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Post by jjb3k on May 7, 2006 14:01:05 GMT -5
When the reporter is telling her boss, "I saw a dead man, too!" Joel and the bots say, "And his hair was perfect!" But I don't get it. That's a reference to Warren Zevon's song "Werewolves of London" ("I saw a werewolf drinkin' a pina colada at Trader Vic's / And his hair was perfect!"). These kinds of references will show up again much later in a certain Season 8 episode.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 8, 2006 3:02:29 GMT -5
Oh, good gracious, I hate Warren Zevon. It's no wonder I didn't get that reference then. Oh, the hate! I'm sure he was a great guy, but that frickin' music he made. I hate him because he made Werewolves of London and . . . another one I can't remember (THANK YOU GOD), and that's all I've heard but I sure as hell don't want to hear any more. I hate hate hate hate hate hate 10 Werewolves of London. I believe it is impossible, humanly impossible, to communicate how much I hate that, that . . . thing I refuse to call a song. I used to be an assistant (gopher/clericalist/copyist) in an office and my boss had the classic rock station on every day. Like every radio station in the area, their play list consisted of something like 100 songs. So they'd play "Werewolves of London" about every 3 days. The moment it would come on, I'd jolt and find something to do outside of the office for 7 awful minutes, trying to keep the song out of my head the entire time (which is damn near impossible. In fact, I'm struggling to fight it off at this very moment). And when I'd come back, my boss would always say, "That Bob Seger, he made some great music." But I would not reciprocate because I hate Bob Seger MORE than Warren F'n Zevon. I also didn't want to tell her she was wrong for fear that a whole conversation would start about the two musicians I hate more than any others. I'd rather have the flu and my seasonal allergies. I would rather sneeze while puking than hear or have an involved conversation about any of the @!%$# those two made. Anyway, references are generally my least favorite riffs, mostly because I almost never get them. I like gags, jokes and puns. And I like riffs that point out the stoopidness of the stuff on screen. Most references fly miles above me because I hate television and I hate movies. While that's a bit of an exaggeration, it's sort of how I feel and it does explain why I haven't seen much of anything and why I rarely know who or what they're talking about when they reference things. I work in the music and movies department of a used books and entertainment store, so movies classic and contemporary are constantly being processed and talked about. I'm the guy who's pretty much known for not having seen anything, yet people still gasp and scream, "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SID AND NANCY?!! YOU HAVE TO!" I want to scream, "NO, I haven't! And I don't feel that I want to! I've also never seen GONE WITH THE GODDAMN WIND! Or anything by DAVID LYNCH, or Kurosawa, or Bergman, or anything with Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, or Humphrey Bogart!" The more someone tells me that I have to see something, the very much less I want to see it. Sorry. Not sure why I'm feeling so bitter. I had a good day, for that matter. All of the above is true by the way (and if anyone says "Oh my GOD! You haven't seen Wild at Heart?!!" I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I won't be happy). What does make me happy is what Cleo was just talking about . . . --The Narnia reference, which I loved because _I_ was thinking it but never in a million years thought THEY would say it. Those are the best riffs. The "Oh my goddess, they actually SAID it!!"--where your reaction is as much surprise as laughter. You know what I mean? Well anyway, as Bela climbs back into the secret passageway in the _wardrobe_, Tom quips out, "I gotta get back in here and talk to the Lion and the Witch" and I just LOST it... I had been thinking of saying something along the same lines (in general, not about this riff in particular. Yes, I did get this riff and actually liked it very much though I have never read the book(s) or seen any television or film renditions of it(them), it's just a darn good clever riff and I managed to get it). That is, I also love when I'm thinking of or even saying aloud a riff and then they say the same thing or something similar. I just love that. It makes it even funnier and is extremely gratifying. It makes me feel that my dreams of doing a fan MSTing are not lofty. I also felt that The Corpse Vanishes is not such a bad movie. Like I said, it is a thriller from the '40s. I don't like it, but it's not really an awful movie. Okay, just so you know, I don't hate you, jjb3k, for mentioning WZ. And thanks for answering my question about the riff! I don't hate anybody here (unless you happen to be Warren Zevon posting from the grave, or Bob Seger), and I swear I'm not a volatile guy, just don't anybody try to get me to open up to WZ or BS or Frank Zappa. Yes, Frank Zappa. It won't work and you'll only bug me. Night! I'm half way through The Crawling Hand and should be reviewing it tomorrow afternoon.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 8, 2006 3:09:51 GMT -5
Oh! And thank you, jjb3k, for not telling me which episode from season 8 that was! I have a feeling I could figure it out, but I don't want to!
