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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 21, 2006 13:14:18 GMT -5
Hey, I definitely don't mind your posting or even rambling here! I started this thread so I could talk about, perchance to discuss, the show! So, rock 'n' roll, as I would say! They actually use the "mildly peeved researchers" bit in a later show. I remember it well 'cause it truly is classic, but it hasn't been in any of the KTMAs so far. These eps are, however, where they introduce their concept of there being an organization among mad scientists. What may have you in a memory feedback loop is the mads segment from Mighty Jack. The show opens with Erhardt and Forrester having what appears to be a "lovers' spat", well, more mature, like a middle aged couple trying to get things back on line. They never say what exactly the problem is but Larry swears that he'll change. Clayton demands that he do just that, so Larry holds his breath for a moment and in a new, mellower, less annoying voice says, "I've changed!" Clay says it doesn't count because it happened too quickly, but, hey, I'm grateful Josh's old Erhardt voice is gone! Then Larry says these things: "You've got to stop it! It doesn't make sense! You're killing us, Clay! We're not mad scientists, we're just angry!" to which Clay rebutts with, "Forget it! It would cost too much to change the letterhead!" So, a little similar and also funny, but ultimately different from the "Board of Mad Science" sketch. (No, I can't remember if that's what they actually call it, it could be something else.) And this all segues nicely into . . . K14 - Mighty Jack While I agree on many points with what Cleolanta said above, I would rate this episode higher. Well, I guess Cleo didn't really give an opinion other than that it is a terribly confusing movie, with which I agree fully. The key for me was only watching about half an hour at a time. As soon as I got sleepy, I turned it off, went and washed dishes or played 45's for a while and then came back. I did have caffeine, but not any more than my usual 3-4 servings a day. Am I addicted? Probably! I like this movie. I mean in the way I like bad movies. It has a certain feel to it. I like all the miniatures they use and the stooopid gadget stuff: Bad guy: "It turns water into a solid!" Me: "So, ice, then. It's a freezer, super." I've also just always loved the name. Mighty Jack sounds cool and goofy at once, and if I know me, I like stuff that's both cool and goofy. I often think it'd make a great dog name (yes, MJ and others, I know it's a board user name already, and no, this is not a comment on how I feel about said user), but I dislike dogs. My feeling is so strong, though, that it makes me wish I did have a dog fancy. You could call him all sorts of cute variations! Like Mighty-Mite, Jack-A-Mighty, or Jiyaku! This is another movie that's obviously a pair of TV episodes, an element which certainly contributes to the confuso-factor. Aside from the movement of the plot(s) being just plain hard to follow, there are also a couple characters that are easily confused. Harold Atari, or as I like to call him, Hari Atari, looks much like the reporter/spy guy in the second half. There's also a woman who looks enough like Katherine that I often knew not what was happening nor with whom. Hmm, I'd like to clarify something real quick that I just realized I should. When I talk about "the movie", I'm talking about the film being featured itself, and without any regard to the brains treatment of it. When I say I love or hate the movie, it's based solely on my experience of the film. When I talk about "the episode", I'm talking about what the Brains have done. If I say I like or dislike an episode, it is in reference to how I feel about the riffidge and host segments. It is entirely possible that I might like the movie, but not so much the episode. That doesn't mean I'm really super thrilled about the movie, it probably means I think the movie had a lot of potential that the Brains didn't take advantage of. Humanoid Woman (K11) is a good example of this. Okay, onward . . . On the downside of this episode, there were several dead spots: times when the guys were rambling about something or other, and mumbling to boot. They'd make a comment on something one of the others said and then banter back and forth about it. I think they did this in Mighty Jack more than ever before. It doesn't make for good comedy and half the time I couldn't make out what they were saying anyway. Then there was the "I 8 the big fat worm" bit that took forever and, well, just plain sucked. It's not an example of the above phenomenon, but it did drag on and wasn't funny. It reminds me of when I was 8 years old or so and would read jokes from my favorite joke book to my parents and siblings. I'd carry it everywhere I went, especially on car