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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 1, 2007 1:42:51 GMT -5
Nice! Oh, hey, I forgot to look for the short pants on Joel during that segment.
It's true: Timmy is dang spooky. I bet somebody just took a look at the "theater Crow" and realized how spooky he was and that they should use him "on the bridge" for an episode. (In case there's anyone who doesn't know this, Timmy is just the Crow puppet used in the theater for a better silhouette. But I figure the inner mini-mouth was a special add-on.)
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 11, 2007 15:14:22 GMT -5
417 - Crash of Moons with General Hospital 3
While it has a number of highlights, this one hits below the mark for me. For much of the episode the riffidge is lacking in energy and cleverness. And golly this movie is a BORE. There's not a lot to the plot so instead the movie is packed with people yakking, running from here to there, and landing and taking off in rockets. The other Rocky Jones flick had a lot more intrigue and fighting and technological hoodeehoo. It just had more for the guys to riff upon. Likewise, this General Hospital short is not as good as the one before it (making it the least good of the three).
Those are my overall feelings, but let's talk about those highlights.
The host segments are pretty good, the highlight being the Gypsy Moons song. I love this line from the Mads' invention bit: Dr. F.: I, Dr. Clayton Forrester, have discovered an important truth: before adulthood, when booze becomes a staple, sugar is the next best substitute to parental love. I'm a pretty serious chocoholic/sweet tooth/toothbrush avoider, but the Choco-Nutty Fudge Deep 13 Toothpaste makes even me cringe!
During the short . . . Joel: The depressing thing is this is in color.
Phil leaves with "the other woman" . . . Dr. Phil: I won't be long. Tom as Nurse Jesse: No kidding. You don't have to tell me!
I like the "let's see how fast we can riff these names" bit. Unfortunately that enthusiasm didn't last. Crow: Oh, is the great Hollingsworth Morse going to direct? Joel: Judges? Tom: *buzzer noise* Joel: I'm sorry, we can't accept that. Tom: Overuse.
Winky tries to explain the "London Bridge" model of the gypsy moons' orbit with as little comedy as possible . . . Tom: Bob Saget, everybody. Bob Saget! This is right on 'cause not only does Winky look Sagetesque, he's as funny as Bob Saget. That is to say he's not.
My favorite riff of the entire episode is a subtle one that comes out of left field from Joel. I lost it when I heard this one. Vena and Bobby take a breather from wailing baby watch . . . Bobby: I don't think it's the crash of moons that's bothering him. It's got something to do with Rocky and Winky. Joel as Vena: I'm barren, Bobby.
Now, some wondermints . . .
During one of the shots of space station OW-9 bobbing in front of clouds and lightning, Joel says this and I just don't get it: Joel: Y'know, a fella could make a real funny comment about that if he was so inclined. Is there some obvious innuendo I'm missing there? Or is he being ironic?
What's this title they keep calling Cleolanta? It sounds like My Sousa Ray. What the heck is that? Is that another of their made up words, or is it some synonym for dictator that I'm unfamiliar with? I don't remember hearing it in Manhunt in Space.
I have a beef with the astro-science in this movie. I'm no astronomer, but I can tell something's not quite legit here. Sure, it's '50s sci-fi and sure, they needed some thrills in the story, but what idiot would place a space station within the orbital path of another celestial body? I think they're ignoring the fact that the OW-9 would also be in an orbit of some kind and that the gypsy moons wouldn't just orbit each other, but that they, as a unit, would also be orbiting something else, and that Ophesius would have its own orbit. It's like they imagine that the OW-9 just sits some place in space and doesn't move and that the moons and Ophesius just sort of travel about unbound by any laws of physics. Dumbies.
Missed riff: Cleolanta is kicking Rocky and his buddies out of Cleoland. She gives them an hour . . . Winky: We're wasting our precious minutes. (insert cell phone joke here)
Oh yeah, the "Evacuation = Ew!" joke gets pretty old by the end of this ep. I never really found that one funny, but they've been using it for a long time. Since K16 - City on Fire as far as I can remember.
