Wine and...Movies: Shin Godzilla (2016) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) with Striker Reese

OR, for additional bonus content, interactive chats, polls, and more, join us on our Substack at: https://wineand.substack.com

Today's guest is STRIKER REESE, the founder of ANIME AND WINE, the site where he...you guessed it!...pairs wine with anime. A man after our own heart.

Striker is a wine lover and educator and is WSET Level 2 Certified (a fancy schmancy wine knowledge thang. It means he knows what he's talking about, unlike us.)

Follow Striker on:
Anime and Wine Website
Instagram
Twitter

STRIKER'S CHOICE: we talk two different Godzilla movies and explore the differences of how the same franchise expresses itself between two different cultures. And then how wine expresses itself similarly between two different places, or the same wine between two different winemaking techniques.

STRIKER'S WINE COMPARISON:
Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc (Shin Godzilla)
vs
Regular (dry) Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand or California, look for an Italian SB from Trentino-Alto Aldige to surprise yourself! (Godzilla vs. Kong)

DALLAS' WINE COMPARISON:
Huia Pinot Noir 2020, New Zealand (Shin Godzilla)
TECH SHEET
vs
Blood Root Pinot Noir 2021, Sonoma County (Godzilla vs. Kong)

DAVE'S WINE COMPARISON
Domaine Berthoumieu 100% Tannat, Madiran, France (Shin Godzilla)
vs
Tablas Creek Tannat, Paso Robles, California (Godzilla vs. Kong)

OR

Valpolicella Classico (any brand, native Italian grapes, fresh, young, vibrant style - Godzilla vs. Kong)
vs
Amarone Valpolicella (same grapes and region, made "appassimento" style, partially dehydrated or "raisined" grapes, concentrated, rich, decadent, harsh unless you age it for a bit - Shin Godzilla)

Chapters

• 0:00 Quick Apology
• 1:10 Intro! Striker Mother-F***ing Reese!
• 9:24 Personal Histories with These Movies
• 18:30 Two Rare (but Fun!) Facts About Godzilla
• 20:30 Context / Histories for These Two Godzillas
• 37:14 The Wines! How Does Wine Work Like a Multi-Cultural Franchise?
• 52:33 Shin Godzilla and the Plan for its Unmadde Sequel
• 1:02:10 Godzilla vs. Kong - Final Thoughts

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;20;27
Unknown
Hello, everybody. Just a quick message. Apology for the digital artifacts you're going to hear during this episode. the platform we were using to record this gave us a lot of issues. There was a lot of digital static. you're going to hear this, intermittently throughout this episode. We tried to fix it. We even tried AI. It did not fix it.

00;00;21;03 - 00;00;38;27
Unknown
We have switched platforms going forward. So there will just be this episode, and I believe the next one was recorded on the old platform as well. But we have switched it. We tested it, it's working great and hopefully it will not give us the issues that the old platform did. So here's hoping this will be the last of it, give or take.

00;00;39;00 - 00;01;03;15
Unknown
there might be one more episode. We're going to see how well that episode recorded once we get there, but thank you so much. Bear with us. This is a new show we are learning, but enjoy this episode. It is actually really fascinating. We are comparing two Godzilla movies, two different expressions of the same franchise between two different cultures, and how that compares to how two of the same lines express themselves differently between two different cultures.

00;01;03;15 - 00;01;10;07
Unknown
So we hope you enjoy. Thank you so much. We'll catch you on the next episode of wine and enjoy this one.

00;01;10;07 - 00;01;38;22
Unknown
Welcome, everybody, to wine and the show where we pair wine with books, comics, music, movies and TV as one does most of the time we're going to be discussing things we love, sometimes something that we hate. But whatever it is that you love, whatever it is that you hate, there is a wine. The pairs with that, And if you like what you hear today and want to hear more, make sure to hit that follow button and subscribe.

00;01;38;22 - 00;01;56;18
Unknown
It helps the podcast grow and leave a review. Five stars no less. You know you love us. That much on Apple iTunes or any other platform that allows reviews or scores. going forward we will be reading out loud on the show any reviews left for us, so make sure you write something you're okay with us. Sharing positive.

00;01;56;20 - 00;01;59;16
Unknown
Some reviews.

00;01;59;18 - 00;02;30;10
Unknown
Positive. Negative that we're sharing. And then other users can share their reviews of your reviews as well. I think that's fair. And today we are joined by the one and only striker, Reese. And if ever there was an action hero slash company striker motherfucking Reese. That's right. Ryker is the founder of anime and a website and blog where he explores the intersection between the two and regularly has fun pairing them together.

00;02;30;14 - 00;02;50;14
Unknown
Stryker has a background as a wine marketer, a wine scholar, and is set level two certified in Wine and Spirits. For those of you who are unaware of what the set is, it is a certification test that you can take in the wine world. It goes up to four levels level 1 to 3 and then diploma level and striker is at level two.

00;02;50;14 - 00;03;16;20
Unknown
And just to put that a little bit into context of how hard these bloody tests are, the level four diploma, there are only about 13,600 ish people in the world with the diploma certification. So that's in world which holds billions of people. So that ain't that many people. so it's pretty high up there. So striker, first off, welcome to the show.

00;03;16;20 - 00;03;41;05
Unknown
I'm thrilled to finally be talking to you digital face to digital face. and please let our listeners know what made you get into wine in the first place and why start anime and wine? so funny story. I'm from South Carolina, but I went to grad school in DC and as you can imagine, this scene and being seasonally different from the South Carolina.

00;03;41;05 - 00;04;02;01
Unknown
So I was just kind of around wine and around like fancy people and politics, cool people. And I was like, okay, well, I kind of like this, so I'm gonna kind of go with it. So that was really it was like spur of the moment. I just I was going to go with it. And I did, what not in South Carolina.

00;04;02;01 - 00;04;24;29
Unknown
Is your family from, Colombia. Yeah. Right. Right in the capital. Yeah. Really? Because, my, half of my life and part of my family's from Colombia, right? They probably never. We probably know each other at some point. They're like, I don't know, I'm very bad with this memory. If it's more, it's a small place. So somewhere or two that I go, I went to Spring Valley.

00;04;24;29 - 00;04;46;08
Unknown
Yeah. Interesting. Okay. I live near Spring Valley. All right. All right, all right. It's a small world in. Fantastic. Yeah. And historically Dallas. Then we lived in DC area. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah I love DC. Yeah. This is great. Like one of my favorite cities in all the entire. Yeah. Entire planet. Truly just a fantastic place.

00;04;46;08 - 00;04;47;04
Unknown
Yeah, yeah.

00;04;47;04 - 00;05;06;20
Unknown
Good deal. and yeah, I was going to say, I think because Dallas has his roots and then Northern Virginia, me and I was both lived in northern Virginia for a long, long time. Did not know each other then either or there, but then met later in LA randomly. So, yeah, like, we're, we're, Northern Virginia DC trio here and then.

00;05;06;23 - 00;05;28;20
Unknown
Man. Okay, so anime and wine, why anime and wine for you? you know, everyone kind of does the, like the super fancy thing and wine, that's kind of the stand there, like the luxury thing. And I was like, you know, that's not necessarily my personality. So everyone kept telling me, well, you know it. Do whatever you want.

00;05;28;20 - 00;05;50;08
Unknown
Like, if you go, go left, you might as well go crazy as you want. So I was like, okay, well, I've, you know, I've always liked why, anime. So why not, you know, why not? Do it? No one else is going to do it, so why not do it then? Good deal. How long did you start the awesome.

00;05;50;10 - 00;06;14;06
Unknown
You know, it's funny, I had the idea for this in 2017, okay? And never did anything right. Oh, yeah. Like I. Yeah. Procrastinate in it. Yep. And I was just in, like, doubting myself. So I was like, no. So for this past, like, year, I've been kind of going harder on it. So really this past year.

