I’ll say it right now, I loved the new Godzilla movie that was released in 1998. In fact, I would have to say that I liked it better than all the original Godzilla movies from Japan. The film was one of the first DVD’s I ever purchased.

There was something about the visceral nature of the updated Godzilla that just worked for me. Whether it be the mix of real and CG effects, the new Godzilla design, or his new roar: it just all was great.

As a matter of fact, I was even into the marketing of the whole thing. “Size Does Matter” was the tagline. It was all over Arizona and California the summer it was released. Buses, blimp hangers, building were all decorated with Godzilla posters.

I still remember all the related movie tie-ins. Ice cream with chocolate Godzilla pieces, animated toys that roared with a push of the button, Tamagotchi-themed Godzilla game, and even a Godzilla hand puppet that also roared. Jessica even got me a giant vinyl poster from Toys-R-Us. It hung on my office wall for more than a year before retiring up into our attic. Who knows what other Godzilla gear I have hidden away.

Finally, I didn’t even mind the scene in the movie where the baby Godzilla’s run amok in Madison Square Garden. It was just something more to add to the Godzilla experience.

So… did you like the new Godzilla?

I just got back from seeing Jet Li’s Fearless, a great martial arts movie. It is definitely one of the classier movies of this type, much like Crouching Tiger or Hero. Good acting, excellent choreography, and superb camera work. Some of the visuals are very breathtaking, even if you have seen other chinese period films.

The film is apparently Jet’s last martial arts epic. As such, his work in Fearless is by far his best work to date.

Jessica and I went out tonite to see some movies. I went to see ‘Ultraviolet’ (guy flick) and she saw ‘Failure to Launch’ (chick flick). Seeing separate movies, while lonely, worked out well.

Ultraviolet comes from the guy who wrote and directed another cult action movie called Equilibrium. This one was along the same lines with a little less story, cheaper effects, but a whole lot more action.

It’s a fun ride starring Milla Jovovich in what can be described as live action anime or japanimation. From the story, style, and pacing its exactly like an anime.

Not totally recommendable to be seen on the big screen, I would definitely recommend as an above average rental when it comes to DVD.

Sin City
This movie is an amazing piece of work. It’s just like seeing a version of the graphic novel in motion. Recommended for anyone that digs a unique style, noir films, or just violence in general. Prolly the most violent movie I’ve seen in a decade.

Robots
The other side of the coin is this wonderful family flick. Not just for kids, the design and animation are top notch. Amazing style, with a unique look and feel. Highly recommended for anyone that likes CG and/or robots.

Seems like the past few weeks have been nothing but stuff to do at home and continuous work on our Halloween spectacular in our garage, a Haunted maze for the kiddies. We’re almost done… we hope that kids will actually venture through the maze versus chickening out. We’ll have to see.

In other news, I finally took the time to go see Team America: World Police. It was about as funny as your standard South Park, but not quite great. The theme songs on the other hand were awesome, especially the main one, have been stuck in my head all weekend.

We saw Spiderman 2 tonight. Quite an amazing movie, but not in the way I expected. As I was watching, I kept wanting to watch more about Peter Parker’s story more so than Spiderman in action. The Spidey action is great, but the plot and story actually were my favorite parts of the movie. I’d recommend it if you liked the first movie or Spiderman in general.