|
Post by Famous Mortimer on Jun 20, 2006 14:43:51 GMT -5
I'm really enjoying the reviews, and looking forward to seeing these episodes myself, but I wanted to ask a question. Are you perhaps, when you watch the shows, expecting to see the three of them riffing on the movies, and when one or more of them don't show just get a bit irked? I mean, might it have been an interesting idea to change things round a bit like that from time to time? I have no idea as I haven't seen them, but from reading these reviews I wanted to ask.
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jun 20, 2006 16:59:21 GMT -5
I'm really enjoying the reviews, and looking forward to seeing these episodes myself, but I wanted to ask a question. Are you perhaps, when you watch the shows, expecting to see the three of them riffing on the movies, and when one or more of them don't show just get a bit irked? I mean, might it have been an interesting idea to change things round a bit like that from time to time? I have no idea as I haven't seen them, but from reading these reviews I wanted to ask. Well, in cases where I know they're not all going to be there, then I don't mind as much, although it still feels incomplete. Only K18 caught me off guard, as I had forgotten that Josh left halfway through. Anyway, let's bring KTMA to a close... ---------------- K20 "The Last Chase"Watched: May 16, 2006 So, Burgess Meredith is back, and this time he’s even more insane than he was in “SST Death Flight”. Set in the present future past, this week’s atrocity stars Lee “Six-Million-Dollar Man” Majors and Chris “Gee, your hair looks ridiculous” Makepeace as a couple of race car renegades in a world without sufficient oil supplies. There’s a lot of stuff that happens in this movie, and most of it involves driving really fast, exploding cacti, and Burgess Meredith flying a kite. Interestingly enough, this is the third movie in a row that I thought could have been really, really good if it had just been handled differently. It’s too goofy to be an action movie and too boring to be a comedy, so it just kind of sits there in its own little genre and rots. Fortunately, this is the point in the KTMA season where the riffing is really at its sharpest, so Joel and the bots have a lot of fun with this. I felt that they got out a lot of really good observational ones this week (“Suspect is driving a white dot...”), and the level of the humor is higher than it’s been in previous weeks. The guys really know their form at this point. There’s a nice little host segment where the guys commemorate their 1000th fan club member, Gidget Howell (Servo’s remark about how she must be the love child of Sally Field and Jim Backus is classic). It amazes me that the show’s fanbase expanded so much in such a short amount of time, especially on such a low-grade station as KTMA. The third host segment is probably my favorite, though - the guys read a letter from a kid named Bobby who says he likes the theme song lyric about “when you got lemnes, you make lemnesnas” and how he thinks Servo should stop messing with “pepla”. Again, Servo nails a perfect slam when he remarks “Bobby’s a freshman at the University of Minnesota.” Oh, for fun... It’s also nice to see Dr. F and Dr. E back again, what with their ridiculous cold fusion experiment and all (just watch Trace trying to stifle his laughter during this one, it’s great). The penultimate episode of the show’s formative era is an all-around winner. It’ll really be something to watch the final KTMA episode, knowing where they’re going to go afterwards. ---------------- K21 "Legend of the Dinosaur"Watched: May 20, 2006 And so, MST3K’s first primitive year draws to a close...but not without one final parting shot at Sandy Frank and his ridiculous taste in entertainment. I think this movie was better when it was about a shark called Jaws. The parallels are pretty dang obvious, but the ridiculousness factor is cranked up to 11 by making this movie about a plesiosaur (that can travel on land for some reason). This is one of only two Sandy Frank movies from the KTMA era that weren’t redone in Season 3, and while I think “Humanoid Woman” might have made a good Comedy Central episode, I commend Best Brains for leaving this one alone - no other Japanese movie was this painful. Hell, the ending drags on for about ten minutes of explosions and that chick in a wetsuit dangling over a chasm. I didn’t even care whether or not the main characters lived or died - I just wanted it to be over (in fact, this was the first time in my marathon in which I found myself shouting “End! END!” at the screen). Thank God for the riffs - a solid success from Joel and the bots, such as their likening of the movie to Chinese water torture or their observation that one guy seems to be flossing the mountain. Joel even stumbles over one of his riffs and cracks up, and Josh saves it with “After 20 weeks, Joel Hodgson finally snaps a twig.” Wonderful, hilarious stuff... Right from the start, this episode’s host segments exhibit signs of the forthcoming Comedy Channel era with their level of clever wit. I adore Dr. F and Dr. E’s attempts to incorporate Joel into a “Paul is Dead”-type myth (“We always feel bad...we just write it off as gas”). Plus, for the first time in the entire KTMA era, we get host segments that are somehow tied to the movie, even if they were aired out of order. That kid with the giant hand was cheesy, but still funny. It all concludes with the guys preparing to go on summer hiatus, and bidding farewell to all their loyal viewers. Clearly, the guys had expected to come back to KTMA in the fall, but luckily for us, bigger and better things were in store...
|
|
|
Post by impr3ssion on Jun 20, 2006 17:46:28 GMT -5
I've seen most of the KTMA eps with an absentee, and it just makes the ad-libbed riffing that much more sparse. I love during the other seasons when something visually interesting happens in the theater (Timmy, Gypsy, the Mads, funny hats, whatever), but on KTMA it felt more like when you get ditched by your "friends" at the movies.
Not that it has ever happened to me.
