Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero picks up two years after Godzilla Minus One. Koichi Shikishima, Noriko, and Akiko are trying to build a life in post-war Japan when a new monster, Ghidorah, emerges from a chrysalis and starts destroying cities. Scientists, pilots, a meteorologist, and a sea captain search for a way to stop it, and the plan that wins out is to bring back Godzilla to fight it.

In this episode, Joshua Johnson, John Dougherty, and Craig Detweiler review Godzilla Minus Zero and what it says about collective trauma, survivor’s guilt, and the cycles of violence that war leaves behind. They talk about their own history with Godzilla, what makes Ghidorah a different kind of monster, and how the film keeps its human drama at the center. Then each host brings a double feature, and the hosts close with their October Watchlist.

When the thing that wounded you becomes part of you, how do you keep from turning it into a weapon?

Now Showing: Godzilla Minus Zero
(01:00) Godzilla Minus Zero: spoiler-free review
(17:25) Spoiler section

Double Feature
(42:24)
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki, 2023)
Pressure (Anthony Maras, 2026)

October Watchlist
(55:29)
Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
Jimmy (Aaron Burns, 2026)
The Incomer (Louis Paxton, 2026)
Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009)
The Invite (Olivia Wilde, 2026)
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (Bassam Tariq, 2026)
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (Noah Segan, 2026)
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger (Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, 2026)
Tenzing (Jennifer Peedom, 2026)

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Produced and Edited by Joshua Johnson

Music by Steve Slagg

The Good, The True, and The Cinema is a part of The Shifting Culture Podcast Network

Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord won this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes. It’s his second win, after 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007. Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan play a conservative Christian couple who move their five children from Romania to the small Norwegian town where she grew up. When a teacher finds bruises on one of the children, Child Welfare Services steps in.

In this episode, Joshua Johnson, John Dougherty, and Craig Detweiler review Fjord and what it has to say about parental rights, religious freedom, and the reach of the state into family life. They talk about the film’s sympathy for a strict religious family, the courtroom scenes in the second half, and the performances from Reinsve and Stan. Then the hosts hold their first Standoff: a draft of Palme d’Or winners, where each host picks five past winners.

When both sides have turned their convictions into idols, who is still able to see the other?

Now Showing: Fjord
(01:18) Fjord: spoiler-free review
(21:22) Spoiler section

The Standoff: Palme d’Or Movie Draft
(40:30)

Team Joshua
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)
The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1958)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi, 2025)

Team John
Barton Fink (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1991)
The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1946)
All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1980)
Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019)

Team Craig
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018)

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Joshua:

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Craig:

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John:

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Produced and Edited by Joshua Johnson

Music by Steve Slagg

The Good, The True, and The Cinema is a part of The Shifting Culture Podcast Network

It took Laika 1,155 days, 142,000 3D-printed faces and more than 715 miles of brass wire to build the woods outside Portland, Oregon, one frame at a time. The result is Wildwood, a stop-motion fantasy about a girl who follows a murder of crows into an enchanted forest to bring her baby brother home.

In this episode, Joshua Johnson and John Dougherty review Travis Knight’s adaptation of Colin Meloy’s novel, while Craig Detweiler is away traveling. They talk about grief that refuses to let go, parents who will do anything out of love, a kids’ movie where violence has a cost, and rival factions learning to listen to each other. They pair it with two films about children, monsters and enchanted worlds, from Hayao Miyazaki and Jim Henson. John reports from the last days of the Philadelphia Film Festival, and a listener asks about Rob Reiner.

When does love that will do anything stop being love?

Now Showing
02:06 – Wildwood (Travis Knight)
19:30 – Spoilers begin

Double Feature
50:33 – Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
55:31 – Labyrinth (Jim Henson, 1986)

Philadelphia Film Festival Report
1:02:25

Listener Mail
1:09:45 – When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989)

Support the show

Email goodtruecinema@gmail.com for any thoughts or feedback

Follow The Good, The True, and The Cinema:

Instagram

Joshua:

Instagram, Letterboxd

Craig:

Instagram, Letterboxd

John:

Instagram, Letterboxd

Produced and Edited by Joshua Johnson

Music by Steve Slagg

The Good, The True, and The Cinema is a part of The Shifting Culture Podcast Network