It’s been almost 60 years, but humanity will once again see the two top dogs in the monster movie genre duke it out in “Godzilla vs. Kong” opening on 26 March at Camana Bay Cinema.
We first saw these Goliaths sharing the screen together in 1963’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” but Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse has slowly been building up towards this moment with 2014’s “Godzilla” and 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island."
The film features some actual actors — Alexander Skarsgård (television's "Generation Kill" and "True Blood") and Millie Bobby Brown (television's "Stranger Things") — but the real stars are famous monsters.
If watching cityscapes get vanquished by the brute force of these iconic monsters is your idea of a fun night out, “Godzilla vs. Kong” won't disappoint.
Classics
In a classic story of friendship, family and loss, “Steel Magnolias” has held a grip on audiences since its debut in 1989. Following an all-star cast of Sally Fields, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts just to name a few, we get to see the circle of life play out in a small southern town as the women in this film deal with tribulation to jubilation at various stages of their lives. Titled after the play of the same name, “Steel Magnolias” is said to describe the female characters of the story. While they may seem delicate and beautiful, they are as tough as steel. See it on the big screen 2 March.
The "Classics @ the Cinema" features close out March with the first film of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” saga. In “Kill Bill Part 1,” an unnamed woman is betrayed by the fellowship of assassins she once called family and vows revenge after they left her for dead. With some of the best choreographed fight scenes of the 2000s, Tarantino combines aspects of old school kung fu movies with his distinct directorial stylings to begin this two-movie story. “Kill Bill Part 1” plays 31 March and "Kill Bill Part 2" plays the following Tuesday, 7 April. Showtime for both is 7 p.m.
Kids Club
It's a shame that the “Land Before Time” series was relegated to direct-to-home video sequels at a nauseating pace (14 films in 18 years), because it takes away from how good the first instalment is. The first “Land Before Time” was a 1988 animated feature directed by animation legend Don Bluth. The film follows a group of adolescent dinosaurs led by a young apatosaurus named Little Foot. The film touches on topics of prejudice and what it means to belong. While the animation technology that was used in this film has aged, the story itself should resonate with audiences for another 65 million years.
The "Land Before Time" shows on 28 March in the usual Kids Club 10 a.m. time slot.
This article will appear in the March 2021 print edition of Camana Bay Times with the headline "Monsters, magnolias and assassins."