I do love how in K05 they explain Crow's absence by freezing him into a Christmas tree. Crappy riffing, tho.
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jun 22, 2006 13:20:01 GMT -5
Hello, Comedy Channel...
----------------
101 "The Crawling Eye" Watched: May 22, 2006
Boy, can you imagine what this episode must have been like for people who had never seen the KTMA episodes? The show leaps right into the concept with minimal introduction - aside from the Mads introducing their new digs in Deep 13, the episode basically just acts as a continuation from the KTMA episodes. However, the whole show looks a lot better now, with new sets, new costumes, new robot designs, a new door sequence, and even a new shadowrama. Putting myself into the mindset of a fan who had been following MST3K since the KTMA days, it was a lot of fun to experience these changes firsthand. But beneath all that, there’s still the movie to think about. Aside from being the first black-and-white movie to appear on the show since “Gamera”, it also sets the scene for those old cheesy B-movies of the 1950s that will prove to be MST3K’s strongest niche. You’ve got bad special effects, bad acting, and a thoroughly boring plot...not to mention Forrest Tucker in all his shame. There’s even this weird impurity on the soundtrack that sounds like a pencil being sharpened offscreen that fades in and out sporadically. It’s the perfect fodder for the first national episode. Riff-wise, everything goes a little slower than it did at KTMA, since the Brains are writing their riffs in advance now and there’s no longer any worry about two performers talking at once. Still, now that they have a chance to rework their jokes, they become funnier and more properly timed. Granted, towards the end of the movie, all three of the guys fall into the rut of “really bad eye-related puns”, but at least they’re reaching towards that intelligent humor that the show is known for.
Within the host segments, we get our general re-introduction to the cast. First off is the invention exchange - I love Joel’s electric bagpipes, and Josh does some pretty good acting with the canine antiperspirant (wonder how many takes it took for him to catch that treat with his mouth?). As mentioned before, the sets are completely overhauled - the SOL is now more than just doors and a table, and Deep 13 is a welcome change from the TV screens of the KTMA era. The bots’ makeovers are nice too - Crow is more polished and slick than his beat-up KTMA self, while Servo is a beautiful red-and-white (albeit with those weird clunky black arms and a big honkin’ white beak, but they’ll be gone soon enough). Even Cambot got redesigned, apparently using the parts from the old KTMA Gypsy. And speaking of Gypsy, she’s the only robot who really needs some work, even in her new form - her mouth clunks so loudly in this episode, you can barely hear Jim Mallon’s lines (and “Richard Baseheart?” is a classic).
Overall, it’s a fun relaunch of the show, with a promising future in store. It’s a little confusing if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, but after a while, it starts to sink in, and you can begin to realize what a hoot it really is.
----------------
102 "The Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy" (With short "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapter 1) Watched: May 22, 2006
From what I understand, this episode has a pretty crummy following with the fans. I can kinda see why, too - after last week’s fun festival of sci-fi cheese, the show suddenly descends upon an insanely slow Mexican film with almost no action and virtually nothing goofy to speak of. Sure, the Bat’s robot is pretty dumb, but it doesn’t show up until the last five minutes of the film, and until then, it’s just a lot of people talking about the flashbacks they just had. In spite of that, however, I tried my darndest to keep a positive attitude...and by gum, it worked. I really laughed at this episode - not courtesy laughs, not forced laughs, but genuine laughter at the riffs the guys were making. Admittedly, a few things fall flat, like the guys’ extended Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin bit at the end of Theater Segment 3 and the “urinating” sound effect being added into the scene where those two guys stand with their back to the camera. Regardless, there was a lot of stuff that I just thought was funny (the “honk the horn” gag, “All right, I’m lying my butt off”, Joel covering up the singing woman’s mouth, etc.). In terms of the short...well, I’ve seen Season 1 before, and I know how lame Commando Cody is, but the riffs still make me laugh. The whole serial is just cheesy, ridiculous, and takes itself way too seriously, and it makes for good riff material.
Did the Demon Dogs ever show up in any of those lost KTMA episodes? If not, then they make their first real appearance here, and it’s not that sidesplitting. Aside from Gypsy eating Enok and Servo’s line “You can look me in the bubble and say that?”, I didn’t really chuckle at much of this. I suppose it didn’t really help that my mom happened to catch the last 20 minutes of this episode and was bewildered beyond belief that “grown men” would do something like the final host segment. At least the invention exchange offered me two really good laughs - Dr. F and Dr. E getting nailed with the battering ram.
Even though the host segments don’t soar, the riffs managed to satisfy me. It’s not the greatest episode of Season 1, but I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be, either.
|
|
|
Post by mstgator on Jun 22, 2006 20:32:48 GMT -5
I suppose it didn’t really help that my mom happened to catch the last 20 minutes of this episode and was bewildered beyond belief that “grown men” would do something like the final host segment. My ex-girlfriend's mom said almost the exact same thing when she happened to see Frank singing "Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter" (coming up much later in the run). Fortunately, I still laughed my ass off...
|
|
|
Post by impr3ssion on Jun 23, 2006 15:36:54 GMT -5
I like 102 a lot, but BBI was definitely in a little over their heads to use it so early on. Even with their unquestionable genius, it was hard to make a movie that boring interesting without a little more experience.
I enjoy the demon dogs--the SOL could have done with a few more hostile invasions, you ask me.