But to finish up, I love the stinger on this ep . . . Banner: Poopie!
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Post by jjb3k on May 11, 2007 15:21:37 GMT -5
"We're wasting our precious minutes" isn't really a missed riff opportunity, given that cell phones weren't around in 1992.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 12, 2007 1:17:36 GMT -5
Yeah, I know. They couldn't have made Aquabats riffs during First Spaceship on Venus either. It's not that I'm saying the Brains really missed something, I just like to make jokes.
Ooh, I forgot to note a riff that I liked. In the short, when Phil and "the other woman" are in the car, there's a long, long silence . . . Crow: Uh . . . Booger. Um . . .
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on May 12, 2007 22:37:07 GMT -5
What's this title they keep calling Cleolanta? It sounds like My Sousa Ray. What the heck is that? Is that another of their made up words, or is it some synonym for dictator that I'm unfamiliar with? I don't remember hearing it in Manhunt in Space. They're using the old term suzerain, which means a feudal lord or the ruler of a suzerainty. Wikipedia explains: Suzerainty (pronounced: [ˈsuzəɹɪnti] or [ˈsuzəˌɹeɪnti]) is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which allows the tributary some limited domestic autonomy to control its foreign affairs. The more powerful entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the head of state of that more powerful entity, is called a suzerain. The term suzerainty was originally used to describe the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and its surrounding regions. It differs from sovereignty in that the tributary has some (limited) self-rule. A suzerain can also mean a feudal lord, to whom vassals must pay tribute. I imagine they used it because it sounded like "sovereign" (and derives from the same Latin roots), only more unfamiliar and esoteric. However, I think "my Sousa Ray" sounds much more interesting!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on May 13, 2007 3:53:19 GMT -5
Rock! Way to help out, dnaldy! And thanks for all the links!
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on May 13, 2007 23:15:43 GMT -5
Words is one thing I'm good at. And you rock on with your reviews, AZ!
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 22, 2007 1:49:40 GMT -5
Hey! Look who's back to rock the reviews!
Nothing out of the ordinary happened . . . No minor tragedies; no loss of notes; no loss of faith. I just kept not writing my Attack of the Eye Creatures review. I've been ready to do it for over a month, since right after the previous review, in fact. But, hey, whatevers. Here I am again!
418 - Attack of the Eye Creatures
I love this episode. This is one of the very few I actually remember watching back when the show was on the air. It is now among my top ten favorite episodes (my top ten list is not fully determined, but a good six eps have their spots and this is now one of them). I remember having enjoyed it previously but after watching it repeatedly in the past month, it has established itself quite well. I didn't need to watch it so often, mind you (like for note-taking purposes), rather I just enjoy watching this one quite a bit. I could watch it over and over (and I have!).
I love all the day vs. night jokes. It's great that not only is this movie dealing with one of the worst cases of dayfornitis we've ever seen, but then we get shots of the sun in a slightly cloudy but definitely blue sky! Oh, I guess we were supposed to have been convinced by the nonstop cricket sound effects that it was the moon the camera was pointed at. Were they planning on darkening the print in post but forgot? Were they planning on using a blue filter but lost it? One way or another, cars with their lights on and cricket sounds wouldn't convince a toddler that much of this film was shot at night. Also, try not to concentrate on the cricket sounds; they'll drive you nuts 'cause they never stop! Well, except when there's an interior scene.
So, the Mads' invention exchange. I can't figure out all of what that sign on the wall says. Never mind, just did a search and found it. It reads: Number of seances since last injury: 13. Injury was the word I couldn't manage to read. Anyway, I liked this part a lot: Dr. F.: Many American woodworkers are . . . Frank: Dead. Dr. F.: They're dead. Not meant as a criticism! But still true . . .
For some time I was confused by a noise that comes at movie sign in this ep. It happens right when the doors open, so i thought they had introduced a new sound effect for the opening of the doors. Which I thought was a very odd thing for them to do until just last night I realized that it was the sound effect corresponding to the recoiling of Crow's stretched phone cord, not the opening doors.
