Rondo Awards Voting Extended

The voting for the 9th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards has been extended one more day.

David Colton has extended the voting to midnight tomorrow night (wherever you are).

To vote, go here.

Rondo Awards Voting Ends Saturday Night!

by Armand Vaquer


A reminder from the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' David Colton just came in:

A reminder to all CHFB* members that voting in the 9th Annual Rondo Hatton Awards ends Saturday** night. A ballot can be found at the Classic Horror Film Board, or at rondoaward.com. Thanks for all your support of the CHFB over the years.

So, if you haven't voted yet for the Rondo Awards, go to www.rondoaward.com and vote! Make sure you follow the posted directions so that your vote will be counted.



The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan and Monster Island News blog received nominations for Best Book and Best Blog respectively.

To vote, go to www.rondoaward.com

*Classic Horror Film Board
**It was originally reported that voting ends Sunday night.

Tohoku Earthquake: Minimal Effects For Kaiju Tourists

by Armand Vaquer


The full effects of the Tohoku Earthquake of March 11, 2011 on the Japanese tourism industry won't be known for some time. Fortunately, its effects on monster fan tourists will be minimal.

Left, "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" will show tourists the way to monster locations.

The damage from the quake and the resulting tsunami was mainly confined to the northeastern section of Honshu (Japan's main island) where very few monster movie locations could be found. In the Tohuku region, the biggest city is Sendai, which was the location for Gamera 2 and briefly, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. Both of those movies primarily featured Sendai Station, which still stands.

The main locale for daikaiju eiga movies was primarily Tokyo, which suffered minimal damage. The subways and trains are still running and life is rebounding back to normalcy, with the exception of possible rolling blackouts due to the hits two nuclear power plants took.

According to Breaking Travel News.com:

While painstaking rescue and recovery efforts continue in the severely struck Tohoku region, the capital city Tokyo has been recovering from a strong shock, and western Japan is unharmed.

Both Narita and Haneda airports have been reopened, although public transportation in and around Tokyo is not running at full capacity due to power shortages. Other popular destinations such as Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, Kanazawa and Hiroshima, didn’t receive any impact from the earthquake.

They also add:

Hokkaido, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu are unharmed, and tourism facilities and transportation service are operating as usual.

Some potential Japan travelers may be frightened by the hysterical fear-mongering of the U.S. media over the nuclear power plants. But those, too, are far north of Tokyo and won't present a problem for tourists. Just don't go into those affected areas and you'll be fine.

Persons wanting to visit Japan in the upcoming months can feel free to do so without fear. As stated above, Tokyo came out of this okay (as did neighboring Yokohama) and such locations as Mt. Fuji-Hakone, Atami, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sasebo, Mt. Aso and Nagasaki were untouched by the quake and tsunami.

Whether you're planning a trip to Japan on your own or with a tour, the Tohoku Earthquake won't mar your enjoyment of the country. Go in confidence!

Monsterpalooza's Kaiju Kick-Off

Left, Peter H. Brothers. Right, below, Armand Vaquer.




Monsterpalooza's official website now has the events of the show arranged by date and time.

Monsterpalooza will be held April 8-10, 2011 at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center (across from Bob Hope Airport).



Monsterpalooza kicks off with Peter H. Brothers' presentation (above) on Godzilla director Ishiro Honda at 7:00 PM Friday, April 8. My presentation on Japanese monster movie locations immediately follows at 8:00 PM.



Pete's book, Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fanstastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda and my Japan travel guide, The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan will be available before and after our presentations. We both will be happy to autograph them for you!

Remember, also, "Mr. Godzilla" himself, Haruo Nakajima will be at Monsterpalooza!

Above, Haruo Nakajima. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To view the events page, go here.

Is Legendary Pictures About To Hand GODZILLA Over To Del Toro?

