GODZILLA X KONG: The New Empire

[Todd P.]

I'll be honest, I'm bringing this up because it feels like this is a movie our crowd ought to be sort of interested in. Once upon a time the members would have been all over it. But in fact, I'm not terribly interested. Minus One is, for me, the new gold standard for Godzilla films and this one plainly won't be anywhere near as good.

But hey! It's a movie about a giant ape and a giant lizard! What do I expect, high art? As far as kaiju goes, this one might be pretty decent. I liked Godzilla vs. Kong well enough, although I haven't watched it a second time.



Here's the second trailer. Seems to confirm that it's not going to be another two-against-one fight, there is another giant lizard in addition to the giant ... orangutan?

[tay666]

I am looking forward to it. I just don't know how I am going to see it.
Again, with no theaters left in my entire county, it makes it hard to get excited about new movies.

[Todd P.]

I'm in the same boat, although my closest theater since 2009 was 20 miles away. It closed a few months ago. Now the closest is about 45 miles.

[bucketfoot-al]

Do you fellas live way out in the country I wonder? Or is there something else going on with increased theater closures?

(That's probably it, isn't it - theaters closing because of streaming?)

I'm not a regular theater goes (though we have a Big Santikos theater about 5 minutes away by car), but it struck me when I went there the first time that it was more than a theater. There's a real nice bowling alley, all kinds of snacks/food that you can have them deliver to your seat, and reclining "Mega-seats" - which all comes at a higher per ticket price. I get it, they HAVE to offer a grander "experience" to get people away from their HD TVs ... and I imagine that in more sparsely populated regions there's not enough demand ... sucks ...

[tay666]

Do you fellas live way out in the country I wonder? Or is there something else going on with increased theater closures?

Not exactly country, but also not a massive population.
I live in Ohio's largest county, but our total population is 97,000 people. Our last theater was at our only mall and was an AMC, which closed last July. We used to have a few more, but when everyone had to upgrade to digital only those all closed (including our last drive-in) due to being too cost prohibitive to make the change.
So, now my options are Erie PA, or Willoughby OH. It's just over 90 miles between those two, and I am right in the middle.
No way I can block out 4-4.5 hours on a work night. Which leaves the weekends when the traffic and crowds are the worst.

[Todd P.]

I'm in a rural area but hardly way out in the wilds. In the Rockies west of Colorado Springs. The nearest theater was a local operation in Woodland Park, Colo., and it had been doing all kinds of tricks to stay alive since Covid. It seemed to have some success with one-night showings of old films but it wasn't enough to keep the place going, especially given the dreck Hollywood was giving the owners to work with, and offering films for streaming so quickly after release. It probably didn't help that it was small and not terribly comfortable compared with theaters in Colorado Springs.

The place finally had to shut its doors with no notice in October.

[bucketfoot-al]

Bummer guys. Who would have thought we'd see the day ...

[bucketfoot-al]

Do you fellas live way out in the country I wonder? Or is there something else going on with increased theater closures?

Not exactly country, but also not a massive population.
I live in Ohio's largest county, but our total population is 97,000 people. Our last theater was at our only mall and was an AMC, which closed last July. We used to have a few more, but when everyone had to upgrade to digital only those all closed (including our last drive-in) due to being too cost prohibitive to make the change.
So, now my options are Erie PA, or Willoughby OH. It's just over 90 miles between those two, and I am right in the middle.
No way I can block out 4-4.5 hours on a work night. Which leaves the weekends when the traffic and crowds are the worst.

So I gather you never did get to see G Minus 1 in the theaters? A shame, but it will still be great streamed ... just not as ... BIG

[tay666]

I'm waiting for the dub.
I don't like watching Godzilla with subtitles. Just like I don't watch anime with subtitles.
My brain cannot process visuals while reading. Probably because I used to be an avid reader and my mind is conditioned to create it's own visuals while I read.

[belrog999]

Bummer guys. Who would have thought we'd see the day ...

Blame digital downloads and streaming for the slow, painful demise of theatres and hard copy media.

[KathyD]

As much as I loved minus one - and I really loved it - I also want to see this. Sometimes I just want to watch giant lizards smashing and stomping and spitting radioactive breath.

[bucketfoot-al]

As much as I loved minus one - and I really loved it - I also want to see this. Sometimes I just want to watch giant lizards smashing and stomping and spitting radioactive breath.

As good a reason to go see it as any!

[tay666]

As much as I loved minus one - and I really loved it - I also want to see this. Sometimes I just want to watch giant lizards smashing and stomping and spitting radioactive breath.

Honestly, that I about all I want from my kaiju films.
One of the reasons Godzilla vs Megalon is still my favorite of the series.

[Todd P.]

I put my brain in a jar and watched Godzilla X Kong over the weekend. It was pretty much what I expected, fun in its way but largely forgettable. Like the films before it, I doubt I'll ever feel a desire to watch it again but I don't regret seeing it once.