XPost: alt.movies.monster   
   From: xplar@netscape.net   
      
   The point of film is to see, not tell, and bad scenes fail at not conveying   
   the emotional charge through the image. Kaneko is the best kaiju eiga   
   director working because he understands the scale and depth kaiju would have   
   in the real world.  He tried to do this with Yuri's broadcast, but it plays   
   melodramatic, instead of contrasting against her initial "swamp monster"   
   report in the beginning.  It's partly Kaneko's doing, but it could also be   
   something lost in the translation, or, her acting skills. The scene would   
   have played better if she said nothing, realizing they were no need for   
   words. The same could be said of the scene on the Naval ship. Instead of   
   having somewhat state the crew doesn't believe in G, he could have shown   
   them mocking or ignoring their mission report.   
      
      
   "Twozbar"  wrote in message   
   news:c5796807.0309032149.3359c4df@posting.google.com...   
   > johnlees@mb.sympatico.ca (jdlees) wrote:   
   > >   
   > > Why do we need someone to tell us what we already know?   
   >   
   > I disagree.  Why does it matter that the audience has already seen the   
   > news crew and the telecast?  The point of cutting to military HQ was   
   > to develop those characters, to show how they're responding to the   
   > crisis.  Among other things, it demostrates the obvious friction as to   
   > how the media handles the situation versus how the military handles   
   > it.  It's pretty ridiculous to obsess over a single line of dialogue   
   > and in the process, deem all the characters involved as "throw-away."   
   >   
   > > At another point, we cut away from the fight to Yuri, and she says,   
   > > "Godzilla's so huge." Ooookay, like, we already know that.   
   >   
   >   At that point in the film, it hits home that the crisis is   
   > very real and very serious--no longer just a news story that she's   
   > chasing around.   
   >   
   > Nobody is ever   
   > shown to be in awe of Godzilla, and as a result, the character loses   
   > some of its ability to inspire awe in the audience.   
   >   
   > Yuri's comment about Godzilla being "so huge" is not spoken like the   
   > realization of an oblivious fashion model; rather, it conveys the   
   > feeling of "oh my God, I didn't expect this," which is how a person   
   > would probably react in real life.   
   >   
   >>   
   > > During the underwater "fight" with Ghidorah, a great length of time is   
   used to > position Yuri on the bridge, and then she gives a speech on TV,   
   which everyone > we ever saw in the film is watching. What does she say?   
   That the army and   
   > > the Yamato monsters are fighting Godzilla, and that she will do her   
   > > best to cover the story. Again, no important or new info is offered,   
   > > just some throw-away dialog.   
   >   
   > Except that she's obviously much different than the person at the   
   > beginning of the film who would do anything for a story to exploit.   
   > Is it absolutely necessary for a character to make long, profound   
   > speeches in order to spell everything out for the audience?   
   >   
   > > Then there's that extensive, expensive,   
   > > and ultimately unsuccessful spfx shot of the battleship on the CGI   
   > > ocean. On the bridge of the ship, a sailor says, "No sign of Godzilla.   
   > > Some people still don't believe he exists." What a waste of film   
   > > budget and time to set up a shot with dialog that tells us nothing we   
   > > don't already know. There are many other such scenes in GMK.   
   >   
   > Why is it meaningless to learn that some characters "don't believe   
   > that Godzilla exists" at that point in the story?  Characters like the   
   > woman in the supermarket screaming that "Godzilla is just a myth"   
   > while the monster is right outside the door are what gives a film its   
   > depth and scope.  It's just a quick line of dialogue (perhaps   
   > meaningless to the clueless), but it paints a much more vivid picture   
   > than to show people simply running away in fancy effects scenes.   
   >   
   > > Watching the film in Japan, but not understanding most of the Japanese   
   > > dialog, I assumed such scenes contained something relevant or   
   > > important. As it turns out, they were all virtually superfluous. I was   
   > > particularly flabbergasted by Yuri's scene on the bridge. I thought   
   > > sure she was saying something inspiring to the nation, or resolving   
   > > some of the inconsistencies in the plot. When I read the banal dialog   
   > > she actually spouted, I was amazed.   
   >   
   > By this line of reasoning, you should have been simply dumbfounded at   
   > Kumi Mizuno's scenes in GxMG.   Here's a good example of a character   
   > that offers absolutely nothing to the film, except perhaps as   
   > glorified narrator to a shoddy back story that provides Toho an excuse   
   > to dig out some old film clips.  People are so busy geeking out over   
   > the fact that Mizumo is actually in the film, they are unable to see   
   > it for the waste of talent that it is.  But that's the best Toho has   
   > been able to do with a majority of the latest films--use veteran stars   
   > as set dressing so that perhaps the otaku won't notice how bad the   
   > rest of the film is.   
   >   
   > GMK was the best thing going for the Godzilla series and Toho has   
   > apparently wasted that opportunity, too.  The shoddy Sci-Fi Channel   
   > broadcast certainly isn't going to win over a new audience in North   
   > America.   
   >   
   > - Jim C.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)