20th Anniversary of President Reagan's Passing

Above, President Reagan and actress Victoria Principal in the Oval Office. White House photo.

Since I was busy with other stuff (electrical and other repair issues), I forgot to mention that yesterday marked 20 years since the passing of former President Ronald Reagan.

It is hard to believe that so much time had passed, it almost seems like yesterday. 

We could sure use a president like him now.

"Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." Stomps Into U.S. Theaters March 22

Above, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S Japanese poster. Toho Co., Ltd.

20 years...already?! It hardly seems possible.

It has been 20 years since Toho's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (known in Japan as Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.) was released in Japan. I first saw it at an American Film Market screening in Santa Monica as a guest of Toho Co., Ltd.

Now, to celebrate the movie's 20th anniversary, it will be showing at selected theaters around the country for one night only on March 22.

Collider reported:

Fans of the titular King of the Monsters can rejoice as the TOHO film Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is stomping into American theaters for the first time in celebration of its 20th anniversary from Fathom Events, according to the franchise's official Twitter page. With tickets now available to pre-order, the screening of the film will take place for one night only on March 22.

This isn't the first time Fathom Events has hosted a Godzilla showing for domestic audiences. Recently, the film's predecessor Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was screened on Godzilla Day last year in celebration of its 20th anniversary. In addition to the upcoming screening of the film, a short titled Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, which initially debuted at the 2022 Japan Godzilla Festival, will play in front of the movie, offering fans another reason to revisit the kaiju classic on the big screen.

Below is a music video that came out at the time of the movie's release in 2003: 

To read more, go here.

In New Mexico, it will be playing at 7:00 PM March 22 at these Albuquerque theaters:

• Regal UA Cottonwood

  10000 NW Coors Blvd, Albuquerque, NM 87114

  Map  Add to Calendar
  7:00 PM

  Tickets via 

• Century Rio 24 Plex and XD

  4901 Pan American Freeway NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109

  Map  Add to Calendar
  7:00 PM

  Tickets via 

• Regal Winrock IMAX & RPX

  • 2100 Louisina Blvd NE, Bld 400, Albuquerque, NM 87110

    Map  Add to Calendar
    7:00 PM

    Tickets via 

For Relaxing Times, Make It Suntory Time

Above, a Suntory whiskey advertisement at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While doing something else, it dawned on me that next year will mark 20 years since the release of the Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson movie, Lost In Translation. 

Filmed in Japan and directed by Sofia Coppola, here's a summary of the film from Rotten Tomatoes:

A lonely, aging movie star named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a conflicted newlywed, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), meet in Tokyo. Bob is there to film a Japanese whiskey commercial; Charlotte is accompanying her celebrity-photographer husband. Strangers in a foreign land, the two find escape, distraction and understanding amidst the bright Tokyo lights after a chance meeting in the quiet lull of the hotel bar. They form a bond that is as unlikely as it is heartfelt and meaningful.

Lost In Translation was released on September 9, 2003.

It is interesting that many people don't "get" the movie, yet it scored a 95% on the Tomatometer and 85% Audience Score at Rotten Tomatoes.

I enjoyed the movie after seeing it two years after my first visit to Japan in 2001 and before my second with G-TOUR in 2004. In fact, some of the locations used in the movie were visited by G-TOUR. I enjoyed seeing the sights and sounds of Japan as well as the soundtrack. 

Since next year marks 20 years since the movie's release, I guess I'll have more to say about it then.

Why the photo of a Suntory whiskey advertisement at top? The Bill Murray character was in Japan to make commercials for Suntory Whiskey with the catch line, "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time!"

20th Anniversary of Waylon Jennings's Death

This past week, I have been hearing a lot of Waylon Jennings music on the radio (I listen to KYAT out of Gallup, New Mexico and Window Rock, Arizona). 

Now I know why.

Today marks 20 years ago today since Jennings passed away at age 64 from complications of diabetes. He died on February 13, 2002. It doesn't seem that long ago. 

"Godzilla 2000" Released In The U.S. 20 Years Ago

Above, the U.S. poster for Godzilla 2000.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. theatrical release of Godzilla 2000 (the U.S. title for Japan's Godzilla 2000 Millennium) that was produced by Toho Pictures in 1999.

This was the first theatrical wide release of a Japanese Godzilla movie since Godzilla 1985. The event (along with the opening of G-FEST 2000 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel) was celebrated at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors when they proclaimed "Godzilla Week".

Above, the "Godzilla Week" proclamation scroll by the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Godzilla 2000 would never have been produced had Tri-Star's Godzilla (1998) been a critical and a better box office success. It was so badly derided that G-fan Richard Pusateri's nickname of G.I.N.O. (Godzilla In Name Only) stuck to the monster, even to this day.

Unfortunately, Godzilla 2000 only made about $10 million at the U.S. box office thanks to a botched marketing campaign by Sony/Tri-Star. The U.S. edit actually improved the Japanese original.

CBR.com takes a look at how Tri-Star's failure "kickstarted" the Toho Godzilla "Millennium Series" of movies.

They begin it with:

This month marks the 20th anniversary for the American theatrical release of Godzilla 2000, the film that kickstarted the Millennium era for Toho Studios' iconic monster franchise. The most short-lived and quirkiest era to redefine the eponymous kaiju for a new generation, Godzilla 2000 not only marked the first Japanese produced film in the franchise after a four-year hiatus by Toho but also served as an immediate rebuttal to Hollywood first attempt to reimagine the monster for the American audience from the ground up. What resulted was a film series that took Godzilla to the strangest places in his on-screen history to date, concluding with an explosive confrontation between the classic kaiju and his maligned, American counterpart.

One prized possession I have for Godzilla 2000 is a theatrical 35 mm film trailer produced by Tri-Star. It was played at G-FEST in 2008 before the screening of Godzilla Final Wars. It resides in my refrigerator. Below is the trailer on YouTube.




If you can't take the heat...RUN!

To read the full article, go here. 

20 Years Ago...

Above, my dad and I at my North Hills, California apartment in 1993.

Today marks 20 years since my dad passed away in Hawthorne, California.

In many respects it seems recent, but in others (including the calendar) does make it feel 20 years. It was only ten years ago that my mom and I noted the tenth anniversary, not knowing that she would be gone a month later.

Above, following my dad's funeral services at Riverside National Cemetery.

20 years or not, he is still missed by family and friends.

20th Anniversary of "Gamera 3"

When one gets to a certain age, time seems to accelerate. A lot of us "old-timers" think that "twenty years ago" means the 1970s or 1980s.

Actually, strange as it may seem, twenty years ago was 1999. And, on March 6, 1999, the release of  Daiei's Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris (the title given on IMDb) took place in Japan. The movie was directed Shusuke Kaneko.

The storyline (in case you geezers forgot):

This final installment of the recent Gamera trilogy begins with schoolgirl Ayana discovering a large egg in a cave that, according to legend, houses demons. The egg hatches into a small monster, which Ayana decides to raise and quickly develops as psychic bond with. As Ayana's monster, named Iris, grows to adulthood, the flying turtle Gamera begins to take an interest in this new potential threat. Who will be the victor in the final battle, and how much of Japan will be left standing at the end?

To this day, the movie's special effects are considered by many to be the best ever of all traditional Japanese "suitmation and miniatures" special effects. They were directed by Shinji Higuchi.

Well, happy 20th anniversary!