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Post by kmorgan on Apr 19, 2022 17:40:38 GMT -5
Well, let's check on week 357...
The latest "Night of Shorts" from the Mads turned out very well. It was all instructional shorts this time. There was a science one from Moody on "The Wonder of the Body", "Sharing Work at Home" about cooperation, "Helping Johnny Remember" about getting a future serial killer to cheer up, "Modern Business Machines" with newfangled gadgets from the 30s like typewriters and mass mailer machines, and "Fun of Being Thoughtful" also about family cooperation. All very wholesome stuff expertly riffed on by Trace & Frank. There was no guest for the Q&A, so they had the questions (like Trace's favorite mispronunciation of "Beaulieu") all to themselves. They also gave a heartfelt tribute to the late Gilbert Gottfried. Oh, like I said, I had to watch this on tape delay because I went to opening day for the Somerset Patriots. (They beat Erie 2-1 thanks to a fly ball into center that allowed a runner on first to make it to home.)
As for "Tom Servo vs. Tom Servo", it's a video of a Dragon Con panel with Josh and Kevin. It was very interesting and very funny, as they talked about developing the puppet and the character. They also talked about the ad-libbed nature of the early shows, and their memories of making it. They expressed a lot of admiration for Trace's puppetry skills and how he improved their design. And they repeated the advice from the Crow panel: Never take the puppet home.
"City on Fire" is pretty much your typical B-grade disaster movie, from back when Leslie Neilsen was still a dramatic actor and producers figured Barry Newman meant good box office. The biggest stars are Henry Fonda and Ava Gardner, appearing just long enough to collect a quick paycheck. The plot is about how an obvious nutcase, driven by job loss and twisted love, decides to burn down a poorly-designed city, and nearly succeeds. It's passable, but it's no "Towering Inferno". The riffing was good for a KTMA show, and the host segments were OK, especially the opening with the Mads. I wouldn't mind seeing Joel give this one another go-round in the Gizmoplex.
Hey, that went well. So, on to week 358. The off-rotation Outsiders selection is... "Movie Jo Night: 'Heat Wave'"... - That's live on Twitch tonight. I know nothing about the movie, and neither does MJ. ... and the rotation Outsider is... "RT Live: Birdemic"... - Hitch must be rolling in his grave. ... and the Originals selection is... "MST Hour Host Segments" (Disc 1). - That's what I call good TV!
Don't touch that dial...
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Post by kmorgan on Apr 26, 2022 7:51:11 GMT -5
Good morning! Let's start the day by looking back at week 358.
"Heatwave!" (that's the proper title) is an "ABC Movie of the Week" from 1974. With a major heat wave in progress in California (110 degrees before noon), water is scarce, brown outs are common, and everyone is on edge. A young couple (played by Ben Murphy and Bonnie Bedelia) decide to try and get to a family cabin in a small town up north of L.A., hoping things will be a bit better. They aren't, really. Plus, she's seven months pregnant. This isn't a bad movie. It's just not good. It does a good job of establishing a mood of unsettled, impending dread. But nothing happens. There is a crisis, but not as big as we were expecting. The acting is good, though, and it avoids a lot of cheesiness. But, it's unfulfilled, I guess. We all watched this for "Movie Jo Night", and MJ was frustrated, too. We all thought it could've been much better. She did provide some real-time riffs, but she admitted she got caught up in the story. After the movie, she and Chris planned out the next episode of her regular show. (See below for that.)
As for "Birdemic", not much to say, except it proves "Manos" is certainly not the worst movie ever. Even live riffs from Mike, Kevin & Bill weren't enough to ease my pain. The short, "Norman Checks In", was funny, though.
And the "MST Hour" intros were funny. I got the disc from Cheepnis, back when they were still selling MST items. The intros were all from Season 3 episodes, like "Time of the Apes" and "Daddy-O". It wasn't a complete selection (a couple only had the Part One intros), but I didn't mind. And the stuff Mike-as-Jack did under the closing credits were pretty funny.
Well, that was... interesting. Let's move to week 359. The off-rotation Outsiders selection is... "The Mary Jo Pehl Show" (Episode 9)... - That's on live tonight. Unless the plan has changed, she's riffing on vintage commercials. ... while the on-rotation Outsiders selection is... "RT: Frankenstein's Daughter"... - Featuring Bridget, Mary Jo, and not Colin Clive or Karloff. ... and the Originals selection is the off-rotation... "Beyond Atlantis" (Show 1303). - It's a backer's pre-screening of the rough cut this Friday. I feel so privileged.
Stay tuned...
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Post by kmorgan on May 4, 2022 21:20:45 GMT -5
So, Mr. Morgan. Late again, are we? I hope you brought an excuse. Anyway, week 359...
Mary Jo's latest episode was a watch party with maybe 30 minutes of vintage ads from the 70s and 80s. Stand-outs were an ad from David Carradine hawking his martial arts instruction video (Mary Jo noted my chat response about Josh's frequent David Carradine jokes for CT), a couple of Time-Life music compilation ads (they were the successor to K-Tel), and some 60s Folger's Coffee commercials where the husbands were downright abusive to their wives over the quality of the coffee. Great stuff all around.
