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Post by ChrisDalek on May 31, 2006 11:47:50 GMT -5
It's just stuff I know cos I like those shows/'movie's...
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 2, 2006 3:19:18 GMT -5
At this point the rocket becomes engorged with astronauts.
201 - Rocketship X-M
Yay! A never-before-seen episode that was worth getting my hopes up for!
It's a good episode despite the very crummy "fast-food" sci-fi flick. I love all the times the guys just yell, "SHUT UP!" when the windy speeches start. And all the Lloyd Bridges "lungs" jokes are great. I'd bet that 50% of the reason they chose this movie was because Lloyd was in it and they could pummel him with that line. They've got a good sense of how to not overdo it though. "By this time, my lu-- oh you know . . . "
The changes to the show must have been exciting for fans of the show at the time. They were indeed exciting for me. There're the cast changes of course, and I'll get to that in a bit, but what's also really awesome is the set redesign. Let the fun of spotting odd stuff on the walls begin! Or resume. It was tough to see much on the KTMA set though. They did a neat job and it looks a jolly sight better than season one's striped set. The hex field is pretty unfancy, but makes it's first appearance! *cheer* The guest is Mike Nelson making his on-screen debut as Malaria! *cheer* But when his bit is done the hex field doesn't close. But hey, it's cute. And another first, Joel asks Cambot for "Rocket #9" for the first time! *cheer* I've always been confused by Rocket #9. I wonder how Joel thought of that name (I assume it was Joel). If it's a camera, why's it called a rocket? If it's a rocket, shouldn't it be attached to the SOL? Even if you suppose that the name was given as if the camera were attached to rocket #9, it still breaks down because Rocket #9 is always at a distance from the SOL and seemingly attached to nothing. Yes, yes, I know, it's just a show and really, I am just relaxed, but I'm still curious . . .
It's great to see Frank for the first time and it's just perfect the way he's cast as a fast-food restaurant trainee. His acting isn't perfect, but hey, neither is Trace's a lot of the time. At this point, Trace is still jerkily getting through a lot of his Crow lines. But I don't care, I appreciate the looseness of the show. I'm glad they didn't take things so seriously that they had to get everything perfect. It makes one feel good to not be the uptight type.
I like the Thruster Buster bit. Frank's description is well done and stomach-turning. And Thruster Buster would make another great board user name!
At the first commercial sign, Joel hits the flashing light then grabs his treat from the center of the table. It appears to be the grape that dnaldy said earlier it was rumored to be. In fact there are two other green grapes sitting in the center of the table. I always figured the idea was supposed to be that the treat was dispensed by Joel hitting the button. Y'know, lab rat style. But I figure this is just Joel turning a small thing on its head for the heck of it. I'm really not as concerned about this as I am about the idea of Rocket #9. But I'm not really concerned about that either. Just curious. Curiouser and curiouser.
I love the invention, the BGC-one-nine. I've been teased by seeing it repeatedly in the theme song opening (and in Poopie!) and wished I could see the exchange it came from! Anyone know what BGC stands for?
And what is the string that Dr. F keeps pulling from Frank's backside? That really confused me! Where's it coming from? What's it doing there? Is this some kind of reference? Someone please tell me if someone can.
Missed riff! At the press conference in the beginning of the movie, the guy says "Ladies and gentlemen . . . " but it sounds funny to me. I'd have followed it with this, "Hades and gentlemen? What's that supposed to mean?" ('Cause that's what it sounds like he's saying, see.) It could have connected to later riffs that point out this movie's obvious hate for women. Captain Man: Forgive you? For what, momentarily being a woman? Me: Of course you're not gonna forgive her, she's hellspawn according to you!
