EWB Film Club: Round 4 - Ellis & His Monster Movies

[Jimmy]

Might as well call it, everyone has until Saturday the 10th to watch The Great Escape!

[Monkey D. Lars]

Hooray!

[Benjamin]

Pfft, and I just watched Butch Cassidy.

I'm in love with Katherine Ross, though, that woman can do no wrong.

[GA!]

Won't be able to take part in this one, but will watch sometime after the deadline.

[Monkey D. Lars]

http://letterboxd.com/larziej/list/ewb-film-watch-a-long/

It's updated.

[Benjamin]

You gave Hercules too little stars, Larz.

[ndqw]

Hercules is at most a 3 and a half. It has one good song; I'll give it that.

[Monkey D. Lars]

The Great Escape, best so far. ranks up with my top 5 movies.

[livid]

So I've been busy moving and stuff for the past couple weeks which is why I haven't really participated but with some downtime coming up later in the week, I'll try and catch up on all 3 and let you know of my thoughts.

[Your Mom]

I'm afraid no one will like what I pick when its my turn

[Monkey D. Lars]

I'm afraid no one will like what I pick when its my turn

We will like it Srar.

[Monkey D. Lars]

People, go watch this beautiful movie.

[Benjamin]

The Great Escape = Best film we've chosen thus far. Absolutely fucking fantastic, Charles Bronson was amazing.

The scene

where Blythe died had me in tears.

And the scene where they shot the fifty, holy shit.

[Walker]

I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you all were. I've seen The Great Escape well into double figures so unfortunately it has lost its luster. If I could go back to 14 year old me when I saw it for the first time I'd have better things to say about it. But hey, it is a cinema classics for a reason, great cast if not actually one of the best acted overall films of all time and plenty of iconic moments. I once loved it. It was hard to sit through it again this time.

[Jimmy]

I haven't had the chance yet, haven't even found myself a cheap copy - and trying to find the time is tough. We'll keep things moving, though, and I'll definitely make sure to catch up to it really soon cos I'm looking forward to seeing it. But yeah, just so we can start voting while other people watch this, next up is Ellis!

[King Ellis]

Oooh, I still get to play despite being a lazy fuck who hasn't watched any of the movies thus far?! (I will one day, I swear!) Variety be damned, we've got a theme here:

With the recent release of Pacific Rim, what better time to ride the wave of monster movie hype? It's time for an epic showdown with five giant creatures from the silver screens past! Sadly, as much as I would like to further tie in to shark week, I did just watch Jaws during my last Halloween thing and outside of that, we're getting into Sharknado territory which I don't think anyone wants. Though, Sharks in Venice does intrigue me...

Anyway, what better place to start than the gurning fellow in my avatar as of writing? Hailing from Skull Island, standing at anywhere from 15 to 70 feet tall and weighing in at over 30 tons, the 8th Wonder of the World, King Kong! Whilst he's been the subject of sequels, remakes and animated spin offs, it's the 1933 original on the ballot here.

Next, in light of the passing just a few months ago of special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, we visit one of the movies he worked on way back in 1953. At 33 feet tall and nearly 100 feet long, it's The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms! When an atomic bomb test goes array in the Arctic Circle goes array, the titular beast is awakened and proceeds to wreak havoc on a hapless New York City. Pretty sure that plot got used in some Sharksplotation movie.

Who needs actual figures when it comes to describing a monster? How about just 'a bird as big as a battleship'? That about sums everything up. It's The Giant Claw from 1957.

We truly do have some international flavour in this list, not least because of our fourth entrant, Reptilicus! Hailing from the land of bacon, Denmark, this 1961 release sees a large dragon like creature laying waste to a city. That's profiling, man. Not all monsters want to attack cities you know!

And lastly, as we come crashing into modern day, with The Host! No, not that Twilight-esque wankery, we're talking a South Korean Kaiju movie in which the American military dumps chemicals into a sewer which leads to a mutated creature emerging years later to go on a killing spree. Maybe the whole thing could have been avoided if a wise rat was down there to mould him into a crime fighting hero named after a renascence painter, but alas, that wasn't the case.

So there you have it, what I think is actually a nice mix for you lads, be it film snobbery 'classics', a B-movie riff fest or some foreign hipster fare. Vote early to ensure disappointment!

[Walker]

South Korean Kaiju movie

Sold!

EDIT: I kinda just want to watch Mothra now.

[Benjamin]

Oh yeah, I'm on a kaiju high now, so definitely that.

[Your Mom]

I vote for the one that is on Netflix. Which one is that?

[Walker]

The Host is on Netflix!