I love this movie. It's so perfectly good-bad. And it's perfect for the show. There's an abundance of flaws to be mocked. There are oodles of technical flaws, a weak story, bad acting, stupid characters and more more more! I'd really like to get this one uncut. I'd also like to see Invasion of the Saucermen of which, I just read, AEC is a remake. Which reminds me that I was going to mention that one of the disgusting "infrared scanner" guys, the one on the left, was also in Zontar, the Thing from Venus which was another awful Larry Buchanan remake project (this one of 311's It Conquered the World).
During the opening scene with the viewing of the UFO footage, the guys are just scoffing at the hokey saucer effects and Joel says, "No really, let's see the real film." And it's really funny.
Missed riff: Stan and the big-hair girl hit the eye creature with the car . . . Susan: I don't know; it happened so fast! Me: Summer lovin'?
I like the Elephant Man references. There's two of them that I know of. They're kind of subtle 'cause no one actually mentions the name Elephant Man, so you have to know the movie a little. Tom: Dr. Treves, would you like to see my cathedral? And later, when the eye creature is on the ground before the car and the drifter guy covers him up with a blanket . . . Joel (I think): Can I get a pillow please? This one's great 'cause not only do the eye creatures look lumpy-headed, but the guy sort of looks like he's tucking the dead alien in to bed and, in The Elephant Man, John needs several pillows because he needs to sleep sitting up, and there's a scene in which Dr. Treves is tucking John in, and it all links up! Yay. Getting references is fun!
My favorite riff to quote from this episode is this one from when old man Bailey kicks Stan and Susan out of his house . . . Joel as Bailey: Wait! Come back! I don't know how to love! I-I miss you already! This is fun to say when the morning shift ends and people are leaving work.
Another missed riff: The cop is trying to get Stan and Susan to take the breath test . . . Cop: Blow! Me as Susan: Who's to tell me to blow if I don't want to?
I love all the dumb eye jokes. The guys have a knack for making stupid jokes. They know the jokes are dumb and they tell them like dumb jokes (as opposed to taking them too seriously). But if you don't have a tender spot for stupid puns like me, you might not dig this aspect of the ep.
Crow as eye creature: Ironically, I'm having a hard time seeing!
If I hadn't watched a lot of The Tonite Show back in the '90s, I wouldn't have recognized the Rip Taylor impersonations, and I'd have been pretty seriously confused! But I got lucky on that one.
The Earl Holliman bit I didn't get as much out of. But the more I watch it, the more fun it is 'cause the guys' acting is well done in that one.
So, to wrap up, this one is super fun and had me laughing throughout. The riffing is remarkably consistent, clever, and funny. I love it! I think the fact that I remember watching this ep on TV has something to do with why I feel a deep attachment to it, but really truly, beyond that, this one is super funny, if you ask me. And if you're reading this, you asked for it.
Okay! Thanks for reading. Bye bye now.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Jun 22, 2007 11:26:23 GMT -5
Glad you're back, AZ! Sounds like you've got a greater appreciation for this ep than I do. And that's cool. I'd really like to get this one uncut. I'd also like to see Invasion of the Saucermen of which, I just read, AEC is a remake. Interesting! I wonder if Invasion of the Saucermen is the film I saw as a kid that Eye Creatures always reminds me of. In my youth, I often whiled away a Saturday afternoon watching cheesy movies on our local independent station. In the particular cheesy film I'm thinking of, the aliens have extremely long nails (!) that can inject alcohol(!!). The first victims of the aliens' attack are a herd of cows (!!!). The humans realize something strange is happening when they discover the cows staggering drunkenly around their pasture. The only other thing that I recall from the film is that, as in Eye Creatures, the teens discover the aliens can be destroyed by bright light and wipe them out by surrounding them with their cars and turning on all the headlights. All in all, from what I remember, it's not as badly made as Eye Creatures, but every bit as goofy.