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jun 24, 2006 13:15:01 GMT -5
103 "Mad Monster" (With short "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapter 2) Watched: May 22, 2006
Before there was “Werewolf”, there was “Mad Monster”. Unfortunately, this installment in the wolf-man category of films is nowhere near as delightfully cheesy as the Season 9 atrocity - it’s just boring, boring, and more boring. But Joel and the bots still shine with their riffs, tearing down the film with expert accuracy. When Dr. Cameron seems to be losing the argument he’s having with his imaginary colleagues, Servo notes “You’d think, since it’s his imagination, he’d make them be afraid of him.” When Pedro the Wolf-Thing lunges after some droopy backwoods hick, Joel and Servo launch into a hilarious reworking of the theme song to “The Beverly Hillbillies”. I particularly enjoyed a moment towards the end of the film, featuring a man with a thin mustache and slicked-back hair whom Crow mistakes for the legendary voice actor Mel Blanc - as a classic animation lover, I actually made the parallel before he did.
This week’s Commando Cody short introduces us to what will be the serial’s oeuvre - making up stuff that we didn’t see last week to get the writers out of the corner they’ve backed themselves into. Servo’s remark captures my attitude perfectly: “Oh, if they’d shown him diving out of the way, I wouldn’t have spent the week worrying about him!” Thus, the series loses all its suspense, and this week when the chapter ends with a wall of molten rock rushing towards Cody and his buddy, the only question is “What will they add in to the recap scene next week that wasn’t there in this installment?”
With this episode, the Brains begin pilfering host segments from the KTMA era. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you - several of the KTMA host segments were quite good, and it’s nice to see them get remade here. It first happens in the invention exchange, where Joel recycles the Hell-in-a-Handbag from K16 (which probably would have benefitted here from the presence of the bots during the invention exchange; I don’t know why they’re always already in the theater when Joel presents his inventions) and the Mads bring back the acetylene-powered thunder lizard from K21. Later, Servo hits on a blender in a bit lifted almost word-for-word from K11, but this time it’s actually made better by Joel’s attempts not to laugh when Servo beats him up with his floppy arms. As for original host segments, I quite enjoyed Segment 3 - the question of whether or not a werewolf would be considered a cannibal if he transforms back into a human while eating a guy is an example of the Brains’ trademark method of applying logic to a film with little logic of its own.
While it does tend to drag in some spots, the episode is entertaining overall. Still, I can understand why some folks aren’t too fond of this one either.
----------------
105 "The Corpse Vanishes" (With short "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapter 3) Watched: May 23, 2006
Given that MST3K is devoted to lampooning bad movies, it comes as no surprise that they’d whale on Bela Lugosi at some point. The poor guy made an alarming amount of stinkers over the course of his life, and as this movie proves, they weren’t all directed by Ed Wood. This dud from the early 1940s sees Bela as a mad scientist (ooh, that’s different) who knocks out brides on their wedding day using these weird orchids, then takes them back to his lab and extracts their youth, I guess, to inject into his crotchety old wife. Personally, I think this is the dumbest premise to appear in a MSTed movie at this point in the series, given that it’s just terribly illogical. Why does he need brides - wouldn’t any woman suffice, really? It’d save him a lot of trouble. And I’m not even clear on why Bela wants to keep his wife alive, given how thoroughly unlikeable she is. And then the whole movie is underscored by this female reporter who’s determined to get a scoop in order to prove to her boss that women are good for something (of course, her decision to use the word “obey” in the fake wedding ceremony at the end doesn’t really help her case). It’s all just a big steaming pile of goofy, and it’s perfect for MSTing. Joel and the bots tear it to shreds, and Joel even accentuates the lunacy by bringing out a little brush to dust off people’s suits in the movie - that was funny enough, but when he brought out the pushbroom, I just fell over laughing. I love Joel’s sight gags. Meanwhile, in the short, Commando Cody is no different from last week - a cliffhanger that almost certainly spells death for our plucky bullet-headed dork, only to be rewritten next week. I wonder if audiences in the 1950s ever caught on to this kind of trick. At least the serial’s continuous lapses in logic are still entertaining - locked in a gunfight, Cody urges his buddy to “get over to the car”, to which Servo replies “Yeah, the bullets don’t hurt over there.”
This week’s invention exchange brings back another old bit - Joel’s chiropractic helmet from the KTMA pilot, renamed the “chiro-gyro”, and it’s absolutely hilarious (just look at his face!). Later, Servo and Crow get some time to themselves to shine during the Tiger Bot segment, and Crow’s barbershop is a much funnier reworking of a bit first seen in K10 (the addition of the clown parade disaster story is what really sells it). Another recycled host segment shows up, this time a rehash of the game of tag from K11 - note that Gypsy only speaks when she’s offscreen, as they apparently haven’t fixed her mouth yet. And in the episode’s closing, Servo’s head explodes for the first time, in a hilarious little skit where he can’t think of anything good to say about the movie. I can understand why, too.
Much in the same vein as 102, this is another episode that most folks hate, but I still loved it. I guess I’ve just got an affinity for the early years - I don’t try to compare them to later episodes, I just enjoy them for what they are.
|
|
|
Post by Cleolanta on Jun 25, 2006 3:09:57 GMT -5
Heh. I agree with you on the early days...I just like them for some reason, and when people ask "which are your favourite episodes", I always say which are my favourite Season One's but then say "but I don't know how I'd stack them up against the later years." I don't want, or need, to compare them to the later stuff. They're just good in their own way. I see them as being in a scale that's off to the _side_, not in an up-or-down manner, from the later years. And therefore seperate, its own thing, kinda.
