Now that global warming has made going Green all the rage, it's interesting to see just how progressive and prophetic 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster), a treatise on the dangers of being eco-unfriendly, actually was.
Probably the strangest and certainly the trippiest film in the lizard king's oeuvre, Yoshimitsu Banno's message movie teaches us what can happen as a result of our pollutin' ways. With its psychedelic fuzz-guitar soundtrack and an inconvenient monster who does bong hits off smoke stacks, Godzilla vs. Hedorah is something of a last-gasp of 60s culture and sensibilities. An interesting side note about the film (and one I wrote about in the early days of this blog) -- director Banno modeled Hedorah's eyes on female genitalia because, in his own words, "vaginas are scary!" Um......
There were several questions about the alt-text clue: the Japanese name for Godzilla (Gojira) is a combination of gorira (gorilla) and kujira (whale). That so many of you guessed it from the second half of the clue simply warmed my heart, for I had no idea there were so many Bill "Smog" Callahan fans out there. Let's all celebrate by listening to Red Apple Falls and getting very, very depressed.
This week: A rather generic looking Manhattan street scene -- 9 West 57th, to be exact. Yet there's something there that doesn't quite belong. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!
I got a massive smile on my face when I saw that image this morning. I couldn't help but hear "These little town blues."
And despite other associations one might have with Dennis Miller, many of his obscure references came from this movie. I think it must have been making the rounds on cable around the time he gave us that holy grail of Dennis Miller Monday Night Football commentary.
Posted by: filmbo | 2008.07.30 at 11:03 PM
where did dennis miller come from after seeing this image?
Posted by: joe | 2008.08.10 at 10:13 PM