I was in Giant Eagle the other night after 10 ... with Stacey. My nighttime grocery clerk buddy, Bob, was not there. I haven't seen him in a while. Hell, I haven't been to the store after 10 p.m. in months. That's probably because I go to bed early now, which has actually been ... highly therapeutic. And as a further consequence of being undercover early, my movie-watching has taken a nose-dive.
As a movie buff, the top 100 movie list making the rounds, like at -d's blog, piqued my curiosity. I looked through the whole list. I thought that -d left out a few of the all-time greats when she copied the list, but everyone's list was the same.
I was shocked that several of my all-time favorites did not make the list, but this is understandable, as the list is heavily weighted with American films. There are a few foreign flicks, the standards for any list, on the Top 100, but conspicuous by its absence is one of the greatest Japanese films of all time, overlooked 100% of the time, directed by Noriaki Yuasa, Gamera. The movie is better by many magnitudes and more instructive than the Godzilla series, which I believe has cast a dark shadow over this classic. The special effects are excellent. The lessons it teaches about the advantages of U.S. cooperation with the U.N. in combating terror and evil are not lost upon the viewer.
The original 1965 movie was edited, with scenes being added for its release in the U.S. in 1966, and that edited version, called Gammera: The Invincible has been released on DVD.
Be forewarned, however, that, in the DVD, the famous "Ball of fire!" sequence about 24 1/2 minutes into the film, in which Gamera makes his first appearance in the skies of Japan, has been modified. The old man's "Ball of fire!" exclamation has been deleted, much to my chagrin, the original Japanese having been used.
Posted by Bill at January 16, 2004 04:18 PMWhat... me make a mistake.... it couldn't be.... never I tell you... never....
Well okay, it's quite plausible I might make a mistake, on a strange full moon kind of night.
ALRIGHT, yes, I admit it, Mr. Attorney, I do make mistakes. BUT THIS TIME, I swear, I got it right.
;^)
-d
I've never seen a ball of fire that large before!
Posted by: Matt at January 16, 2004 11:42 PM