You mentioned a lot of my favourite bits and riffs, such as pointing out that if this is the guy's imagination, then why isn't he getting everything he wants instantly? (The losing the argument would've made more sense if this was a _memory_ of a conversation he'd actually had in the past, but...) And the Beverly Hillbillies song...and Joel getting the wrong 'bot's name afterwards! Whoops. ;) Also the immortal line: "That felt good. Now I'm gonna turn my daughter into a woodchuck." and I love the very ending of the episode, where the Mads are _more_ disturbed by the movie than Joel and the 'bots. ("Can't you see that a mad scientist has just _died_?") It came back on THEM for once. HA! Serve ya right!
On a darker note, I felt genuinely sorry for poor Pedro. It'd be bad enough to turn _anybody_ into a werewolf against their will, but on someone that innocent, it's like...torturing a puppy. It's one dark-ass movie if you stop and think about it, especially for the time (and considering that at one point, the werewolf eats a little girl!) Gah.
Host segments...I personally liked the KTMA rendition of "Hell in a Handbag" much better, and as for the blender one, I have something kind of interesting/amusing to tell about that one. I got, from somewhere I don't remember, a tape with lots of dress rehearsal/out-take host segments, going from I think Season 1 through Season 6?--and the biggest source of bloopers in Season One--at least that any fan seems to _have_, anyway--is that blender sketch. Which is odd, considering that they'd done this one before.
But Josh was having a bad day or something because he flubbed it SO many times. It was hilarious. (Especially since he did the thing that _all_ the 'bot players do on the "Poopie!" tapes in this show when he messes up--keep working the puppet for no reason, as you talk, so that it seems as if the CHARACTER is swearing, saying "I forgot my lines", etc....they nearly always do that and it always amuses and freaks me at the same time, every time I see it) Among the notable flubbed versions were one in which he (still moving Servo's mouth) said something that made me mock-gasp, shake my finger at the screen and say, "Language, young man!" :P and one where Servo cheerfully announced that he had to "go beat himself about the head and neck "as he skulked off the desk. My personal favourite was one that I suspect was a deliberate ad-lib instead of accidentally mixing the words around, in which, when listing the different speeds the blender has, Servo says "Chop, stir, _whip_, ooh, I like that one!" and then went back to the normal lines. I think that was actually kinda funny in a twisted way, but I guess they figured it was too spicy for a kids' show to leave in (or just wanted him to stick to the original lines AND NOTHING ELSE, thank you very much). Heh.
But seriously: A segment they'd done before and did it again _word for word_ and he was having SO much trouble with it. Amusing for its oddness as much as any actual funny wrong lines...
Anyway, I don't really dislike "Mad Monster". Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy, yes. This one...at least vaguely has something happening, so it's somewhat more fun.
I kinda like "The Corpse Vanishes" (the episode) myself, and I agree with you on the Commando Cody riffs. "The bullets don't hurt over there!" is one went around quoting for a bit after I first saw this, and I love the part at the beginning about how Cody escaped from the "Molten Terror"...but the poor camera-crew was annihilated. Aaaah! :P I also love Joel's sight gags, it's one of the reasons I like him better as a host 'cos it just adds this air of innocent goofiness that was kinda missing later on. (Or rather, helps add _to_ the air of innocent goofiness that we already have going on.)
The movie itself, as you pointed out, makes NO sense. Why would anybody want to keep her alive, and why the heck brides only (or as Crow pointed out, "Why kidnap a woman on the most conspicuous day of her _life_?!") and then there are great riffs, like the one about going into the wardrobe to "talk to the Lion and the Witch", why doesn't Joel wear lovely silky robes like that, introducing themselves to the characters in chipper voices, "I've just been stabbed by a third-rate character actress, of COURSE my hands are shaky!", and the "hold a candle to his performance" and "walk on and on and ON" riffs. For just a few examples. And, of course, getting to see Servo's head explode for the first time was great. Well, bad for him, but funny. :P
Anyway.
...Notorious
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jun 28, 2006 12:42:14 GMT -5
I love discussing early episodes with you, Cleo - they tend to get the shortest of shrift, so it's nice to really look at them in-depth with someone. And hey, this next installment features an episode that I understand is quite significant to you...
----------------
106 "The Crawling Hand" Watched: May 23, 2006
Commando Cody thankfully gets the week off, since this movie is long enough to fill out a full 90 minutes. And fortunately, it’s up to the task of sustaining me for the full duration - crazy astronauts, table-punching scientists, a crotchety restaurateur, and a ditzy foreign girl who doesn’t even know the meaning of the word “stacked” all fill out our cast. Plus, we’re also introduced to Alan Hale Jr., more famous for whomping Bob Denver in the head with his hat, though he actually attempts a serious role here. Sorry, Alan, but you’ll always be the Skipper in my eyes. Add to this mix a couple of booze-loving paramedics, some inept private investigators, and a couple of stray cats who end up killing off the titular monster, and you’ve got a prime target for Joel and the bots. They do quite a good job, too - while Joel’s “voice on the other end of the phone” routine drags on a little bit too long, there were other jokes that hit dead-on, most of them directed at Alan Hale Jr. (“Where’s the little body, little buddy?”). There’s also a rather random bit in the theater where Servo says “Hi, I’m Tom Servo,” and a woman in the film screams in terror - I bet that deflated the poor bot’s ego a little bit.