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 27, 2007 0:18:38 GMT -5
I'm very happy 'cause I'm listening to an LP I just got. It's Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies and it's one I've been waiting to find for a couple years now. My Feelies LP collection is now complete! Yay! And I got it for only $4! I'm really very happy about it! Now, on with the review.
419 - The Rebel Set with Johnny at the Fair
This one was okay. The short is great. The feature movie segments aren't real great shakes. And the most of the host segments aren't real hot. None of it is bad or hard to watch or anything, but the host segs and the feature segs just don't really knock my socks off. Overall, a decent to average ep.
I don't really dig the movie. That probably has something to do with it. I mean it's not as bad as Catalina Caper or that "space western" one which I dislike so much, I'd rather not watch the episode. Rebel Set is just generally disinteresting to me. The riffidge is pretty good all the way through, but without super-awesome riffidge, this movie's not gonna make me come back for more very often.
Anyway, the invention exchange is pretty good. The Mads win with the TV's Frank Brand Quick Primp Kit. But the SOL paint by number is pretty fun too.
The short is definitely the best part of the episode. I love that Joel asks that they not get too dark with the short, but it ends up getting pretty dark anyway. Tom as narrator: Johnny feels dark hands pressing him onward. The voices in his head get meaner. Even Joel makes some pretty dark comments. But I forgot to write any of them down . . . It's a great short though. I'm surprised that no one asked "Why can't Johnny read?" at the beginning of the Chemical World segment. The narrator even says, "Johnny can't read the words Chemical Wonderland . . . " And yet Joel says it later, during the feature. They've just gotten onto the train after the heist, and I don't really get why Joel says it. Oh well.
I think it's funny how the filmmakers pretty obviously took a crime caper story and inserted some extraneous "beat" stuff to attempt to market it to a specific audience. Perfect example: the middle-aged square couple. What purpose does this episodic little annoyance serve? Well to make the picture more beat, of course!
Crow as Mrs. Square: My husband's very hip at home!
A favorite riff: The radio announces the Chicago robbery as some of the crooks pass through the dining car . . . Joel as crook: Hey turn it up; this is my heist!
The stupidest lines in the entire movie are spoken by the "sisters" on the train (the two old ladies that the very reverend speaks with at length). Right after the above riff comes this bit: Sister Alfred Hitchcock in drag: You know what I think is responsible for these crimes? The not very reverend: What's that, sister? Sister AHid: The people involved. WTF? Do you call that a revelation? Then, later, the sisters harass Gary Busey, I mean Merritt Stone, I mean Gene Roth? They stop the conductor to ask him if the train is on time. He assures them that it is. Then they go on and on about how they hate lateness. After he leaves they declare that the conductor is a disgrace to his uniform . . . WTF, sisters? The train is on time! What the hell is your problem? Idiots.
Another highlight of this ep is . . . Tom's head explodes! Yay!
Joel: We gotta stop doin' that to this little guy . . .
Okay, so, here's a decent episode with the short being the only thing worth writing home about. Thanks for readin'. Ciao.
Tom: So, all this happened 'cause Johnny got lost at the fair?
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jul 9, 2007 16:51:37 GMT -5
420 - The Human Duplicators
It's pretty good! Toward the end the riffidge starts to lag, but overall there're lots of good riffs and it's a fun ep to watch.
I always have a hard time remembering which episode this is. That is, I read the title and draw a blank. But I think I'll remember it better now. Looking back on it, the first things that come to mind are the guys' imitations of Richard Kiel's acting. They do a lot of good imitations of that stiff, low monotone. I should have a quote here, but I . . .
The best riffidge of the episode is at the beginning. The stuff on the spaceship (credits and plain-as-day exposition) are fun because all the game show jokes are right on. The set looks like they just walked onto a mid '60s game show, removed the contestant podiums and called it a spaceship! But even more fun are the "Budget-tel" jokes during the heist at the space research place. I love that just one poor location choice can provide so many laughs. Tom: Yes, well I worked at NASA back when we were next to Cost Cutters!
