GodzillaFest 2011! [Event Preview]

The folks over at the Blue Starlite Drive-In are preparing another helping of Japanese kaiju madness this week with the second installment in their GodzillaFest 2011! event, co-sponsored by Austin Books and Comics.

This Monday night (6/20) they'll be showing a double-feature of two original series (Shōwa era) Gojira flicks back-to-back -- Mothra vs. Godzilla and Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (original title: Godzilla vs. Hedorah). As if that wasn't enough to get you to go park your car, Love Balls, a mobile food trailer specializing in Japanese snacks, will be driving their wares over to Cesar Chavez to help complete the experience, reputed Godzilla artist Matt Frank will be among the attendees, and 50% of all profits will be going to help out Japan in the post-earthquake aid effort.

First up at 9 PM plays Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), the 5th in the Shōwa series directed by Ishiro Honda (who directed the legitimately intense post-nuke Gojira that first put the most-unjolly green giant on the map). Mothra vs. Godzilla takes place at a time in the Godzilla timeline when Godzilla was still the main baddie, and once again, he's back on the prowl trashing Tokyo. The early Godzilla films were equally concerned with blowing up miniature cities as they were with providing a strong moral message, and that's where Mothra comes in. A giant yet peaceful insect, Mothra must make a sacrifice to save the humans, who are forced in turn to repent for their overdeveloping anti-environmental ways to convince her to help.