This ep being a non-DivX episode, I was able to watch it on my mini portable player while sitting in bed. This was not only nice, but also neat 'cause the player has a headphone jack that enabled me to really listen in. There was a thread a bit ago about getting more out of eps by having a decent set of speakers or the ability to use headphones. I wouldn't say I caught anything I wouldn't have caught without the phones, but I did notice a minor detail. It seems I could hear a sort of "double track" of the movie's dialogue. I figure it was the guys' mics picking up the audio from the monitor they were using. Not that I think this is a big deal when it comes to audio quality of the show, but I am guessing that this phenomenon is the reason Mike took to wearing a headset at some point in a later season. Geez, I'm digging deep into some minutiae tonight.
An interesting coincidence that I'm sure many already know about, but that I didn't know until this episode: Mike Nelson is the name of the Sea Hunt character that Crow is referencing when he says, "By this time, my lungs were aching for air."! I have the following riff to thank for revealing today's fun fact to me: Joel: G'night Mike Nelson of Sea Hunt fame . . .
So, we have a count of movies that shot in Bronson Canyon (eight), but just how many use the exact same asteroid effect as this movie? This movie uses the Fiddle-Faddle-looking asteroids that I'm sure are used in at least two other MSTed films or serials. I don't know which they are, but I know I've seen those triple cluster asteroids several times. It must've been a prop department standby at one of the movie studios. "Whazzat? You're filmin' a sci-fi flick? Wanna use the asteroids?" And golly, they're always just the most thrilling moment in any film that uses 'em.
So, Kevin is Servo now! They give a sort of homage to the voice changing bits from the KTMA days at the start of the show, which is cute. It sounds odd at first to hear a different voice and Kevin will need a little time before he'll be a fluid Tom Servo / voice actor / puppeteer, but by the time I got to the theater segments, I wasn't even thinking about it.
A good episode, maybe a smidgen of drag in the third quarter, but overall really good stuff with lots of laughs. I always appreciate it when the Brains take a real stinker of a movie, one you'd never want to see otherwise, and make it a great episode. There are MSTed movies that aren't so bad that make good episodes 'cause the movie is good-bad already, but there's something special about a bad-bad movie that the Brains really do good job on, enough to turn it around. I love those. This is one!
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Jun 2, 2006 11:00:08 GMT -5
The hex field is pretty unfancy, but makes its first appearance! *cheer* The guest is Mike Nelson making his on-screen debut as Malaria! *cheer* But when his bit is done the hex field doesn't close. But hey, it's cute. Yes, in the ACEG they make a bit of a sheepish reference to this. They didn't even have a shade or anything, so Mike had to turn off the light, sit "real still and pretend not to be there anymore while the camera just dollied past him" (or words to that effect). And another first, Joel asks Cambot for "Rocket #9" for the first time! *cheer* I've always been confused by Rocket #9. I wonder how Joel thought of that name (I assume it was Joel). If it's a camera, why's it called a rocket? If it's a rocket, shouldn't it be attached to the SOL? Even if you suppose that the name was given as if the camera were attached to rocket #9, it still breaks down because Rocket #9 is always at a distance from the SOL and seemingly attached to nothing. Yes, yes, I know, it's just a show and really, I am just relaxed, but I'm still curious . . . Yeah, wasn't that explained or something in another episode? Or am I imagining that? It's great to see Frank for the first time and it's just perfect the way he's cast as a fast-food restaurant trainee. His acting isn't perfect, but hey, neither is Trace's a lot of the time. I love this episode for TV Frank's first appearance, especially! He starts off seeming kind of wooden, but it may just be that that's the way he's portraying the character--as a bored, slack-jawed fast-food place employee. The way he claps his hands to his behind and dances around in a circle yelling, "OWIE! OWIE! OWIE!" when Dr. F tears strips off him are sure signs of the greatness to come. I love the invention, the BGC-one-nine. I've been teased by seeing it repeatedly in the theme song opening (and in Poopie!) and wished I could see the exchange it came from! Anyone know