Hoi there Chummers!

Whether you know him as Godzilla or Gojira, the Big G has been entertaining folks on both sides of the Pacific ocean for 60 years now. Like other long lived characters like Doctor Who and James Bond the fertile creative minds of the 1950s-60s were able to create characters that still live in the imaginations of folks everywhere. The first film was born out of another project falling through and anger in the Japanese public with indiscriminate postwar nuclear testing.

That first Godzilla is a master class in how to do a giant monster movie right. Since that first Godzilla film, the Big G has been everything from destructive threat to Japan’s protector to sitcom father. This article is an excellent primer on the series’ history. I was a huge fan of the 90s resurrection of the series in Japan, especially Godzilla vs. Destroyah, so I went into the latest movie with a mixture of apprehension and a little hope.

The new movie is OK! It isn’t going to dethrone Pacific Rim, but it’s an enjoyable way to spend two hours. The movie starts and ends very strongly, and is chock full of beautiful shot scenes throughout. The direction draws a lot of influences from the world of Steven Spielberg (many shots feel like they fell out of a theoretical Jurassic Park remake) and from modern military flicks like Blackhawk Down. More than many other giant monster movies, the film does an excellent job of showing what the aftermath of an attack would be like and for fans of cinematic destruction you are in for a treat. One standout moment from early in the film is exploring an abandoned Japanese city, evoking eerie images of the affected areas near the Fukushima disaster. The intro is also very clever, sort of Call of Duty: Black Ops meets Kaiju films.

The main problem I had with the film is that while the monster action was excellent, the human scenes lacked the energy needed to anchor the story. In a film where most of the monster scenes are saved for the third act, I couldn’t help but check out a little bit when the film’s focus shifted to the fleshy tiny beings in Godzilla’s way. I don’t mind human scenes, or bickering between scientists and the military-Godzilla films of the past certainly had their share but it’s a shame to see Ken Watanabe and others with little to do once the monstering begins. The relationship between the protagonist and his wife and son is also a little thin, and of course there can never be enough Cranston!

The movie kicks into high gear when the mystery nonsense from the first half of the film is cleared up, with Godzilla fighting against a pair of giant monsters (this has already been shown in many of the trailers and artwork) which works well in making the film’s battle scenes more dynamic. Again, I feel a little spoiled by Pacific Rim that had a much larger pool of monsters to draw from, each with a unique set of attacks but the battle scenes in Godzilla are fun to watch-it was nice to have the fights happening in the daytime.

To sum up, Godzilla is a perfectly watchable summer opener that does it’s best to pay respect to the tone and feel of original 50s film. It suffers a bit in comparison to the extremely fun focused and monster rich Pacific Rim, with a large cast that isn’t as well utilized as they could be. I’d still recommend seeing it on the big screen for it’s amazing art design and special effect shots but I didn’t feel the same close connection to the people and monsters on the screen like in the giant monster movies that have come before.

Rating: 3/5
Drinking game: (stolen from twitter): take a shot everytime there is a scene taking place with or inside a helicopter.

Once in a while a game comes that you knew nothing about but upon watching/playing any length of you realize you enjoy wholeheartedly. Jazzpunk is that kind of game. A quirky adventure game in the loosest possible terms, this game is not long but for a fan of Airplane, Hot Shots, Get Smart and any number of silly spoofs you will certainly find a lot to love.

It’s a difficult thing to recommend a game but to tell people not to watch any of it before playing but that’s exactly what I must do. A lot of the games charm and humor comes from the unexpected, non sequitur nature of the jokes that you find in the environment. Nearly every nook and cranny of the game has some gag stuffed in. An example:

I’d recommend against consuming the game in a single sitting, as it is feasibly possible to do so. This is a game where you should take some time poking around and finding the oddball jokes to be had before it ends. The post war modernist visual styling is very appealing, as are it’s characters (which resemble the male/female symbols found on restrooms). If you’re a fan of videogames in general, sushi, rapid fire absurdist/parody humor and cheesy computer puns you should pick it up! It’s the only game from 2014 (to my knowledge) that has an extensive and well detailed Tiki Bar map!

Recommended: Yes

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was better than it really had any right to be, delivering a satisfying spy thriller and modern action film. Though I am a big fan of Joe Johnston’s work (The Rocketeer is on my top 10 of all time favorite films) the first film felt a bit like it suffered from being overstuffed with foreshadowing for the Avengers, like Iron Man 2 before it. Not super memorable compared to that series of films but with a solid hero, it wasn’t clear how Captain America was going to mesh with a comic universe with demigods and crazy mystical artifacts. In his second outing, would Cap be able to stand on his own?

Thankfully, the answer to that is YES! Instead of being a retread of the style and story of the first movie, the second Captain America film is a serious espionage film in the vein of a Bourne or Daniel Craig Bond film. A complex conspiracy threatens SHIELD and without getting into spoilers Captain America and Black Widow are the ones to try to tackle it, with some excellent buddy chemistry between Hemsworth and Johannsen. Even more than in the Avengers, Nick Fury and Black Widow feel like they have a strong reason to be there, with no superpowered heroes around to save the day. I was afraid that like in the Star Wars prequels, Sam Jackson would just be the guy who stands in front of monitors telling the heroes where to go.

Captain America also shows why he needs to be in the film, acting as the moral compass for the film-a morally uncomplicated and uncompromising man who you can latch onto in a situation where no-one else can be trusted.

The movie felt it’s length (three hours or so) once in a while, but was able to wring a lot of character development in those quiet moments between explosions. I’d highly recommend it to people who love the comics, or who get a charge out of the idea of Tom Clancy mixed with the Marvel universe.