00;06;14;06 - 00;06;34;23
Unknown
But I've had the idea for so long. Good deal. Hell yeah. That is awesome. Yeah, yeah. And that is anime and wine.com. Exactly. Is it spelled exactly now? And that's where you can find it. It's and he also has, Instagram account, Twitter account that are both very much worth following to keep up with that. yeah.

00;06;34;23 - 00;06;57;14
Unknown
I think me and Dallas had very similar ideas. Like, we both got into wine also, though not through the wine world really. We like we both had our own personal journeys, just kind of getting into it and discovering that we loved it and wanted to get deeper, learn more about it. And because we're both obsessive compulsive personalities, you know, it's like once or once we've hooked and you're in the anime, too.

00;06;57;14 - 00;07;23;18
Unknown
So it sounds like you're probably not too dissimilar in that, like if you're going to become a fan of something, it's like all in, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, but then of course, you get to know the wine world. And as much as I really appreciated learning, like I follow tons of podcasts, lots of wine writers, and they're all, you know, incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly giving of their time and all that fun stuff in their own ways.

00;07;23;21 - 00;07;49;03
Unknown
But then I was like, it's all the same. Yes. Kind of all. Yeah, yeah. I was like, what else can we do with wine? I mean, this and you know, they talk a lot about how wine is this thing that's been around for like of most of human history, it's one of the oldest, you know, techniques, in terms of food and beverage known to man, we obviously humanity's been obsessed with it for almost its entire existence of being cultures.

00;07;49;05 - 00;08;07;10
Unknown
And so I was like, okay, so this should be everywhere. This should be more, you know, have more to do with everything and to the best of our ability then. Yeah, I think we just approached it from a similar angle where it's like, well, you know, drink wine while reading, while watching things, while, you know, consuming other media.

00;08;07;10 - 00;08;28;13
Unknown
And I often try to match even before I really knew what I was doing, before I understood that it was like pairing per se. I feel like pairing might even be too strong of a word. We've gotten really into the concept, but a lot of the times you're just like, what mood am I in? I'm in the mood to watch this and drink this, and that means something because it matches the same mood, right?

00;08;28;13 - 00;08;50;07
Unknown
And so it's almost like you're naturally pairing it without even trying. But, yeah, there's so much fun that can be had with wine and it's so, so not fun most of the time in in the wine universe, it's so very streamlined, straightforward. But and again, this is some coming from someone who's a fan of all that stuff too.

00;08;50;09 - 00;09;14;13
Unknown
It's just like, okay, great, that but more and, I think you know as well that the wine world is suffering its own crises of like, young people aren't drinking wine and they can't connect with young people. And, it costs a lot to get into wine for the comparatively, you know, you. Yeah. Yeah. The, the price per bottle and then that bottle does just you're going to be able to, you know, you open it and you're like, and you got a day or two.

00;09;14;15 - 00;09;35;19
Unknown
It's not like buying a bottle of tequila where it's like, you can nurse that thing for as long as you want. so you get value out of it. But, all right. So today we are here. Strikers pick. We are here to talk about two Godzilla movies. we are going to be talking about Shin Godzilla from 2016.

00;09;35;22 - 00;09;47;22
Unknown
the Japanese, film. It was basically the end. Godzilla was the beginning of the current quote unquote era of Godzilla. Because, you know, they're all broken into eras.

00;09;47;22 - 00;09;57;03
Unknown
And, so this was before and then Godzilla minus one, the one that has just been in theaters and has yet to be released in the West, on any sort of streaming or home video yet.

00;09;57;03 - 00;10;17;02
Unknown
So I have not seen Godzilla minus one. I don't think Dallas has either. Did you ever see Godzilla minus one Dallas? No. So I haven't had the opportunity to go to a screening. I did not know. yeah. Yeah, it's going to. We won't be we won't be able to speak intelligently. At least me in Dallas. On, on on.

00;10;17;10 - 00;10;44;05
Unknown
some of the similarities or distinctions between Shin and minus one striker might. And please feel free striker if you if you have anything to say on that. I think it has opinions based on that. Not I get so but we're going to be talking about it in relation to the American, MonsterVerse and Godzilla movies that have been taking off now, I and Dallas also have not seen the latest Godzilla x Kong, the The New Empire.

00;10;44;07 - 00;11;04;07
Unknown
Oh, yeah, you guys, I saw that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you saw that? Okay, perfect. So I have no content. I can only tell that one. Yeah. Yes. So but we are going to talk about the first, Godzilla Kong Godzilla versus Kong by the same director, Adam Wingard. from 2021. Because those we were able to stream in preparation for the pod.

00;11;04;07 - 00;11;24;19
Unknown
And the idea today is we're going to talk about the similarities and the differences between the two, and we are going to pair them with, wines that express themselves differently, for different reasons. You can do that in a couple of different ways. They can be from just like the Japanese Godzilla versus the American Godzilla. They're from different places.

00;11;24;26 - 00;11;46;15
Unknown
And so how do grapes express themselves in different terroirs, in different soils and different climates, or different winemaking techniques? Neither from the same place, but the technique is completely different. That could be something we might do today as well. We don't talk about this in advance in terms of who's bringing what, to talk about. So we might surprise each other, but the idea is to have fun with that.

00;11;46;15 - 00;12;01;16
Unknown
But to start us off these two Godzilla movies, what had, have you strikers kick us off? Had you seen these two before? I'm going to assume. Yes, but have you seen these two before? And what were your impressions of both of them the first time you saw them?

00;12;01;16 - 00;12;23;28
Unknown
yeah, I saw I've seen both of them. I seen shin guards. I kind of rewatched it maybe a month or two ago. first impressions. Shin guards, is a very long. What? You do have to be like them to watch it, because it is a lot of dialog with just scenes where they're just talking. Yeah.

00;12;23;28 - 00;12;27;08
Unknown
So if you're not that kind of person, like so I.

00;12;27;08 - 00;12;53;01
Unknown
Heavy dialog that 1st May not be for you. Godzilla versus Kong. Like if you like just spy in special effects people. Big giant monsters going at it. that one's probably for you. So I like them both, but I like them both for different reasons. But I always tell them it's just like pairing wine. Like, is it really starts on your own personal, like preference and taste.

00;12;53;05 - 00;12;54;06
Unknown
That's right. Yeah. Yeah.

00;12;54;06 - 00;13;18;24
Unknown
Yeah. Right. Thousands. I'm not going to the into the experience. you know, I've always been, pretty, passive kaiju fan, if there's that notion or, the sort of suggestion of kaiju, I'm probably going to check in, even if it's, for me, I like to call, that whole kaiju kind of sphere.

00;13;18;24 - 00;13;41;24
Unknown
what was the phrase? I wrote it a short story, like six months ago. I roll cinema. It's my favorite. I roll Chuckle cinema, you know, because you, you inevitably come across a moment that is so stupendous or so ridiculous that you have to roll the eye, but you're in it. So you end up just sort of chuckling into the moment, saying, that's why we're here.

00;13;41;24 - 00;14;10;28
Unknown
That is why we are here. So in terms of, you know, kaiju sphere. Yeah, I'm, I'm all in in general, I've always been a fan of, the Godzilla IP. I loved the 90s. American version. I love it, too. I really loved it. Wow. Talk talk about I roll cinema know it's it epitomizes.

00;14;10;28 - 00;14;21;06
Unknown
I will say that's that's precisely the point. And a bit of mine is I roll chuckle cinema. and, yeah, with, Shin Godzilla.

00;14;21;06 - 00;14;36;11
Unknown
I was so excited when I first I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. They do this thing, probably do the most big cities, but they pay these, plasterers to go and just plaster up these old school, posters for whatever is coming out on any buildings that are boarded up.

00;14;36;11 - 00;14;55;21
Unknown
It's I, I'm sure it happens in most cities, but it really happens in L.A. and so they had this, like 20ft tall, tall poster of the shin, poster, and it just the poster pulled me in. I was like, all right. Yeah, that's going to be crap. Maybe. But, you know, then I started reading up. I was like, oh, no, this is this is I'm excited about this one.

