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Post by kmorgan on Mar 11, 2016 23:56:46 GMT -5
Also you could check to see if you bagged any other programs from back when TheFirstNetworkWhichShallRemainNameless actually had worthy programming. Some of those aren't as easy to find online.
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Post by kmorgan on Mar 5, 2016 1:07:58 GMT -5
So, week 44, anyone?
"East Meets Watts" is a perfect choice for riffing. The production is inept, but there's action to hold your interest. Unfortunately, it's gratuitously violent, with a couple of killings approaching "Girl in Lover's Lane" level. On the other hand, one all-but-certain romance is just plain tossed overboard, right quick. The riffing from CT is perfect, and the team can even make blown jokes funny. And, since this is one of the live productions, the group plays to the audience very well. Fine work.
As for Oscar night, the "Little Gold Statue" special was fine. While the lack of riffing on the provided clips is noticeable, the jokes from Tom & Crow are great. Gypsy's cameo was good, as was bewildered Mike as not-Ed Asner. We'll just have to hope they revive this idea for the new series. My second feature from "SCTV" was also a good one, featuring some great jokes at the expense of awards shows of that era, with the highlight being Dave Thomas' great work as Bob Hope. The episode also featured the group Third World (whom I'm not familiar with) on "The Fishin' Musician", and another great bit, "The Merv Griffin Show: Special Edition".
Good stuff this week. So, on to week 45. The Outsiders selection is..."ConventioCon II Highlights: Celebrity Panel:... - Featuring Rex Reason, Russell Johnson and KIM CATRALL! ...and the Original selection is..."Hellcats" (Show 209). - Ah, the carefree days before helmet laws.
Oh, and if any of you at home are using these choices, or making your own, feel free to pass it along.
Stay tuned...
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Post by kmorgan on Mar 3, 2016 8:39:01 GMT -5
I'll have to give this more thought, but Timothy Van Patten seems like the definitive answer for alums whose careers took a surprisingly upwards path, though I guess Ron Howard would fit as well, from a certain point of view.
Question is, which alums had a career that took a surprisingly downwards path post-MSTed movie?
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Post by kmorgan on Mar 3, 2016 8:32:41 GMT -5
Like I posted a while back on "Satellite News", swing choir seems like what we called glee club back in the day here in central NJ, though maybe a bit less flashy. I was in glee club for a while in elementary school, and it proved to me that I should not consider music as a future career choice.
The difference between choir and swing choir, it seems to me, is that choir is more serious and classically-oriented, while swing choir is show business all the way.
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Post by kmorgan on Mar 1, 2016 20:38:20 GMT -5
Not MST-related, but back on the old Even Deeper Blurting board, I'd post this for St. David's Day (March 1st):
WELSH COOKIES
½ cup (1 stick) butter 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup shortening 6 cups flour 2 cups sugar 6 tsp. baking powder 3 eggs ½ cup milk 1 tsp. salt 1 cup raisins or currants 1 tsp. nutmeg
Mix together butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and milk. Sift together and add dry ingredients. Add raisins and mix. (A heavy-duty mixer comes in handy for this; dough is stiff.) Roll out dough to about 1/8" and cut into circles. Bake as you would pancakes on a 400 degree electric griddle. Do not overbake; they don't take long to brown and overbaking makes them hard as a rock. Watch carefully and you will see them begin to puff up in about 1 ½ minutes and that means it's time to turn them. The second side will take only about 1 minute. They will be soft but as they cool on a rack they harden a little. Makes about 6 doz.
Enjoy!
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 27, 2016 0:57:04 GMT -5
Sorry I'm a bit late folks. Aaaaaaaaand, let's look at week 43.
"American Scary" is a really fun documentary. It looks at the whole "horror host" phenomenon (doo-doo-de-doo-doo), from its beginnings in early TV to the present day. There are a lot of interviews with the hosts, as they talk about their individual approaches and their love of the job, as well as comments from fans like actress Patricia Tallman, historian Forrest J. Ackerman and author Neil Gaiman. In addition, there's also an interesting look of the sadly-gone days of true local TV (killed off by corporate ownership, infomercials and cookie cutter sensibilities), as well as the recent resurgence, thanks to local access cable and the 'net. There are also some great classics clips from hosts like Zacherley and Vampira, arguably the two best-known of the classic hosts. I did have a couple of problems, though. First, while Joel is interviewed and offers some interesting comments, no clips or stills from MST3K are featured, though favorable comments about the show are offered by guests. (Reportedly, there were communications problems between the filmmakers and BBI.) The other problem is that I wish it featured even more clips from the hosts, including a few that didn't get mentioned. As I wrote in my Amazon.com review, I hope the filmmakers will revisit this story and do a special, 2-disc edition with more classic content. In any case, I really enjoyed this one. And I'm very glad my cable company recently picked up MeTV, so I can watch Svengoolie on Saturday nights.