Over in the host segments, Joel invents the safety saw, a trick that startled even me, while the Mads have the ridiculous limb lengthener. The bowling game gets recycled from KTMA, but this time, Joel adds a little bit to his spiel at the end, making it a little funnier than last time. The bit where the guys impersonate William Shatner is a personal favorite of mine - I like Josh’s “struggling” voice for Servo, and we’re given the first “I thought you were Dale ” joke of the series. The giant hand that attacks Crow is okay, but what’s really worth noticing is that this is the first cable episode to feature a prologue before the invention exchange, in which Joel explains the premise of the show a little more clearly than the opening sequence. I’m guessing the Brains realized at this point that they hadn’t really laid it all out for the new viewers, and that some people might be lost. Plus, this segment introduces Magic Voice and her eternal countdown to Commercial Sign.
Overall, a darn decent episode, and a good choice for a Rhino release. On a semi-related note, I had actually heard “Bird is the Word” before seeing this episode - it comes on the Muzak system at work every so often.
----------------
107 "Robot Monster" (With shorts "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapters 4 and 5) Watched: May 24, 2006
Man, just when the show lures you into a false sense of security, the thoroughly annoying Commando Cody comes back twice this week. It’s more of the same crap, with Chapter 4 ending with a horrible plane crash (or rather, a model plane being thrown into a rock) and Chapter 5 unveiling new cop-out footage of Cody and his sweetheart bailing out. These kinds of shortcuts really cheese me off normally, but at least with Joel and the bots on hand to reveal such follies, it’s made a lot more bearable. Joel brings out the props in the theater again this week, attempting to throw a giant dart at a dartboard-esque poster in the short. Then Servo sneezes during a car chase, in a bit that I thought was hilarious (Crow’s “‘Zoont” has now permanently replaced “Geseundheit” in my vocabulary).
As for the movie? It’s legendary for being one of the stupidest films ever made - I checked, and the Mads’ remark about the Golden Turkey Award was accurate - so naturally, MST3K had to sink their teeth into it at some point. Some lament the fact that Season 1 wasn’t as stellar as later seasons and wish that some movies had been done over again in the SciFi Channel era, but frankly, I think this thrashing of Ro-Man and his Billion Bubble Machine is perfectly accurate. The movie mixes a post-apocalyptic dysfunctional family with a heavy-handed attempt at an anti-war allegory, but when your antagonist is a gorilla in a diving helmet who “gestures like Howie Mandel”, you automatically guarantee that nobody will ever take you seriously. Nobody in this movie knows how to act, and it doesn’t help that they’re given a load of banal dialogue to work with (“You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!”). The special effects are mind-blowingly awful, and I saw the “twist ending” coming a mile away. Joel and the bots gleefully rip this movie to shreds, whaling on everything from the opening credits to the tinkly Elmer Bernstein music. My favorite riff? The girl Al-iss asks “What time is it?”, and Crow responds “It’s Miller time!”; she clarifies “Of what day?”, and Crow shoots back “It’s Miller day!”
Despite an abnormally large chunk of Host Segment 4 being mysteriously absent from my fan copy of this one, I still enjoyed the breaks. Again, the guys try to justify the logic of their experiment fodder, this time trying to figure out how Commando Cody was able to catch up to a moving plane, and it results in Servo’s second cranial combustion (heh, I just made that up just now - I should use it more often), followed by Crow and Cambot too. Then the bots play Ro-Man, and this has to be my favorite segment of the show - physical humor is rare at this point, so when Joel cracks Servo over the head with the chair not once but twice, I just fell over laughing. And I agree with the Mads’ sentiment at the end of Segment 5 - could they have shot a stranger man into space? (Well, they will, but not until 513 rolls around).
Undeniably the best episode from Season 1. I’ve heard the tales of how Cleolanta converted a friend of hers with this episode - a friend who had never seen the show before - and I can see how it would accomplish such a task.
|
|
|
Post by Cleolanta on Jun 28, 2006 22:16:10 GMT -5
Yes, and it was the exact same moment that made you "fall over laughing" that first _really_ got her, too--Joel smacking poor Servo over the head--er, dome--with a chair! :P The reason you said is exactly the reason I enjoy discussing the older episodes, too--hardly anybody ever does, at least not in any detail, and so therefore both talking about them and _hearing_ about them is fresher and newer, and there's more left TO say that hasn't already been said to death.
Anyway, Robot Monster...I love a lot of the riffs in that one...for example:
(eldery scientist guy, preparing to do the "Armageddon' Weddin')
Lord, you know I am not trained for this job... --CROW: Acting?
:P
Or "Due to an error in our caluclations, we see that a few of you are still left." JOEL: (in the same voice) We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Or..."What kind of a universe is it where they alter your pants while you sleep?!"
And I can never hear the word "serum" nowadays without instantly putting a flavour word in front of it. "Chocolate serum...?"