00;14;55;22 - 00;15;24;16
Unknown
So I was thoroughly excited about that one. the excitement in relation to, G for K, was had more to do with coming out of lockdown. I was just ready to go see something just blasphemous. Li large and explosive and loud in. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And generally I'm not, you know, I mean, I do, you know, that's it's a, it's a I have to be in a certain mood.

00;15;24;16 - 00;15;48;08
Unknown
But you know, I love that kind of stuff. So it's been a while and I had very low expectations. I knew going in this was going to be theme park cinema rather than, anything else I knew going in that they were launch and they were trying to launch a new theme park ride with this film. That's how it that's, you know, how it feels at least.

00;15;48;10 - 00;15;52;19
Unknown
so yeah, that's that's kind of my, my sort of, connection to it. What about you, Dave?

00;15;52;19 - 00;16;11;17
Unknown
Cool. So for me, I had so fun fact, the last couple of years, I've been rewatching all the godzillas from the OG, straightforward. I had never really seen most of the shower. And if I'm pronouncing any of these, Japanese titles wrong, I apologize, I do not know how to say them.

00;16;11;20 - 00;16;31;18
Unknown
but show shower or whatever it is. The 60, the 50s all the way to the late 70s is that first era of Godzilla. And I got the Criterion Collection of that set where it was like, you know, the entirety of the shower area. And I was like, okay, I'm all in, let's do this. and I know I'd seen the OG Godzilla before.

00;16;31;20 - 00;16;51;19
Unknown
I had seen like 1 or 2 of the other really campy 70s. Godzilla was just at, oh, that's great. That's a gravy. Yeah. You're great. and it's funny, I was really I was really happy that, in the American movies they named King Ghidorah, Monster Zero again, because that was one of my favorites of the old ones.

00;16;51;19 - 00;17;11;28
Unknown
The monster zero, which was almost not a Godzilla or even a kaiju movie, to be honest. It was one of those things where it was supposed to be this big kaiju war, and they are in it for like maybe five minutes. It's hysterically not a kaiju movie, and they just have. But the story was what was actually stunningly good.

00;17;11;28 - 00;17;31;10
Unknown
It was an alien invasion. The aliens were wild. It was like a complete Ray Bradbury or, I don't know, some Isaac Asimov. Kind of like, you know, old school pulp sci fi yarn. They just happened to feature a couple minutes of kaiju here and there. Kaiju were like part of the plans, but they didn't do anything in the movie.

00;17;31;13 - 00;17;45;20
Unknown
And yet I loved it. It was one of my favorites. and people forget the Monster Zero thing, and I loved it. It came back in Americans. Anyway, long story as short as humanly possible here, I watched, I made it all the way to the middle of the millennium era, and that's where I had kind of left off.

00;17;45;20 - 00;18;07;12
Unknown
I was at like 2002, 2003, and I haven't seen past that yet. And then Stryker came in and was like, let's gen Godzilla and, Godzilla versus Kong. And I was like, okay, I gotta jump. I'm no way I'm watching all of those to get, you know, all the way caught up. so I have jumped. I have I still haven't seen the movies in between yet, but I will.

00;18;07;12 - 00;18;30;25
Unknown
I'll catch up eventually. but it was really interesting watching these two, both for the first time for me, having waited through over the last couple of years, very slowly but surely, the entirety of Godzilla's history, in movies and in my brain, I feel like I have a lot of context to compare these two things to because of that.

00;18;30;27 - 00;18;52;23
Unknown
a few fun facts just to throw them out there because we're talking about Godzilla, that I love, that most people don't realize. Number one, the OG Godzilla from 1954, that Godzilla two date did die in the original Godzilla. He's never come back. Yeah, most people don't realize that in all the reboots, the remakes, the sequels, the everything.

00;18;52;23 - 00;19;18;24
Unknown
So the very first sequel, Godzilla raids again. They say, no, the Oxygen Destroyer did actually kill him. This is some other number of Godzilla species that we're now rechristened Godzilla in his wake. In all the 60s and 70s movies are that Godzilla, the second Godzilla that we meet and that second Godzilla. It lays eggs. It always has a son of Godzilla somewhere down the line.

00;19;18;24 - 00;19;44;29
Unknown
It's a she. It's not a he. Only the first lady was key or it's an asexual regeneration hermaphrodite. Something like that. Right, exactly. But it's not a straight up he one way or the other. And. And it's not the OG Godzilla. We never even in Godzilla 1984 or 1985, depending on if you're watching the American or Japanese one, which was the High Sierra reboot of the 80s and 90s, which is one of the best eras ever.

00;19;44;29 - 00;20;07;16
Unknown
It's such Dallas if you want Eyeroll Cinema, but that is actually just so fat. Oh my God, I love that era. It's good. It's incredible. But you know, they even end that era with this monster called destroyer, which was created based on the Oxygen Destroyer that did in fact kill the original Godzilla. So they stuck with this, the Godzilla so killed by that oxygen destroyer throughout all these different reboots.

00;20;07;16 - 00;20;26;19
Unknown
And so, I mean, I think by this point in time, no, that it's finally in the past, all these new Godzilla is are kind of like fresh, fresh reboots that have nothing to do with even the OG Godzilla. but we've never seen that being said, we've never seen the OG Godzilla ever again. In all of these movies, in all of these, everything, it's always been something else.

00;20;26;21 - 00;20;51;08
Unknown
So I love that as a fun fact to throw out there. but for these movies, Shin Godzilla, I will say we're going to talk more length about Shin Godzilla here in just a minute. But you know, Shin Godzilla is done by the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Guys, right? It's, So. Yeah. No. Yeah, yeah. And so it's two the two directors are both from that franchise.

00;20;51;11 - 00;21;15;27
Unknown
Hideaki Ayano is, of course, the director creator of Neon Genesis. And Shinji Higuchi was the storyboard artist for all of the Neon Genesis stuff. working very closely with, with Anno and he also was the visual effects artist on the 90s Gamera films. so he did all the VFX on those, like, those are the American children of the universe films that people who are into kaiju, they swear by.

00;21;15;27 - 00;21;40;09
Unknown
Those is like some of the best ever made. And so he was the VFX artist on those. And then came and co-directed this with Uno for this version of Shin Godzilla. And man, does it look a feel like an episode of Neon Genesis? Well, part of the heavy lifting of that is done by the composition, by the, by the score.

00;21;40;11 - 00;22;03;14
Unknown
Because you think by the score. I'm gonna I'm not, I'm not I'm not saying. I'm not saying it is all attributed to that, but, part of Evangelion, part of that whole sin. It that whole series, part of the emotional connection to that is the score. I mean, it it is it is truly, the under part of the underpinning of your emotional journey with that, that film.

00;22;03;14 - 00;22;14;14
Unknown
And I think the same can be said for, for Shin Godzilla because it is it does go off into a different, much more serious tone than a lot of the other. oh, absolutely.

00;22;14;14 - 00;22;28;15
Unknown
Well, and for me, the sea gods, who I think is the composer's name, doesn't, yes, yes, yes, yes. and you know, for me as well, just the like, the visual compositions.

00;22;28;20 - 00;22;57;22
Unknown
Right. Like, I swear, this thing is storyboarded to a just like a know, like an anime where, oh, still shots of just people walking and stopping and talking, but in this big vista in the background, and then the way the the play of light and shadow, you can tell that someone storyboarded this. And when they decide when they were then ready to shoot the film, just like, the Watchhouse guys were infamous for this, where they would storyboard the shit out of their movies, and then when they made them, that was the Bible.

00;22;57;23 - 00;23;16;14
Unknown
They weren't like, oh, but we're still going to just find the shot. You know? They're like, it's like, this is what, right to a tee go. And that's what we're capturing. And I feel like this happened here as well, where they were like, these are the shots. And when the poor cinematographer came in, they're like, hey Guy, just do this.

00;23;16;16 - 00;23;40;06
Unknown
Like, please don't step outside the lines. And they got those exact shots and everything about it even that long. as Stryker mentioned, it's a long watch in is the moment I imagined it as an anime. It worked so much better for me where I just imagine this was cartoon and not live action. And I was like, yeah, these are these shots.