what BGC stands for? I thought I remembered reading that it was the call letters of a local radio station. But I can't find any evidence of that. Now I think I might have imagined that, too. And what is the string that Dr. F keeps pulling from Frank's backside? That really confused me! Where's it coming from? What's it doing there? Is this some kind of reference? Someone please tell me if someone can. Yes, please, someone explain. That's puzzled me too! Actually, you've inspired me to re-post these questions in Esoteric References. This movie uses the Fiddle-Faddle-looking asteroids that I'm sure are used in at least two other MSTed films or serials. I don't know which they are, but I know I've seen those triple cluster asteroids several times. It must've been a prop department standby at one of the movie studios. "Whazzat? You're filmin' a sci-fi flick? Wanna use the asteroids?" And golly, they're always just the most thrilling moment in any film that uses 'em. Hee hee! Aren't they just.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 2, 2006 16:29:02 GMT -5
Hey, thanks, dnaldy, for posting those in esoteric! I know if I really want to know the answers to things, I should post them there. (You know you watch too much MST when... you start hallucinating answers to the esoteric references.) That was funny. (I hate writing lol, but I did (laugh out loud).) I know I've done that in other (non-MST3K-related) cases. In my mind I'm constantly theorizing about the origins of words (etymology!) or of traditions or habits. Then I'm talking to someone and realize that I don't know if the "facts" I'm speaking are from something I read or saw or if they're totally bogus bits from my imagination. It's gotten to the point that I just can't trust myself anymore.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Jun 2, 2006 19:36:43 GMT -5
(You know you watch too much MST when... you start hallucinating answers to the esoteric references.) That was funny. (I hate writing lol, but I did (laugh out loud).) I know I've done that in other (non-MST3K-related) cases. In my mind I'm constantly theorizing about the origins of words (etymology!) or of traditions or habits. Then I'm talking to someone and realize that I don't know if the "facts" I'm speaking are from something I read or saw or if they're totally bogus bits from my imagination. It's gotten to the point that I just can't trust myself anymore. Wow, thank you for the compliment. Heh, I do the exact same thing! There's nothing wrong with that... is there?
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 3, 2006 1:43:50 GMT -5
No, of course not. In fact, I read somewhere . . .
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Post by Cleolanta on Jun 4, 2006 16:32:33 GMT -5
Yes, I noticed that the character was named "Mike Nelson". It made me go, "Hey!" It's just a coincidence of course, but pretty darn funny.
I too wonder about obscure things such as Rocket #9 and so forth...I can't help you there, but there's a classic rock song called "Space Station No. 5"...maybe they were kind of thinking of that? (What happened to Space Stations 1-4, anyway? I know...1-3 blew up partway through being constructed, and then 4 just went..._missing_ 24 hours after going on-line... ;)) Nothing to do with that, but for a long time, there used to be a great MSTings website, pretty much the biggest collection of text MSTings _anywhere_ on the net, called "Web Site #9". Then it went down. All of us regular visitors still mourn its passing. :(
I'm also wondering about the BGC-19, but the only thing coming to mind with those initials at the moment is the anime "Bubble Gum Crisis", which I KNOW that nobody at the Brains would'be been thinking of. :P
Frank is fun at the beginning, isn't he? And yes, "Thruster Buster" would make a great board name. It also tickles me for some reason that Mike's very FIRST on-screen appearance...was in drag. (laughs) And that bit where they're looking kind of moodily out into space, all alone in the night (or some such), is one of my favourite host segments. Cheesy puns/references and the aforementioned sort of broody feeling at the same time. Aww.
As for the movie...despite its many flaws I still kind of like it, in a way. I mean, at least it has a coherent plot, that nicely _dark_ ending which audiences in 1950 probably weren't expecting, established characters where you knew who they were, and a fairly liberated female character. Plus they got that thing about "slingshotting" around a planet or star to get your speed up, right, which is impressive in a time before anybody had ANY space program in real life at all!