It is a fun episode, and seriously, I think the next Season One episode that Rhino releases--if they _do_ release any more of them at all--should be this one. Or The Crawling Eye, because it's the very first cable episode and has "historical significance". I'd be tickled to death if they did either one, really.
By the way, I had also heard "The Bird is the Word" before seeing The Crawling Hand. Heh.
...Notorious
|
|
|
Post by Arizona Warwilf on Jun 29, 2006 3:39:10 GMT -5
I gotta say, one of my favorite bits of dialogue in Robot Monster is the very first exchange between the brother and sister. (space gun noises) *zzz! zzz!* Sister: Am I dead now? Brother: You're disintigrated!
I used the music during the credits on a mixtape and just ended the track with the dialogue that follows it naturally and it's always funny to hear "Am I dead now?".
I don't remember what J&tBs are saying at that moment, but I think I remember them talking over it and not really noticing it. But I could be remembering wrong.
Right before I got into the show (well, back into the show, that is) I bought a whole bunch of budget sci-fi and horror movies, about twenty $1 DVDs at Wal-Mart and two 50 movie packs for $25 each. Quite a few of the movies were used in MST eps and the movies that I watched unmsted before I ever saw the eps have always felt kind of special to me. Kind of like I somehow was in on the joke before the Brains. Even though I technically was way behind. But no one can change how I feel! And, of all the things they take from me, they can't take away my dignity! Anyway, Robot Monster, The Brain that Wouldn't Die, The Giant Gila Monster, The Killer Shrews, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and Teenagers from Outer Space are all special 'cause I loved the movies for being so dumb/outrageous before I even knew they'd been MSTed. The Brain that Wouldn't Die and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians were two that I especially went ga-ga over 'cause they were so perfectly bad. The titles by themselves sold those ones to me.
But anyway, (just call me Super Tangent Man) all I really want to say is that you can put me on the list of people who think this is another season one ep worthy of commercial release. It's a rocker.
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jul 1, 2006 15:32:20 GMT -5
108 "The Slime People" (With short "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapter 6) Watched: May 24, 2006
The edited exploits of Commando Cody only last half a theater segment this week, allowing us to get to the movie quicker than usual. What’s there to say about ol’ Bullet Head at this point that hasn’t already been said? He flies around a lot, narrowly evading death while Servo drives the “Nipple, nipple, tweak, tweak, fly, fly, fly!” riff into the ground. Yawn...
At least the movie is slightly more captivating, but only in the same way as a train wreck - it’s awful, but you can’t not look at it. It tells the very foggy tale of a group of underground slime beings who encase California in a dome and pick off humans one by one. There’s lots of random stuff in here, like the drunk who stumbles into the movie theater with no provocation or the guy who lugs his goat around everywhere. Dull characters, lapses in logic by the truckload, and more fog than the British moors at night - yeah, I really want to hurt this movie. It is perfect for a MSTing, though. Everything is wrong with this movie, so Joel and the bots trash it with glee, from the ridiculous stereotypical 1950s dialogue (“A Marine who says ‘gee whiz’...what’s he gonna do, storm the Cunningham house?”) to the stupidly contrived plot devices (“Yeah, you can always find a blond hair in a field of wheat.” “At night.” “In the fog.”). It’s what MST3K does best - zeroing in on a film’s worst qualities and lampooning them mercilessly - and this movie sets itself right up for a beating.
This episode features one of my all-time favorite host segments - the bit where Servo pitches an idea for a very “MST3K”-esque TV show. I love self-referential jokes like that, and the idea that the Brains would poke fun at the fact that the show is very unconventional and would probably have a hard time getting picked up by most networks. I also love Joel’s parting shot (“Next time I’m stranded in space, I think I’ll just bring a book”). The other host segments, on the other hand, didn’t really knock me out as much. The trial of Commando Cody was pretty good, but most everything else was kinda “blah”. Even the invention exchange was kinda lame, in spite of Joel’s goofy faces while demonstrating the cartoon goggles.
I think that Mike Nelson was right - had this movie been done in a later season, it would have become a classic. As it stands, though, it’s still pretty good.
----------------
109 "Project Moonbase" (With shorts "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapters 7 and 8) Watched: May 29, 2006
Commando Cody flies and does more stuff and things happen or maybe they don’t and blah blah blah...was it, like, an unwritten rule that all theatrical serials in the 1950s had to have 12 chapters or something? Because at this point, it’s blatantly obvious that the whole idea is just being dragged out as long as humanly possible (maybe longer) just to fill out those chapter divisions. Fortunately, the guys keep on keeping on - Joel’s “Batman”-esque sound effects had me rolling. Hey, anything to spice up another dull fight scene. The guys are right - Cody takes more blows to the head in this serial than George Foreman took in his entire career.
Now, for the movie...oh my God, the movie. Were men ever this condescending towards women? I’d like to think not, but I wasn’t alive in 1952 so I can’t be sure. Poor Colonel Briteis gets pushed around and belittled, while Dr. Bellows just gets smugger and smugger. This also provides MSTies with their first reason to hate Robert Lippert and his love of stock footage and cheap optical effects. This movie has the overall feeling of one of those films where a lot of stuff happens, but nobody really cares what’s happening or why it’s happening. It all wraps up with a patronizing wedding scene, leaving me with a general feeling of emptiness. Joel and the bots have no problems here, pointing out everything in the film that’s stupid (and there’s a lot in this category). My favorite bit? General Greene explains that, now that they have a space station “or Frisbee”, it is now possible to send a ship “or batteries” all the way around the moon “or playground ball”. It’s funny ‘cause it’s true. I think it’s also worth mentioning that these exact same models are used in the actual space scenes. Now it’s funny ‘cause it’s pathetic.