00;23;40;10 - 00;24;07;00
Unknown
This is exactly how it's slow and it's slow how it's violent and and horrifying when it's violent and horrifying. Like they were doing live action anime in a way that was almost eerie in how exact it was a live action anime, and in live action Neon Genesis style, where, like, those giant kaiju creatures or robots or what have you are kind of terrifying in an eerie and just in scale alone.

00;24;07;00 - 00;24;28;15
Unknown
They're just terrible. Yes. You know. Yeah, yeah, it is definitely a live action anime and you can tell it needed storyboarding because they had a lot they were trying to accomplish with this goddamn film. Yes, they had a lot they were trying to accomplish with this film, not only sort of in terms of the legacy of because, you know, they they take this the culture takes this stuff seriously.

00;24;28;21 - 00;24;57;04
Unknown
And, you know, they with particularly with Shin, I was really impressed by how they wove in, this sort of socio political kind of, textures that were happening in the world at the time with, the reactor and, you know, the earthquake and the sort of nuclear parallels. And it was just a whole bunch of stuff that they're weaving into this film, and it's like, all right, this is a massive undertaking.

00;24;57;04 - 00;25;23;02
Unknown
And then to make it feel like a live action, because it does, it feels like a live action animated down to the shots, down to, as you were saying, Stryker about the exposition and the sort of, you know, the conversations between characters. Yeah, sometimes. And particularly in Evangelion, you might get a seven minute long sort of interaction between two characters, and you're like, I really do want to watch this, but it gives me so much in the moment that Richard.

00;25;23;04 - 00;25;54;07
Unknown
Right. And here the hell we are. So, yeah, they do a damn fine job of making it feel like true, authentic live action anime. Yeah. And the same way that they would do, like, you'd have an action packed episode followed by, like, no action. Like, literally not a second of anything exciting, you know, in the next episode where it's just people very solemnly and somberly sitting and discussing the trauma of what just happened right, and what might be happening in the future.

00;25;54;12 - 00;26;16;07
Unknown
And yeah, that ebb and flow where it's like it's huge ebbs and huge flows for lengthy stretches of time. And I think that might have thrown a lot of people I don't I believe the reception of this was still mostly positive. but I can see why minus one is more, visceral. Like people are just like, this is the most exciting fucking Godzilla.

00;26;16;10 - 00;26;40;28
Unknown
Like, violent. Yeah. Us Godzilla movie I've ever seen. Whereas Shin is like, there's a I don't know what I think about this, you know? Yeah, there's a contemplative kind of nature to shin like, because you are forced to to consider a lot of the themes, like you're forced to sit and consider the ramifications. You're forced to sit and consider there's a great there, great shot.

00;26;40;28 - 00;27;06;01
Unknown
When the, cars are rolling in on the water and things are sort of going to pot, it looks just like the images, of the, reactor. the, tsunami. and it was, it was a haunting, haunting thing because that was, what, 2011, I guess. and, and a lot of the, information you read about the response to the film, that's one of the apparently one of the triggers.

00;27;06;01 - 00;27;29;08
Unknown
Apparently, it triggered a lot of people. Right. because they spent so much time dealing with the aftermath of this kind of nuclear walking nuclear disaster that Godzilla is. And it's, you know, sort of the resulting impact on, the city and the people. So. Right. So and that's all to say, they had a whole hell of a lot of heavy lifting to get done with this film.

00;27;29;08 - 00;27;52;14
Unknown
So yes, yes. And flipside of that, let's talk about the I'm going to quickly because I still haven't had my background on the American one. So I had seen the 2014 first, Gareth Edwards Godzilla in the theaters back in the day. Yeah. I'd never seen anything since, though, the Gareth Edwards one. I'm a fan of Gareth Edwards as a director in general.

00;27;52;17 - 00;28;16;03
Unknown
He got the Godzilla gig basically in the film called monsters that he did. prior to that, I don't know. Stryker, have you ever seen the movie monsters? I don't know who's, who stars in it. No, no, okay, I did yeah, yeah, it's basically a mid or maybe low budget, film, but it's done. So it was under 1 million.

00;28;16;03 - 00;28;33;22
Unknown
Yeah, it was less than one. It's. I do recommend it. If monsters are your thing or some that anime parallel. it is done really well. And like Dave said, he got the gig off this film because one, it's very difficult to finish a film to get a film made. Two, it's difficult to get a film distributed, particularly back then.

00;28;33;22 - 00;28;54;02
Unknown
Three it's difficult for that revolting film to actually be good. so he managed to do all three, and, you know, he got the Godzilla gig based off that $1 million film. Yes. And it was giant kaiju monsters in the background sometimes on screen. You know, he had a very low budget, and it was purely guerrilla made.

00;28;54;02 - 00;29;08;08
Unknown
He never got filming licenses for any of it. So he was it was him. And his crew, like in the jungles of I'm gonna forget the country they shot this in. But it was one of the Latin American countries, and they were like, they were not

00;29;08;08 - 00;29;15;11
Unknown
allowed to do any of it. They were. They had to kind of like, make sure no one caught them filming that they were doing it all guerrilla style.

00;29;15;18 - 00;29;37;14
Unknown
And then he was a special eye. So he could then take the footage and get all he knew what he was doing to put the kaiju in later. And the movie was basically a vaguely post-apocalyptic movie, where these kaiju had emerged. The government was desperately trying to kill them, and it was just followed these two people trying to survive the event.

00;29;37;16 - 00;29;38;07
Unknown
And

00;29;38;07 - 00;29;57;16
Unknown
it turns out the thing that kind of bothered me about the Godzilla movie is he lifted the plot from monsters and just made it into Godzilla. And I was like, wait, this is the same movie with Godzilla included? And I was like, I. And that could have been a studio thing. Or like, we literally want you to do that here.

00;29;57;20 - 00;30;13;18
Unknown
And just that, I mean, I don't know, I'm not going to redeem him from him. I want to go with the, yeah. In my head, I think it's very unlikely he had power, in that situation. So he likely had any of it. And is this a found footage film? It sounds like found. It's not really. No.

00;30;13;18 - 00;30;36;22
Unknown
No one's filming it. No, it's not found footage. No one's. But I mean, there's no it's not a concept where someone is filming. it is a again, it was guerrilla style. So there's a little bit of, like, shaky ish cam, a lot of fog. Like, they. Yeah. We'll go shake again. Yeah. Go shaky cam. but it's not a, the concept isn't that someone's following them, filming them or anything.

00;30;36;24 - 00;30;56;24
Unknown
but the thing that was similar about the two is in the 2014 Godzilla, there's two other kaiju that are trying to mate where, you know, and that's what everyone's trying to stop. And that is the story of monsters is these two kaiju. The government is trying to kill them. And then it turns out they were just in love and wanted to have sex, basically.

00;30;56;27 - 00;31;22;04
Unknown
and it was almost a weirdly heartwarming ending for the. And you're like, and then they took it in a more monstrous direction for Godzilla, where there was nothing heartwarming about those two kaiju. it was still the same plot, and it was a weird reintroduction of Godzilla. I found where I was like, I feel like they needed a more streamlined story to be the first Godzilla movie

00;31;22;04 - 00;31;45;29
Unknown
That said, I did watch everything of the American movies to prepare for this podcast, so I watched the 2014 one again. I watched King of Monsters, I watched Kong Skull Island, and I watched Godzilla, the Kong, the first time guys overseas Kong for the first time. That's a lot. It's a shit ton of fun. I mean, it was totally different from Shin Godzilla.

00;31;46;01 - 00;32;13;22
Unknown
I liked them quite a bit. Are they? Are their flaws? Are there some? they're very American. They're very formulaic in their way, but also, well, throwing in a peppering and a few new ideas and a few new things that we hadn't really tried before. But they were creating a monster verse, and I think they did it well, like the way they kept continuity between movies, the way they wove it all together ultimately, until the big crossover between Godzilla and Kong, I was like, yeah, yeah, golf clap!