The caramel corn/popcorn/Fiddle-Faddle asteroids...I can kind of answer your question on that. I can think of at least two other movies that had those: Twelve to the Moon and Phantom Planet. And possibly also Firemaidens of Outer Space and one or both of the Rocky Jones "movies". I'm not sure. You're right, though, they _were_ used a lot. I even used them as a silly gag in one of my own text MSTings...where it turned out that they actually _were_ caramel corn, so Joel captured one in the SOL's cargo bay and they all had a snack! :P
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 6, 2006 8:59:14 GMT -5
That is funny! I like that, Cleo.
So I watched Sidehackers back on Friday and it was great, but then I couldn't think of a thing I was gonna say about it. Then my work week started. But I kept thinking of things I wanted to say and I thought, "Oh, I have plenty to say now!" But now I'm forgetting what those things were. So, I'm gonna give Sidehackers a quick overview and see if I can regain that material.
I'd like to keep up a viewing rate of one every other day, but gosh that's tough. However, with as infrequently as I've been viewing this past week or two, I start to miss the show!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 8, 2006 21:43:11 GMT -5
Gee, it feels like it's been over a week since I wrote a review! 202 - The Sidehackers The first half of this ep really cracked me up. The meadow scene is the best scene in the whole episode. Crow: Joel, where do you suppose these guys are working now that cigarette commercials are illegal? Then I can't tell what Joel says. But it's my favorite riff anyway.The credits riffs are also very good. The credits sequence is in squashed widescreen, or "Longtorsovision", for some reason. Probably because, for the rest of this film, cutting off the sides doesn't matter, but the credits would have had names lopped off. Not that there are any important names to lop off. What's kind of cool is that my portable DVD player has a widescreen and if you're playing a full screen DVD with it set on wide, it stretches the picture sideways which all but corrects the Longtorsovision! Oila! A little taste of MST3K in widescreen! The camp out and quarry scenes are the low point of the episode. The last third of the episode is not so hot. I wonder if the Brains got the good riffidge punched out of 'em when they discovered that this movie was actually a murder/revenge story as opposed to a go-for-the-gold sports movie. Missed riff: Rommel and What's-his are in the garage discussing the merits of marriage. What's-his is apparently cushier than he used to be . . . Rommel: Get some exercise! Me (with cockney accent): Cut down on your parklife, mate! While I'm on the subject (sorta), I was trying to figure out what a beetlebum was, but was having no luck with finding anything but info on Blur and their song. Then I thought to look in esoteric references, which I encourage y'all to do. But before I did that, I came across a page about palaeontology. Here's what it says about them, followed by a link to the page: A beetle bum is not, in fact, the posterior end of a beetle, live or dead. They were a bit of a mystery, but some clever person decided that they are little lumps of clay (or clay-derived rock) that had been coated with a shiny, metallic mineral coating somehow, through the millions of years it spent underground. It's still something of a mystery as to precisely HOW they got coated, and why some did and others didn't, and now we're finding them inside bits of coal, which is most puzzling. www.geocities.com/alisaura/palaeo.html
So, that has no apparent relation to Spike Jones or, for that matter, MST3K, but hey it's somethin' to think about. So, in the invention exchange, Joel feeds Gretchen The Slinky carpet? Um . . . Is that as dirty as it sounds, or is there some totally innocent explanation for it? Either way, it seems an odd thing to put in there. This being the second show for Frank and Kevin, I'd say they're doin' great. I don't think it's taking either of them long to get into the groove. I know they'll get better than they are here, but they don't look like noobs to me. I know that when I first watched this episode, it didn't occur to me that it was only the second show for those two, and their performances didn't give away the fact that it was. In a few places in this ep and in RXM they articulate Crow's arms. It's a little pointless in both eps; Crow doesn't do much but point or gesture. The puppeteering is not stellar either. They are only getting started, of course. But as most of us know, these attempts at Muppeteering wouldn't last long. I assume the Brains decided that the trouble of doing the puppetry was not worth the limited potential for humor, usefullness, or characterization inherent to the arms being articulated. In fact, there proved to be more humor in the arms being non-functioning. One of my other favorite riffs is from the end of the garage merits-of-marriage scene: Rommel: Kissed by lunch every day. Crow: Well, it was a tongue sandwich! When JC is at the track to watch 'em sidehack, does the announcer guy say that Mitch Rommel's pilot is Woody Splinter? Sounds like an associate of The Legendary Wooly Bastard! And finally, this episode taught me how "chromakey" is pronounced! Call me dumb, but I'd only seen the word in text and thought it was pronounced "Crow Makey" (and I likewise thought lumakey was "Lou Makey". Cool name, huh?). Though Crow McKee is kind of a cool name. Crow and Lou McKee! They're brothers! And cops!
