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Big things were supposed to happen in the year 2000. Instead, we got Godzilla 2000: Millennium, an appropriately regressive indicator of the new millennium’s obsession with nostalgia and snark. G2K flaunts its archness like a badge of honor, re-introducing audiences to the series’ hallmarks: weak plots, intrepid reporters looking for the “scoop of the century,” morally conflicted scientists, and soulless bureaucrats intent on destruction. It’s basically an exercise in meta-kitsch, with over-the-top English dubbing that winks and nods at its B-movie forbearers. “Did you see that giant flying rock go by? It’s unbelievable!” yells a concerned Tokyo police officer during one scene showing the prehistoric boulder that eventually hatches into a diaphragm-like spaceship before turning into a mammoth lizard for a final showdown. “Right, like Godzilla’s normal!” his partner retorts. Watch out for those power lines! This screening of Godzilla 2000: Millennium closes out OMGodzilla!, the Hirshhorn’s summer camp film series.
THE FILM shows AT 7 P.M. IN THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM & SCULPTURE GARDEN’S RING AUDITORIUM, INDEPENDENCE AVENUE AND 7TH STreet SW. FREE. (202) 663-5285.