I owe all of you a real blog, especially since I fell off of my “journal of the plague fortnight” wagon.
In the meantime, here are the episodes of my podcast I haven’t posted here.
Tag Archives: Jimmy From NASA
The Monster island Film Vault, Episode 7: ‘Half Human’ (Mini-Analysis)
I was making so merry for Christmas I forgot to share the latest episode of my podcast here! That will be amended! Enjoy!
Merry Christmas, kaiju lovers!
As part of Nathan’s continuing series on films covered in his absence on Kaijuvision Radio, this mini-sode examines Ishiro Honda’s 1955 film Half Human, which is infamous for being banned by Toho. Heck, it was stashed so far back in the Island’s film vault, it took Goji-kun and Bro Kong (the podcast mascots and possibly Godzilla and Kong’s “little” brothers) a long time to find it for Nathan to watch. Strange as it may sound, it’s serendipitous that this episode was released on Christmas Day because the film takes place partly on New Year’s Day. It follows a group of scientists and students investigating the appearance of the Abominable Snowman in the Japanese Alps, where they encounter a savage tribe who worships the Snowman. Nathan’s analysis focuses on the natives, their parallels to the Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people), and how this portrayal got the film banned. He argues that, despite possible insensitivities, Half Human is unfairly censored and deserves to be viewed by a wider audience.
All this plus our first listener feedback letters and the Monster Island Christmas party—wherein Nathan learns that kaiju can sing Christmas carols (or so his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, tells him even though he hasn’t fixed the ORCA yet).
Here’s the Kaijuvision Radio episode on the film: Episode 38: Half Human (1955) (Genetic Origin of the Ainu People).
Here’s the blog with the rules for the Destroyer novella giveaway.
This episode featured “We Three Kings” by Jay Man (OurMusicBox on YouTube).
See you in 2020, listeners!
#JimmyFromNASALives
© 2019 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading
- “Ainu people” (Wikipedia)
- “The Ainu of Japan: an indigenous people or an ethnic group?” by Kaori Tahara (Public Archeology, vol. 4, no. 2-3).
- “The Ainu People” (Ainu Museum; website now closed)
- “The Ainu: Reviving the Indigenous Spirit of Japan” by Sarah W. with art by Aya Francisco (Tofugu)
- “Half Human (1955) Kaiju Film Review” (YouTube) by Adam Noyes of AN Productions
- Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
- Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers
- “The Untold Story of Japan’s First People” by Jude Isabella (Sapiens)
- “Who are the indigenous Ainu people of Japan?” by Isabella Steger (Quartz)
The Monster Island Film Vault – Episode 4: Timothy Deal vs. ‘Son of Kong’
I know I haven’t been blogging much lately, but here’s the latest episode of my podcast to tide you over. I’ll write more about the lack of posts later.
Hello, kaiju lovers!
After Jimmy From NASA flies him back to Indiana to get his microphone, Timothy Deal of the Derailed Trains of Thought podcast returns to Monster Island to continue the “Kong Quest” with Son of Kong, the almost forgotten sequel to King Kong. If the 1933 masterpiece is a grand myth, the sequel is a pleasant bedtime story. Screenwriter Ruth Rose, when talking about writing this film, said, “If you can’t go bigger, go funnier,” which is an apt statement about this film and sequels in general. Nathan and Tim’s lively discussion connects Son of Kong to the Russian film Battleship Potemkin, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day—and gives Jimmy a lot of work for “Jimmy’s Notes.” They also theorize about what happened to “Mrs. Kong”/Kiko’s mother, which actually puts this and the first film into perspective…sorta. The Toku Topic builds off of the previous one with a philosophical discussion of how 1930s filmmakers addressed the Depression in their movies, touching on themes like escapism and collective rage.
Here’s the Kaijuvision Radio episode on King Kong vs. Godzilla for you to listen to as part of MIFV’s Kong coverage: Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) (The Japanese Economic Miracle (The Golden 60s))
Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00-3:49
Entertaining Info Dump: 3:49-9:43
Toku Talk: 9:43-56:24
Toku Topic: 56:24-1:19:44
Outro: 1:19:44-end
© 2019 Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading
“Culture and Politics in the Great Depression” by Alan Brinkley
“Escapism and Leisure Time 1929-1941” (Enclopedia.com)
“How the Great Depression inspired Hollywood’s golden age” by Paul Whitington
King Kong: History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson by Ray Morton
Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend (edited by Karen Haber)
Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island by John LeMay
Son of Kong Wiki Articles
–Gojipedia
–Wikizilla
–Wikipedia
Son Of Kong (1933) Review – Kong-A-Thon Episode 2 (DMan1954)
Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture (2nd edition) by Cynthia Erb
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim (pg. 45-60)
“Why Fantasy Matters Too Much” by Jack Zipes
The Monster Island Film Vault – My New Podcast Premieres!
After a year of prep and a summer of hype, my new podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault, premiered today. You can listen to it on several podcatchers, but it’s also on YouTube. The video version is below. Click here for the audio version.
Enjoy!
Hello, kaiju lovers!
Listen as Nathan Marchand, co-creator and season one co-host of the Kaijuvision Radio, regales you with the origin story of his new podcast. It includes a vacation to a resort on the fabled Monster Island (formerly Monsterland), where he met his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA (who miraculously survived the infamous War in Space), and got a new job as the curator of the Island’s film vault. Between bantering sessions with his detail-obsessed, fact-checking interrupter of a producer, Nathan explains the podcast’s philosophy of film appreciation and lays the groundwork for the upcoming episodes.
And what will Nathan, Jimmy, and their many guests be discussing first? The filmography of Monster Island’s other most famous resident: KING KONG!
Hold onto your butts!
The Monster Island Film Vault: A podcast seeking entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu.
Check out the epic three-hour KVR episode on Shin Godzilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQsL…#JimmyFromNASALives
www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com
© 2019 Nathan Marchand/Moonlighting Ninjas Media