00;32;13;24 - 00;32;41;01
Unknown
Good job guys. This is this is good. Like, I'm loving everything you do. And Godzilla vs Kong was directed by Adam Wingard, who also, like Gareth Edwards, comes from a super indie background. He did his first film for $2,000, a feature film. it looks like it was made for $2,000. Now, don't get me wrong. Yeah, it was it was very, very indie.

00;32;41;05 - 00;33;05;12
Unknown
But he worked his way very slowly up that ladder. and he had a co-writer. So his very first films, ultra, ultra indie, the first one that I think is really worth seeing is a movie called Horrible Way to Die. And it was the first movie he did with a writer called Simon Barrett, who, they are still, a creative team to this day.

00;33;05;15 - 00;33;06;22
Unknown
And they.

00;33;06;22 - 00;33;33;13
Unknown
Yeah, the second Godzilla versus Kong together, they were not allowed to do it together for the first one. the studio already had a script, and Adam Wingard just got to direct it. though a fun fact Adam Wingard was up for the Kong Skull Island movie originally, until it switched studios. And then he got dropped and they went with another director, but then they brought him back finally for the big crossover, and he does do an incredible job with it.

00;33;33;13 - 00;33;54;14
Unknown
And then what if from what I hear, though, I have not seen the second one yet, the, Godzilla ex Kong, that is more him and Simon. That's like their their vision. That's what that's them being them. Whereas the someone they were. Yeah. Yeah I think they were they were a little more in check because it was a studio script.

00;33;54;18 - 00;34;12;10
Unknown
They didn't get to write it, they just had to make it. Whereas the second one, they're like, now we get to do our thing and I'm so excited for this. I just want to throw this out there. Their next project as of right now is Face Off two. Yes. which which actually scares the shit out of me.

00;34;12;10 - 00;34;32;29
Unknown
But anyway, what are they going to do? Like what? What the. It they go. So here's the best part about this. they convinced they convinced the studio that it will be John Travolta, Nicolas Cage coming back to reprise their roles. It better be in. Yeah, well, first of all. And I want them. I want I want it to be absurd.

00;34;32;29 - 00;34;38;11
Unknown
It needs to be. But here's the thing. It it took them years to convince the studio to do that. Yeah.

00;34;38;11 - 00;34;50;04
Unknown
One the studio thought, who wants those two guys? And they wanted a remake. They wanted to reboot. Yeah. And it took them. I think they said it was Top Gun Maverick. breaking doing so. Well, they convinced them.

00;34;50;04 - 00;35;11;15
Unknown
Oh, which is weird, because it's Tom cruise, the guy who could still do box office. I'm like, that doesn't actually make sense that that will change their minds, but okay, whatever. Whatever gets his face off, too. With Nicolas Cage. Exactly. I'm. I'm all for it. I'm. I'm scared. But at the same time, wind garden. Barrett I feel like there's a there's a strong chance they'll they'll get it done.

00;35;11;17 - 00;35;42;14
Unknown
It'll be wild. Yeah, yeah. Stryker, are you a fan of Face Off? The first one I was. I am, but I'm still curious on how they're going to make a sequel. I feel like a studio. What they'll probably do is, like self insert some, like, New Hollywood version oh one. It's all about their kid, you know, like about their children or something or like a and they'll get away from what people actually want from it.

00;35;42;16 - 00;35;59;21
Unknown
So that makes me a little worried. But also anything with Nicolas Cage I'll check out because he's every time without fail, it. I just he's his own category and I, he's his own category, and I'm here for it.

00;35;59;21 - 00;36;10;02
Unknown
Yeah, I do think so. I listen to a podcast with the writer Simon where he was talking about this, and he was like, look, it's big shoes to fill.

00;36;10;05 - 00;36;22;00
Unknown
We're well aware. we are they're nervous about it too, which I think is a good sign. You know, they're not they're not cavalierly like going into the project. They're like, we don't know if we're

00;36;22;00 - 00;36;38;14
Unknown
out of the park. That is the goal, right? And to be true, like to actually do a sequel, a proper sequel, and to make it work with that amazing first batshit movie that came out of nowhere and nothing like it has ever really been seen since.

00;36;38;16 - 00;36;52;17
Unknown
that perfect blend of east and west eastern style filmmaking, Western style style filmmaking that, you know, it's because it's the one John Woo Western movie that worked at that level where everything else it's like it works up to a point,

00;36;52;17 - 00;37;01;08
Unknown
but then you can feel the weird mesh of the east west elements where it's like they they're not quite gelling and they stuff is just it's own beast.

00;37;01;08 - 00;37;13;19
Unknown
It's like it really became a hybrid new style that you could see the West, you could see the East elements, the influences, but then it was just its own movie and it got, oh, I love it so much. Yeah, fantastic.

00;37;13;19 - 00;37;22;21
Unknown
So let's talk about before we, talk a little bit further about the movies, let's talk about the ones, because these are two vastly disparate, disparate movies.

00;37;22;29 - 00;37;26;23
Unknown
They are nothing like each other, even though they're they're,

00;37;26;23 - 00;37;43;09
Unknown
They are. What's the word I'm looking for here? I'm not going to think of it. but they are ostensibly. There we go. They are ostensibly Godzilla movies. but they are coming at it from two very different angles, with two very different cultures that have very different things.

00;37;43;09 - 00;38;12;28
Unknown
They want, I think, from Godzilla and different expectations, different palette, different everything. Yeah. Yes. I what they're even trying to make are very different things. So Stryker kick us off here. What would you pair with this with these two movies. What what is that gap for you in relation to wine? Yes. So with Shin Godzilla, how I like to think of it is, like a late harvest Sauvignon blanc.

00;38;13;00 - 00;38;34;19
Unknown
for the fact that Shin Godzilla. Kind of the thing that captivates people as he goes through different forms. Yeah. And his late form is kind of a thing that, you know, that's kind of really popular. Like, he's like this horrifying monster thing. So how I like to think of it is something late in the production process.

00;38;34;19 - 00;38;56;21
Unknown
Right. So that's, I like to think of it, a late harvest kind of wine. How I like to think, Godzilla versus Kong is like, I don't like to say regular Sauvignon blanc. That is, you know, more like a standard Sauvignon blanc. Because when people ask me, you know, I like sorry on black. What kind you.

00;38;56;21 - 00;39;20;22
Unknown
I'd be like curvaceous, young, black. Do you like it from space? So why please, it's a wine. really kind of takes on where it's from. So that's how I kind of like to think of it when it's this Americanized version versus, you know, an eastern version. So it really kind of depend on where you're from, kind of a style.

00;39;20;22 - 00;39;37;20
Unknown
And that's how I kind of like to think of it. Yeah, that makes sense. Very nice. Yes. Strong whiff of urine with the American version. Right. So that's always what the what they say about Sauvignon blanc, which, you know, ever since, ever since I heard that for the first time, I was like, oh, God. Yeah, it is kind of there, isn't it?

00;39;37;27 - 00;40;02;11
Unknown
It's always there in the, at least in American styles of, of, Sauvignon blanc. It's always, I don't know, desert styles. I've actually I'm trying to remember outside of, Saturn, if I've ever had a proper late harvest because it turns its own, version that and has usually has Semillon in there. but yeah, that's cool.

00;40;02;11 - 00;40;11;07
Unknown
So, Dallas, what about you? yeah. So.

00;40;11;10 - 00;40;32;19
Unknown
This one, what's crazy is I actually would not pair either of these with a wine. but for. Oh, yeah. I was just curious. this is, So I had to sort of, I had to sit on it for a while, and then I decided, that I wanted something which,

00;40;32;19 - 00;40;51;16
Unknown
Yeah, see, I wouldn't if I had a whole thing about of very specific beers to go with this film. which was they do a second layer later. Beers, goats, beers. No, no, no, we're we're doing one. Good ones. okay. Okay. but I knew I wanted something that was

00;40;51;16 - 00;41;02;12
Unknown
complex in sort of two different ways, because I think while these films, why the idea of these films and this sort of base IP is very simple.