"Slime People", though, is a different story. It's low budget is a problem, since we only hear about momentous events after the fact. There's also the obligatory kidnapping of a female lead, the lasting romances that bloom about ten minutes after the characters meet, and the standard scientific doubletalk. I am a bit surprised, though I really shouldn't be, that the show didn't mention this movie years later, when the creatures in "Horror of Party Beach" are, like the Slime People, wiped out by SODIUM! Oh, and while Tolliver was annoying, they could've made some effort to help him. Regarding yet another chapter of "Radar Men from the Moon", it at least holds your interest and moves at a good pace. The riffing was OK, as they are clearly more used to working with scripts, with the occasional ad-lib. The host segments were good, including the 'bots familiar idea for a TV show. As it happens, I recently watched a clip of Joel's early stand-up which included both of the Invention Exchange items.
Split decision, I'd say. And on to week 44. The Outsiders selection is..."CT: East Meets Watts"... - Hey, you got your martial arts movie in my blaxsploitation movie! ...and since Sunday is Oscar Night (when the stars salute themselves!), I'm going outside the rotation for..."The MST3K Little Gold Statue Preview Special". - Not featuring Mike as Ed Asner. Now, since the special lasts less than 30 minutes, I'm exercising my option and adding a second feature. But, since I want to save the other MST3K Oscar show for next year, I'm going way off the reservation and selecting..."SCTV: The People's Global Golden Choice Awards". - The suspiciously-opened envelope, please.
We'll be right back...
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 20, 2016 0:41:38 GMT -5
And, let's look at week 42.
"Between the Riffs" only lasts about 18 minutes, but it's a nice documentary segment on the "Tiki Island" DVD. The Titans talk about what makes a movie a good choice for them, their fellow Titans, and the fans. Throughout, there's a clear sense of fun and satisfaction with their work. And there are some comments from the fans, who also really enjoy the shows. It's bits like this that make me glad I caught a few of the live performances, and hope that, during some break in the revival, that Joel will get the band back together for an encore. One thing, though: please record it for those of us who might not be able to get there.
As for "Wild Rebels", it's the middle ground in MST3K's biker trilogy. It's not as awful and downbeat as "Sidehackers", but it lacks the strong central character and relatively better moral standpoint of "Hellcats". (Oh, gads, did I really write that?) Rod, our "hero", does little that truly heroic, the crooks are caricatured and have no real redeeming features, and the cops are just plain inept. Not a happy experience, though it does sort of hold your interest. The riffing, though, is good enough to take the edge off. The host segments are also good, featuring an early chance to see Gypsy start to develop as a character, some more artwork, and Wild Rebels cereal. The inventions were good; I'll have to see if one of the local places would give the tri-dimensional pizza a whirl.
All in all, things turned out OK this time. And let's move on to week 43. The Outsiders selection is..."American Scary"... - It's a documentary about horror movie hosts, featuring comments from Joel. ...and the Originals selection is..."Slime People" (Show 108). - Should I get a pet goat for this one?
Don't touch that dial...
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 12, 2016 21:44:02 GMT -5
I remember the "trailer" for the "sequel" during RT's "Manos" live show, and I got the impression that it was done and on the way. I stand corrected.
There's something deeply off-kilter with the world when there can be competing sequels to "Manos". The canonicity debates will make the ones over the "Star Wars" EU look feeble by comparison.
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 12, 2016 21:40:17 GMT -5
Squirm can be pretty gross if you have an aversion to seeing massive amounts of worms. Try eating spaghetti while watching it. It also features a dead body of an old guy having his shirt opened to reveal a bunch of squirming worms. I've been trying to forget "Squirm". Yet another "eyes closed" episode.
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 12, 2016 21:34:28 GMT -5
So, how did week 41 go?
"Wild Women of Wongo" is just plain bad. Bad script, lousy acting, poor print quality, bad pacing, that annoying parrot...the list goes on. About the only thing that's debatable is whether it can be considered misogynist. I don't think so, so the women in the movie (particularly the Wongoites) are shown to have some intelligence and even courage, while the men are a bunch of dopes. Like I said, just plain bad. The Film Crew do what they can, and the riffing is good. But the movie is just too much. The host segments were OK, particularly Kevin's rather unusual map to Wongo. I liked the Film Crew set-up, and I was sorry to see it go, even though it did open the way for Rifftrax.
On the other hand, "It Conquered the World" is pretty good. It still shows the frequent Corman low-budget roots, but the script has some intelligence and there are some effective moments. The acting is good, particularly by Peter Graves and Beverly Garland. Sure, the monster looks silly, but you can't have everything. And the short, "Snow Thrills", is certainly not a piece of skit, either. The riffing from Joel & the 'bots is good, and the host segments were Ok, I guess. I'm not sure what set off Crow's Alan Arkin obsession, though. (I've never seen "Chu Chu and the Philly Flash", but I remember it played at Somerville Circle, briefly. The other movies at the time were "Raiders" and "Superman II", so it didn't stand a chance.) I particularly liked the ending segment, with Peter's great closing speech and the very nice letters.