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Post by Cleolanta on Jun 9, 2006 4:11:29 GMT -5
There are so many funny parts in that movie, even with the depressing subject matter towards the end...I rather like riffs such as "I'll just hide under cover of this AIR here" and so forth. And for some reason the whole "colour commentary" bit makes me just fall over laughing, every time. "OH no, he gets hit by so-and-so with a double-reverse twisting Pintoozler to the epidermis! That's gonna cost 'im" and stuff like that. I also enjoy the "Sidehacking" song; a friend of mine went and made a file of it by recording off of her TV and then sent the song to me. Hee hee.
Oh, and "Only Love Pads the Film" of course, which is an odd mix of funny and kind of lovely...
I guess I have too innocent of a brain; it never even occurred to me that feeding carpet to Gretchen the Slinky _could_ be seen as dirty (until you mentioned it). I just figured...it's a "creature" that's known for going around on the floor, so naturally it would like floorish things. (shrug) I thought it was more just weird for its own sake mixed with perhaps a bit of childish whimsy, myself.
And not that you asked, but since you did say you liked the idea, here is the actual host segment from one of my MSTings with the caramel-corn "asteroids". Why? Because I can.
Note that this is actually almost the last (aside from the wrap-up host segment at the very end) in the MSTing; I had a whole sort of storyline going about "Oh, no! The asteroids are getting closer!" and then every time they start to get anything done about it, they get called into the theater for Movie Sign. So it's kind of like the Doomsday Device continuing host-segment story from "Women of the Prehistoric Planet", and I guess I shouldn't have done it. But it was still fun to write anyway... Oh, and Joel is wearing a bathrobe because Forrester woke him up at 2:30 in the morning to show the "movie" (actually a bad fanfic) on purpose. Poor guy.
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(Satellite of Love bridge)
"JOEL!! JOEL!!" Gypsy ran onto the bridge from the left, almost colliding with the red-bathrobed human. "The asteroids! They're right here! We ran into them faster than we thought!" "WHAT?!" Joel ran over to the window as fast as he could, nearly bowling over Tom Servo and Crow. "I never got a chance to finish the pulse cannon! What are we going to do?! Uh....raise shields, Crow!" "We don't HAVE any shields, Joel," Crow pointed out. "Uh....then...evasive maneuvers, Tom!" "The Mads are the only ones who can control this ships' movements, and as you know, they're not exactly too helpful." answered Tom. Joel nearly tore his hair out in frustration. "Then--then...." he suddenly sobered. "Crow, Servo, Gypsy, Cambot, Magic Voice--it's been nice working with all of you..." And he ducked underneath the bridge's counter and put his hands over his head. I hope explosive decompression doesn't hurt TOO much... he thought darkly. Tom rushed over to the window to look more closely at the oncoming asteroids, Crow and Gypsy joining him. Cambot focused on the window, too, allowing the viewers to see what was going on outside. "Uh...Joel?" Tom called out, over his shoulder. "Not NOW, Tom, I'm trying to keep from being killed!" came Joel's muffled voice from beneath the counter. "Joel..." started Gypsy, but recieved no answer. "Joel, the asteroids ARE FAKE!" Crow finally managed to get the whole thought out. "Whaaattt...?" Joel slowly, unsteadily, got to his feet and wobbled over to the window. Sure enough, the "asteroids" were quite clearly just pieces of caramel corn being thrown past the window! Like in "Rocketship X-M". And they were just as light, fluffy, and HARMLESS as real caramel corn. Joel looked at the asteroids in silence. He kept looking. He looked for a long, long time, or so it seemed. "Uh.....Joel....?" Crow tenatively tugged at Joel's bathrobe sleeve. "Ah-HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" Joel