trips. That's how annoying the "big fat worm" joke was. But on the upside I thought there were lots of good riffs. I liked "It's a Mighty Jacket!" (the first time they used it, not the second). Also: Dr.: "Someone broke in and stole all my records." Crow: "Even The Shirelles?" I love the joke, but the Dr's line even more 'cause it sorta makes me jump every time I hear it. It's the first line after a jump cut, so it kind of sneaks up on me. I'm also a record collector and a bit paranoid, so the words "Someone broke in and stole all my records" make me go, "EEK! . . . Oh, I'm okay." The host segments were also good. I don't know what murder ball is, but I like the line that Joel ended the sketch with: "Next time, no free will." In the final segment, they're reading mail, but I don't see any images except the photo with the word bubble on it. Are all copies of this episode this way? Was it a technical gaffe or is it the low quality of my copy that renders the still-stores as nothing but white screens? This reminds me of another question I have. Did they rerun any of the KTMA eps or did each one run only once? Okay, I got episode sign! Superdome is up next and as a bonus over my last viewing of it, I now have a copy with the final segment! Also, thanks for reading what is probably my longest post ever! Wait, maybe not . . . Thanks for hangin' in there!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 21, 2006 13:33:09 GMT -5
Hey, I just realized I don't have my replacement disc for The Killer Shrews yet . . . I hope Rhino gets it to me before I get to season four! If it gets here in time, I won't watch both the goofed disc and the non-goofed, but if it doesn't . . . I'm gonna have a hard time resisting the compulsion to watch the unedited episode out of order . . . Crap.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 21, 2006 13:37:52 GMT -5
Hmm, I'll probably be getting to season one before collection #9 comes out with the intro for show 104 . . . Oh well.
I can just watch the intro whenever I want without watching the whole episode. That's okay. I can do that. I can stop obsessing now. I CAN stop obsessing now . . .
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Post by Cleolanta on Apr 22, 2006 5:25:45 GMT -5
Heh. I do the same thing with "the movie" vs. "the episode". The way you explained it, is EXACTLY what I mean when I talk about liking "the movie" of something but not so much the _episode_. Which has led to some hostility in cases where I say I can't STAND a certain movie and confused readers have thought I was bashing the Brains' work...but that's not what I meant. There are some cases where I kind of like the movie better than the riffing (and some cases where I can't STAND the movie but the riffing was okay/good), and not only in KTMA. A good example would be "Stranded in Space". The movie was actually kind of intriguing; the kind of '60s Prisoner-esque cheese that I like; but the riffs were just kind of...eh. In my opinion.
Anyway, other stuff at random...
--Ya know, I never _noticed_ that Erhardt had actually gone to the new voice after saying "I've changed". All I got was the joke that somebody supposedly "changed" BING! just like that, which of course isn't realistic. I laughed at it for that reason, but completely didn't pick up on the other bit. Huh.
--I just remembered, the part about "mildly-peeved researchers" is from "City on Fire". A decent episode, and the movie isn't terrible. DARK, but not really that bad. You're got a pretty nice episode coming up there.
--The end host segment of Superdome is in a different format that probably won't play on your standalone DVD player--at least, it didn't on mine--so you'll probably want to use your computer to watch this episode, if possible.
For my opinion of the episode--I don't know about the riffs because the movie itself SEVERELY bored me. It's a "movie" supposedly about football--a subject I have _zero_ interest in--which contains absolutely NO FOOTBALL WHATSOEVER!--has that sleazy '70s feel I just don't get along with, a huge cast of characters all of whom are NOT even remotely interesting or likeable at all, middle-aged ugly guys getting hot chicks just for the sake of a guy getting a hot chick, and the plot/s were too confusing for me to follow. The only bit of it I even remotely liked was the crazy bomber chick. She was cool. And I at least somewhat understood what was going on, with her. She should've been in the movie more.
--I wish I could've stopped the DVD and walked around when I got sleepy during Mighty Jack, but you have to understand, I'm talking SLEEPY. As in, actually falling unconscious before I could even realise what was happening. Heh...
--The end host segment of it looked okay to me, as far as I can remember. And the KTMA still-stores usually look all right to me too, except for the one at the end of Superdome.