00;41;02;12 - 00;41;29;05
Unknown
the way they're treated, it's just two vastly different ways. One has this really almost austere, sort of delicate, treasured kind of sentiment to it. Right. Shin and it, it really, like, requires you to kind of just sit with it and consider it and,

00;41;29;05 - 00;41;38;15
Unknown
on the other hand, you've got, GVK, which is, you know, like I said, sort of a theme park experience, right?

00;41;38;15 - 00;41;58;08
Unknown
It is it is so American, which is great and fantastic in its own way. And it's, I also love the the hollow earth pulpy ness of it all. Oh, yeah. It's just like it's that adventure movie. Yeah, absolutely. Which is, you know, again, that's the theme park thing. That's why I say when I saw this, it just looked like a giant origin.

00;41;58;08 - 00;42;16;08
Unknown
And for a great theme park, ride, the inverted gravity, that's got to be Orion, right? You know, that thing or, like, spins you so fast that you get to, like, lift off the ground or something? Exactly. But I feel like it's something to be, like, put you on wires and let you feel, yeah. There's got to be a great theme park.

00;42;16;11 - 00;42;20;27
Unknown
100%. So, for me.

00;42;20;27 - 00;42;45;05
Unknown
One thing that happened with this particular grape is number one. The grape I chose is a very old grape. in general, the grape is often the most expensive grape you could find for mass, volumes. it's also a grape I'm not terribly into. And sell it down. Sell it?

00;42;45;07 - 00;43;11;10
Unknown
But it is great. It honestly. It's great, it's great, it's great. I knew I wanted something, for Shin that was sort of coastal and, sort of almost pacific, if that makes any sense. I knew I wanted that sort of terrain to be. I know I wanted to come from a place of kind of craggy and rocky because you get a certain, extra minerality from that.

00;43;11;13 - 00;43;43;26
Unknown
and, I chose the Pinot noir. I chose a Pino, for GVC. I chose a Pino, blend from 4 or 5 vineyards within the same county. Pilipino grape. and for, Shin, I chose the, who we, from Marlborough, New Zealand, which is a really kind of austere and, savory and deep.

00;43;43;26 - 00;43;52;21
Unknown
And it's got everything you want from a Pino. but it, it has a weird depth that

00;43;52;21 - 00;44;19;10
Unknown
it's not confusing. But it forces you to consider it, if that makes sense. You know, certain wines that automatically, when they hit the palate, you know where they are. You know what they are. They open up over time a little bit, maybe the sort of, you know, you're saying you would not guess this is a pino in a blind tasting kind of a thing is, I would guess if were a peanut, but it's a pino with a little something extra.

00;44;19;10 - 00;44;21;21
Unknown


00;44;21;23 - 00;44;46;05
Unknown
and I think that's what Shin is. It's a Godzilla movie with a little something extra. It's got some heart, some really timely heart because of everything that was going on at the time and the nationalistic kind of pride that's in this movie that, you know, it won. I think it won six picture of the year or something at Japan's, you know, Academy Awards.

00;44;46;07 - 00;45;07;00
Unknown
because of how personal it was at the time. so, yeah, I love the Pino again, not a grape. I generally, gravitate towards, but I think they express these two express in two different ways. And I chose the blood root, Pino, from Sonoma County, for the GVK film.

00;45;07;00 - 00;45;10;26
Unknown
Beautiful. Yeah. Well, so I went,

00;45;10;29 - 00;45;36;16
Unknown
And Dallas will not be surprised by this. I have two examples of two things, that I'm going to, throw out there because one is different terroirs and one is different winemaking styles. And they both really worked well. So, the grape from the grape from two different places for me, I went with two not. And I had to do that because to not, you know, it's it's, it's a French grape originally.

00;45;36;18 - 00;45;59;28
Unknown
And in France, the big region for tonight is Madeira and. Right. And Madeira is the place where I have one bottle here. I mean, it's like this big, thick, black bastard of a bottle. It's just like it looks brooding. And the wine inside. Absolutely is. It is. This is a 2016. I'm still sitting on it for a little bit longer.

00;46;00;03 - 00;46;27;06
Unknown
to not from the Madeira. And this is the one that I would go with. Shin actually is. It's. You need to take your time drinking it. They took their time making it. They took their time releasing it. It is a it. It is a brewing. it needs time for you to get used it, for it to mellow, for you to understand what it is and what is trying to do to you.

00;46;27;08 - 00;46;46;18
Unknown
when to not. Is this brooding? Like the tannins are crazy, like they are not mellow, way shape or form. And I don't think like that's something with shin to shins. Got rough edges. And I don't mean rough edges in terms of filmmaking. I mean in terms of like, how much fun do you have with it? And you're not supposed to have like, fun, fun with it.

00;46;46;20 - 00;47;13;03
Unknown
That's not the point of Shin. And so I'm like, what is a wine that I enjoy? But I do not have fun with and man, maturing to not. Is that wine for me? where it's just it's all dark. It's dark, jammy fruit. It's sweet, quote unquote. But it ain't sweet. Yeah. it is mostly savory. It's a lot of, like, black licorice and tobacco and, like, you know, spices like cardamom.

00;47;13;03 - 00;47;35;03
Unknown
And like, they've got a little sting there baking spices with. They got a little sting to them. It's not gentle like cinnamon. It's the ones that, like, you can go a little too far with. And again, you need time for that integration. and I feel like Shin is one of those that you could rewatch and rewatch, and you got to give it some time to fully appreciate what it's doing and how it did it.

00;47;35;06 - 00;47;58;23
Unknown
and, and then there's Paso Robles tonight and, Paso Robles tonight is the OG place. So Tubeless Creek is the OG place where it's not. Vines came over to America in the first place. they didn't even ask for it. They had a French importer to get them vines to, like, start their, their, their vineyards. And one day they got these vines that were just extra, and they were like, what are these?

00;47;58;28 - 00;48;17;12
Unknown
And they had to call their French guy. And they were like, yeah, I think you gave us these by mistake. And he was like, oh, no, no, no, I think those will do really well over there. Plant him, give them a shot. And they're like, okay. So they planted them and they were amazing. to not grew so well in Paso.

00;48;17;14 - 00;48;49;03
Unknown
And Tablas Creek specifically has given the two knot cuttings for Virginia, for Texas, for all the other states that have been have gone on to continue to make to not, Virginia. It's one of the prime red grapes of Virginia these days. And it's doing incredibly well over there. and American to not it is so much the tannins are weirdly mellow comparatively from the get go and it's fruit forward, which is not with the Madeira and not is in any way, shape or form.

00;48;49;06 - 00;49;08;03
Unknown
so it's just this like, you can drink it young, you could give it time, it'll age. It's got acidity. It's got it's does have the tannins. They're mellow but they're, they're, it's got the tannins in acidity to age. But you don't have to you can drink it now and it's got tons of flavor. But it's all nice juicy flavor.

00;49;08;08 - 00;49;27;17
Unknown
It's got some sebaceous ness. It's got that zing of the acidity. But it's just it's ready to go. And, you know, that's an American film for you, right? That's an American kaiju film. Be right there. It's like, don't think too hard. We're going to throw plot points at you. Please don't think too hard about those. Just keep going and have fun with this thing.

00;49;27;17 - 00;49;49;16
Unknown
It's a ride. It's a roller coaster ride. So those two knots were ones that I thought. And then the other thing I thought of was Valpolicella from Italy, where you have three primary styles of Valpolicella. You have, of course, the Amarone, which is the king, of those reds where, that is your dark, brooding, once again, like, it's not.

00;49;49;16 - 00;50;07;18
Unknown
It needs time. you don't want to drink it too young. That is when they take, you know, Valpolicella are two native varietals from the Veneto region in Italy. You don't really see them anywhere else in the world. Run Danella and Molinaro. a couple other grapes can be peppered in there. They're allowed. But those are the two that always lead the way.

