Category Archives: Review

Lost and Now Found: A Review of “Kong Unmade” by John LeMay

The cover of “Kong Unmade,” the newest book by film historian and kaiju fan John LeMay. It is available in paperback and KIndle on Amazon.

Tokusatsu film historian John LeMay has done it again! After indexing every kaiju (giant monster) movie from the 1950s to today with The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies, Vol. 1-2, his newest is essentially the third entry in what could be called his Lost Films trilogy. Previously he discovered unused scripts and story treatments for famous Japanese monsters like Godzilla and Gamera with the copiously-researched The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films and more down-to-size Japanese science fiction and fantasy films with Terror of the Lost Tokusatsu Films. Now he brings readers the “lost films” of the granddaddy of all kaiju, King Kong, with Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island.

While Kong’s impact on pop culture is humungous, his filmography is surprisingly short. In all, he has only ten official films (plus one upcoming movie) in over eight-and-a-half decades. It’s not from a lack of trying, though, as LeMay details. Director/producer Merrian C. Cooper tried for years to make another sequel to the 1933 classic after the hastily-made Son of Kong. The New Adventures of King Kong would’ve been a “midquel” that took place while Kong was being transported from Skull Island to New York, where he escaped into the jungles of Africa. A similar and even more outlandish idea was Tarzan vs. King Kong, where the big ape would’ve met the famous ape man. On the other side of the Pacific, Toho Studios attempted to create Frankenstein vs. King Kong, which eventually became King Kong vs. Godzilla. After its massive success, a script for a rematch—cleverly titled Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla­­—was written that would’ve had Kong become a surrogate father to a lost infant. And that’s just a few examples!

Essays on these lost films aren’t all that’s in this new volume. There are “bonus reviews” and “development of” chapters on the Kong films that did get made. They detail many concepts that were abandoned or changed during the filmmaking process. For example, the script Peter Jackson wrote for his 2005 remake was originally quite different (Ann Darrow was British, for one thing). There are also essays on lost or obscure Kong media such as Don Glut’s Tor films and what would’ve been an animated sequel to King Kong Lives featuring Kong’s son (who would’ve had the ability to change his size) by producer/artist Robert Lamb. Several of these essays are written by excellent guest contributors. LeMay also writes on obscure and lost films that were inspired by King Kong, such as The Mighty Gorga and the infamous A*P*E*. If they don’t get a full-length chapter, they’re included in one of the book’s several appendices.

One improvement over LeMay’s previous books is the inclusion of many images. These are photographs, movie posters, and concept art. The aforementioned chapter on the proposed Kong animated series includes concept art from Lamb, which gave me flashbacks to the Saturday morning cartoons of my childhood. A downside of the images is some of them are placed on right-hand pages opposite from the previous essay, and since these don’t have captions, it isn’t apparent that they’re meant to signal the next essay.

As usual, the design of the book is creative. The spine is designed to look like it has a library index code taped onto it. The title pages have a few ink splotches to simulate age and a half-faded stamp that says, “This book has been discarded by the Skull Island Public Library.” They’re wonderful touches, and the sort of clever design choices I wish I saw more often in books.

If I may mention a fairly significant nitpick, there are points I think the book could’ve been edited and proofread a bit better, but this is coming from someone who spends a lot of time editing in his work, so it’s hard for me to miss.

For fans of Kong, kaiju, film history, and/or LeMay, this is a must-read!

Five Stars out of Five.

But I Digress…, Episode 40 – My Thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery

“But I Digress…” Hosted by Nathan Marchand It’s been a while, but since Star Trek is one of my all-time favorite franchises/fandoms, I thought I should weigh in on the premiere episode of the newest Trek series, Discovery. Is it worth breaking down the paywall? Watch my review to find out!

Here’s the Star Trek Continues episode I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMasS…

Here’s the YouTube channel for my podcast, Kaijuvision Radio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSI2…

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But I Digress…, Episode 38: Suicide Squad vs. Sinister Squad

 

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

“I’m not gonna kill ya,” says DC Comics and Warner Bros. “I’m just gonna hurt ya…really, really bad.”

My friends Sergio and Luke join me to review the newest DCEU film, Suicide Squad. We watched it as part of a “Squad Double Feature”–we watched the Asylum’s “mockbuster” Sinister Squad first. All three of us had choice words about both movies.

What’d you think of Suicide Squad (or Sinister Squad)?

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But I Digress…, Episode 37: An Epic ‘Ghostbusters’ 2016 Rant

(This is my first post in weeks. My host site was hacked, in case you didn’t know. I’ll blog about it more later this week…assuming I find the time at Gen-Con 2016. wOOt!)

 

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

In the longest episode I’ve produced so far, my friend Sergio Garza and I review the “controversial” new Ghostbusters movie. Well, the bulk of this video is our review. We start off by talking briefly about the original Ghostbusters and then try some Ghostbusters Twinkies. But when we start the review…oh, man! I’ve rarely seen Sergio rage this much. This could’ve been a NERD RAGE! episode.

What’d you think of the new Ghostbusters? Agree or disagree?

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But I Digress…, Episode 36: A Review of ‘Captain America: Civil War’

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

After a host of delays and problems filming this video, I’ve *finally* completed it–a month after the movie in question was released. Sorry.

Anyway, my buddy Sergio and I tackle what is arguably one of Marvel’s greatest films after some crazy (and schlocky) shenanigans.

Additional Music Credit: “There was a Hole Here” by The Wingless

My more timely text review: http://www.examiner.com/review/civil-war-is-marvel-s-best-film-yet

Did you enjoy the film? What are your thoughts on it?

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But I Digress…, Episode 35: A Review of ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

“And there came a day unlike any other”–

Oops. Wrong company and franchise. 😛

Anyway, in this episode I review DC’s much-hyped Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. But I’m not alone. I’m joined once again by my buddy Sergio. Guess which one of us liked the movie and which of us didn’t.

(By the way, Sergio’s awful couch makes skinny people look fat and fat people look…fatter). 😜

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My text review of the movie.

But I Digress…, Episode 34: My Top 5 Favorite Films of 2015

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

I’m a little late to the party with this one, but in this episode, I discuss my top five favorite films of 2015. I even get a visit from Nerdimus Prime–who is suddenly *not* an alternate mode for me. Weird.

Does my list match yours? What were your favorite films from the past year?

Avengers: Age of Ultron text review.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens text review.

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But I Digress…, Episode 31: A Review of ‘Fantastic Four’ (2015)

 “But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand
I wasn’t planning on doing this, but since people kept asking me what I thought of the new “Fantastic Four,” I decided to make an impromptu video review of it. I invite my buddy Sergio Garza to join me as we–no surprise–riff on the movie and say the Roger Corman version is better. No joke.
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My text review of the movie for Examiner.

But I Digress…, Episode 30 – My Review of ‘Terminator: Genisys’

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand
After another long, unintended hiatus, I return with a summer movie review–one that left me with the most nerd rage I’ve had in a long time! The “Terminator” franchise, which includes some of my favorite films, has been “rebooted” stupidly. So much so, my old friend the T-800 returns to protect me from the new movie!
My text review of the movie for GIGA Geek Magazine.
My “Avengers: Age of Ultron” Review.
See the T-800’s original cameo here.
See the T-800’s first full appearance in Episode 8.
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Thank you for watching.