The Official Winner Of The Episode 04 VERSUS Match Is...
...SUITMATION!!!
That's right, Kyle's argument won over the listener base and we can finally declare a winner after Coleman issued a challenge at the beginning of this week's episode.
Read below for some excerpts from the comments section of Episode 04 that fought for suitmation.
...SUITMATION!!!
That's right, Kyle's argument won over the listener base and we can finally declare a winner after Coleman issued a challenge at the beginning of this week's episode.
Below are some excerpts from the comments section of Episode 04 that fought for suitmation:
“...as much as I love Stop-Motion/Go-Motion, the animation always looks out of place when sharing the screen with actors and other live footage, and damages the immersion somewhat.
Suitmation does not have this issue, and when composed well with other footage, blends in to make a better visual experience, for example, the shot of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man walking through New York in Ghostbusters vs the Terror Dog chasing Louis Tully in the same movie, the former has aged much better than the latter in my opinion.”
“You can have to clay covered skeletons jerk towards each and throw a few shaky punches, or you can have a shiny 40m almond-eyed, specium-firing judoka put a 50m lizard into an arm bar until it cries. And as charming and beautiful stop motion can be, the latter is infinitely more awesome.
I vote for Tokusatsu.
I vote for Suit Actors.”
“While I’d still agree stop-motion holds to trophy for allowing more varied creature design I think suitmation’s trophy for varied practical use wins out. Whether it’s Godzilla, Xenomorphs or Ewoks suitmation does it with relative ease and I’ll give it my vote for that reason.”
There were some great arguments for stop-motion on there as well, but in the end suitmation took it. I'd personally like to thank everyone who contributed and say that we're really looking forward to the next VERSUS episode and hearing more from all of you.
'Godzilla Vs. Evangelion' - A Toho April Fools Joke Gone Strange
So, there was a little excitement over here at Tokyo Lives, when the official 'Shin Godzilla' website posted the above image a few hours ago with no explanation. Kyle and I fought about posting it, but decided to hold off as it was hard to tell what this image even meant to the new movie.
So, there was a little excitement over here at Tokyo Lives, when the official 'Shin Godzilla' website posted the above image a few hours ago with no explanation. Kyle and I fought about posting it, but decided to hold off as it was hard to tell what this image even meant to the new movie.
Fan sites started reporting that it was an accident, and Toho's twitter related something similar, but still, the image remained. Suddenly, merchandise began to appear, and a title revealed itself on the website under the alleged "accidental" image. The title read 'Godzilla vs. Evangelion.'
Now, if you've been following Toho's 2016 Godzilla production, you know that one of the directors is Hideaki Anno, who has a long history with the popular EVA series. This fact, along with several official postings led many people down the rabbit hole of believing something crazy was happening. Were we getting an anime? Live action cross-over? WHAT ARE YOU!?!
Before anyone had time to even spread the news or begin discussing it, Toho pulled the plug and admitted it was just a bit of fun and cross-marketing to help promote the advance ticket sales for 'Godzilla: Resurgence' in Japan.
What a weird, and incredibly brief, April Fools Day joke on a starving fanbase desperate for news on the upcoming feature film.
'Godzilla: Oblivion #1' - What Did You Think?
IDW Publishing is responsible for a brand new Godzilla comic series called 'Godzilla: Oblivion' and the first issue has now hit the stands. Picked it up yet? You should, as the issue is already getting decent reviews from around the web and seems to be setting up an interesting take on the king of monsters. Check out a summary below.
IDW Publishing is responsible for a brand new Godzilla comic series called 'Godzilla: Oblivion' and the first issue has now hit the stands. Picked it up yet? You should, as the issue is already getting decent reviews from around the web and seems to be setting up an interesting take on the king of monsters. Check out a summary below.
A scientist has created a portal to another dimension—one where monsters rule supreme! A terrifying expedition begins into a world where hope has died and Godzilla is the unrivaled King of the Monsters. But what happens when a baby kaiju hitches a ride back to the original, monster-less dimension?
You can see a preview of the first issue here. Let us know what you think of this latest outing for everyone's favorite nuclear powered dinosaur in the comments section below.
