The Korean Godzilla attacks Macon!

Though I certainly respect and, when I can, support the Macon Film Guild's efforts to bring truly obscure movies to Macon, I never thought they'd get around to anything this much fun.

This Sunday at the Douglass Theatre they're showing "Gwoemul," better known in the U.S.A. as "The Host," and even more informally known as "The Korean Godzilla." Well, having seen this flick, I can tell you that while it's not quite as fun as the Godzilla flicks, it's pretty darn close, and well worth checking out on the Douglass screen.

The plot revolves around a fairly old dude who owns a snack bar on the banks of the Han River in Seoul. Everything seems to be going fairly well for he and his ragtag family until, very early on of course, a giant creature emerges from the depths of the river and abducts his daughter. From there on out it plays out predictably enough, but with lots of humor and just enough fright for me. I can't recommend this one highly enough.

The Douglass screenings are this Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., as always introduced by Camp Bacon and with a discussion following the 4:30 showing. I'll be at the early show, and I hope many Maconites will join me there.

Besides, what else is there to watch this weekend?

Rush Hour 3: No way in hell. Am I the only one who's wondering if Roman Polanski made some kind of karmic deal by which he's paying for all his past sins by agreeing to be pummeled by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the latest installment of threequel summer?

Daddy Day Camp: Good Lord. In the trailer alone, the poor white dude who has to be Cuba Gooding Jr.'s sidekick gets covered in feces at least three different ways. It would be hard to call me an elitist, but I just can't see any possibly way I could watch that.

Stardust: Though I'm only mildly excited at best, I might give this a chance. It looks like a paint-by-numbers fantasy though, so I might wait for DVD.

Skinwalkers: I have no idea what this is, but judging from the title, I'd have to guess it's fairly generic horror aimed at folks more than slightly younger than me. If I'm somehow wrong about this, please let me know.

Rescue Dawn: Absolutely. Even if its Werner Herzog remaking one of his own documentaries ("Little Dieter Needs to Fly"), it's still a Herzog flick, and most likely a damn fine one at that. Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a fighter pilot who gets shot down over Laos on his first flight mission in the Vietnam War and captured. From there on out, it apparently plays out as if "Rambo" were directed by Terrence Malick, so I'm definitely in. This one is only showing at the Regal Rivergate 14 in Macon, so please go see it there!

"Be Kind Rewind" preview

This does look awfully silly for the great Michel Gondry, but it should still be tons of fun.

For anyone who doesn't know, the flick, finally set to come out in January (I think), stars Jack Black and Mos Def (huzzah!) as employees of a video store (not DVD, of course) where all the tapes get erased due to their location next to a power plant. Our heroes, of course, set out to re-create all the erased movies and, according to the rather rough Comic-Con footage here, become quite the hit.

My favorite bits have to be Mos' declaration of "You're magnetized!" and Black's explanation of why they have no need to heed the FBI warning at the beginning of each tape, but even in these scant two-and-a-half minutes or so there are plenty of other things to like.



New Jason Isbell album

I picked up the solo debut from this former Drive-By Trucker last night, and while i'm still digesting it, there's a lot of strong stuff on "Sirens of the Ditch."

DBT fans be warned - this album never really rocks like the Truckers do, even though all of them except Mike Cooley (what the hell's up with that?) made significant contributions to this record. It's really a pop album with Isbell's still-developing songwriting touches, and really starts to pick up in the middle with the war gem "Dress Blues" through the bluesy "Hurricanes and Hand Grenades."

It was a dark day indeed when Mr. Isbell quit the Truckers, but they seem to have recovered fairly quickly, adding pedal-steel man John Neff (who I had the pleasure of meeting way back when he ran with Red River Dave and the Star Room Boys) as a permanent member and even recruiting Southern legend Spooner Oldham for their current tour (which, unfortunately, won't be coming to Macon.) We will, however, be getting a solo shot from Mr. Isbell at the Hummingbird Stage and Taproom Sept. 2, so definitely check that out.

And here is a great clip of Jason and the Truckers performing "Dress Blues" live at Stubbs in Texas. It's one of the best war songs I've heard in many, many years, so enjoy, and have an entirely suck-free Wednesday. Peace out.