--The movie itself isn't _that_ bad. I do tend to like the Japanese cheese episodes in general, myself. I just wish I had more of a clue what was going on... Then again, the Fugitive Alien things are also Sandy Frank dubbing jobs of "movies" that are actually two episodes of a TV show thrown confusingly together, and I LOVE those. Just goes to show...you never can tell. Or something.
--I loved the video-game jokes around Mr. Atari's name, 'cos I'm a gaming geek and of COURSE that's also what _I_ instantly thought of when I heard the name. Also, for some reason I get the giggles out of the point at which Josh gets so flustered he accidentally calls himself by his real name in the theater, but then again, I would. I dunno, I find the bloopers-that-stayed-in quality of the show kind of charming--as long as it's only a few and not so many that it makes them look incompetent.
And it doesn't. Even in KTMA, they don't mess up _that_ often. Just enough to show that they're ordinary human beings, working without much time and a small budget. But they're still INTELLIGENT, witty, creative human beings. :)
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 22, 2006 11:43:04 GMT -5
I don't have a lot of time, but thought I would get a little post in before heading out to the Book Festival.
Yeah, when I started "City on Fire" I immediately said, "Well, duh! There it is!" I had been thinking it was much later in the series. I think I was in a little memory feedback loop of my own. I think I was thinking of the time when Frank and Clay get audited and/or when Pearl worries about losing funding because of not being mad enough, which was maybe in "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" with all the PBS telethon parody and "Lovers of Loving Love" and such.
Anyway, the organization, in this episode, is The Mad Scientists' League.
Cleo, did you get your Superdome + final segment from Skyroniter? That's where I got mine and I didn't have any format problems. Most of my Boots are actually DivX and will only play on my Philips DVP-642 (I don't have a DVD drive in my PC). But I tried the Superdome disc in my portable player which doesn't have near the multi-format capabilities that the Philips does and I had no glitches or hiccups or anything when it got to the fnal segment. ::shrugs::
Okay, gotta go. I'll be back later today to type up my reviews of Superdome and City on Fire.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 22, 2006 20:20:04 GMT -5
K15 - Superdome
Not the best episode; I'll put that right out there. The movie is mostly just people talking and J&TBs can't find much to do with it. At one point they seem to even realize that they may be in the middle of a stinker episode. When the girl who gets drugged dies, Joel says, "Y'know, I can't say anything funny about this." Then, Tom says, "It's okay, our TV audience has all left anyway." It's like Josh, for one, has realized that this movie is too boring and that they aren't doing enough to compensate for it. They don't do such a terrible job, but not good enough is what I'd call it.
I do like the host segments that parody the flashback/montage shows that sitcoms will often do. My favorite is the moment when Tom is having the "Joel the Hardass" flashback and Joel says, "Listen, I'm not normally this way, it's just Servo's perception of me." I wonder though, why they just lifted one whole host segment from an earlier episode (the electrocution bit) and reused it without much in the way of jokes to frame it. Perhaps they were trying to imitate the way sitcoms will do that in their flashback episodes, but that's not parody, that's imitation.
The final host segment is pretty neat so I'm glad it was found and that I've got a copy with it on there. Some really nifty fan artwork and pictures that would have been a shame to have lost forever. It's great to see how much fandom the Brains already have. And this is all before the show got REALLY great or had wide exposure. One may have some difficulty enjoying the KTMA eps, but I think one must do a little "mind travel" and realize how cool it was at the time to have a show that was doing this. I'm not really one to wax on about the "mistique" or "feel" or "laidbackness" of these eps, but I do think they're worth seeing for fans of the show. I think they're more than just "historically important"; they really are fun when you can freshen your mind enough to watch them.
K16 - City on Fire
I have said that this was my favorite KTMA ep, but I think I'm changing my mind about that. It's not that I realized it was bad, 'cause it's not. I think I was just biased in memory because this ep has the earliest riff that made me just split my side the first time I heard it. It all starts with the old man in the wheelchair with the bedpan. The nurse is rushing him out of the hospital and then rushes on to do something else, but the man urgently stops her and whispers in her ear. She and Barry Newman then lift him up and seat him on the bedpan and we get a nice shot of him in relief. But the part that's actually funny comes when Leslie Nielsen is hosing everyone down for their jaunt down the firey street. The old man in the wheelchair comes through the door and begins to get hosed and Crow says, "Oh, this one's already wet." It doesn't seem as funny when you just talk about it, but when it's on screen I always have to pause the show so I don't miss anything while I'm laughing.
