No Apocalypse on the Horizon for Legendary Filmmaker, George A. Romero

Posted on by

The Daves would like to welcome Brandon Engel to our website with his wonderful entry on George Romero!

In the periphery of mainstream filmmaking, George Romero has been churning out controversial movies for nearly 50 years, starting with his pioneering film, Night of the Living Dead, in 1968.

GM1

And even though it was shot in black and white and on a meager budget, Night knocked the socks off the viewing public. It received mixed reviews (with notable critics like Roger Ebert publicly expressing their distaste for the film, however effective it was) and it wound up essentially establishing the framework for the zombie film as we know it today. The film vividly depicted cannibalistic zombie feasts, and not only did Romero have the audacity to have his lead character played by a black actor (Duane Jones), but he also had the nerve to kill him off in the film’s screen. Not bad for a guy who launched his show-biz career on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Continue reading →

The Costumes of G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) XXI!

Posted on by

IMG_9650 (800x406)

The costume contest of G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) has increased by leaps and bounds (it went from around three entrees in the beginning to over forty contestants this year) while serving as a finale of sorts to its participants.  G-FEST, however, is not content to just have their cosplay (who are often too bulky to move about during the weekend as traditional costumers can) dress as their favorite monster. They provide an opportunity for them to stomp around a miniature city while acting out in  their own kaiju movie.

Continue reading →

G-FEST XXI’s Monster Models!

Posted on by

IMG_9496 (640x527)

Day two of G-FEST XXI began with me snoozing soundly in the comfy hotel bed before getting the distinct impression I was being stared at. I cracked open an eyeball to see my ten year old son, Luke, looking at me intently. “Shouldn’t we be getting downstairs to the convention?” he asked. I checked my phone and it was 5:30am. “Um…go back to sleep!” But at that point it was too late…we were up. Thank God the room had a coffee machine.

We ate breakfast which I’d packed along and then I got ready (Luke was already dressed of course) and, by 9am, I’m pretty sure he’d asked me “is it time to go down yet?” somewhere in the double digits. Patience is definitely not his strong suit. Finally we headed downstairs so we could get him signed up for the Godzilla video game tournament before the big competition began later that morning. This gave me time to check out the Art room (which you saw in the last post) and then, my favorite G-FEST feature of them all, the model room!

Continue reading →

Thank God(zilla) for G-FEST!

Posted on by

gfestxxi

My ten year old son, Luke, and I arrived today for G-FEST XXI . In the ten years I’ve attended the Godzilla Festival, I’d never seen the registration line so long on a Friday. Last year I attended over ten conventions, most outside of my sweet home Chicago with poor G-FEST getting a quick stop-over on its final day. This year would be the opposite as I vowed to avoid virtually every other event and focus solely on one of my favorites.

Continue reading →

Celebrating Godzilla at G-FEST!

Posted on by

IMG_3081Matt Harris’ amazing work debute at G-FEST XIX

Long before I became a “Terror Dave” or even knew what a “blog” was, there was only one fan event I attended regularly. It was exactly ten years ago that I experienced my first G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) and it would not only become something I’d look forward to every year after but one my kids would anticipate even more than Christmas itself.

Continue reading →