Movie of the Week for March 22-28, 2021

As mentioned in my March 15, 2021 podcast, I’ve started a new “Movie of the Week” feature. I’ll be recommending a favorite movie with the hopes that it will be a film that you’ll enjoy, too. I’d love to chat online about each week’s film on my Instagram and Twitter feeds if you’re so inclined.

In honor of the new CGI-slugfest Godzilla vs. Kong (Warner Bros., 2021) opening in theaters on HBO Max on March 30, 2021, I picked another double-feature this week with the original King Kong (RKO, 1933) and the original Godzilla (Toho Co., Ltd., 1954). I watched both of these films on HBO Max.

While the Godzilla vs. Kong film appears to have nothing to do with the storylines from the original films, I still marvel at the artistry and filmmaking techniques used in both of these classic monster movies, particularly with the amazing visual effects in King Kong done by special effects wizard Willis O’Brien. (And it’s a total guilty pleasure watching these original Godzilla films knowing that it’s a dude in a rubber suit destroying miniature sets.)

Here’s some cool artwork for both of these classic monster movies.

©️RKO
©️Toho Co., Ltd.

TCM “Must-See Sci-Fi” Update for March 2020

I am still carrying on with my 2020 movie project of watching all 50 movies listed in the cool book from Turner Classic Movies (TCM) called Must-See Sci-Fi: 50 Movies that Are Out of This World by Sloan De Forest (Running Press, 2018; available at Amazon.com and Shop TCM). The complete list of 50 films is here.

Here’s the current rundown on the films I watched in March (courtesy of my Instagram feed; and sorry to be slow in posting this). Most of the March movies were alien invasion or monster movies (or both)…not necessarily comforting viewing during the COVID-19 pandemic currently happening, but these are still great sci-fi films.

The War of the Worlds (1953)

Them! (1954)

Godzilla (1954)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Forbidden Planet (1956)