G-FEST XXVII will be Friday through Sunday, July 10-12 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare. I’ll be there and, as usual, I’ll be doing one of my award-deserving, mirth-filled presentation on the cheesy monster movies I love.
“Cheesy monster” isn’t a derogatory in my book. To me, it’s a genre of movies that, despite sometimes problematic writing, acting and special effects, are entertaining. I plan to write several books on these films. It’s not a cry for help. It’s love.
A few years back, I did a G-Fest presentation on “The Monsters of the SyFy Channel.” It was the last panel of that year’s convention. Fools that we were, no one had high expectations for it. Well, we packed a large ballroom with eager fans who laughed at and with the movies we showcased and even took part in an audience participation segment near the end of the presentation.
The success of that panel demanded a sequel. Last year, taking the name from the second Godzilla movie, I did a “Cheesy Monsters Raid Again” presentation. Once again, we packed a ballroom, got laughs,had fun and left the audience wanting more. I hadn’t even left the stage when I was being asked:
“What are you going to do next year?”
“Cheesy monster” isn’t a derogatory in my book. To me, it’s a genre of movies that, despite sometimes problematic writing, acting and special effects, are entertaining. I plan to write several books on these films. It’s not a cry for help. It’s love.
A few years back, I did a G-Fest presentation on “The Monsters of the SyFy Channel.” It was the last panel of that year’s convention. Fools that we were, no one had high expectations for it. Well, we packed a large ballroom with eager fans who laughed at and with the movies we showcased and even took part in an audience participation segment near the end of the presentation.
The success of that panel demanded a sequel. Last year, taking the name from the second Godzilla movie, I did a “Cheesy Monsters Raid Again” presentation. Once again, we packed a ballroom, got laughs,had fun and left the audience wanting more. I hadn’t even left the stage when I was being asked:
“What are you going to do next year?”
Okay, they weren’t paying attention. Because, at the end of my 2019 presentation, I announced my 2020 presentation:
KONG KIN VS. CHEESEZILLA
I’m going to be talking about and mocking (ever so gently) films starring giant apes and Godzilla wannabes. The giant apes must be at least as tall as the Son of Kong, though I will be stretching the “ape” designation to include other giant hairy creatures. An example of that might be Bigfoot, the 2012 flick in which the title creature kicked Alice Cooper to his apparent death several miles away from the scene of their confrontation.
As for the Godzilla imitators, they have to be big enough to knock down buildings and they have to be some sort of lizard. After all, we have standards to maintain. (We don’t.)
As I’ve done in the past, I’m calling on the readers of this blog and all my other online friends to suggest monsters worthy of the recognition this presentation offers. I need your help. I need your help because I will need to watch or rewatch dozens of movies to create this presentation. This is a literal cry for help. I’d like to finalize my list by the end of May.
If you have a suggestion, email it to me. I’ll do my best to track down and watch even the most obscure giant apes and lizards films. Because I’m clearly quite mad.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
KONG KIN VS. CHEESEZILLA
I’m going to be talking about and mocking (ever so gently) films starring giant apes and Godzilla wannabes. The giant apes must be at least as tall as the Son of Kong, though I will be stretching the “ape” designation to include other giant hairy creatures. An example of that might be Bigfoot, the 2012 flick in which the title creature kicked Alice Cooper to his apparent death several miles away from the scene of their confrontation.
As for the Godzilla imitators, they have to be big enough to knock down buildings and they have to be some sort of lizard. After all, we have standards to maintain. (We don’t.)
As I’ve done in the past, I’m calling on the readers of this blog and all my other online friends to suggest monsters worthy of the recognition this presentation offers. I need your help. I need your help because I will need to watch or rewatch dozens of movies to create this presentation. This is a literal cry for help. I’d like to finalize my list by the end of May.
If you have a suggestion, email it to me. I’ll do my best to track down and watch even the most obscure giant apes and lizards films. Because I’m clearly quite mad.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2020 Tony Isabella
Well, from Toho alone we have: King Kong vs. Godzilla; King Kong Escapes; Frankenstein vs. Baragon (Frankenstein Conquers the World); maybe a bit too far from your theme); and, The War of The Gargantuas (not quite apes, but perhaps close enough!).
ReplyDeleteActually, I assume that at least King Kong vs. Godzilla is disqualified as Godzilla being the real deal instead of a knock-off (though this Kong might be such in spite of the name).
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