I've got to say that I'm getting tired of these made for TV thrillers. SST, Superdome, and City on Fire have a lot in common: a bunch of "stars" that I don't want to look at, the awful '70s "Mitchell" look to everything, and way too many subplots, each with a heap of numbingly obvious relationship drama. I figure these were the kind of movies hanging around a TV station like KTMA in 1989; since they were "made for TV", I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that they were being shown on KTMA, a TV station. So, I must say I'm also glad they got a hold of all those Sandy Frank imports! Bet you thought you'd never hear someone say, "Thank God for Sandy Frank!" But otherwise the KTMAs might have been nothing but after school specials and TV thrillers!
Anyway, the episode is good, but I'm gonna hold off on making a favorite ep of season 00 decision. I know this one won't be it. It's got one of my favorite riffs, but as a whole I'd say it's an average KTMA ep.
Of note is the first appearance of an invention during a host segment. It's not an invention exchange, because there's no reciprocating invention from the Mads, but it is an invention nonetheless. It is the very clever "Hell in a Handbag" which I rather like. I think the host segments are getting better and more creative all the time. That's a really good thing because the segments are where the Brains really put on their own show and develop a lot more character.
Hey, this is my hundredth post! Yay! Okay, I'm gonna go take a nap!
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Post by Cleolanta on Apr 22, 2006 23:51:11 GMT -5
Heh. I think for some reason, my favourite riff in City on Fire is probably when they have a shot of the inside of the little boy's house starting to catch on fire, and Servo yells out something like: "That's it, Johnny, no more Talking Heads records for you!" I just fell OVER. I love the semi-esoteric musical reference ones, when I get them... (And the bit where they start "annoying themselves!" I _think_ that's from City on Fire...)
And while I think that City and SST are not too bad among the genre that they _are_, I agree that the TV movies--especially '70s ones--have an overall feel that just grates on my nerves/puts me to sleep (depending on how awake I am at the time...).
As for "taking a mind trip" (love that phrasing, by the way)--yeah, that's it, with me. Well, I partially do like--or at least have nothing against--the "feel" of the show at the time, but for me, one of the main reasons I actually enjoy the KTMA ones is because it's fun for me to pretend I'm really around back then, in that time and place, when such a show is new and exciting. And the low-budgetness and COMPLETE lack of a fourth wall that they had at the time creates a warm, "intimate" kinda atmosphere that makes pretending you're right there among the first fans...surprisingly easy. Especially with things like having somebody's birthday party on the air, or the _real-time_ (at the time) countdown to the New Year...
When I watch these...if I watch it alone and in the right mood, and really get _into_ it, rather than half-watch it while wandering around doing something else, sometimes it really does almost feel like Joel and the 'bots are right there in my ordinary living room with me, casually sprawled on the floor, eatin' snacks and drinkin' pop, right alongside me. I know that sounds weird, but for me, with the KTMA episodes, the feeling of these guys really suffering through the movies WITH you, at the same time (rather than _for_ you, ahead of time) is really strong. Yeah, I know, I know, I'm weird, and I read too much into stuff. :P But that was my impression the first time I really watched one of these while alone and therefore able to get into the right mood, and it hasn't really dissipated yet.
I also agree that I like the host segments because that's where you mostly get the _characterisation_ and personalities of the characters, and even if this is only a silly comedy, I still think that kind of thing is important--and also that I like the "Hell in a Handbag" sketch. Specifically, I like this _version_ of it BETTER than the one in Season One, where they redo it as a proper Invention Exchange. The Season Zero version is way funnier. You don't get Trace doing his "thug voice" or Joel pretending to "be a woman" in Season One.