Toho Pictures to Release All 30 Godzilla Films As Part Of 'Masterpiece Selection' Series In Japan
Gearing up for the 'Godzilla: Resurgence' release this summer, Toho Pictures is supposedly starting their marketing campaign next month. The first announcement on the docket is a re-release of the thirty plus films in the 'Godzilla' franchise and will include new bonus content with new interviews and commentary as well as 'Godzilla: Resurgence' promo stickers, cards, etc. The movies will be available June 15th.
Gearing up for the 'Godzilla: Resurgence' release this summer, Toho Pictures is supposedly starting their marketing campaign next month. The first announcement on the docket is a re-release of the thirty plus films in the 'Godzilla' franchise and will include new bonus content with new interviews and commentary as well as 'Godzilla: Resurgence' promo stickers, cards, etc. The movies will be available June 15th.
Unfortunately, the new releases will be limited to DVD with the exception of Legendary's 2014 'Godzilla' that will receive both a DVD and Blu-ray re-release. The rest of the set will be Japanese only region 2 DVDs without english options. However, Legendary's 2014 'Godzilla' Blu-ray shares the same region code with North America.
Find the entire collection on Amazon's Japanese listing for The Masterpiece Selection Godzilla Re-Releases.
While there's not too much in this news for western audiences to get excited about, the assumption that this marks the official ramping up of marketing for 'Godzilla: Resurgence' is incredibly interesting and I'm eager to see what's coming.
New 'Skull Island: Reign of Kong' Theme Park Ride Details and Videos Emerge
Universal Studios has revealed some new information about their upcoming Orlando Islands of Adventure attraction 'Skull Island: Reign of Kong.' The ride will open sometime later this year and has come together surprisingly quick since it's announcement. The first bit of information concerns their revolutionary ride vehicles and comes in the form of a video posted on the Official Universal Orlando Blog. Watch it below along with an amateur video showing the ride's depiction of the infamous island gates that keep Kong at bay and another official video detailing the ride's creatures pulled straight out of Peter Jackson's 2005 remake.
Universal Studios has revealed some new information about their upcoming Orlando Islands of Adventure attraction 'Skull Island: Reign of Kong.' The ride will open sometime later this year and has come together surprisingly quick since it's announcement. The first bit of information concerns their revolutionary ride vehicles and comes in the form of a video posted on the Official Universal Orlando Blog. Watch it below along with an amateur video showing the ride's depiction of the infamous island gates that keep Kong at bay and another official video detailing the ride's creatures pulled straight out of Peter Jackson's 2005 remake.
It seems a little strange to me that we're getting ready for an all new reboot of the Kong franchise and the Universal parks are pulling us sixteen years into the past with a ride based around the previous incarnation. No matter how you feel about Peter Jackson's version, it has all but left the collective pop culture consciousness and while this ride may be a blast, it's definitely not the most relevant attraction.
Take my opinion with a grain of salt though. I deeply miss the 76' based King Kong ride at Universal.
Brad Bird's 'Iron Giant' Finally Gets A Blu-Ray Release On September 6th
Brad Bird‘s animated classic The Iron Giant is officially getting a proper home video release and it looks like it may have been worth the wait. Fans of Blu-ray box sets with ostentatious packaging and tons of bonus features, rejoice! There is no 2016 release as exciting as this.
Brad Bird‘s animated classic The Iron Giant is officially getting a proper home video release and it looks like it may have been worth the wait. Fans of Blu-ray box sets with ostentatious packaging and tons of bonus features, rejoice! There is no 2016 release as exciting as this.
After playing a key role in the early years of The Simpsons and before he directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar, Bird made The Iron Giant at Warner Bros. and it was a huge box office bomb. And then a funny thing happened: people began to realize this tale of a massive robotic being who falls to earth during the Cold War and befriends a young boy is nothing short of a masterpiece and one of the best animated films of the past few decades. Heck, it’s one of the best science fiction films of the past few decades.
Two versions of the The Iron Giant Blu-ray will arrive on September 6, 2016: a regular “Signature Edition” Blu-ray as well as the “Ultimate Collector’s Edition,” which will come packaged with an art book, Mondo art cards, and even a little statuette of the giant himself.
