03.14.2014: Interviewing Godzilla’s Haruo Nakajima at Fear FestEvil

Kyle speaks with Mr. Godzilla himself, Haruo Nakajima and recaps last month’s Fear FestEvil with Jeff. Photo credit: Jonathan Peter Lee It cannot wait any longer! This interview must be posted – wait… I mean this interview must be UNLEASHED! I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Mr. Godzilla himself, Haruo Nakajima, at Kirk Von Hammett’s FEAR FESTEviL in San Francisco last month and it was an exhilarating experience. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the living legend of Haruo Nakajima, this man played the King of the Monsters from 1954 to 1972 (with only a few little breaks), the original Rodan in 1956, Mogera in 1957, Varan in 1958, well… I’ll stop myself from going on and on about his performances, but he also played a number of Ultra kaiju as well. Nakajima gave such character to Godzilla and all of the kaiju which he brought to life and it was truly an honor to meet him in person. Mr. Nakajima will be appearing at a few more conventions throughout the year so I really encourage all of the listeners who haven’t met this icon of our genre to get out to those conventions and festivals! See below for more details. In addition to the interview, because it is on the short side, Jeff and I discussed the awesomeness of the festival and why he would have loved to be there. In addition to recapping the Fear FestEvil, we had a whole lotta Godzilla news to discuss! MONSTROUS MUSIC: 1. Ultra Q Main Title by Animetal from Animetal III (1998) 2. Phantom Forest/Wheel Apparition by Hiroshi Watanabe from Along With Ghosts (1969) 3. Main Title by Ko Otani from Gamera III: Revenge of Irys (1999) 4. Blowing Up The Statue of the Martial God by Bukimisha Weird Secret Society from Daring Daimajin (2006) 5. The Confrontation at Mt. Fuji by Akira Ifukube from King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) Click the photo to enlarge the panoramic shot of the Q&A Hall at Fear FestEvil. SUGGESTED READING: Godzilla 2014 News – Empire Magazine Video – Forbidden Planet had a special signing at the end of last month with Gareth Edwards – New Mondo Poster for SXSW – First toys have begun surfacing: Jakks Pacific, Bandai Figures, Chibi Figures Updated list of Rialto’s Gojira (1954) screenings: April 12 HOLLYWOOD, CA TCM Classic Film Festival April 18 – 24 NEW YORK, NY Film Forum April 25 – May 1 SANTA FE, NM Jean Cocteau Cinema May 2 – 4 & 6 SILVER SPRING, MD AFI Silver May 2 – 5 PORTLAND, OR Hollywood Theatre May 2 – 8 SEATTLE, WA SIFF Cinema Uptown May 2 – 8 SOMERVILLE, MA Somerville Theatre May 8 AMBLER, PA The Ambler Theater May 9 – 15 CHICAGO, IL Music Box Theatre May 9 – 15 DENVER, CO Denver Film Society May 9 – 15 FORT COLLINS, CO Lyric Cinema Cafe May 12 – 13 & 15 EL SEGUNDO, CA ArcLight Cinemas Beach Cities May 12 – 13 & 15 PASADENA, CA ArcLight Cinemas Pasadena May 12 – 13 & 15 SAN DIEGO, CA ArcLight Cinemas La Jolla May 14 DOYLESTOWN, PA The County Theater May 23 – 26 HOUSTON, TX The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston May 28 LEXINGTON, KY Kentucky Theatre July 17 COLUMBUS, OH Wexner Center for the Arts New Book up for pre-order the Art of Japanese Monsters Godzilla the Animated Series Bandai rereleasing Ultra Act figures of Ultraman and Ginga Media Blasters Destroy All Monsters & Godzilla vs. Megalon The Godzilla Blu Rays from Kraken have their art finalized. Ebirah, Smog Monster & Gigan X-Plus Lineup for April KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN Ifukube & Godzilla: A Musical Celebration Kickstarter BACK THIS PROJECT, LISTENERS!!! KAIJU CELEBRITY EVENTS: 3/28 – 3/30 Monsterpalooza in Burbank, CA w/Kenji Sahara, Russ Tamblyn & Haruo Nakajima 4/25 – 4/27 Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ w/Hiroshi Koizumi & Bin Furuya 5/16 – 5/18 Dallas Comicon, Dallas, TX w/Akira Takarada 5/17 & 5/18 Big Wow Comic Fest in San Jose, CA w/Kenpachiro Satsuma & Bin Furuya 5/30 – 6/1 Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL w/Akira Takarada & Haruo Nakaj[...]