Joel’s invention exchange this week isn’t really an invention, but it’s still fun to see. I always enjoy watching Joel weave his many talents into the show, and his water juggling bit made me laugh. I also enjoyed seeing Servo play Commando Cody - this segment demonstrates just how much of an advancement the new set is over the old KTMA set, what with its expanded width and everything. I got a kick out of the “ties of the future”, particularly Crow’s, and I think that the SPACOM sketch is a prime example of how good the Brains’ writing can be when they’re lampooning something (in this case, commercials that won’t shut up about how great their product is).
An utterly hateable movie, but a thoroughly enjoyable episode. Fortunately, the guys have a few more Lippert disasters to dismantle next season.
|
|
|
Post by impr3ssion on Jul 1, 2006 16:12:18 GMT -5
Great review. I think Slime People is one of the best movie selections for season 1. But I LOVE Robot Holocaust, so what do I know?
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jul 5, 2006 12:28:45 GMT -5
I just realized I forgot to include my viewing dates for 108 and 109. I better go fix that...
---------------- 110 "Robot Holocaust" (With partial short "Radar Men from the Moon" Chapter 9) Watched: May 30, 2006
And so we bid a fond farewell to Commando Cody. Good thing, too, ‘cause I was really getting tired of all that shameless padding. The unceremonious method of having the film break (didn’t Dr. Forrester keep the movies on videotape during the Joel years?) is the perfect way for the Brains to say “Ah, get out of here already, Pumpkin Face.”
As if that wasn’t enough of a pleasant change, this week’s movie is in color! And it’s not from the 1950s! And it’s still incredibly lame! A rather incomprehensible tale of post-apocalyptic robot rule in which a girl goes looking for her missing father, dragging along a couple of random air slaves, Ted Nugent, and the most annoying android since C-3PO. They run into a lot of cheap special effects and boring side characters in their hunt for the power station, but it’s the scenes at the power station itself that offer the biggest laughs. Valeria manages to stumble over every single one of her lines with that thick indiscernible accent of hers, while Torque just wanders around looking like a menacing Rastafarian Dr. Zoidberg. It’s pure 1980s lunacy, and a fresh change of pace for Joel and the bots. They don’t take full advantage of the possibilities, though - since the movie was made in 1987 and the episode premiered in 1990, I guess that the 1980s mentality didn’t seem ridiculous enough at the time, so the guys tend not to attack the characters’ appearance (and by today’s standards, everyone looks goofy in this movie). Regardless, they do a fine job exposing all the weaknesses of your average, run-of-the-mill, direct-to-video robot movie. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that they show all the credits, even after Joel and the bots have left the theater. I guess they were trying to at least be somewhat respectful to these movies early on by acknowledging the work that went into them. Still, it’s kind of frustrating.
Host segments this week were quite good, though. I can’t help but notice that this is about the fifth or sixth invention exchange to involve fire in some way - I think azwarwilf touched on this, but Joel seems to be something of a pyromaniac. In other news, I loved Joel’s blues song during the prologue, and his fakey handstand during Segment 2. The sitcom simulator is yet another reworking of a KTMA skit, but I think it’s the last one in that vein. And finally, we’re introduced to the legendary Name the Plant Guy contest. I wish I could have entered these contests - they seem like fun. My own homemade name for the Plant Guy? How ‘bout Root-olph the Green Nosed Avocado?
Overall, a pretty good episode. Not really stellar, but it does its job well. I can still see why it’s so popular among the Season 1 episodes, though - it’s kind of hard to forget about Valeria and her Fudd-esque ramblings.
----------------
111 "Moon Zero Two" Watched: May 30, 2006
Here’s something rare - a MSTed movie with a budget. There’s something about this movie that endeared me to it, probably the huge 1960s vibe I got from it. I always enjoy seeing what the cultures of past generations were like, and seeing it so cheesily mixed with all this futuristic imagery makes for lots of laughs. We’ve got a hero who looks like Clint Howard, a love interest who looks like a gumdrop, a bad guy who plays Moonopoly (gah!), and a henchman whose primary hilarity comes from the dimwitted British thug voice that Crow gives him (“Sorry, I was thinkin’ about rabbits...”). Then there’s all the funky-looking space station sets, the mellow jazz score, the Big Bird dancers, the slow-motion bar fight...heck, I think I could even bear to watch this movie on its own. In fact, there’s even a line from the movie itself that made me laugh - after Kemp dumps his drink on his phone, the British thug goes over to him and says “That’s no way to treat a phone, my friend.” Says Kemp, “I bought it a drink, what more should a man do?” But just because I like this movie, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make for a fine MST3K episode. First off, Joel’s wild go-go dance during the animated opening credits had me on the floor - it’s good to see the guys get up out of their seats every once in a while and do something in the theater. The riffing was high-octane overall, and I generally consider this to be my second favorite Season 1 episode - right after the utterly looney 107, of course.
