A Fistful of Titans! (Brad's Picks)

Yes!  I can not express how happy it is to report my enthusiasm for Guillermo Del Toro's latest genre smackdown, Pacific Rim.  It's not a flawless masterpiece (save those squees for The Devil's Backbone, Blade 2, & Pan's Labyrinth), but it is a joyous celebration of all things titanic - be that of the Harryhausen or Honda variety - and it's the Blockbuster this Summer Season so desperately needs.  Of course, Pacific Rim begs ITMOD to question, what are our favorite cinematic titans?

5.  Godzilla (Gojira):  Look, I love Godzilla.  And it feels really weird to drop him at the bottom of my Titan list.  But if I'm going to be honest with myself, I really only love the original film and the comic book incarnations.  I have not experienced the pleathora of rubber suit flicks like I should have as a kid.  With Matt's help, I'm going to make up for that now in my 30s.  He's got a slew of films lined up for me, and I'm hoping that if I were to put this list together next year, the big lizard will appear much higher on the chart.

4.  Chev Chellios (Crank 2 - High Voltage):  I don't know if you guys have been paying attention, but ITMOD holds Crank 2 in very high regard.  It's easily one of my Top 5 films of the last ten years; mostly due to its complete insanity, highlighted twenty minutes into the movie when Statham suddenly transforms into a monstrous rubbery Kaiju.  This has to be one of the wildest & whackiest moments in movies - a genuine Need-To-See-It-To-Believe-It.

3.  The Rancor (Star Wars - Return of the Jedi):  The Rancor is the beginning of my own fascination with stop-motion beasties.  Before I knew the names of Ray Harryhausen or Willis O'Brien, I knew the terror of this piggy-munching grotesque.  I look back at Return of the Jedi & it's easily my least favorite of the original trilogy, but Jabba's Palace is still a magnificent wonderland of creatures & curiosities, and the Rancor is it's ultimate treasure.

2.  Galactus (Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer):  This is a cheat.  The Galactus seen in the Fantastic Four sequel is a lame ass cloud of insects.  BUT!  That lame ass cloud of insects is based on one of comics greatest behemoths.  Behold, The World Eater!  In 1966, when Jack Kirby hit a creative wall of stereotypes, he turned to the Bible for inspiration and crafted a supreme being worthy of those Old Testament threat levels.  Galactus cares not for our human problems, he just hungers, and our pitiful ant hill will satiate him until he hits the next planet on the buffet line.

1.  King Kong:  All beasts go back to King Kong eventually.  The Eighth Wonder of the World is a scary ass monster that goes toe-to-toe with T-Rexes and Pterodactyls, but eventually reveals the lovelorn soul in all of us.  Willis O'Brien brought life to the tiny puppet, and birthed a generation of fanboys that would eventually go on to create Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Pacific Rim.  But not just an icon; eighty years later and the film still packs an emotional wallop that sends this geek to tears every time.

--Brad

Dork Art: Pacific Rim Owns The Internet

Tomorrow is the big day.  It's been five years since the last film from Guillermo Del Toro.  I was not a Hellboy II fan.  As an ubergeek of the comic, I found the Del Toro tone not quite right for the material. Looked great, but just not what I wanted.  But big robots vs. big monsters?  Robot Jox - The Blockbuster?  Hell yeah!  Can't go wrong, right?  Gosh, I sure hope not.  I've got my Alamo tickets already lined up; I'm pumped to bask in the Kaiju destruction.  And it certainly doesn't seem like I'm the only one.  The marketing machine is working in overdrive.  I can't click on a site without some sort of Pacific Rim imagery hurling at me.  Of course, my favorite bits of dorkery are the band posters - the blueblood Mondo prints are belting out their siren song, "Buy Me Brad, Buy Me..."

At the tippy top is Kevin Tong's 24 x 36 soon-to-be classic battle between Gypsy Danger & Leatherback.  It's a real beauty, but Ash Thorp's duel posters featuring the same clash of the titans seen just above this paragraph are the real winners.  I'll crush many a nerd to get my hands on those.  Just below is Per Colorway's rorshach image.  Nice & clever, but Thorps colors refuse to be ignored.  All three prints will be on sale next week at the San Diego Comic Con.  If last year was any indication, I have no chance in hell of scoring one, but that doesn't mean I won't give it the good ol' college try.

Also landing online today is the below highlight reel from Sideshow Toys revealing a couple of killer Statues.  These might be a little easier to acquire than a Mondo print, but they'll set you back several hundred dollars nonetheless.  Just appreciate them from afar folks.  They make for nice jpegs.

And finally, Odd City Entertainment has unveiled the next artist in their Pacific Rim line...Graham Erwin.  I dig it.  Focusing on the Jaegers, Erwin's print will certainly be easier to obtain than those pricey Mondos...but I wouldn't twiddle my thumbs either.  The below poster measures 36 x 12, and will cost you 50 bucks.  It goes on sale tomorrow at the Odd City website.

--Brad

Dork Art: Pacific Rim Fan Posters

We're just a few weeks away from Guillermo Del Toro's BEASTS vs BOTS robo-fisting extravaganza, Pacific Rim and the internet is all a flutter with anticipation.  Fan Posters are popping up all over the place; I found these three over at Slash Film's latest Page 2.  The top one is obviously my favorite with it's "Filmed in Toro-Vision" tagline.  Having just got out of a Gojira screening last night, I'm more pumped than ever to devour this flick.

--Brad

Still Canceling The Apocalypse - Pacific Rim's 2nd Trailer

Got a new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's Robot Jox, Pacific Rim.  Not a lot of new stuff, more robot smashing action and a little less of the Kaiju beasties.  I'm still waiting to see more from the human players but you can't deny the giddy joy of monsters vs. robots.  And despite my lukewarm reception to the Hellboy films, Guillermo Del Toro holds a lot of my geeky faith.  Plus, news that the At The Mountains of Madness flick might not be doomed is seriously lovely.  Won't believe it till I see it, but I'm optimistic that we'll finally see some serious Cthulhu.



--Brad

Pacific Rim - New York Comic Con Exclusive

Another nifty New York Comic Con exclusive.  Pacific Rim is easily one of my most anticipated films of next year, and it was some of the best footage I saw out of San Diego Comic Con.  Guillermo Del Toro, please don't fail me....

--Brad

Comic Con Posters: Pacific Rim & The Hobbit

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  That Hobbit poster is cool.  But the Pacific Rim poster blows my mind.  Come hell or high water, I will be in Hall H Saturday afternoon to see whatever Guillermo Del Toro has for us in regards to his Giant Robots vs Giant Monsters movies.  I am beyond excited to finally have GDT back in the director's chair, and even more excited that it's an original property and it's involving GIANT ROBOTS AND GIANT MONSTERS!!!!!!

--Brad

First Look: Pacific Rim

Bam.  There it is.  The first image to come from Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim, and yes, it looks like Idris Alba is preparing to step into his Mech Suit.  Oh yeah.  Giant Monster vs Giant Robots.  First, us geeks were finally blessed with an Avengers film and now it looks like we're going to get our ultimate modern kaiju flick.  Craaaaaaazy.

San Diego Comic Con needs to hurry up and get here--I'm gonna be first in line for that panel.

--Brad

Trailer for the Trailer: Prometheus

So apparently we now live in an age where we get Trailers for Trailers.  And even though this bit of marketing manipulation sickens me on some level, I still find myself getting rather pumped my the brief seconds glimpsed in the Trailer-Trailer below.  "The Most Anticipated Film of the Year."  Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that 20th Century Fox, ignore Dark Knight Rises as best you can.  But the real trailer will hit the net on Saturday.



--Brad