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Post by jjb3k on May 8, 2006 7:50:34 GMT -5
Think nothing of it. And I certainly don't take offense at your opinion - it's just a reminder that I probably shouldn't play my CDs in your presence (I'm a devoted fan of classic rock).
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 8, 2006 10:06:37 GMT -5
Well, I should make clear that I love music very much. I like large amounts of music from every decade back to the twenties. As for "classic rock", there's some I adore (for example, British invasion, Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly and Guess Who (the hits anyway)), most that I just don't really care about, and a small handful to which I have a violent reaction. WZ, BS, any non-"hits" Grateful Dead (the jams and whatnot) and The Outlaws are some of the latter. I don't have that reaction to Zappa; I just cannot understand what anyone gets from his music.
Shoot, gonna be late for work! Ciao!
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on May 8, 2006 20:49:22 GMT -5
Yes, you're quite right, it's a reference to a coffee commercial that played a lot in the 70s. The wife in the ad ponders why her husband will have a second cup of coffee at a friend's house when he never has a second cup at home. Well, it's because she's not using her friend's fabulous brand of coffee! There's a take-off on it in the movie spoof Airplane!, if you've seen that. Not that you have to, or anything!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 9, 2006 1:11:55 GMT -5
Aw, man. Everybody thinks I'm touchy now!
Okay, I have no problem with people asking if I've seen stuff, I just hate when people freak out about it when I haven't.
Actually, I've seen Airplane!, though it's been a while. And I rather like spoof movies. I don't really hate movies. There are a ton of movies I love to pieces. I'm just dissatisfied with most movies and I'm not that interested in digging for movies I'll like 'cause I've got plenty of stuff to occupy my time with instead. I'm open to recommendations, but I've never had someone recommend a movie to me that I ended up liking.
Now, y'all can see why I REALLY started this thread: so I could talk and talk about my own neurosis!
But, to keep this particular post more or less on topic, I'm gonna try to get more sleep tonight than I have been and write my review of The Crawling Hand in the morning.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 9, 2006 9:54:02 GMT -5
Okay, didn't get much more sleep than I've been. No, instead I stayed up reading and posting! Now I have Buddy Merrill records and an hour to review the episode at hand. Hand! BaHAHA! 106 - The Crawling Hand So, here we have the earliest Rhino-released episode. Well, technically, because Women of hasn't come out yet, and is actually not "earlier" than The Crawling Hand. Anyway, it's not tough to see why this ep was the earliest worthy of release. It's a well done episode and my vote for the first really good ep. I don't feel that it's the first truly great or classic episode, but it's a good one. I won't say there are no dead spots; I got a little distracted toward the end, but I probably shouldn't blame the episode, it's just me. I felt there was a consistency to the episode. Not a viscosity, mind you, but a consistent level of riffidge. So, I wouldn't really say that there were dead spots either, but I will say that toward the end the riffs may have gotten less interesting. But, again, it was probably just me! I was very well entertained for the first hour of the ep. I noticed a cleverness and sophistication to the riffs. It feels like they're being more thoughtful about the riffs and really writing more stuff, as opposed to using whatever riff came first. My example of a clever riff that requires just that little bit more thought to get, not that it's hard to get, but it just needs a few more crucial synapses to fire than simpler jokes do: the young couple are having their frivolity on the beach and when they come out of the water Joel says, "Now the bicycling, then the marathon!" And another one: Crow: I recognize that hand. He used to be with Def Leppard. I've also noticed a lot of "voice over riffs", that is, riffs that they apparently edited in after the taping of the theater segment visuals. These are of course easiest to spot when Crow is saying something but his mouth doesn't move. There are other moments when I felt inconclusively that Joel and Tom had done it as well, but it is much harder to tell. There are many examples of these throughout season one so far, but its occurrence seems to be getting more and more frequent with each ep. I take this practice as an attempt by BBI to make sure there aren't dead spots. I think it works fine, and I don't feel cheated by it, but I'll try to notice when these voice over riffs become less common and see if it correlates with a rise in overall quality. Back to it . . . I love all the Gilligan's Island riffs. Maybe it's 'cause they're easy to get references to something I actually watched quite a bit of, therefore I feel "in on it" finally, but I also think they're just funny. And they don't put all the refs in one or two spots and beat the idea to death the way they often would back in the KTMA eps. Joel as the Sherriff: Where's the little body, little buddy? Then . . . Sherriff: You could sleep at my place until we find you a place to stay. Crow as Sherriff: I've got a couple of hammocks and a sailor's hat I'd like you to wear. I love that one for how it injects homoerotic tension into my memory of the show. It's like rewatching things you saw as a kid and realizing there was a lot going on that you weren't seeing. Not that I think there was a lot of veiled homoeroticism on Gilligan's Island, but the riff makes me start to imagine that there was. Which is funny. And I like that. Some notes on the host segments: We see Joel's red robe for the first time, unless I'm wrong. "And I am never wrong!"Joel lays out the premise in plain English like never before to begin the show. The bowling/no free will segment was far better in its KTMA rendition. Joel's acting was more natural in the KTMA Mighty Jack version. He feels over-rehearsed here. And can anyone tell me what murder ball is? Okay then! Ciao!
