Matt Linton
- Mar 23, 2018

The Weekend Watchlist - Kaiju Edition!

Pacific Rim (2013) – Giant robots? Check. Giant monsters? Check. GdT? Check. When I first saw this in theaters I probably had my expectations scaled a bit too high, but returning to it, it’s a lot of fun and gives you what you came for. Star Charlie Hunnam (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) is still a charisma-void, but Idris Elba (Luther) makes up for it. And the leads are surrounded with fun supporting characters, including Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny…) and Burn Gorman (Torchwood) as slightly-maddish scientists, Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) as Hunnam’s partner, and whatever the hell Ron Pearlman (Hellboy) is doing. Not a perfect movie, but a perfect weekend movie.

Available to rent on Amazon Video, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play Movies.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) – I really wanted to check this out last year but never got around to it. The trailer made it look like Apocalypse Now meets King Kong and I’m down for that. Personally, it also reminded me of one of my favorite comic book sequences in Darwyn Cooke’s Justice League: The New Frontier so that was a selling-point, as well. The movie stars Tom Hiddleston (Thor: Ragnarok), Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight), and John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane) so, yes, please.

Available to stream on HBONow, HBOGo, and with the HBO add-on for Amazon Prime.

Super 8 (2011) – The 80s are the hip new thing now (a celebrity is president, the Russians are the bad guys, Stephen King font is all the rage, and Ready Player One is about to nostalgia-gasm all over your movie screen) and I lay all of the blame at JJ Abrams' love letter to Spielberg/Amblin 80s boys’ adventure films. But it’s so good. The cast of kid actors is great, there’s adventure, heart, and fun, and it’s just an all-around good time. Plus, it’s like E.T. but scary (and good – FIGHT ME).

Available to rent on Amazon Video, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play Movies.

Shin Godzilla (2016) – I don’t have a lot to say about this film, other than it’s Japan reclaiming Godzilla from the Americans who keep screwing it up, and by all accounts doing it way better. I haven’t seen this yet, and I keep forgetting it’s a thing, but my unofficial Kaiju weekend means there’s no better time to dive in.

Available to rent on Amazon Video, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play Movies.

Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) – As with the first Pacific Rim, I’m sold on this because of the cast, the premise, and the trailer (though the lack of Academy Award-winning Best Director Guillermo del Toro is disappointing). I’m happy that Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are returning, as they were my favorite characters in the original film (a low bar when your lead is played by Charlie Hunnam). And while I had some issues with the paper-thin characters in Pacific Rim, I’m here for giant robots fighting giant aliens, so I’ll forgive that. I’m also psyched to see John Boyega leading a sci-fi film, since he was fantastic in Attack the Block. While we generally stick to streaming films for the Weekend Watchlist, the sequel is out in theaters this weekend and I will be watching it.