The regular Blu-ray will retail for $14.99 while the Ultimate Collector’s Edition will cost you $74.99. Both versions will feature the same special features, including the theatrical cut of the film, the remastered and extended edition that played in some theaters last year, a director’s commentary, and a new making-of documentary called The Giant’s Dream.
Whether you believe this to be a giant monster film or not, I think we can all get excited about this release as it's a spectacular and beautiful movie that will look even better in high definition.
Jump into the comments below and let us know what you think.
Marvel Brings A New Player To The Kaiju Genre With Upcoming 'New Avengers' Comic
Yes, that is an American flag tattooed(?) across the forehead of Marvel's newest threat to the 'Avengers,' debuting April 6th in 'New Avengers' #9.
Yes, that is an American flag tattooed(?) across the forehead of Marvel's newest threat to the 'Avengers,' debuting April 6th in 'New Avengers' #9.
Apparently, the military takes a volunteer (hilariously named Todd Ziller) and transforms him into this patriotic monstrosity to combat renegade super science. I'm just going to go ahead and assume it doesn't work out like they assume and cities lay in burning wastes because of mankind's poor decisions. Basically, everything we love here at Tokyo Lives!
Will the 'New Avengers' be bested by this clearly Godzilla inspired American Kaiju? Do you think it just looks dumb? Let us know below in the comments.
More 'Kong: Skull Island' Village Set Pics Surface
Production for 'Kong: Skull Island' continues in Vietnam, locals have managed to sneak some photos of various sets and props scattered about the film's production locations. Some of these photos show sets depicting Native settlements - possibly locals to Skull Island.
Production for 'Kong: Skull Island' continues in Vietnam, locals have managed to sneak some photos of various sets and props scattered about the film's production locations. Some of these photos show sets depicting Native settlements - possibly locals to Skull Island.
While filming in Van Long, the film called for 300 extras to play roles in a natural scene, also indicating this could be one of the tribes who live on the island. Thanks to Reel Tours Hawaii on Twitter, here's another close look at the set:
Last but certainly not least, here is a photo of three locals posing next to a massive skull. Now, obviously this isn't THE King Kong skull, but definitely one of his fallen brothers or sisters. This also means Kong will be much older than when this Kong died - which means the Kong we're all waiting for is likely much larger.
'Kong: Skull Island' is definitely paving its own way, taking on a familiar, yet still unique look on the classic franchise. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
'Godzilla: Resurgence' News Coming Soon?
So normally, if I see a news article that is giant monster related I'll link to it, and maybe write a few of my comments near the bottom of the article and leave it at that, but this one is a little different. I don't have a news article to link to, just some rumors I've heard.
Apparently, on April 29th in Japan there is a convention called the Nico Nico Festival (sp?). It's a pretty big deal over there and rumor has it, Toho Pictures will reveal some new information about the very secretive 2016 Godzilla production.
Not only that, but they will also have in tow the final design maquette of Godzilla used in the film. This is big, big news if true, as we've gotten very little information about the film besides a press release, a short teaser of footage not even used in the final movie, and some leaked pictures of the big guy. Take this all with a grain of salt, but I've got this from a couple of different sources now and it's starting to sound real.
If true, what do you think Toho will reveal? Excited to see the final design? Let us know in the comments.
Upcoming PS4 Game 'City Shrouded In Shadow' Confirms Godzilla And Teases Evangelion
The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu reveals and teases new monster characters set to appear in Bandai Namco and Granzella’s upcoming City Shrouded in Shadow.
In City Shrouded in Shadow, the protagonist’s goal is to, together with the heroine, escape the threat of giant shadows attacking the city. Players can choose their starting clothes and hairdo, and the player can even make friend and love interest decisions.
In addition to the previously introduced Ultraman, the giant shadows will also take on the form of the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla.
Additionally, another screenshot in the magazine (lower right of the scan) teases what appears to be a silhouette of an Evangelion.
It seems like they're covering all the bases with the monsters announced so far. Who do you still want to see make it into the game? Let us know in the comments.