I was confused by the professor's name the first few times I watched this ep. When the triple-screen communication module is laying out the premise, he clearly states the prof's name as "Professor Von Dornheimer" which gets an appropriate chuckle from the SOL gang. But throughout the rest of the movie, he's simply called "Professor Dornheimer". But, thanks to IMDb, I figured out that it's not "Von Dornheimer", it's "Vaughan Dornheimer". It's still a funny name.
Anyhow, let's talk about host segments. I like the opening with Joel offering the Bots some upgrades. Tom has the most elaborate ideas of them all. My favorite line is this one: Tom: That's me, except I'm moist. Later, while Frank 'n' Forrester are goofing around before dissolving into hysterics, there's a "get on with it" shot of the SOL. They're looking at yet another sketch of a modified Tom Servo. Can anyone identify what sort of thing he is in that one? He has no arms nor any engine block and he's tall and slender. Tom Servo the Tormented Edition, perhaps? ('Cause he looks like a lighthouse, see . . . ) I can't read the words on the card. Anyone?
Also, does anyone get the Dennis Weaver joke? I figured out who Dennis Weaver is (McCloud, for one). And I'm familiar with the Gary Wright song (Dream Weaver). But what do those have to do the nurse and the bank of lights and knobs and the human duplication process?
Oh yeah, back to host segs. I love that we get to see the SOL model on the bridge of the SOL! It's just like that Spacom movie! Crow: I'm gonna put lighter fluid on it and burn it in the driveway.
Funny parts: Mr. Martin pokes around the Dornheimer estate until he runs into the Prof. himself . . . Prof. Dornheimer: As you have already seen, my life is not the dull routine the general public might imagine. Bonehead: No, your niece is lovely. Joel: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Glenn and Gale, what a couple, eh? They share a relaxed evening in an apartment . . . Gale: Well, say something! Crow: Something. Glenn: Something. Crow: Doh! . . . Got riffback on that . . .
If you're a pothead, you might be hoping that this is the perfect episode to watch while high, this being episode 420 after all. But no, it is not "the pot episode". Well, to my knowledge, it has no marijuana themes or allusions or undertones. But hey, I have not actually tried getting high and watching this episode. So what do I know? Try it for yourself if you must, and report back here if you do. I promise I won't get you busted. Thank you.
Okay, then. I liked this episode. It's worthy of rewatching. Some parts are better than others, but it is enjoyable throughout. Thanks for reading. Ciao!
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Post by jjb3k on Jul 9, 2007 17:15:42 GMT -5
I consider 420 to be one of the more underrated episodes of the Joel era, as I constantly find myself laughing out loud when I watch it (I love Crow's "riffback" moment, for one, as it's happened to me numerous times when I riff movies on my own). And the Mads' portion of the invention exchange is pure goofy brilliance.
I took note of the riff "Fred Flintstone's running outside", said when an alarm bell goes off. The bell does sound kind of Hanna-Barbera-esque, but I do believe the guys are thinking of the H-B sound effect called the "bongo run" (which might be best articulated as "boogedy-boogedy-boogedy"). You know what I'm talking about, right?
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Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jul 9, 2007 19:09:03 GMT -5
I do know what you mean. And I think you're correct as well.
I liked this one quite a lot, too. Would you agree, however, that the riffing isn't quite as strong during the last half hour or so?
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Post by jjb3k on Jul 11, 2007 19:33:00 GMT -5
I dunno, I still got plenty of laughs out of it. And the reappearance of Hugh Beaumont in the Hexfield is definitely one of Mike's finest hours.
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Post by Diet Kolos on Jul 11, 2007 20:27:57 GMT -5
Now why do people comment on this thread whenever its updated but when I sporadically update my reviews I'm only left to reply to myself.
I mean, these are pretty good reviews but...I don't see a reason. Maybe I'm just bitter that way.
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