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Japan Movies Sci-Fi

Could 'Godzilla Minus One' Win an Oscar? (cinemablend.com) 70

Posted by EditorDavid from the king-of-the-monsters dept.
ScreenRant reports that on December 4, "Godzilla Minus One" was the #1 movie in the crucial U.S./Canada "domestic" market (which also includes Guam and Puerto Rico). But the next week was even more impressive, reports Forbes, retaining most of its box office figure with "an incredibly strong 90% hold across the three-day Friday-Saturday-Sunday frame, for what appears to be the best second weekend hold for a wide release in 2023." Through the week, Godzilla Minus One topped the North American charts four out of five weekdays on overwhelmingly positive word of mouth. Good buzz grew through the week as more viewers and critics saw and recommend the film... Godzilla Minus One is already the highest grossing Japanese live-action release of all time in the U.S. The film is a final contender for the Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects, and is widely expected to be one of the final official nominees.
CinemaBlend believes the movie should be nominated for this year's Best Picture award at the Oscars. With a total of 105 critical reviews (at the time of this writing), Godzilla Minus One has a Tomatometer score of 97%...

Godzilla has literally been a metaphor for the atomic bomb since the very beginning. However, Godzilla Minus One isn't as concerned with that idea. Instead, the story is all about sacrifice as well as the hope we have for future generations. It's a story of coming together and living for today, so that our children can be inspired to want to live for tomorrow. The Takashi Yamazaki-helmed feature doesn't present a story about destruction, but rather one about wanting peace and finding conducive ways to deal with trauma. I know you might not believe me if you haven't seen it yet, but the film is just as deep and "important" as Oppenheimer and, for that, it should be nominated.
They argue the movie manages to be both "a layered film" and "a popcorn flick...

"it's more than JUST a film featuring a giant reptile This one actually has something to say."
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Could 'Godzilla Minus One' Win an Oscar? More

Could 'Godzilla Minus One' Win an Oscar?

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  • I mean I get that there is no accounting for taste. But wow, what people latch onto is not really for me.

    • Re:I don't understand popular culture (Score:5, Funny)

      by GrumpySteen ( 1250194 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @07:59PM (#64077561)

      Just get it over with and start waving your cane in the air while you scream "get off my lawn, you damned kids!"

      • I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!

    • Re:I don't understand popular culture (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @11:00PM (#64077897)

      I mean I get that there is no accounting for taste. But wow, what people latch onto is not really for me.

      People are starved for even average entertainment.

      I'm going to delve into something here, but hope it isn't marked as troll because I'm not trolling.

      People want to go see movies. But in the past few years, so many movies were like being preached at. Disney had a crew of writers and directors who were to be blunt - were completely incompetent. they were pushing a message for certain, but couldn't tell a good story if their lives depended on it.

      They gambled that by making female characters that appealed to the Twitter complainers and turning the males in the stories into clueless dolts would get a lot of women into the theaters to celebrate their strength and independence. Males who were bing obviously dissed didn't go, ant the twitter complainers didn't either.

      What they got were unlikeable and unappealing characters that no one cared about. Women leads who had to be darn near perfect in all ways.

      The problem with the message-based characters is that characters without flaw just don't grab the audience.

      Then the issues with the people they hired being a bit of loose cannons - like the twitter complainers in person.

      Like Brie Larson who publicly states that 40 year old white dudes are not the people her movies are for.

      Or Rachel Zeglar who states that her Snow white movie isn't about finding love, but about a young woman finding out how to be the leader she is. And that Prince charming was a stalker. And since we're on the topic of Snow White - Disney will not cast little people as the 7 dwarfs! It appears the inclusive crowd isn't all that inclusive. They replaces the dwarfs with a very diverse group of "magical people". After the appropriate discrimination accusations, they decided to go for CGI Dwarfs, so as not to offend the inclusive. Weird treatment for the heros of the original movie.

      It's gonna bomb. Just like the Marvels bombed. At this point, Disney needs to do a real reset, and put out entertaining movies that people want to see. They have to let the situation cool down.

      I think they have lost going on a billion dollars here. We need a thesis on how the message is so important that bankruptcy is preferable to making movies that people want to see.

      And then Barbie came out. A real blockbuster. The difference? They made a movie that women and probably a lot of men wanted to see. No preaching, and just mindless but entertaining fun.

      And now Gojira -1 comes out. Turning out to be a blockbuster. Why? because it's entertaining.

      I doubt that either will win an Oscar, but what they prove is that the combination of preaching and abysmal writing won't get people in the theaters. Entertainment seems to still get people to spend their money.

