a LOT of Bigfoot and I was even a little scared of my little 3 3/4" toy while sitting alone in the car.

I've been meaning to write a big blog about Bigfoot for a long time. But (like the piece I want to write about the show Creature Double Feature) it just seems like too daunting a task to undertake. There's simply too much to say on the subject. I have touched on Bigfoot, The Abominable Snowman and similar cryptid creatures a number of times in blogs like The Horror that is "Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer", Separated at Birth 2: Tim Tebow and Bigfoot, The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw and Isaac Asimov and "Monsters! Mysteries or Myths?" (from my other blog The TV Guide Time Machine). Eventually I'll get around to seriously writing about the big guy here. But until then I do have to ask one thing.

Despite the fact that I've been a follower of all things Bigfoot for nearly as long as I can remember (see story above) and have seen many movies and read many books on the subject, there's one thing that I've never really been sure of. When talking about more than one Bigfoot is it correct to call them Bigfeet? Or is it Bigfoots? Or maybe it's just plain Bigfoot (in a plural sense)? I don't know if it shares the same rules as Deer (pluralized as Deer), or if it's a case like Fish (which is pluralized as Fishes--at least I believe it is). Perhaps it's a case like Moose (are more than one moose called Moose, Mooses or Meese?). Octopus becomes Octopi (or possibly Octopuses--which brings to mind the old Roger Moore James Bond flick "Octopussy"). An Ox becomes Oxen. It would seem that a lot of animals in nature share a similar pluralization confusion. There are plenty of other examples of course. A Crisis pluralizes to Crises rather than Crisises. A Chassis remains Chassis when there are more than one of them present. Roof seems to be able to become either Roofs or Rooves. An Analysis becomes Analyses. This could go on for a while...

The point is that, despite having read and watched so much about Bigfoot and similar creatures, I still don't have a clear idea what the "correct" way to pluralize the word is. Does anyone out there have a definitive answer? I'd appreciate being enlightened. The knowledge might come in handy when I finally get around to writing my big Bigfoot blog!

Photo borrowed from the site North American Bigfoot

Now those are some big feet in that photo! But were these prints made by a bunch of Bigfeet, Bigfoots or Bigfoot? Hmmm...

Thank You

Separated at Birth 3: Reese Witherspoon and Sister Bear

I wasn't planning on this whole Separated at Birth thing becoming a series or anything. For whatever reason ridiculous examples of the phenomenon keep popping up when I least expect them to. For the first two Separated at Birth blogs please click on these links:

Part 1: Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Stiles

Part 2: Tim Tebow and Bigfoot

The Wife and I were lucky enough to have a date night recently. We decided to go see a movie together. There wasn't anything playing at our local cinema that either of us was crazy about, but we'd heard some good things about the new Reese Witherspoon movie "This Means War" and figured it was worth a shot. It turned out to be pretty entertaining and funny. But seeing Reese Witherspoon reminded me of something that had been in the back of my mind for some time.

The Little Monster still enjoys being read to at bedtime (and I still enjoy reading to her). One of our favorite series of books to read is The Berenstain Bears. I never really read these books much as a kid myself, but have found them to be some of the best stories to read to The Little Monster. I think I enjoy them nearly as much as she does! I've written about The Berenstain Bears once before in The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw.

It would be difficult to pick a favorite Berenstain Bears book, but some of the ones we've read regularly in the past have included The Berenstain Bears' Trouble at School, The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (any More), The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, and The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Grown-ups. And a definite favorite of ours is The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream. And this is the one that caused two seemingly unrelated events (a date night with The Wife and reading bedtime stories to The Little Monster) to become forever intertwined.

There are a few reasons why I personally like The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream. They do a good job of explaining what a nightmare is, and like usual, it's just a good story. The best thing about the book for me though is that a big part of the story revolves around Brother Bear and his love for a line of action figures and accessories called Space Grizzlies.

It reminds me a lot of he toys I'd play with as a boy growing up in the 1970s and 80s--especially my Star Wars action figures and toys. Here's one of my actual Storm Troopers from way back then:

And here's an Imperial Scout from "Return of the Jedi" holding this very same Storm Trooper last year during Star Wars Day at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA:

Anyway, back to the story. So Brother Bear is smitten with these Space Grizzlies, but Sister Bear doesn't like them because she finds them scary. Brother convinces her to play with him and his Space Grizzlies after some negotiations, and later he goes to see the new Space Grizzlies movie (while Sister opts for a movie about a ballerina called "The Magic Toeshoes" instead). Eventually Sister has a nightmare that involves the Space Grizzlies and many other things she'd recently been doing. She runs into Mama and Papa Bear's room and while they are comforting her Brother has his own Space Grizzlies nightmare.

It's during the part where Mama and Papa are consoling Sister that I noticed a certain resemblance between her and Reese Witherspoon. Now, we've read a lot of Berenstain Bears books, and I've never thought that Sister Bear looked like Reese Witherspoon (or any other celebrity for that matter) before. It's just in this one picture where she's making a pensive face that I see it. The very first time we read this book a few years back I saw the resemblance And now I can't NOT see it whenever we read the story. I don't know if it's her eyes, her hair, her mouth, her chin or just her expression, but I do see it. I may be crazy, or I just may be onto something. Here's a closer look:

Here are some examples of Reese and Sister side-by-side. Judge for yourself:

The expression is different,
but the look is there












This is a little closer

Not too bad

And, finally, here's a look at Reese in "This Means War" (from the photo above), to kind of tie the whole thing together.

Epilogue:

In a strange bit of timing, I just found out that Jan Berenstain (who authored the Berenstain Bears books with her husband Stan) just recently died on February 25, 2012. I didn't even know she was still alive, but now am saddened to hear she died. Here's her obituary:

Jan Berenstain Dies at 88 (Los Angeles Times)