One last comment--this is gonna sound odd (as if THAT'S ever stopped me on this or any other messageboard before!) but when I was watching through the episodes in order and hit the later CC-era Mike ones, something occurred to me: The beginning host segments had almost gone back to the basic structure of the KTMA beginning host segments. No, hear me out--we had the two mad scientists, but no inventions, and instead of exchanging gadgets they would just talk about what had happened recently in their lives with each other/the test subjects.
You could argue that the Sci-Fi host segments were a bit like that, too, but Dr. F. was gone, Pearl was never really all that Mad _Scientist_-y until near the end, and also the actual plotline-ness of Season 8 makes it so the segments don't have quite that same "Hey, I'm sorry but we had to sell your car to make the payments for the so-and-so" vibe to them.
Or, maybe I'm just insane. It's been known to happen. :P
...Notorious
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Post by jjb3k on Apr 23, 2006 2:09:54 GMT -5
You know, I really gotta get a hold of the KTMAs...my collection starts with Season 1 at the moment, and while I like that season a whole lot, the spare nature of the riffing does grate on me after a while. I can only imagine what watching Season 0 must be like...
Once I get a complete collection, I'll probably do a "beginning-to-end" marathon like this. Rest assured, I'll post my observations here when it happens.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 23, 2006 20:46:40 GMT -5
K17 - Time of the Apes
For the most part this is another average, decent KTMA episode. A "way to go" to Trace and Josh, though, since they did it all without Joel. Where is Joel? He is floating out in space in his BVDs!
Tom and Crow make a whole lot of monkey puns and they begin to wear by the end of the first half, but thankfully that's when they lighten up on them. What I kind of had fun doing was noticing all the funny things the bots weren't commenting on. First, they never made any "Waiting for Godo(t)" jokes. They also never make any comments on the Partridge Family Army truck. Finally, they seem not to notice that the avenging monkey in the second half is named "Gay Bar". I don't remember if they do anything with those in the season three reriff, but please don't tell me for now.
I kinda like the movie, but not a ton. Part of me enjoys the cheesy monkeys, but I think most of me despises the truly ugly and badly done apemen. Shouldn't mouths that actually move have been a priority for the mask-makers? I'm probably just bitter though, because I think the Sandy Frankness is wearing on me. I'm one of those people who tends to enjoy cheesy entertainment simply because it's cheesy, but even I am weakening in the face of so much of it! I think the Gamera stretch wasn't tough at all, but it's all the bad Japanese TV shows that are getting to me.
Look at how I waffle. In one review I say, "Thank God for Sandy Frank" and in the next I whine about being sick of his imports. Well, while I waffle, I might as well say this now, though I did just say how enjoyable the KTMAs can be, I'm getting itchy to get to season one! And I should admit the following now as well: I'll probably be impatient to get through season one! I don't like Josh very much and I really like Frank. And that's just how I am.
But back to it. There is a lot of stuff that this movie does that just makes me laugh. For example, there's all the quick camera zooms on faces at dramatic moments. Those just make me chuckle. There's a lot of that in Mighty Jack too. I had meant to say something about that in the review, but I forgot. They do a bunch of zooms on the Dr. Claw type guy who looks like Lee Iacocca, Ed McMahon, and George Steinbrenner. It's like the directors of Japanese TV must have thought they had a dynamic new camera style that really punched up the drama and for which they would be very well known for establishing! Well, they were wrong. Unless they're big in Japan and I don't know it.
K18 - The Million Eyes of Su-Muru
Another good enough episode, better than the previous mostly just because of the movie. Thank goodness it wasn't another pair of TV shows! I like Joel's host segment rendition of "It's just a show, I should really just relax" in response to anyone asking why he didn't explode while out in space in nothing but his skivvies. I never really got tired of the Subaru jokes; they were clever enough, rarely a stretch, and distributed evenly. One of my favorite jokes was near the end when there's all the guns and fighting and Joel says, "So, I wonder how many of Su-Muru's million eyes they've got to go yet." I went gaga over the VW ambulance. I'm a Bus driver and a bit of an enthusiast for old Volkswagens. The ambulances and other service vehicles (like the awesome firetrucks) are now among the more collectible VWs out there. There's a shot where they show a stretcher being put in the back of the ambulance. The thing is, the door that hinged at the bottom and lacked a window had to be made specially. So, those are cool. Oh, no one cares? Okay, onward.
