Seeing 'Gamera' in 4K at Toho Cinemas!

My ticket to see Gamera in 4K. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, December 5, I made my way to Toho Cinemas Susukino in Sapporo, Hokkaido, to check out a screening of Giant Monster Gamera (1965), which was later Americanized as Gammera the Invincible (1966). The screening was of a 4K restoration that -- spoiler alert! -- looked incredible.

The Toho Line will not take you to Toho Cinemas. Photo by Brett Homenick.

In order to get to Toho Cinemas Susukino, I had to take the Namboku Line from Sapporo Station and completely bypass the Toho Line. (How can you not have Toho Cinemas along the Toho Line!?) Oh, well, at least we can say that Toho Cinemas puts the kino in Susukino. (Hyulk!)

Godzilla merch for sale. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Naturally, there was merch aplenty at the theater, and I have to confess that I bought my share of it, including at Gamera 50th anniversary T-shirt. I guess I did a decent job of not overindulging, but I still don't want to accumulate too much clutter.

Gamera merch for sale. Photo by Brett Homenick.

What was pretty fun was being able to look out the window of the theater lobby (which was situated on the 5th floor) and basically being able to see Gamera 2 (1996). Visiting Sapporo in December has its perks!

Gamera in 4K. Photo by Brett Homenick.

As for Gamera, what can I say? It's a wonderful movie, and, while it may not quite be my favorite Gamera movie, it's right up there. Of course, I've always preferred the Showa era to the Heisei era (by a country mile and then some), so that shouldn't surprise anyone. For what it's worth, it was also kind of cool seeing the flick in Hokkaido, given that's where a good chunk of the story takes place. 

I wonder if Legion (for they are many) are still hiding out in the "underground malls of Sapporo." Photo by Brett Homenick.

After Gamera, it was Saizeriya time, which made me happier than you could possibly imagine. There's not much more I enjoy in life than scrolling through my phone and guffawing at the goony nonsense I read while dining on some fine Italian cuisine at this even finer establishment. (This time, some social media post about Fishbone at WrestleMania XI legit made me laugh out loud.)

A really fun evening. Had a blast.

SAPPORO TV TOWER! Visiting an Iconic Heisei-Era Location!

Sapporo TV Tower. Photo by Brett Homenick.

One of my goals in visiting Sapporo was to visit the Sapporo TV Tower, which is memorable from its inclusion in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Though it can also be seen in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) and Gamera 2 (1996), nothing can surpass Godzilla's destruction of the tower at 7:00. 

While I didn't enter the observation deck (maybe next time!), it was impressive seeing the landmark in person. Here are the photos!

Sapporo Scenes in December!

Welcome to Sapporo! Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, December 5, I spent the night in Sapporo, Hokkaido, which was my first time to visit the city. While most of it was pretty simple -- eating at Saizeriya, shopping at Book Off -- I did have the opportunity to see and do quite a few cool things. Let's take a look at the highlights!

A Visit to Otaru!

Welcome to Otaru! Photo by Brett Homenick.

During my trip to Sapporo, I passed through the port city of Otaru on December 6, which is also located in Hokkaido. My time there was brief, but I was impressed by how beautiful it was. I certainly should give it a closer look in the future. Here's just a taste of what I saw. Enjoy!

Toei Actress Yutaka Nakajima from the Grindhouse Classic 'The Street Fighter' Passes Away at 73

Yutaka Nakajima in November 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Veteran Toei actress Yutaka Nakajima (sometimes credited as Doris Nakajima in the West) passed away at her Kanagawa Prefecture home on November 27 after a years-long struggle with colon cancer. She was 73. 

Born on October 5, 1952, Ms. Nakajima co-stars alongside Sonny Chiba in The Street Fighter (1974) as Sarai Chuayut. She also can be seen in Teruo Ishii's The Executioner (1974) and The Executioner 2 (1974) as Emi, The Killing Machine (1975) as Kiku Sakamoto, and Detonation! Violent Games (1976) as Akemi.

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Ms. Nakajima's other credits include Kazuki Omori's Orange Road Express (1978), Toru Murakawa's The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979), Haruki Kadokawa's The Last Hero (1982), and the J-horror shocker Tomie: Re-birth (2001) as Tomoko Hosoda.

I was able to meet Ms. Nakajima at an event in November 2019, Unfortunately, I don't have any particular memories from the meeting, other than the fact that she was pleasant and polite. I ended up reaching out to her management in early 2024, prior to my leaving Tokyo, to request an interview but never heard back. Considering that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer circa 2022, that's not a surprise.

The Street Fighter remains one of the most popular exploitation movies of the '70s, and Yutaka Nakajima played a substantial role in making that film the enduring success that it is. May she rest in peace.

An Ultra-Good Q&A on Vantage Point Interviews!

Photo © Todd Gilbert.

Screenwriter Bud Robertson gives us a rare look at Americanizing Ultraman in the 1990s for Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (1995) in this brand-new interview with many never-before-seen images -- only on Vantage Point Interviews!

Vantage Point Interviews x Yahoo Entertainment!

With Robert Axelrod in 2004.

Well, this was unexpected. After more than 20 years, my interview with Lord Zedd voice actor Robert Axelrod finally got picked up by a mainstream news organization! (Though it sort of makes you wonder what's so newsworthy about an interview that old.)

You could imagine my surprise when quotes from the interview ended up in an article on Yahoo Entertainment ... as well as Yahoo Life UK! (Technically, I suppose, the original article was written for Slash Film, and then Yahoo Entertainment picked it up.)

I guess I should note that I originally pitched this interview to a tokusatsu-oriented fanzine editor circa 2003, who immediately rejected the idea. I then took my pitch to John Rocco Roberto, who was editing Kaiju-Fan Online (also cited in the article), who loved the idea and encouraged me to do it. So John got the interview while the aforementioned fanzine editor probably published some article written by a "Monster Boomer" who reminisced about what it was like to watch Destroy All Planets (1968) on a UHF channel back in the '70s.

At any rate, this is all pretty random, but it's a lot of fun seeing some of my old stuff get attention like this so many years after the fact. Hopefully, the next time won't take another 20 years!

Visiting the Vasquez Rocks!

Vasquez Rocks! Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

On Wednesday, November 5, I visited another well-known filming location for Hollywood productions: the Vasquez Rocks. While there isn't much of a Japanese connection -- unless you count something like Solar Crisis (1990) -- it has much more to do with Universal horror movies. It was used as Borgo Pass in Dracula (1931), as well as the Tibetan mountains in Werewolf of London (1935). It was a blast seeing another popular filming location up close and personal!

Borgo Pass, as seen in Dracula (1931). Photo by Brett Homenick.