Well, split decision, I'd say. And, on to week 42. This frigid weekend, the Outsiders selection is..."Between the Riffs"... - Behind-the-scenes with CT! ...and the Originals section is..."Wild Rebels" (Show 207). - I'll watch it for the kicks.
We'll be right back.
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 6, 2016 19:46:17 GMT -5
I've remembered one other gruesome bit: the fate of Mrs. Hargrove in "Deadly Bees". Another scene I have to look away from.
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 6, 2016 19:43:14 GMT -5
I'm reading them. Keep it going, these are good reads.
Thanks very much; I really appreciate the support.
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Post by kmorgan on Feb 6, 2016 0:27:00 GMT -5
And, let's look at week 40, shall we?
"Road House" is course, the quintessential 80's action flick. Yes, it's clichéd and over the top, and there are a lot of loose ends in the plot (the biggest being, "Where the heck were the cops?"). But, there's a lot of action, Patrick Swayze was great as Dalton, and Sam Elliot is good in anything. As for Mike's commentary in what, I believe, was the first Rifftrax offering, it was great. There are several running gags that work well, like jokes about the…perceived subtext regarding certain characters reactions to Dalton. (Was that diplomatic enough?) And it’s clear that, as much as Mike riffs away, he clearly has a certain liking for this movie. (Well, that and the fact he’s actually said so.) As for “Skydivers”, I’ve heard it called the best of the three movies Coleman Francis directed, and that may be right. Sure, it’s drab and depressing, and there are bits at the party on the runway that are nearly surreal. Still, the skydiving footage is actually fairly well-done, and the music from the combo is good. Plus, the short, “Why Study Industrial Arts”, is one of the best ones, and it makes some sense, as it happens. The riffing is great, and given the mood of the feature, it has to be. The host segments were OK, especially the opening bit regarding “swing choir”. A while back, through the Satellite News episode guide comments, I learned that swing choir is pretty much another name for glee club. Back in my youth at good ol’ New Market Elementary, I was in glee club for a time, and I learned that I have little talent for making music and that my destiny in entertainment lay in areas away from live, on-stage performance.
Well, those went well. Let’s move on to week 41. The Outsiders selection is…”Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo”… - DANCE!!! …and the Originals selection is…”It Conquered the World” (Show 311). - He learned too late that…you know the rest.
We now pause for station identification. And let me know if you’re actually reading these posts.
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Post by kmorgan on Jan 29, 2016 23:30:43 GMT -5
Well, I hope all of you who got hit by the blizzard are doing OK. We ended up with about two feet of snow, but managed to dig ourselves out without much trouble. So, how did week 39 go? I got the footage of the Costume Ball from Cheepnis, if I remember correctly. While it has many of the usual problems with fan-made tapes (poor sound and juddery images), this one turned out fine. I was actually at this event, so it brought back a few nice memories. The costumes were very well-made, from both the usual examples (I lost track of the number of Torgos and Mr. B Naturals) to the unusual (the “leg up” guys). I particularly remember the big reaction to two particular participants: one very perky man dressed as Mr. B (and Mike responds, “Have you no sense of decency?”) and a group of the Master’s brides who launched into a quick wrestling match. Unfortunately, the tape ran out before the big winner was revealed: MR. B TORGO! (just ponder that one.) And the noteworthy event? I wasn’t just there; I participated. If you have this tape, go to about 23:30 in and you’ll see the lovely and talented Bridget introduce a rather nondescript, bearded guy dressed as a Teenager from Outer Space. And you’ll hear Kevin compliment me on my good use of reflective tape. I'll see if I can scrounge up a photo.
As for “Incredibly Strange…”, the movie is just too weird for me. The spliced in musical numbers, the nightmare sequence, the ticket monkey, the feelthy peegs. It’s just too off-kilter for my tastes. The riffing was good, though; it had to be. The host segments were OK, with a good finish to the Space Children plotline and, thankfully, no images of Bobo’s behavior.
Things turned out OK this time. So, week 40. First, I didn’t go see the rerun of “RT Live: The Room”; the movie doesn’t look like my cup of arsenic. So, instead, the Outsiders selection is…”Road House” (w/ Mike commentary)… - And it’s not even Christmas! …and the Originals selection is…”Skydivers” (Show 609). - Geronimo!
Stay tuned…
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Post by kmorgan on Jan 29, 2016 22:45:14 GMT -5
I'm going to go with practically any scene with the titular Melting Man. I can only get through that one the same way I get through the Mr. Creosote sketch: with my eyes tightly closed.
There are other movies that feature unpleasant or borderline offensive material, but there aren't too many that go into actual "gruesome" territory, thank Heavens.
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