00;50;07;21 - 00;50;13;26
Unknown
And there are three kinds of Valpolicella, Classico, Reposado and Amarone.

00;50;13;26 - 00;50;36;28
Unknown
Classico is you're young, fresh, ready to go, just like the Paso to not. That is your, Godzilla versus Kong version. I think, you can go all the way to Amarone. How they make amarone is they partially dehydrate the grapes, so they concentrate all those all those flavors, get rid of some of the water, then ferment them and make the wine a bit rich because of that.

00;50;37;00 - 00;51;04;15
Unknown
The riposte. So which is right in the middle is a fascinating one. They take the skins, they just use to make the, a runaway, and they reuse them a second time to make the reposado. So replaceable means second pass. And it's like a using a teabag a second time. So you're literally getting a weaker version of what you just made with the amarone, and you're taking the Classico that you just made and then adding those skins of the that you just that you just used for the amarone and using them again.

00;51;04;18 - 00;51;30;22
Unknown
And honestly, I think Shin, is there a paso? Not so much the Amarone. I think the amarone is just a little too decadent. And that's not really what Shin is either. The reposado is kind of like a dirty version of the Classico, where you're getting these, like, weirdly dirty, savory elements, almost earthy. Because again, it's like that.

00;51;30;28 - 00;51;49;28
Unknown
It's like when you reuse a teabag and it's weak. And so you're not getting some of those prominent flavors. You're getting almost like secondary characteristics out of a damn thing. And it's just that's where Shin comes in where you're like, ooh, I don't this is interesting and I don't know what it is. That kind of gives me the shivers, but I'm into it.

00;51;50;01 - 00;52;14;15
Unknown
but not again, not having fun here. You're thinking about that thing because it's so odd. And. Yeah, Shin Godzilla, to me, it's an oddball movie of a Godzilla movie. I liked it a lot, but I got to think about it, and I got to revisit it sometime in the past. So those are the two things. Those Valpolicella is all the same wine just made in different ways, in the three different styles.

00;52;14;15 - 00;52;40;02
Unknown
So that's how they can be expressed, even if they're literally the same barrel pubblico classico, they're literally starting their and then or taking those grapes, they grew exact region and then doing completely different things with them and they all come out differently. So that's my expression of that. So on that note, I did want to say, a couple, last things and then we'll, we'll see if we have last things we want to say about the movies themselves.

00;52;40;09 - 00;53;08;09
Unknown
One thing I wanted to say about Shin Godzilla that fascinated me is apparently there was a plan for a sequel. Yes, to Godzilla. Right? So we saw four different forms of of Shin of the Godzilla ancient Godzilla, kind of evolving from where we first saw it. Right? And can I just say also my favorite, I think was, form number two, where he doesn't have a he doesn't really have limbs yet.

00;53;08;09 - 00;53;27;29
Unknown
He's like, yeah, right. He's, he's, he's got like he's a glow worm. And and he's not, he's not like you know. Yeah. Right. He's not standing on legs yet. He's just like squirming around and like skittering on these little stumps that aren't quite legs yet. And I'm like that. That is my nightmare fuel right there. That just haunts me like when I.

00;53;28;02 - 00;53;48;08
Unknown
But I love it in a good way. It was it was it way. And again, I'm just like, yeah, God, what is this thing again? It was one of those sort of it truly was one of those eye roll moments, because when it first appeared, I was like, oh God, what is this? And the more you stare at it, the more it does become nightmare fuel.

00;53;48;08 - 00;53;54;15
Unknown
Like, it really is so effective. It's so goddamn effective. I had no idea of the human evil. It was nightmare fuel.

00;53;54;15 - 00;54;23;05
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, I love I love the I, the idea of the that that's definitely, an evolution in the storytelling, in the narrative of, you know, the IP in general, the idea that this sort of, evolution is happening within this sort of, nuclear parallel, that it's walking nuclear nightmare, which again, is, you know, it's a little heavy handed in the allegory and the sort of metaphor department, but it's so effective in this film, like he looks like he's in pain for.

00;54;23;09 - 00;54;37;01
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's in pain, but he's forced to continue moving, which is nice. It's like the zombie. It's like a zombie. That's why zombies are so fucking, terrifying. Because they look like they're in pain. And the only thing is going to solve their pain is eating you.

00;54;37;01 - 00;54;38;15
Unknown
and I don't want you to solve their pain.

00;54;38;15 - 00;55;04;07
Unknown
Technically, it's just all you could do. It's only pleasure. They have left right for them. right. So. But there was a sequel planned with four more, evolution that Shin Godzilla was going to go through. So, you know, at the very end, if any of you were paying attention to that final shot of his tail when he was frozen, and there were those little, like, men, like, things that were, like, weirdly spawning from the end of the tail, and I that confused me.

00;55;04;07 - 00;55;24;28
Unknown
I was like, okay, I'm like, it's a cool image. I don't know what I'm supposed to take from it. I'm like, but I guess that's the end of the movie. And apparently that was, those little forms were going to become giant man like beings that were going to be extensions of Godzilla that were all going to spread across the world, from city to city.

00;55;25;06 - 00;55;47;09
Unknown
From there. There was then which I really want to see, goddammit. I want to see that. I want to see that. And oh, it was going to go even further. Then there was a this was all going to be in the sequel, sixth Form. none of those forms could then self reiterate and spread across the stars. They could fly and they could survive the, vacuum of space.

00;55;47;11 - 00;56;17;09
Unknown
The seventh form was a hive mind that across space, living in all different environments of all different planets, they were still they were all still Godzilla, all in these different planets and all across the stars. And then the final. Oh, and essentially and then the, and even then. Oh, and those forms could generate elements out of nowhere, essentially creating like creating small galaxies within galaxies just on a whim, they could create their own.

00;56;17;15 - 00;56;52;14
Unknown
And the final form was becoming actual God. He would be omnipresent throughout the entire universe. He'd be a part of everything in the universe, essentially a Lovecraftian entity that dreamed our universe as it currently existed. And that was where was in the anime. That's it. Yeah. You know, and it really is. It really is. And I know, I know, they've put sure, I know they've put their, their production on hold, basically on hold while MonsterVerse and sort of, you know, capitalizing.

00;56;52;17 - 00;57;03;10
Unknown
But I do see a world where they picked that back up because that is talk about an evolution and an IP that becomes a new beast there. You know, that's fantastic.

00;57;03;10 - 00;57;11;05
Unknown
Yeah. We'll see. I'm not sure. I don't think they'll pick it up. I think I think they let that one go. Yeah. Godzilla minus one. I think that's where they're going to go.

00;57;11;05 - 00;57;21;07
Unknown
If they're going to do a sequel, they're going to do it like a bar so they can move back up to that. That's all that is. I'll tell you. You think it's a lower of the bar? I still have to see Godzilla. That's that's why not.

00;57;21;07 - 00;57;26;20
Unknown
we shall see. We'll see. All right. and then, Godzilla versus Kong.

00;57;26;23 - 00;57;46;13
Unknown
Any last words on that one? I mean, we basically described in the energy of what it was and that it was a really cool culmination of this MonsterVerse. it I'm not going to say it's not flawed. I'm not going to say it's not very American blockbuster. It absolutely is. But it's one of the well-done American blockbusters, I think.

00;57;46;13 - 00;58;26;10
Unknown
I think overall, they've done a good job with the MonsterVerse. any final thoughts from you to, yeah. So what's interesting about, that first Godzilla, I think is, what, 2014? is minus one without giving spoilers away, basically did everything that that movie was criticized for, and it is basically dated. Well. So yeah. So what that movie was criticized for essentially while saying it is, what that Godzilla is not in, in a lot like he's I think they said a total of five minutes.

00;58;26;10 - 00;58;52;23
Unknown
He's in the entire movie. and minus one. You don't actually see Godzilla that much. He's not in, one of the criticisms for, that 2014 Godzilla was a focus too much on the human character. Well, minus one focused on all the human characters. So it's interesting that sometimes it's not in the way the storytelling is, is just that it they just did it.