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Post by Cleolanta on May 9, 2006 22:52:55 GMT -5
As far as I know, "murderball" is probably the same thing as dodgeball. Or "elimination", as it was called at my Iowa elementary school. You know, basically, harm others with a big hard ball for sport. Live-action duck gallery shooting. "Fun", you bet. (rolls eyes) I always did fairly "well" at it because my self-preservation instinct led me to stay as close to the back as I could and behind others as often as possible, leading to me, ironically, being of the few left towards the end. Heh.
About the recommendations/not seeing things bit...well, I'm kind of like you, in that the more people just _assume_ I'll like something or say that it's something EVERYBODY _must_ see, the more I'm pushed away from it. Even worse when they tell me I'm not only required to watch/read/whatever it, but _have_ to LIKE it. A good example? I'm a fantasy fan, and yet--gasp!--I DO NOT LIKE LORD OF THE RINGS. The original books, I mean. (The movies are better because they cut out most of the stuff from the books that annoyed the snot out of me.) I have had entire messageboards come slamming down on me in a flurry of flames for coming out and "daring" to admit that, I'm serious. It's like, sacrilege. How CAN you _call_ yourself a fantasy fan and _not_ like Lord of the Rings, gasp choke wheeze?!
Because I think the books are overly long and full of filler with only a good story _in_ there, not being a good story from beginning to end, THAT'S why. Yes, I appreciate their historical significance in the formation of the modern fantasy genre. Yes, I appreciate that the more modern "cheapy" fantasy books that I _do_ like, the faster-moving, more fun, scarier ones, such as Dragonlance and Shannara, would not have existed if it wasn't for Tolkien setting the precedents first. I know all that, and I'm not taking those things away from him, or the books.
I just happen to not _enjoy_ the books themselves. Deal.
This doesn't only apply to pop-culture stuff, but other things, too. I always think the "hunk" guy that ALL the women are after is instantly the _least_ desirable person in the entire universe (or at least the room) to me, BECAUSE they're practically _ordering_ me to like him, because I'm a female and of _course_ we're ALL the same.
With a couple of exceptions (and we're back to pop culture here again, by the way): If people _whose opinion I trust_ are reccommending something to me that's from a genre/style I already like, then I'll probably make at least a slight effort to see/read/whatever it. Eventually.
The other exception to this rule is if it's been a while. When things are popular and hype about them is constantly everywhere IN YOUR FACE, I get _sick_ of them before I've even seen them, and don't _want_ to see them. Ever. But give it several years or a decade or two, and one day when I'm bored I might be like, "Hey, I never saw so-and-so, did I? Oh, what the heck..."
This probably also explains quite a lot about my tastes in music, hairstyles, clothing, etc. Heh.
As for music, I have very "Catholic" taste in pop music (where did that phrase come from, anyway? Are Catholics especially known for being easygoing about what things they choose?), so I suppose I shouldn't play my music in front of you, either. Now, even though there are a bunch of TV shows I like (usually getting into them AFTER the fact, however--as seen here with my avatar of a character from an early '90s cartoon that I didn't happen to watch until the year 2002) and probably way more movies than you've seen, I am _picky_--there are only a few movies that come out new each year that I'm interested enough in to watch, and probably only ONE from each year that I'm willing to pay full price for in the theater when it's new. The others, I see at the dollar theater. We've got a quite nice dollar theater here with an awesome funky retro/sci-fi-ish interior design.