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Bloody Disgusting

The recent tragedy in Japan has forced Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures to rethink two of their upcoming films that deal with both radiation and giant mutant monsters ..... that were spawned by said radiation. Namely "Pacific Rim" and "Godzilla" which now may be facing script rewrites and even possibly sharing the same director ..... that is if one of the films gets scrapped entirely.

It has been leaked by a source close to both projects that the two studios have asked film maker Guillermo del Toro who has just signed on to helm the giant monster film "Pacific Rim" to rewrite the script so that the film no longer takes place in Japan. According to that source, who spilled the beans to the Bloody Disgusting website, del Toro was not too keen on the idea and may tell the suits to pound sand.

The fun doesn't stop there however. Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures are also considering putting "Rim" on the shelf, maybe permanently, in favor of having del Toro take over "Godzilla 3D" instead. Again, the film maker has apparently turned his nose up at that idea as well. Probably due in large part to the fact that "Godzilla 3D" already has a director, Gareth Edwards, who took over the project in January.

This doesn't sound like very good news to all the legions of fans out there who have been waiting patiently for over a year for this new American Godzilla movie to get rolling.

It looks like there may be stormy seas ahead if the studios shun Edwards and del Toro walks.

Of course there is no need to panic yet, "Godzilla 3D" is still moving forward ..... slowly.

As an extra bonus for all you Godzilla nuts out there I have included three of the upcoming covers for IDW's "Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters". I really love the artwork for both issues #3 and #4 with Godzilla, Rodan and the often misunderstood Anguirus.

Japanese Red Cross Society

by Armand Vaquer


Friday's devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that originated in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan has left thousands homeless and injured.

Unfortunately, as it so often happens following major disasters, scammers pose as benevolent organizations to prey on well-meaning donors. It will most likely happen now, if it already hasn't.

Fortunately, one organization you can trust is the Japanese Red Cross Society.

If you wish to make a donation that you can be sure of reaching those in need in the aftermath of the earthquake, go to the Japan Red Cross Society's website at http://www.jrc.or.jp/. They also have an English page if you are unable to read Japanese.

Monsterpalooza Presentation Change

by Armand Vaquer

(Click on image to view larger.)

This morning, I received word from Eliot Brodsky, the head honcho of Monsterpalooza, that he's re-titled my presentation and he also sent me the new promo artwork with the change (above).

He expects to have the change posted on the official Monsterpalooza website on Monday.

The presentation is based on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Japanese Science-Fiction At Monsterpalooza

by Armand Vaquer



(Click on images to view larger.)

The upcoming Monsterpalooza on April 8-10 is the third show.

The inaugural show came in 2009 at the Burbank Marriott and Convention Center (across the street from Bob Hope Airport) and it was very impressive. The show was loaded with guests, exhibits, actors, vendors, directors, producers, screenwriters, authors, make-up artists and many other frightful things for the monster fan.

As good as the previous shows were, Japanese science-fiction and fantasy movies were not well represented. There was one kaiju toy dealer and not much else.

This year's show will greatly rectify this. Presentations include:

Haruo Nakajima, who was the man-in-the-suit for Godzilla and many other Japanese monsters, will be attending along with his daughter Sonoe. He will take part in the Men In Suits Presentation. Sunday, April 10 at 2:00 PM.

and...

Haruo Nakajima will also have his own presentation at Monsterpalooza that will be moderated by August Ragone and Jason Varney. The session will include rare photos and film clips. Saturday, April 9 at 3:00 PM.

Peter H. Brothers, author of Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda, will give a presentation on the greatest Japanese monster director. Friday, April 8 at 7:00 PM.

Following Brothers, I will give a presentation on kaiju movie locations based on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. Friday, April 8 at 8:00 PM.

There will also be kaiju toy dealers present, including Clawmark Toys from Japan and Anime Jungle and Toyfreak from California.

As you can see, fans of Japanese science-fiction and fantasy films have several reasons to attend this year's Monsterpalooza.

Monsterpalooza will be held again at the Burbank Marriott and Convention Center.

For additional information on Monsterpalooza, go here.

Hope to see you there!