00;58;52;23 - 00;59;14;13
Unknown
Well. So it's kind of funny how they did everything that the movie was criticized for. They just did it well in the reception was completely different. Yeah, I, I'm going to tie that back into wine two in terms of like, you know, there's no bad grapes out there, there's no gray, there's not even necessarily a bad area or anything.

00;59;14;13 - 00;59;35;08
Unknown
It's just like, what are they doing? Are they doing it? Well, it might not be a hands are doing the doing. That's all it is. and how could how hands on. Because certain climates too, you know, you got to be more hands on to do it. Well, whereas other climates, you need to be more hands off like this, you know, like this, this New Zealand, you know, these guys.

00;59;35;12 - 00;59;57;01
Unknown
It is such a hands on process. I mean, you know, they have a really sort of, austere production. They still have livestock roaming, around the grapes there and everything ever literally everything is done by hand. The yeast is original yeast. And, you know, everything is a.

00;59;57;01 - 01;00;06;23
Unknown
Yeah. Pino is a great example of that because I know people in wine that will screen the pino does not belong in X region.

01;00;06;23 - 01;00;29;08
Unknown
You can't grow it here, you can't grow it there. And I'm like, really? Right. I got, you know, I've tasted wine everywhere and it's fine in me. But if that's what you if that's the hang up about it. Okay. that's also the gatekeeping kind of industry establishing. Yeah. Because once you establish a baseline, you can dictate who's outside of that baseline.

01;00;29;09 - 01;00;50;29
Unknown
Right. It's a purity kind of idea. And it's ridiculous because as you said, it really is just about what's in the glass and what's on the palette. and your experience, what you bring to it. So, yeah. in terms of Godzilla vs Kong, though, it is a nutty little film. It is it is irreverent. It is again theme park.

01;00;51;01 - 01;01;13;20
Unknown
establishing it whenever they whenever the theme park does show up, it's going to be because of that film. It's going to be that film used as a blueprint. I think, you know, there's a whole lot of emotional core to the film, with the exception of Kong and the little girl. you know, the other characters are basically like plot dropping or plot devices.

01;01;13;20 - 01;01;46;05
Unknown
They're like, oh, here's that. Yeah, there you go. You drop things into the room. I do think the final 30 minutes of GVC is without question, I mean, this I mean, this in terms of the fight sequencing, in terms of, this sort of, inertia momentum of the fight. It is quite possibly the best, fight monster sequence in the history.

01;01;46;05 - 01;02;07;05
Unknown
How did you fight? so it is just ridiculous the entire time. I mean, the full 30 minutes, I am rolling my eyes just sort of come on, come on. And still just so deeply satisfied by the nonsense that they put on screen.

01;02;07;05 - 01;02;19;07
Unknown
Yeah, I will go with that. I will run with that. All right, well, I know, striker, you are limited on time today, so we will go ahead and wrap this up here.

01;02;19;07 - 01;02;39;01
Unknown
Even though, I mean, frankly, we could talk about the differences and distinctions of, of gods, the Godzilla franchise, all these different movies, how the whole franchise relates to wine in terms of like, yeah, you never have to give up on an idea in the wine world. I can't tell you how many times you mentioned how people would say, like, you can't grow Pinot here, you can't grow Pinot there.

01;02;39;04 - 01;02;57;17
Unknown
Even when you think of things like orange wine coming back and like all the people that would not embrace it. And they're like, you can't. No one likes this stuff, right? You're lying if you say you like it. And it's like, I love Orange Line. but I'm sure when it first came back, everyone was rediscovering how to make it and making it in new places with new grapes.

01;02;57;24 - 01;03;16;08
Unknown
And it's like, yeah, that's going to take time. And I wish the wine world was more, things take time, you know, to find the right way and especially in wine, where it's like you're comparing it to something they've been making for thousands of years in one place without ever leaving or changing. And you're like, well, that's better than this.

01;03;16;08 - 01;03;38;00
Unknown
And it's like, no shit, Sherlock. Like, this has been being made for like, what, five years? And this one new location now it's like, let us support it just enough, like be honest about it, but support it so we can get to the greatness. because wine is always that greatness, that, that potential is almost always there, and we just have to find our way with it.

01;03;38;03 - 01;04;05;06
Unknown
I wish there was more more support in the wine world for those for that, those kinds of evolutions. I think one was sort of one, one last sort of, parallel comparison to Godzilla in the wine world is specifically when you go and you find a vintage, that, you know, the sort of terroir or the climatological issues were so severe that year that the entire, year's output is just marred by it.

01;04;05;12 - 01;04;35;17
Unknown
And you can go into these wine shops, these vineyards, and see the collection of 2016, 2017. And then there's always inevitably, particularly with California wines, you'll find one that's $12 a bottle. Everything else is hovering around 60. But it's because of that year. The fires were so ridiculous that you can taste it in the grape, right? And even though it pales in comparison to all the other expert kind of expressions of that wine through the vintages and years, it's still it's own experience, it's own experience.

01;04;35;17 - 01;04;59;14
Unknown
And I think that's parallel for the Godzilla films, like even the ones that you don't leave you completely satisfied. They're they're still a damn fine experience. I think that's the first time someone has supported. Yeah. fire! Wildfire. Oh, I love these. Or hinted at your wine and accented wine and being like you. Try it first, don't you try it.

01;04;59;15 - 01;05;18;16
Unknown
Absolutely, absolutely. It's going to. Absolutely. No, I like it, I like it, I like it. I'm just surprised. I'm like, wow. No, I've never heard that. But see, even me being a, proselytize or for that mindset, I was close minded about that. So we all have our our, true.

01;05;18;16 - 01;05;23;02
Unknown
We all have our, yeah, our walls that we have to open to get through and whatnot.

01;05;23;02 - 01;05;48;16
Unknown
But. All right, let's get out of here. Yeah. thank you so much, Stryker. I hang up and tell everyone where they can find you online, please. Yeah, you can find me at Anime and Wine on Instagram and Twitter. I'm kind of. There always is. Find me there. Cool. All right. Thanks so much again, Stryker and links, down below under this, podcast in this episode.

01;05;48;18 - 01;06;09;17
Unknown
All right, folks, thank you so much, Stryker. Thanks for being here. And thanks to our listeners for listening to wine. And we'll be back next week with another wine and entertainment pairing for your entertainment. And I believe you heard today once again. Dallas now, Dallas, I have a whole thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but just sit there.

01;06;09;20 - 01;06;28;01
Unknown
Oh, no. I got a whole. No, no. Oh, this is a proper podcast. You need to just wait and let the whole ending go go go go go. Okay, if you like what you heard today. In fact, I got to start over. I'm going to edit all that out. Exactly. Thank you for listening.

01;06;28;04 - 01;06;35;04
Unknown
Please stop making my job harder. You're not editing these things. Thank you. Thanks for listening to wine. And

01;06;35;04 - 01;06;49;19
Unknown
Also, if you're on your phone, send us a quote unquote text if you'd like. If you go to this episode page on whatever streaming platform you're listening to, you're listening to this episode from, you'll see a send us a text link right at the beginning of the episode description.

01;06;49;24 - 01;06;56;29
Unknown
Click on that. It'll open your text messenger app, type your message, send it right to us. And if you'd like to interact with us regularly,

01;06;56;29 - 01;07;01;09
Unknown
go to our Substack wine and.substack.com.

01;07;01;09 - 01;07;29;01
Unknown
That link is down below as well. Some of the content is free, but the uncut episodes and ability to vote in polls, amongst other perks, are for paid members only. But check it out either way. Thanks for listening, y'all. We'll be back with another wine and episode next week. Bye bye now. No.

01;07;29;03 - 01;07;41;11
Unknown
Man.

01;07;41;14 - 01;07;48;03
Unknown
But for the benefit of.

01;07;48;05 - 01;07;55;17
Unknown
Us.