      • Hate to tell you, but Godzilla -1.0 is also kinda preachy, it's just less obvious from a foreign perspective. It hits very hard on the "government/military is bad, but the soldiers were good" drum. This is the same sentiment that gets Japan in trouble frequently for denying war crimes and generally being insensitive about WW2. As for the quality of writing, Godzilla literally doesn't show up unless he can directly mess with the main character. The first time is maybe acceptable, the second time (in the midd

        • Hate to tell you, but Godzilla -1.0 is also kinda preachy, it's just less obvious from a foreign perspective. It hits very hard on the "government/military is bad, but the soldiers were good" drum.

          What it is, is entertaining. Film makers, and actors and writers have always skewed liberal, and there are plenty of liberal ideas in a hella lot of movies. But you hit on it, that it is less obvious

          They really should have just called it a sequel to the director and composer's previous work, Eternal Zero, which is 85% the exact same movie as Godzilla -1.0.

          And there we have another thing you hit on. Yes, there is both an art and a craft to story telling. And stories have certain rules needed to catch the audience interests and get them to care. You need imperfect characters struggling to overcome that imperfection. The quest and/or struggle, both internal and ext

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Jiro ( 131519 )

          I was aware that Japan tends to do this and there wasn't as much of it as I expected, but it's still there in the movie.

          It's like having a movie about a Confederate soldier suffering after the South lost the Civil War, which doesn't mention slavery or black people at all. You can say that your movie is about one of the soldiers who didn't keep any slaves himself and was just suffering because of the actions of people he had nothing to do with. In a way this could be true.

          If you were to make this movie, it

          • It's like having a movie about a Confederate soldier suffering after the South lost the Civil War, which doesn't mention slavery or black people at all.

            I've seen that movie. It was called The Outlaw Josey Wales.

          • ... because slavery is such an important aspect of the Civil War that if you just leave it out, you're presenting a very skewed perspective, ....

            As in the Confederate Constitution was lifted almost whole from the Federal Constitution EXCEPT every state and every person was prohibited from taking any action against "negro slavery".
            Not only NOT state's rights, but fewer citizens rights was the entire point.

          • Eternal Zero (the "unofficial" prequel to Godzilla -1.0) gives the entire kamikaze backstory from the director's perspective. Hayao Miyazaki said it was a ton of disgraceful, jingoistic BS. Most Japanese people will be aware of the previous work, so while non-Japanese won't perceive as much of the nationalist rhetoric in Godzilla -1.0, it is still very apparent within Japan. Kind of the definition of a Dog Whistle. Also, the "scientist" archetype in Godzilla -1.0 looks a lot like the guy who is the top sea

      • I... what?

        And then Barbie came out. A real blockbuster. The difference? They made a movie that women and probably a lot of men wanted to see. No preaching, and just mindless but entertaining fun.

        Did you even watch the film?

        The film was many things, but having no message was not one of them. Did you miss Gloria (American Ferrera's) 5 minute rant about how hard it is being a woman. Or, you know, literally everything about the patriarchy which made up, say about 50% of the film. Or, er, I dunno, the opening se

        • I... what?

          And then Barbie came out. A real blockbuster. The difference? They made a movie that women and probably a lot of men wanted to see. No preaching, and just mindless but entertaining fun.

          Did you even watch the film?

          The film was many things, but having no message was not one of them. Did you miss Gloria (American Ferrera's) 5 minute rant about how hard it is being a woman. Or, you know, literally everything about the patriarchy which made up, say about 50% of the film. Or, er, I dunno, the opening sequence about giving girls the dream that they can be anything. Or in fact ANY of the rest of the film? You know just to pick a few examples.

          There was some message in Barbie, but it seems like people can pull what they want from it. Some people saw it as uplifting women and shitting on men. Some people saw it as shitting on women and men. To me it just felt like a movie made with a good self-awareness about how messed up the war of the sexes is right now, and had a lot of fun poking at all the edges. Hell, half of Ken's story is him trying to confront what it actually means to even be a man.

          And anybody that doesn't see the Ken War as the greates

          • There was some message in Barbie, but it seems like people can pull what they want from it. Some people saw it as uplifting women and shitting on men. Some people saw it as shitting on women and men. To me it just felt like a movie made with a good self-awareness about how messed up the war of the sexes is right now, and had a lot of fun poking at all the edges. Hell, half of Ken's story is him trying to confront what it actually means to even be a man.