The Mads’ inventions this season have generally been more goofy than evil, but there’s something about vomiting celebrity toothpaste that just says “sinister”. On the other hand, I loved Joel’s invention - it’s always fun to watch Joel’s face during these things as he keeps an eye on the monitor to make sure that his props are working right. The guys’ moon landing pageant is pretty good, if for no other reason than I love Joel’s bored droning line reads and Crow’s clunky space suit. Probably my favorite part of the intermissions was the Servo vs. Crow game of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, followed one skit later by the guys’ own zero-G fistfight. The latter is a good early example of how well the guys can re-enact something from the movie and ridicule it at the same time.
In general, it’s a fun experiment, with an enjoyable movie and lots of good riffing. Certainly something I’d show to a friend who wants to see the early years.
|
|
|
Post by jjb3k on Jul 7, 2006 16:16:43 GMT -5
112 "Untamed Youth" Watched: June 1, 2006
I have a confession to make. I have a huge crush on Mamie Van Doren, and it’s all because of this movie. That being said, this is probably a noteworthy episode, given that it’s the first time in the national run that the guys do something other than a sci-fi flick. It’s still a pretty weird movie, though - I mean, did the inmates of juvenile correctional facilities ever really spontaneously burst into song like this? And there’s all kinds of crazy characters in this thing too; the kid who can’t stop fidgeting, the guy who looks like Abraham Lincoln, that dork in the hat, the intellectual fry cook, etc. But you can’t tell if this flick is trying to be funny or serious, because it juxtaposes scenes of wild dance numbers with scenes of dead humorlessness. Hell, Baby’s death brings down the whole theater at one point (says Joel, “Gee, I’m sorry we ever made fun of this movie.”). It’s a distracting emotional rollercoaster that subtracts the entertainment value in a hurry. The riffing is generally pretty good, save for the downcast feeling that I mentioned earlier, and I particularly enjoyed the evasive maneuvers taken to avoid sitting through a boring talking scene - Gypsy vomits up some cotton for Servo, who declares “It’s like fluffy pudding...” Still, it’s a mess of a movie. Thank God for Mamie and her knockout musical numbers - confidentially, I’d carry her bananas any day of the week (whatever the heck that means).
Servo’s magnetic tapeworm gets the show off to a funny start, as does Dr. E’s slightly disturbing tongue puppet. Admittedly, the Greg Brady girl sketch kinda went nowhere...okay, it definitely went nowhere. I mentioned earlier that I like Joel’s bored line reads, but there’s such a thing as sounding too bored. And frankly, I didn’t even think that the girl in question looked much like Greg Brady at all. However, I did get a kick out of the Gypsy-centric host segments, including Crow’s unnecessary flashback and that bit where she yacks up whatever the bots ask her for - watching her spit packing peanuts, paper towels, and an embryonic Tom Servo all over the place just cracked me up (I also laughed at hearing Servo’s distress in the following theater segment at the fact that Joel destroyed his double).
A pretty decent experiment with a few stumbling blocks here and there. But it’s still got high rewatchability, if for no other reason than for the lovable, curvaceous Mamie Van Doren. I have to reiterate - I like Mamie a lot.
----------------
113 "The Black Scorpion" Watched: June 1, 2006
Funny, I never knew that scorpions growled. I learned something today. Since it’ll be a while before the guys get back to the Gamera series, this entry in the “giant rogue critter run amok” genre will have to do until then. So, some volcanoes explode and unleash a buncha huge scorpions, and top scientist Arthur Ramos (clap clap clap clap) is the only one who can stop them. It’s a fairly slow movie, with a lot of standing around and looking. Heck, it’s even more on par with the Gamera series than it seems at first glance, because as soon as the movie introduces the Kenny-like Juanito, I knew I wanted to smack this kid. Just stand back and let the professionals do their job, you little putz. On the upside, I did enjoy Willis O’Brien’s special effects - sure, they’re just stop motion, but it’s really good stop motion. I’ll admit that they could have cut back on the drooling closeups without harming the movie much...actually, since those shots seemed to take up about a quarter of the movie, maybe it would have had an effect after all. It’s all ripe for the riffing, and Joel and the bots do pretty darn well. From the silhouetted weenie roast to the inexplicable applause in response to Ramos’ name being spoken, it’s a pretty steady effort all around. I particularly liked the “Thou shalt not ki--” bit that gets milked for all it’s worth (“I guess they don’t want us to ki, then.”). Hell, even Servo’s “It’s udder chaos!” during a cattle stampede got a laugh out of me - I think Josh’s delivery of the line is what did it.
We don’t need no steenking political correctness, or at least not in Host Segment 2, which got huge laughs out of me (freeze-framing the subtitles really helps, since they tend to go by a little too quick). I must use “My goiter has only gotten worse since the operation” in casual conversation sometime. I also loved Gypsy’s cheap scorpion costume - note that the tail falls off moments after it’s attached. Only the fourth segment didn’t do anything for me. It was less funny and more cute and educational than anything. But on the Deep 13 end of things, it’s all hilarity, what with Dr. F and Dr. E being mutated and everything. Quite an admirable makeup job on Josh’s bulbous head, I must say (I also got a kick out of his realization that he and Joel had invented the same thing that week).
A pretty good effort all around, with a movie that’s really asking for it. On a pseudo-related note, this is the first of several MST3K movies to be excerpted on another of my favorite shows - look for the laboratory scene in a game of Film Dub on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
|
|