Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2009 April.

Two of our favorite blogs have added their entries to a meme started at FilmSquish.com, which asked for lists of Favorite Film Characters. On Friday, Arbogast on Film provided his list, which of course led off with Milton Arbogast, the ill-fated private eye felled by a fall down the stairs (not to mention Mother’s knife) [...]

For fans of science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies, this week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are not the most exciting. The only major theatrical release reaching home video is THE SPIRIT, Frank Miller’s disappointing filmization of the Will Eisner comic strip, which arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and a Two-Disc Special Edition DVD. Also of interest [...]

Audience indifference quickly exorcised THE SPIRIT from theatres last year, but now it rises from the grave on home video, including a Two-Disc Special Edition DVD. It is not hard to see why the film bombed at the box office: the one thing it has going for it is the digitized neo-noir stylings that render a high-tech [...]

The weekend’s one fantasy film debut, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, was a dud at the box office. Directed by James Wong (FINAL DESTINATION), the adaptation of the popular anime franchise failed to ignite despite the presence of Chow Yun-Fat (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and James Marsters (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). Making its debut in 2,181 North American theatres, [...]

Last month, we mentioned the problem with the home video release of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, which substituted some dumbed down subtitles on the DVD instead of the more accurate subtitling of the theatrical prints. A yew days ago, I happened to notice that the film was available on Netflix Instant Viewing, so I [...]

As part of our weekend tribute to the late special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, here is the Japanese trailer for GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER (1966). This is a film that had some of the shabbiest effects of any monster movie (the badly beaten Godzilla suit is much in need of repair) and yet it [...]

As part of our weekend tribute to the late special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, here is the Japanese trailer for SON OF GODZILLA (1967) – a cute and cuddly kiddie flick in which the formerly terrifying radioactive reptile is revealed to be an old softie at heart, a caring parent who looks after junior, protects [...]

As part of our weekend tribute to the late special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, here is the U.S. theatrical trailer for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS – the memorable Toho production in which Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and all of Earth’s other monsters team up for a non-stop destruction derby involving invading aliens trying to take over the [...]

If you want to draw eyeballs to an online magazine, you have to fill it with stuff that is new, new, new, but on of the defining aspects of Cinefantastique was its love for classics, expressed in frequent cover stories and retrospective articles. We like to keep that tradition alive at Cinefantastique Online, especially on [...]

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS is probably the last well-regarded entry in the original Godzilla series. By this time, all serious threat of the monsters had disappeared; recognizing this, director Ishiro Honda (who had helmed the original GODIZLLA in 1954 and many of the subsequent sequels) opted for a fast-paced action-adventure roller-coaster thrill ride that was seldom [...]

This film is from the goofy era when Godzilla was mutating from a radioactive menace into a lovable hero. The tone is definitely geared for younger viewers, and it’s impossible to take the proceedings seriously. And yet, SON OF GODZILLA is actually quite entertaining on its own juvenile level, filled with strong performances, exotic locations [...]

This is one of the silliest but also one of the more amusing Godzilla movies. The goofiness of the enterprise somehow becomes part of the entertainment value, resulting in a likable, fun-filled, fast-paced movie that is totally incredible but quite watchable.
The story begins (in the original Japanese cut) with a family worried about a missing [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this archive question and answer session, culled from personal appearances made at a Godzlla film festival in 2000, the late special effects expert discusses his work on Toho’s biggest monster, from the frightening original to the comic “Son of” Sequel.
Sadamasa Arikawa served under the legendary special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, the man [...]