So I've been resisting the adoption of a formulaic rating/reviewing system. I like doing my reviews as I have: in an unstructured, unqualitative way. But then I wonder if they're any good to read and whether people want a more cut and dried reliable kind of thing when they look for reviews of shows. I also wonder if I'll run out of ways to talk about the episodes! A little structure like a favorite riff, and favorite host segment moment for each episode might keep me going or keep me interesting . . . ? Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 25, 2006 1:14:03 GMT -5
I just had an episode!
It was Hangar 18!
K19 - Hangar 18
Good episode. Goodish movie. I own the movie unmsted, but I'd rather watch this ep than the movie. So, goodish movie, but definitely a better episode.
An above decent episode for sure. City on Fire, Time of the Apes, and The Million Eyes of Su-Muru were all good episodes. What makes this one better than those is a good movie. It's a bad movie, but it's a good enough movie that the KTMA style doesn't 'cause the episode to drag. So far, the best of the KTMAs still have a draggy element to them. Hangar 18 doesn't have much of it 'cause the movie clips along pretty well.
What also makes this a good episode is a lack of bad jokes from Josh. There's a tendency for Josh to make stretchy jokes and then carry on with them and there's not so much of that in this episode.
The host segments are fun. They're all Joel interacting with Crow 'cause there's no Tom or Gypsy. In Su-Muru, Tom leaves toward the end of the theater segments but remains in the host segments, Tom even says as he's leaving that he feels as if those segments are "already done". So, it would appear that Josh left for awhile and while he was gone the others finished the theater segments for Su-Muru and the host segments for Hangar 18.
I've got to not have the National Geographic Channel on while I write my reviews. Not only is it distracting, it affects how I write. A ghost debunking episode and a science vs. the book of Revelation episode have been on and I feel like I'm trying to expose the secret realities behind MST3K! I'm also less funny. Gah!
Two more eps until the KTMAs are all done!
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Apr 25, 2006 19:14:33 GMT -5
Vive la resistance! Seriously, there are plenty of other reviewers who use a rating system. It can be too restrictive sometimes, I think, and can make for repetitive reading. But then I personally prefer the rambling type of reviews.
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Post by Cleolanta on Apr 26, 2006 5:16:59 GMT -5
I could never make myself keep to a rating system...I mean, I'd think that one thing was so bad it was a "1" or something else was so good it was a "10" one time...and then find something worse or better like RIGHT afterwards. So I'd constantly have to be adjusting my own ratings as I went along. And I'm not good at picking exact one-favourites, exact one least-favourites, or assigning numbers to things in the first place.
In other words...I support the unstructured, "rambling" type of reviews...but mainly because that's the type _I_ write, too. So I may not be the world's more objective person to ask on this point. Heh. :)
As for the Million Eyes of Sumuru...I always kinda liked that episode. It contains one of my favourite riffs ever (and one of the most-quoted ones in text MSTings, although I think most people probably don't _know_ some variation of this was actually said on the show). I'm talking about the bit where Frankie Avalon says, in a rather fourth-wall-breaking way, "I wonder if this is the point where I'm supposed to sing."
(pause)
"Nah..."
And then Joel yells out, "Hey, WE'LL make fun of the movie if ya don't mind!"
(cracks up) The dreaded "riffback"! Do you have any idea how many text MSTings I've read which had some variation of that in them? A character within the story says something to the effect of "This is stupid" or "This is boring", etc. and one of the riffing characters, whoever they are, will say something along the lines of "Hey, WE'LL riff the story, if you don't mind!" I think maybe the original person who did that knew the episode, and most other people were just copying them...I've even used that joke a few times in my own MSTings.
Anyway.
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 26, 2006 9:45:16 GMT -5
Right on. Thanks for the support! And really, I think that's enough to convince me that my review style has a niche. "Then God said, "I know! I'll create some people that like it this way!" From now on, I will try to supress my tendency to beg for approval. I can't believe I forgot that riff in Su-Muru! That was so fabulous and I wanted to put it in my review. I need to rely more on note-taking than believing foolishly that I'll remember these things. "Duh, yeah, I'll remember that. Well, maybe I should write it down. Wait, what was it?"
