Nifty Presents - King Of Filmographies!

I've always liked Godzilla, but I have become somewhat besotted with Kaiju in general in recent years and with the "King of the Monsters" in particular.  Certainly the new American films have a ot to to do with that, but hardly all. In this century it has been possible to see these films in their original forms and seeing such my appreciation for the depth of meaning some of  them offer has only grown and grown.

David Kalat does an exemplary job of digging into the depths of the Godzilla franchise and finding meaning and significance in works most of the world dash off as mere momentary entertainments. Of course not all Godzilla movies are created equal, some are just what we might think they are, breezy diversions with great big monsters cracking up the territory. But so many are more, even if they don't fully succeed in what they aspire to be or say.

Kalat's book A Critical History of Toho's Godzilla Series is a film by film breakdown and takes into account other Kaiju movies such as Rodan, Mothra and Varan. It's delightful to find yet new things to see and know about the original movie which is a standard piece I show my students. Godzilla is worth the effort and thankfully Kalat has taken the time.

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Nifty Presents - King Of Jeeps!

I've got to confess that this one is a present to myself. I was walking through a local department store just after Christmas and there was a big display of old-fashioned looking model kits. This one featuring the one and only mighty Godzilla caught my eye in an instant.

I snatched it up and added it to the cart, which was not light at the time. I knew I must have this incredible image somewhere in my house. It's of course a model of the Willys Jeep often seen in so many Kaiju movies, the kind of vehicle that is often flying through the air to smash into some storefront or whatever w hen the monster's rage is booming downtown.

I won't break the seal and make the model, though the presentation as seen above is pretty spectacular. I love the box artwork and will make this one of those blasted toys that never gets played with. It's a sin of some kind but I know what I like.

I was inspired though to seek out the similar arrangement of jeep and King of Monsters as seen in the Johnny Lightning series. These things just make me smile and in these hectic days of bad news, a smile is welcomed respite.

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