Episode 102: Thor, Phase 4, and a Lot More

 

The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here -Thor: Love and Thunder - and your Planet 8 crew has a lot to say about it. And it ain't necessarily good. Much like the previous Thor film, this newest look at the God of Thunder takes a decidedly goofy slant. It's a little too goofy for our taste.

Beware -there are spoilers ahead! 

Not to say there aren't some interesting or exciting things in the film. There are. But the whole film feels so unbalanced that it's hard to appreciate  Christian Bale's performance as Gorr the God-Butcher, or Natalie Portman's appearance as Jane Foster, aka the Mighty Thor. Both of these characters have serious stories behind them; Gorr is a deeply grieving man, Jane is battling cancer. But they are undercut by the  absurd situations and performances that surround them.

We're not against humor. The Marvel films have always had humor in them. But typically it's been relegated to wise-cracking, not slapstick and utterly ridiculous situations. While some complain that Marvel films are too formulaic and there's no directorial freedom, in this case, it seems like Taika Waititi was given absolute free reign. Surely there's a happy medium, a balance between the serious and the absurd, formula and artistic license.

We move on from Thor to discuss Marvel Phase 4 and where it's going. What's the overarching plan? In Phase 3 we had Thanos and the Infinity Stones, what's the threat now? The multiverses colliding? It's also difficult to get excited when so many of our favorite characters are gone now. 

The conversation  takes us to the Disney Plus Marvel shows, and even some of the DC films. You just never know where it's gonna go with us!

For our Sensor Sweep, all you fans of both tiki and kaiju will want to know about the King Ghidorah tiki mug from Mondo ! This is a mug nearly as big as the three-headed monster himself.  It stands a whopping 8 3/4" high and holds 26 ounces! You can buy it for $65 at Mondoshop.com.

And don't forget Godzillafest is coming up in August! The Planet 8 crew will be at Creatures-Con August 7th, and Bob will be selling passes for Godzillafest for $10 off at our table. Be sure to come see us and the fabulous guests at Creatures-Con in Orinda, California, including author David J. Skal and Sarah Karloff! 

That's all for now. Let us know what you thought of Thor, our review, what's going on with Phase 4, and anything else!

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By the bristling beard of Odin!!

Episode 88: Captivating Creatures

 

This episode, the Planet 8 crew talks about some of our favorite creature designs. Over the history of cinema, there have been many amazing fantasy, horror and science fiction creatures designed and put on film, and we will each cover one of our favorites. Each of these has significance as paving the way for future films, developing new techniques and pioneering new styles. 

We begin with the original Planet of the Apes, and the daunting task of developing realistic makeup for the talking chimps, gorillas and orangutans. If the makeup wasn't convincing, if it didn't allow the actors to act and emote, there was no way the film could be made. But talented artist John Chambers was able to develop amazing prosthetics that were flexible enough and convincing enough to meet the challenge. Chambers had a fascinating background that enabled him to make advancements in facial prosthetics. His work certainly was a huge influence on future monster makers.

Next we cross the ocean and look at a big star, King Ghidorah! Created by Akira Watanabe for the 1964 movie Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, it was based on many other multi-headed dragons. The design was always three heads and two tails, but early production photos show different coloring. The suit was operated by an actor in the suit and puppeteers working the heads, wings and tails. This made for a kind of frenetic movement style, which was pretty cool when you saw it as a kid! Ghidorah was active til 1972, then brought back in a new suit in the 90s, but he lost his crazy frenetic motion. In the new Legendary series, there are three motion capture actors playing each head. The actors have to coordinate their movements, but this method allows each head to have its own personality.

Our last headliner is the one and only Eighth Wonder of the World, King Kong! Kong is a fascinating case, having been portrayed now by stop-motion, men in suits, and now CGI. We look at the original film, the Toho Kong, the 1976 Kong including both Rick Baker's Kong and the ludicrous robot Kong, moving into Peter Jackson's Kong, and the latest Legendary films Kong. And who could forget the King Kong at the Universal Studios tour? Yes, we discuss him too!

There are many other classic monster or creature designs, and so we have some honorable mentions we'll reveal towards the end of the episode. Can you guess what they might be?

For our Sensor Sweep, to get into the holiday spirit, Commander Larry shares a boffo new item, the Hallmark 2021 To The Batcave! Batman classic TV series ornament. Really, it's a bit ridiculous to call this an ornament. It's more of a display piece. On the top of the ornament, we see Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in Wayne Manor, on the bat poles. Press the button and the batphone lights and beeps, the door closes up top, and a door opens in the batcave below, showing Batman and Robin descending on the batpoles. This spectacular item runs about $60 but may be hard to find. Good luck!

We hope you enjoyed this episode. What are some of your favorite creature designs? Let us know!

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We dig monsters!

Episode 28: Oh No, There Goes Tokyo, Go Go Godzilla!

Welcome to this Daikaiju-sized edition of Planet 8! We needed a larger than normal sized episode to cover our subject, Godzilla King of the Monsters! Besides our usual three-headed review, we'll be including some bonus material from Chief Engineer Bob's away mission to the press screening and Hollywood premiere of this colossal film, including a special interview with the film's director, Michael Dougherty, at the end of the episode.

This is a SPOILER-FILLED episode, so make sure you see Godzilla King of the Monsters before you jump into the podcast!

This is the third film in Legendary's Monsterverse, with the 2014 Godzilla being the first, and Kong:Skull Island being the second. And this film featured more kaiju than ever before, with some heavy hitters alongside the Big G: Mothra, Rodan, and the infamous King Ghidorah, aka Monster Zero!

Of course, your Planet 8 crew grew up with Godzilla and all of his assorted friends and enemies. We all went into this film with certain expectations based off of our nostalgic recollections. Did it live up to those memories? Listen to find out!

The premiere gets set up at the Grauman Theater

In place of our usual Sensor Sweep, Bob gives us a glimpse at his trip to Los Angeles and the Godzilla premiere, where he got to not only see the film, but meet and speak with many of the actors, and also interview the director, Michael Dougherty, along with his pal Keith Aiken from SciFi Japan.

Godzilla busts loose!

Godzilla stairs!

Bob with Godzilla 2014 director Gareth Edwards

Bob and actor Ken Watanabe

We hope you enjoyed this episode! If you'd like to meet the Planet 8 crew, head over to Creatures Con at the San Ramon Marriott (in San Ramon, California) on July 7th! We'd love to see you live and in-person!

As always, we look forward to hearing your thoughts, so please share either here or at:

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Thanks for Listening!