But _music_ I'm just into in general (as a subject: I just find music history/trivia interesting), and I can listen to it while doing other things, it doesn't involve a huge investment of my time the way a movie, or watching enough episodes of a show to get properly "into" it requires. So the point is: I like a LOT of music. From many different decades and all kinds of styles. You look at any given section of my "Playlist That Ate the Whole Midwest", and you'll see, perhaps, 1940s stuff next to '90s electropop, an anime, sci-fi, or videogame soundtrack tune or two thrown in there, some '70s rock, maybe a hippie '60s thing or two, some '80s New Wave... I even (gasp!) like "Werewolves of London" (haven't heard anything else of Zevon's, though) and what Bob Seger I've heard. Why like Werewolves? I dunno. It just has this twisted, dark humour sense of whimsy that appeals to me. I _like_ the idea of terribly stylish British werewolves with perfect hair for some reason. (shrug) It's very...it's like something out of Discworld or possibly "Count Duckula" (or Danger Mouse)...
Anyway. I just wanted to say: I do have tastes and standards; I don't listen to just EVERYTHING, and I agree that when somebody tells me I _have_ to see something, it pushes me away. But also that there are plenty of things out there that ARE good...and that not all reccommendations are equal. Every random person telling you you HAVE to see, say, Gone With the Wind is one thing....your best friend with similar tastes telling you to see some obscure-ish movie that's in a style you like, is quite another. Right? Right.
At any rate, I have seen/heard enough of the same things that the Brains evidently have that I get a LOT of the reference style riffs. Not all, but quite a large amount. Perhaps frighteningly large. Heh.
Wow. That's more than enough rambling for me.
Anyway...The Crawling Hand...I have to say, that's another one where I don't mind the movie itself that much, either. The idea of the _cats_ getting rid of the thing at the end is inspired, and even if he did chew the scenery, I kind of like "goth-boy" (aka, the main character)...I don't know, I just...do. At least he put some EFFORT into his performance, some energy, and bothered to get into character... Also, they managed to get some halfway real drama into it while also not really killing off any of the _main_ characters for sheer shock value, which is rare for these things. And the cinematography is decent.
Overall, a decent choice for the first one from Season One released...and I'm surprised/overjoyed to death at their choice of Women of the Prehistoric Planet for the next one. (I mean, I was surprised to death that they chose to release ANY other Season One episodes. I thought that was one of the two years the Brains basically wanted to "disavow" or something.) But I'm still holding out for The Crawling Eye and Robot Monster. Come on, Rhino, you can do it...!
And don't worry about being seen as "touchy". I'VE already got the "touchy person" title nailed down on this board, pretty much. The unpleasantnesses I've accidentally started when I just THOUGHT somebody was saying something nasty to/about me but it turns out they were only kidding, alone... (shakes head) Anyway, don't worry--as long as I'm being overemotional, hypersensitive, and Drama Queening it up over here, nobody will even NOTICE your "touchiness". Trust me. :P
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 10, 2006 9:15:54 GMT -5
Yay! Thanks Cleo. I'm thinking of starting a thread to discuss music in CF Mountain. I think I'll go see if an applicable thread exists. Geez, I think a lot. Maybe I should cut back.And FYI for anyone who might be anxiously awaiting my next review, I'm taking a smidge of a break. I'm havin' fun but if I don't take a break, I'll not have as much fun. My "weekend" starts tomorrow so I'll be back to it then. THX
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 12, 2006 13:31:33 GMT -5
Alright y'all, I'm back to host the post and do the review! I'm playing Wilco (on LP!) and the bubble headed apes are fresh in my mind . . . 