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 28, 2006 19:22:54 GMT -5
I had to take a break from MST3K for a bit, but I'm back again. I think I was getting bogged down by watching nothing but the show. So, I took some time to watch a skateboarding video (a couple times over) and to fall in love with its songs by Interpol and Joy Division and to run out and buy copies of those songs and then to incorporate them into a mix tape. Only then was I ready for The Last Chase.
K20 - The Last Chase
What a bad movie. It's underbaked and just plain dumb. Lee Majors is a former race car driver in a future without cars. He gets fired, drags out his old race car, picks up some kid, and drives across the country, which, according to the Big Brother government is highly rebellious. Burgess Meredith, whom I hate posthumously, is dragged out from under a kite to fly a jet out and blow up Lee and the kid, which he doesn't do. I call it underbaked because all of the events, the character development, and characters are all pointless or at least shallow. The kid is supposed to be the technowhiz but the biggest asset he proves to be is thinking to grab a radio at some point. So what. Burgess Meredith has the most character, which is unfortunate since I hate him. He is seen flying kites on a couple occasions, so he's supposed to be the dreamer type, which foreshadows, obviously, the event of his siding with Lee and the kid instead of the gummint. Joel sees this coming as soon as Burgess the Hated is in the jet. And that's as deep as it gets. Even the writer's concept of a post-auto future isn't that thick. The government gets more paranoid and people use public transport or bikes, whoopdeedoo!
This was a darn good episode. J&tBs are having a good time and making a lot of jokes. I've been Josh bashing recently, but I think I'll be my waffly self again and say that he was quite good in this episode. No crap about mangoes and good jokes instead, yay! For example, when the police, who in the future drive golf carts, pull up, Tom says, "May we arrest through?" Then a tad later: "I like a police car I can outrun!"
There were lots of hair styling product jokes directed at Lee Majors at the beginning of the movie. Did Lee at some point endorse a brand of hairspray, or did the guys just decide it looked like he had worked too hard to achieve his look?
So, I decided I hate Burgess Meredith. He sounds drunk at all times. I have no problem with drunkenness, but Burgie's voice just bugs the crap out of me. And to make things the worst ever, he does a bunch of sexy talk to the jet and then howls a lot. ::PUKE:: Save me!
Apparently he is not actually drunk though, 'cause there's a scene where he takes a nip from his nippy bottle then immediately lays on a drunken voice. He does a bad job of it and J&tBs think he's turned into the white Sammy Davis Jr.! So either he can't act drunk even though he is drunk, or he just can't act drunk.
Oh, I don't like his face either.
The worst acting awards go to whoever played Morely (the dope in the pit controlling the cameras and stuff) and the president type guy who goes on and on about why they need to kill Lee and the kid. The interaction between those two is just . . . nauseating. Morely is a little monkey boy, and the pres is . . . filled with ham. I'm amazed he never broke out with a "MWAHAHA-HA-HA".
They shot a lot of this movie in Arizona. IMdB only lists Ontario, Canada, but Ontario doesn't have the Sedona red rocks, Monument Valley, scads and scads of Ponderosa pines, or the San Francisco Peaks, all of which AZ has. And when they blew up a bunch of cacti with the laser, I hope they used fake ones. The destruction of a saguaro cactus is a felony and they would've racked up about ten of 'em unless they used fake plants.
Most of the host segments are the reading of fan mail which is not super great, but is fine 'cause it's hard not to be proud of the Brains when they announce the thousandth fan club member and award the demon dog.
So, a quite good episode. Which is good 'cause this movie would've made me sick without the Brains.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Apr 28, 2006 19:43:28 GMT -5
I'm gonna go watch the last KTMA episode now!
It's actually a little saddening to think that they're almost over. I want to get on to better shows, but I'm such a sentimental guy. It's like how I miss our old apartment. I like our current place far better, but every once in a while I'll smell the scent of spring (which is when we moved out) and I'll miss that time and place.
It's just sad that's all.
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