9.21.2009

It's not "Cloverfield 2", it's "Robot-Cloverfield"


Robot Chicken has finally showed it's last new episode for the series, and what a better way to end than with a kaiju-oriented sketch? Apparently, it acts like social commentary on the film "Cloverfield" itself. We see the Statue of Liberty’s head bounce around on New York City’s streets. Not to mention we see awesome scenes with the Cloverfield monster, so good that it looks like they used Hasbro’s $100 toy for it instead of making a cheap clay model for stop motion reasons. This would be the first time that they used a kaiju toy for the actual kaiju appearance, since the kaiju models have mostly been re-casting of Bandai toys (most specifically the Bandai movie monster series Shodai-Goji figure).

As I said, it is social commentary which is brought out with this sketch. People start shouting out rejections like "C’mon man!" and "Dude, it’s only been 8 years since 9/11, not cool." This sounds to be like protest against the film itself, though I bet the animators meant that they humans were talking to the Cloverfield monster directly, because that is what happens. Cloverfield apologizes in a way for the melee he has wrought by building a metal structure out of the 9/11 memorial structure pieces and tops it with an American flag. Everyone seems happy, and right before he leaves, Clover throws a Cloverfield jersey on top of the crowd watching him.



This is a whole hell of a lot better than the faux "Cloverfield 2" trailers. A whole lot better.

Another bit of news - albeit three month old news - is that David Kalat said at G-FEST ’09 that he is editing his book "A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series". He is currently fixing errors (like the conflicting information about who originally bought the US rights to Gojira in 1955), adding information, and even doing sections on the Millennium series and may even do another supplemental part which fills in about how kaiju/tokusatsu eiga is doing and how it did between 1995-1999 (even maybe some mention of G2 and G3, like how he did with G1). I seriously think that if he does this correctly, his re-edited version of his book could be the present day "Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star". Though some may claim that Kalat’s observations are far fetched and that he is seeing too much into some of the films - like "Gigan" having commentary on how kaiju stay popular/stay a cash cow. This something which I will anxiously wait for.

Finally some news not related to Bandai Creation figures and Blu-ray DVDs. And as a note, the interview with Michael Keller and Ed Holland of the one and only "MONSTER ATTACK TEAM" fanzine is still going to be done. I currently have Matt’s answers and awaiting Ed’s. I ask readers to be patient. I hope that all who read the interview (when it will be posted) will post a comment saying thank you to these two men. Obviously, they are cutting time out of their lives to do something for the fandom and to do this interview is also a real blessing.

Finally, as a reminder, this Saturday the Atlanta based "Plaza Theater" showing the classic "Rodan". As SciFiJapan reported, it is Ed Godziszewski’s print. Under these circumstances, this screening is a historical event for kaiju/horror/sci-fi fans alike. Hope to see you there. Since the cat is mostly out of the bag, I am going to document the event under the name "OPERATION RODAN". If you would like to be on camera, please contact me via blogspot or forum.