Episode 102: Thor, Phase 4, and a Lot More

 

The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here -Thor: Love and Thunder - and your Planet 8 crew has a lot to say about it. And it ain't necessarily good. Much like the previous Thor film, this newest look at the God of Thunder takes a decidedly goofy slant. It's a little too goofy for our taste.

Beware -there are spoilers ahead! 

Not to say there aren't some interesting or exciting things in the film. There are. But the whole film feels so unbalanced that it's hard to appreciate  Christian Bale's performance as Gorr the God-Butcher, or Natalie Portman's appearance as Jane Foster, aka the Mighty Thor. Both of these characters have serious stories behind them; Gorr is a deeply grieving man, Jane is battling cancer. But they are undercut by the  absurd situations and performances that surround them.

We're not against humor. The Marvel films have always had humor in them. But typically it's been relegated to wise-cracking, not slapstick and utterly ridiculous situations. While some complain that Marvel films are too formulaic and there's no directorial freedom, in this case, it seems like Taika Waititi was given absolute free reign. Surely there's a happy medium, a balance between the serious and the absurd, formula and artistic license.

We move on from Thor to discuss Marvel Phase 4 and where it's going. What's the overarching plan? In Phase 3 we had Thanos and the Infinity Stones, what's the threat now? The multiverses colliding? It's also difficult to get excited when so many of our favorite characters are gone now. 

The conversation  takes us to the Disney Plus Marvel shows, and even some of the DC films. You just never know where it's gonna go with us!

For our Sensor Sweep, all you fans of both tiki and kaiju will want to know about the King Ghidorah tiki mug from Mondo ! This is a mug nearly as big as the three-headed monster himself.  It stands a whopping 8 3/4" high and holds 26 ounces! You can buy it for $65 at Mondoshop.com.

And don't forget Godzillafest is coming up in August! The Planet 8 crew will be at Creatures-Con August 7th, and Bob will be selling passes for Godzillafest for $10 off at our table. Be sure to come see us and the fabulous guests at Creatures-Con in Orinda, California, including author David J. Skal and Sarah Karloff! 

That's all for now. Let us know what you thought of Thor, our review, what's going on with Phase 4, and anything else!

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By the bristling beard of Odin!!

Episode 55: The Eighth Wonder of the World - Kong!

This is it! We're finally talking about the King - King Kong that is! The big ape has been one of Hollywood's (and the world's) biggest stars since he first showed up on the scene in 1933. At the time, the original King Kong was cutting edge, and it influenced many later generations. Kong is a part of pop culture, and new versions of the eighth wonder of the world keep getting made. There is something universally appealing about this unique and powerful figure.

We'll go through the long history of Kong in films (and a little bit on TV), starting of course with the classic original 1933 King Kong, directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, with ground-breaking stop-motion effects by pioneer Willis O'Brien. The exciting story, the ferocious  Kong, and the whole beauty and the beast angle, made the film a huge success. It was quickly followed up with a sequel, also in 1933, Son of Kong, which was amusing but no where near the success of the original.

In the 60s, through a somewhat circuitous route, Kong wound up across the Pacific and got a job with Toho Studios, making King Kong vs Godzilla in 1962, and King Kong Escapes in 1967. There's a connection to the 1966 Rankin-Bass King Kong Show cartoon too!

Near to our hearts, even though it's clearly a flawed film, is the 1976 version of King Kong. The film may be best remembered today for the amazing John Berkey poster showing Kong astride the World Trade Center towers. We'll talk about the controversy over the robot Kong and how the great make-up genius Rick Baker played Kong. Bob took the hit for the team and watched King Kong Lives, and gives a rundown of that sequel.

If you're excited to hear what we think about Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, well, you may want to ratchet back your expectations. We have some strong opinions on the film, and that's all we'll say here!

Finally, we finish strong as we enthusiastically discuss Kong Skull Island (2017), which took a very different approach to Kong, and will lead to a rematch with Godzilla next year!

Larry's Kong and Bruce mugs, seen front and back

On this episode's Sensor Sweep, our mission commander, Larry, shares his love of tiki mugs, and shows off two: a Bruce the Shark from Jaws mug from Mondo, and a Kong mug from Tiki Farm. If you love tiki mugs and monsters, check 'em out!

In a burst of shameless self-promotion, we want to mention the various side-gigs we all have going on.

Your crew at Monsterpalooza a few years ago -Larry, Karen, and Bob

Bob recently participated in a panel discussion on Ultraman for the Kaiju Con-line, an online  convention celebrating kaiju (obviously). If you want to watch the panel, click here. If you're a Gamera fan, a blu-ray box set should be coming out at the end of July, and Bob and his pal Keith Aiken are doing commentary on the film Gamera the Brave! 

Karen decided to start blogging again, to babble on about science fiction and other stuff. You can read her posts once or maybe twice a week at Echoes from the Satellite.

Larry has just started doing a video blog! It's on YouTube and it's called Larryland USA. Larry will be talking about things he loves and his many genre-based memories. Check it out!

That's all for us right now. We hope all of you are staying well, and hanging in there. If you have thoughts on King Kong, other giant apes, or anything else, drop us a line, why don't ya? You can leave a comment at our site, or hit us up here: 

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Thanks for listening!

Episode 1: Infinity War spoiler-filled breakdown!

All right True Believers, Avengers: Infinity War is here, and it's huge! Join your hosts, Larry, Bob, and Karen, as we discuss and dissect this mega-blockbuster in a spoiler-filled podcast. After 10 years and 18 previous films, this is a massive effort - we'll talk about what worked for us, what wasn't as effective, what surprised us, and what we expect from Avengers 4. Please listen in and then share your thoughts here, and/or join us on Twitter and Facebook:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Planet8Cast
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In our Sensor Sweep, we examine the amazing new Planet of the Apes Lawgiver tiki mug from Mondo! That's right, now you can bless your abode with the stylized image of the legendary orangutan, the Lawgiver, available in four different glazes. Check out https://mondotees.com/collections/lawgiver-tiki-mugs to get your very own. Below are images of the Planet 8 crew's Lawgiver mugs in their crew quarters!

Thanks for listening, and if you enjoyed what you heard, please comment and subscribe!