The Monster Island Film Vault Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It’s a full house (“full mecha”?) in today’s Godzilla Redux episode on the infamous but now-popular-to-like G-film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster). Daniel DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project), Ben Avery (Strangers and Aliens; Welcome to Level 7), and Matt and Gratton of Giant Monster BS all return to discuss the strangest yet arguably most auteur film in the franchise. To say it kicked off the ‘70s G-films with a strange bang would be an understatement. It’s trippy imagery, bizarre monster, and psychedelic pop music all came from the mind of one Yoshimitsu Banno, who despite being rumored for years to have been told he ruined Godzilla, went on to help launch the MonsterVerse. Our panelists unpack that, the film’s subtle-as-a-sledgehammer messages, its co-screenwriter Kaoru Mabuchi/Takeshi Kimura, and much, much more!

Nate’s cloned “pseudo-sister,” Jessica Shaw (aka Crystal Lady) takes some specially-selected tourists on a, well, tour of Monster Island, and on their last stop at the Denham Theater, a smelly, frumpy girl literally bumps into her. She is Fausta Bevan, a missing member of Jessica’s tour group. She’s annoying but also kind. Unfortunately, she’s also a Bug Lady—who isn’t here at the behest of the Nachfalter and the Church of Mothrianity, and for the first time, Jessica doesn’t want to destroy her foe. But can she do it?

Having been “military volunteered” during the broadcast, the Omni Viewer’s neat-freak of a dinosaur-lizard-thing sidekick, Snazzy Chapeau, accompanies Jimmy From NASA into the Seoul sewers to bag-and-tag Gwoemul. Shenanigans ensue. Meanwhile, Omni tries to get Nate to open up about what’s got him down in the dumps. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! After several months in Seoul, Nate finally reaches the point where Korean kaiju cinema comes into its own: Bong Joon-ho’s The Host (2006). He’s joined by YouTuber and author Omni Viewer and his ”kaiju” sidekick, Snazzy Chapeau, to discuss this momentous film. While it arguably has more in common with Jaws than Godzilla (1954), its effect on Korean culture was as significant as the latter was for Japan and King Kong (1933) was for America. It was inspired by a uniquely Korean issue/experience and catapulted Korean culture and Joon-ho onto the world scene. Speaking of which, the Toku Topic is the true story that is recreated and dramatized in the film: the McFarland Incident. Also, there are periodic reports from Sir Adam Lexington, a friend of Omni’s, as he repairs Uber-Moguera.

A tired Nate returns to Uber-Moguera from a film curation trip in Seoul and overhears a conversation between Jimmy and Kaguya. Jimmy sounds uncharacteristically nervous, but not because things have been a little tense between him and his girlfriend the last few months. No, it’s because he pops the question.

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! This film was popular to hate and now it’s popular to “reevaluate” it: All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla’s Revenge). Nate is joined by not one but two fellow kaiju authors to unpack this grossly misunderstood G-film: Neil Riebe (who’s practically Nate’s new co-host) and the most-cited man on MIFV, John LeMay. They get into the cultural contexts that birthed this strange kids’ movie (starring the first Godzilla “Kenny”) set in the “real world” and not the “Showa-verse,” including urbanization, industrialization, and latchkey kids, among other things. To say the dub did this film no favors would be an understatement. Unfortunately, John had to leave early during the episode, but fortunately Neil reads a 2005 e-mail he got from a 19-year-old John for a special listener feedback segment. Prepare to have your mind changed about this film!