107 - Robot Monster with a double shot of Cody (4&5) This one was good stuff. I liked this one better than The Crawling Hand. I think they do a very good job on the shorts, which is really good 'cause there are two of them. I particularly liked the ambulance scene that they turn into an ice cream truck scene. Crow as Thug: Alright, gimme a snow cone and two bomb pops! And the "nipple nipple tweek tweek" thing actually makes me chuckle every time. I guess it appeals to my silly side, which is my largest side, my hypotenuse, if you will. If not, well, it's your loss.Some more things about the shorts: Cody looks like Ed Wood to me. I would love a bumper sticker that said, "My other car is my mother." I never saw that show, but that is my kind of funny. Josh sneezes during one of the shorts! They just roll with it, and it's great. Wow, this ep has some superb host segments. The opening stuff is average, but the others were great. I think it's the host segments that make me feel that Robot Monster is a step above The Crawling Hand. Joel discusses the physics of Commando Cody's flying with the bots and ends up asking Tom about the mystery of the bumble bee. Tom's head goes phoom! of course and with an impressive burst of smoke through the mouth. Then Joel poses the question to Crow and CamBot who each in turn also blow a circuit. Crow and CamBot were funny, but there's still something funnier about Servo blowing up. It's the way his dome goes suddenly opaque, his lid flies off and he slowly smokes afterward. It's just classic. The surrealism segment was also fun. Their acting/delivery is particularly good. The surreal sentences they put together sound exactly like what my wife and I say to each other when we get tired. We'll say stuff like, "I'm gonna part the wiffle ball with my challenge mode when you get finished with the salivating army." So, that segment definitely hit home for me. At the end, the Mads are amazed at J&tBs reaction to the movie (a humming/chanting sort of song about the movie and the befuddlements it creates), and Dr. Erhardt wonders if the guys have had enough and should be brought down! There's a lot of fire in these early invention exchanges. Was Joel a flame freak? This is the first ep in which the Mads aren't using that little device to move their own camera. The sound effects of the motors remain, however. Joel still gets a little treat when he hits the Mads/commercial/movie sign buttons. Anyone know what the treat is supposed to be? I'm not sure why, but in my mind it is a yogurt covered mini-pretzel. That or a chili-cheese Combos Brand Snack. If I write Cambot without a capital B, it looks like it should be pronounced as "Cambeaux". I've often wondered what the zackleys were and this ep reminded me to look it up. Now I know. Don't be a loser like I was, learn to understand the zackleys. www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zackleysBrought to you by the zackleys awareness council.I like this ep also because I like the movie. It's deep within the realm of the good bad. I laugh just watching the Ro-Men gesture as they speak. Some of my favorite riffs: Roy (to Alice): You're so bossy you should be milked before you come home each night! Joel: Dibs! Joel: It's an armageddon weddin'! Tom: Armageddon married in the mornin'! There were also some good credits riffs: Joel: George Nader, that's Ralph Nader's naughty brother. He wrote Safe at any Speed? Joel: Wyott Ordung? Bots: Wyott! At the beginning of the second short, the bots try to run away and Joel has to corral them and get them settled. This makes me think of how Joel's relationship with the bots is different from Mike's later on. Joel is overtly characterized as a parent figure, while Mike is more like "just one of the guys". He was the leader of the crew, but Mike also never really lost that "stoopid noob" element of his character. Okay, that's all I have to say about this'un. I'll try to make my next review less fluid, and more random and choppy. Sorry 'bout that.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on May 12, 2006 13:56:25 GMT -5
Alright y'all, I'm back to host the post and do the review! Yay! You go, uh, guy! I bet so, given Jim Mallon's memory of meeting Joel for the first time because of Joel's flame-throwing boutonnière. It seems to me that I've read somewhere online (Satellite News' Ward E maybe?) that it's supposed to be a peanut or a grape or something like that. That would go well with Htom Sirveaux and Croë!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 12, 2006 13:59:28 GMT -5
That would go well with Htom Sirveaux and Croë! Precisely!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 12, 2006 14:35:51 GMT -5
Oh! I forgot something.
I am convinced that the helmet worn by Ro-Man is the same (or of the same collection) as the helmets worn by the "Radar Men From the Moon" in Commando Cody. Watch a Cody episode in which there are exterior scenes on the moon. 105 - Cody chapter 3 is an example. Am I right? Just put some antennae on it, a clay face in it, and a gorilla with a huge spare tire under it and you've got Ro-Man!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 13, 2006 3:49:26 GMT -5
Gah! I can't believe I forgot to get all excited about the fact that there are finally Bots present during the invention exchange! They don't get very involved, but at least they're there for the first time since The Crawling Eye.
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