8/31/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 8, Godzilla Against Mothra (1964)

...or "Godzilla vs the Thing," if you are so inclined.  Either way, it's a great film.  It's also one of the most-represented films in the original bromide set (the film with the most cards will be covered in Part 9).  There are 19 in all.  Enjoy!
Above are two cards that, while originally flipping through, made me think there were duplicates in the set.  As you can see, they are two separate cards.


Small Mothra!

Bigger Mothra!

GIANT Mothra!







Awww, a family portrait.  As Kevin Murphy said in the recent Rifftrax streaming of MOTHRA, she is "just adorable."

Huh. Sorta seems like this move would carry Mothra over the edge, right along with the big G.


Now, I want to go watch this movie again!

8/29/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 7, Atragon (1963)





Besides the flying battleship ATRAGON, Manda was the star of the show, and hasn't been seen much since then, besides an Ultra Q episode (once as a dragon, and once as the figurehead of a pirate ship!!), DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (where he lost his whiskers, maybe to get away from the Chinese dragon influence?), and, briefly, in FINAL WARS.

Those last two bromides are paintings, but they are worthy of any gallery, far as I'm concerned!

8/25/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 6, Gorath (1962)

 Another wise decision was made with the film GORATH.  There are only 4 cards, but all four of them prominently feature Magma, a kaiju who needs another outing.  Besides his appearance in an ULTRA Q episode (under another name), he's been woefully under-used.  (In fact, if you've seen that ULTRA Q episode, the plot is pretty similar to the photo above!)



8/22/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 5, Mothra (1961)

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of attending the live-streamed Rifftrax presentation of MOTHRA in a local theater.  They are repeating it on the 23rd, and I highly recommend that you go if you can. It was worth every penny, and the guys still have it. 

Speaking of Mothra, she comes in at #5 in the Bromide set, and includes 8 different cards!









8/17/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 4, Varan (1958)

There are six cards from Varan's movie, but once again, they all (wisely) are money shots--and, they have something the original film doesn't have: color!






8/16/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 3, The Mysterians (1957)

For some films in this set, only a small number of cards were made.  THE MYSTERIANS is a good example:  there are only four cards.  In what was a smart move, they all feature the first MOGUERA.





8/15/16

Everything You Ever Heard About Twinkies is....Wrong???

At some point in your life, you have heard or read that there are enough preservatives in a Twinkie to make it last "forever," or a hundred years, or some such fill-in-the-blank number. That, after a nuclear war, it will only be cockroaches, which will subsist on all of the Twinkies, which will cover the earth.

You probably remember the ruckus several years ago:  in 2012, Hostess Brands company went bankrupt, and there was much internet anxiety about the disappearance of certain "snack cakes." (I ate these too as a child, but truth be told, when you study the crowds in a mall or airport, wasn't their disappearance really not such a bad thing? But I digress...)

Anyhow, I happened to be in a Target the night the news broke, and I bought one of the last boxes of "original" Twinkies, because hey, why not.  We all knew that some other company would rise up, buy the rights, or recipes, or...formulas or whatever, and start making all of the Hostess stuff again.  Looking on Ebay, there were thousands of crates of Twinkies everywhere for a dollar, so I figured I would just hold onto that box as a memento of another American company from my childhood gone by the wayside.

Actually, I completely forgot about that box of Twinkies.  It sat in the back of my pantry for four years, until my daughter found it this weekend.  When she brought it out, I thought, why not tear into it? They last forever anyway, right?
Um, nope:
I heard the sound of the box opening, which was followed by sounds of disbelief and disgust.  Not only were all of the "snack cakes" shriveled and petrified, but, as you can see, one particular offender was in even worse shape.
I suppose it's possible that the really nasty one wasn't sealed properly, and air was able to get in...but that really doesn't account for all its brethren.  When I say "petrified," I mean it.  Hard as a rock.  

I suppose I just point this out because it was rather shocking.  I sincerely doubt I would've let the Children eat such elderly processed pastries...BUT, let this be a warning to anyone who finds a box of Twinkies that are years past their Effective Dates!  It's just another thing to add to your list of things to worry about in these dangerous and modern times, isn't it?

8/12/16

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 2, Rodan (1956)

Back to the Godzilla Color Bromide Set, the second film featured is 1956's RODAN, and there are 7 cards included.

People forget that in the original movie, there were TWO Rodans!




Aww, baby Rodan!!