            And anybody that doesn't see the Ken War as the greatest battle scene ever put to digital film? Is someone I don't want to know.

            The Barbie movie is a cinema version of a Rorschach blot. And I think the reactions to my posting shows exactly that.

          • There was some message in Barbie, but it seems like people can pull what they want from it.

            Isn't that always true? Some people are remarkably impervious to messages and see just a story, others are impervious to the contents of the message and will just see themselves reflected no matter what.

            It maybe "helped" in that the film was a bit of a mess in places. Still 4/5 IMO, but not 5 since it got a bit muddled, rushed and occasionally self indulgent. And I really, really fucking hate car ads.

            Honestly though t

            • Though my favorite bit I think is in the man montage Ken sees when the men doing manly things just sort of start grunting "man" "man" "man". I couldn't unhear that in, well, so many billboard adverts I saw after the film.

              That was one of the films better moments, I'd agree. Trying to get Barbie back in the box was pretty funny too, especially funny for anybody familiar with the toy collector mentality.

              • Also, Margot Robbie's impersonation of a barbie doll dropped on the floor and discarded. Also, Ryan Gosling's rendition of Push.

        • I... what?

          And then Barbie came out. A real blockbuster. The difference? They made a movie that women and probably a lot of men wanted to see. No preaching, and just mindless but entertaining fun.

          Did you even watch the film?

          The film was many things, but having no message was not one of them. Did you miss Gloria (American Ferrera's) 5 minute rant about how hard it is being a woman. Or, you know, literally everything about the patriarchy which made up, say about 50% of the film. Or, er, I dunno, the opening sequence about giving girls the dream that they can be anything. Or in fact ANY of the rest of the film? You know just to pick a few examples.

          You know, If you want to dig deep, go analyze Dora the Explorer and Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons.

          Dude - we hear 5 minute rants about how hard it is being a woman in real life. Or a man these days. So no one really cares about the standard back and forth battle of the sexes.

          • You either didn't watch the film or fell asleep before the opening credits. Stop trying to be "right" about something you're very clearly wrong about.

            You can't be right by saying firstly that people absolutely don't want to see messages, and then that people don't care if the message is in there. Those two things are literally the opposite of one another and you're trying to hold them both up at the same time.

            Marvel films are bombing because they're tired, warmed over crap, churned out to a schedule with no

            • You either didn't watch the film or fell asleep before the opening credits. Stop trying to be "right" about something you're very clearly wrong about.

              You can't be right by saying firstly that people absolutely don't want to see messages, and then that people don't care if the message is in there. Those two things are literally the opposite of one another and you're trying to hold them both up at the same time.

              Marvel films are bombing because they're tired, warmed over crap, churned out to a schedule with no real thought to quality. It's certainly not because people don't want a feminist message in films. Because that's what Barbie was wall to wall and it's the top grossing film of 2023.

              Sarky comments about analyzing cartoons also doesn't make you in any way correct, either, just more wrong.

              I never said such a thing. Messages are in every story told forever. From AEsop's fables to Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek.

              Where you think I said there wasn't a message - Are you having arguments in your head with me? You always win those, smashing my not even wrongness with your incisive and witty rapier sharp riposts.

              The eternal man versus woman "wars' are a part of our biology, and have nothing to do with "woke". In the past they'd have the man and women switch places in pop culture entertainment, w

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Your whole post seems predicated on message based characters being some new phenomenon when it's par for the course for Hollywood. The current conservative oppsession with culture war and being upset by everything is why its so much at the forefront nowadays though.

        The problem with modern movies is the crappy endless sequels and format shifting as opposed to original scripts written for the big screen. Of course such lame material doesn't attract top writing talent. In the past Hollywood's message sending w

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Ugh, sorry for the typos. I was on my phone.

        • Your whole post seems predicated on message based characters being some new phenomenon when it's par for the course for Hollywood.

          The entire history of storytelling is message based characters. The issue is that the present ones are not relatable to most people.

          The problem with modern movies is the crappy endless sequels and format shifting as opposed to original scripts written for the big screen. Of course such lame material doesn't attract top writing talent.

          Sure, as Disney led the way with making movies more and more expensive, and with the studios wanting to recycle past hit movies and play it safe, that was one nail in the coffin. But as for top writing talent - the present crop doesn't know how to tell a story.

          That movie was full of messaging about gender roles in society, particularly in regards to negative and sometimes still problematic masculin attributes. That was really just the wrong movie to try to make your point with.

          It really helps when people dissect it and ignore my main point, that in a world of Disney movies that have masculine

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by skam240 ( 789197 )

            The entire history of storytelling is message based characters. The issue is that the present ones are not relatable to most people.