tilted his head back and LAUGHED, big and loud, then collapsed on the floor from the sudden relief of tension. "Well, it looks like the universe decided to play a little practical joke on us! Man the cargo-bay doors, Gypsy; let's capture some of these things and have us a nice big snack!" "YAYYY!!!" The 'bots cheered and danced around in a circle. Buzzers started sounding, the lights dimmed and the small coloured lights all flashed. "One disaster down, one to go," muttered Joel under his breath. "MOVIE SIIGGGNN!!" "BOOO!!!" yelled the robots, and stopped dancing. They all took off in random directions for the theater.
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Bwahaha... ;)
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 9, 2006 17:09:22 GMT -5
Dees!
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Post by Cleolanta on Jun 9, 2006 23:30:31 GMT -5
...not that I'm out of it when it comes to slang expressions or anything, but is "dees" good or bad...?
...Notorious
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 10, 2006 0:39:31 GMT -5
I'd have no idea about it if it weren't for MST3K. I guess it's midwest frat speak for "decent!"
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 10, 2006 1:07:13 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, I was thinking of this ep and thinking that it was another that takes an awful movie that I'd work hard to avoid yet makes it into a good episode. It disappoints me in a way when people say that they have to like the movie at least some to enjoy the episode. For me, it's all about what the Brains do. If they are funny enough, it's a great ep, no matter what the movie is like.
Like you were saying, Cleo, there are so many funny moments. I'd say there are many memorable, even classic moments in this one. The host segments are particularly good. The Sidehackin' song and Only Love Pads the Film are just great. The color commentary sequence doesn't actually make me laugh much, but I find it very engaging. They're going so fast and there's so much to catch. I love it. Despite the low points, this ep has high rewatchability for me. I always love when Crow says, "For those of you playing along at home, Rita is dead." and "She used to love to come to the freeway! *sob*" and earlier when Joel says, ". . . But her lips are . . . are drugged!" and "But even this grass is . . . is . . . it's drugged!"
I don't think I communicated how much I liked this episode in my review up there. So yeah, good stuff!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 10, 2006 1:26:53 GMT -5
Gah, another thing I forgot. In the Hexfield appearance this time, they not only use Mike as JC, but also Frank as Gooch/Cooch. I don't remember any other time they used a castmember to play two different parts in the same episode. Well, I'm not counting any times that Kevin played an additional part like the cop that one time or when he played Bobo or when Bill played both Crow and Brain Guy 'cause they weren't showing their faces on screen as two different characters in the same episode. Oh wait, there is Mike playing an Observer and Mike isn't there? Anyway, it's sort of a rare thing. Makes me think of Flying Circus. But they were so extreme with that kind of thing that a cast member could be playing two different people in the same sketch and one could easily not notice. It's kind of weird to suddenly see Frank in the hexfield and think, "Hey, what's Frank doing there? He's in Deep 13!" With Flying Circus there were so many characters and such fleeting characters that you just kind of end up disregarding the fact that it's actually a small number of people. I don't think it works as well for MST3K; the characters are too permanent. Not that I think Frank does a bad job. I love that they decided to make fun of all that dumb dialog by just imitating it. I particularly like the way Mike does the "no" in that bit. He really nails the overacting.
I'm rambling now. Night!
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