            For plenty of people it isnt the messaging, it's movie quality. Dont mistake conservative culture war stuff for mainstream opinion. Furthermore I would like to put forward the claim that if people's favorite talking heads werent telling them to be offended many wouldnt be just as in past eras when a bad movie was made. These daily political talk shows and 24 hour news networks need content to fill air time as there isnt enough real news to fill them. Creating news by telling people to be upset about this or

      • Yeah, so superman of them.

        • Yeah, so superman of them.

          Yes, the superman thing was sorta kinda of the exception that proves the rule.

          Then again, to be certain, he did lose his powers and was gobsmack weakened with kryptonite. Which was brought in as his foil.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The original Godzilla movie wasn't really about Godzilla, and this new one isn't either.

      It's about post war Japan, and how people suffered in the wake of disasters that they had little control over. A remote, ineffective government leaves them on their own to deal with the things.

      Some of the men are recently demobilised, suffering the shame of having fought for leaders who did horrendous things, and lost, and now getting blamed for the suffering the civilians experience.

      It's actually a very thoughtful and d

  • Going to see this in a theater myself (Score:5, Informative)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @07:10PM (#64077423)

    I almost never see movies in a theater anymore but the buzz around this Godzilla movie, along with a lifetime enjoyment of a variety of Godzilla movies (mostly around the original Japanese ones) has me wanting to see this in a real theater...

    Also not stated in the summary, but making this success even more impressive is that it did so being a foreign language movie with subtitles!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jon3k ( 691256 )
      Have you seen Shin Godzilla [imdb.com] yet? That was fantastic. It was like they beat Godzilla with collectivism and Japanese government bureaucracy. It was great!

      • Have you seen Shin Godzilla yet?

        I have not! I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked great, but then I never tracked down how I could watch it and then totally forgot about it. Will try to figure out how to see that as well.

    • Re:Going to see this in a theater myself (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @11:03PM (#64077903)

      I almost never see movies in a theater anymore but the buzz around this Godzilla movie, along with a lifetime enjoyment of a variety of Godzilla movies (mostly around the original Japanese ones) has me wanting to see this in a real theater...

      Also not stated in the summary, but making this success even more impressive is that it did so being a foreign language movie with subtitles!

      One of my favorites is "Son of Godzilla" Was expecting another standard Godzilla movie, but Godzilla as a harried but good father was hilarious.

  • should eat Godzilla minus one alive. There is simple no comparison. When Godzilla came out, there was no competition, but now with a studio ghibli movie out it should get trounced.
  • if you liked the classic Japanese monster movies of the 1950s & 1960s then i am sure you will like this new one with new special effects, i will keep an eye out for a DVD in the stores because i loved watching those old movies when i was young and look forward to this one too

  • It's the Oscars. They haven't mattered in a long, long time.

  • It deserves to win (Score:3)

    by Andrio ( 2580551 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @09:02PM (#64077685)

    It's a really great movie. Godzilla is terrifying in it and the human elements are as good as any drama.

    The fact that this was made for 15 million dollars, roughly half the cost of a single She Hulk episode, is insane and really asks Hollywood "Wtf are you doing?"

  • Full.On.B.S. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rickb928 ( 945187 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @09:28PM (#64077739) Homepage Journal

    I'm not oblivious to the movie scene, I manage to get into a theater at least every other week.

    I have *not* heard of this flick. At all. No trailers, no posters, no ads, no nothing.

    So it will be #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list next week, right?

    And yet, I know of one movie that was expected to play for a weekend and fade away, and it's gaining ticket sales. Yuh.

  • It probably should (Score:5, Interesting)

    by buddhaunderthetree ( 318870 ) on Tuesday December 12, 2023 @10:16PM (#64077809)

    When I walked out of the theater I said, that’s Oscar worthy. It was not only superbly written and acted but also managed to be a great monster movie too. When a Godzilla movie makes me tear up, you know you’re on to something.

  • Hopefully it's not like AppleTV's "Monarch". We watch Godzilla for the giant fighting monsters, don't really care about the people stories....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      I watched the first 3 episodes of Monarch and then stopped because it was too centered around characters I didn't care about and barely had any giant monster time. I enjoyed the heck out of Godzilla Minus One both because I actually enjoyed the characters AND there was plenty of Godzilla fucking shit up time.

      • Cool. Plan on checking out G-1 when it's DVD or one of the streaming services we have that particular month....

  • It really is that simple.

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