"Frankenstein's Daughter" is a very low budget monster flick from the early 60s. You've got an elderly and naive scientist, his obviously evil assistant who's a descendent of Dr. Frankenstein, the older scientist's hot daughter (or is it granddaughter?), and her largely useless boyfriend. The hot girl gets turned into a monster a couple of times by the hidden Frankenstein, who also makes his own reanimated monster who looks kind of like Gen. Burkhalter. There's clueless cops, a vain blonde girl who makes a "donation" to the monster, and a pretty lame climax. Oh, and a creepy groundskeeper/flunkie without a hump. It's pretty lousy, but Bridget & Mary Jo do another great job of riffing and having fun with the movie.
As for "Beyond Atlantis", we've got treasure hunters, and a hot scientist, who go to a Philippine island looking for loot and find a race of human/aquatic (but mostly human) natives. The natives seem friendly, but have ulterior motives relating to the hot blonde daughter of the tribal leader. You've got Sid Haig as a sometimes-honorable crook, Patrick Wayne and John Ashley (the useless boyfriend from "Frankenstein's Daughter") with identical Mike Brady perms, 70s fashions, bug-eyed natives, hostile crabs, and an ending that's kind of out-of-synch with the rest of the movie. (Reportedly, they were going for a "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" thing.) It's all watchable, but pretty goofy. This episode features the on-screen, in-story intro of Emily and the live show 'bots. (This is explained, sort of.) The riffing was very good and well-paced, and the cast did OK (though the latest Crow voice was a surprise). The host segments were also good, with another great song in "Mother Crabber". This, as noted, was a rough cut screening. I'm interested in how the final version will look.
Things turned out pretty well this time, I thought. So, let's move on to what's left of week 360. We've got two in-rotation Outsiders selections. The first one is... Kevin on "Social Crime Radio" (2006)... - Another audio offering. I think it's a plug for RT; it's been a while since I last heard it. ... and the second one is... "RT: Freddie Steps Out"... - Bridget & Mary Jo riff on a movie from the "Teen-Agers" series, with actors well-past their teen years. ... and our Originals selection is... "Moon Zero Two" (Show 111). - So, why haven't we gone back to the moon, yet? This Friday also marks the official public opening of the Gizmoplex, and the premiere of the final versions of shows 1301, 1302 and 1303. I don't know if there's anything else scheduled. I'll check.
Stay tuned...
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Post by kmorgan on May 10, 2022 7:30:36 GMT -5
Time to look back at week 360, folks.
I was incorrect; Kevin wasn't plugging RT. He talked about his "Year at the Movies" book, and a bit about the difference between appearing as Servo and as Bobo. To his credit, when the very enthusiastic hosts call him "the one & only voice of Tom Servo", he reminds them that Josh was Tom's original voice. He also mentioned a new project with Mike & Bill, but I think he might've been referring to the Film Crew. The segment only lasted about 20 minutes, but it was OK.
As for "Freddie Steps Out", it's another entry in the "Teen-Agers" film series, from the studio that brought you the Bowery Boys. This one involves "teen" Freddie, who's a dead ringer, in both face and voice, for a crooner who's an obvious Sinatra substitute. There's a lot of mistaken identity bits, a misplaced baby, some semi-catchy songs, misunderstandings that could be easily fixed but aren't, and some fairly good production numbers. I did notice that one of the "teens" was played by Noel Neill, before she worked for the Daily Planet. It's watchable, but Bridget & Mary Jo's riffing really helped a lot.
As for "Moon Zero Two", it's an OK Hammer Films sci-fi flick, billed as the first "moon western". It gets somewhat goofy at times (like the low gravity bar fight), but it's still watchable. The jazz score works well for both music and sound effects, and it has a good cast, including Catherine Schell before she moved to Moonbase Alpha, and James Olsen, who passed on last month. The riffing was good, and so were the host segments, though JFK's speech about landing on the Moon before the end of the decade was in 1961, not '62.
Oh, and I caught the premieres of the final versions on "Santo & the Treasure of Dracula" and "Beyond Atlantis". I missed "Robot Wars", but I'll see it on tape delay.
That went pretty well, I thought. So, what have we got for 361? The off-rotation Outsider is... "The Mads are Back LIVE: The Brain that Wouldn't Die"... - That's live tonight, with special guest Mary Jo. ... and the in-rotation Outsider is... "House on Haunted Hill" (w/ Mike commentary)... - Mike flies solo with this one, pre-RT. ... and the Originals selection is... "Godzilla vs. Megalon" (Show 212). - With special guests Jet Jaguar and Rex Dart, Eskimo Spy!
Stay tuned...
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Post by kmorgan on May 17, 2022 7:57:37 GMT -5
Time to look at week 361...
"The Brain that Wouldn't Die" remains a pretty lousy movie. I mean, Cortner was pretty creepy from the beginning, but keeping your fiancee's detached head alive until you can find a living body to sew it onto? Even Anakin Skywalker would think that's going too far. In this case, we saw an edited version of the movie. Chris Gerback cut out the sequence at the strip club (including the catfight); I figure it was for both time and rights issues. Anyway, he did show part of the scene later during the Q&A. Speaking of which, after Trace & Frank's usual great job at riffing, the post-movie Q&A featured Mary Jo as guest. They even used a question I submitted: "What was the stupidest experiment you've seen in a movie done in the name of SCIENCE?" However, the big moment was later on. They mentioned the upcoming "Movie Jo Night" showing of "Haunts of the Very Rich", which MJ purposely knew nothing about. Frank praised the movie and its cast...then GAVE AWAY THE TWIST ENDING! MJ's utterly shocked look was amazing. I'm interested in seeing how this will affect the showing. And Frank, how could you?
As for "House on Haunted Hill", it's still a pretty good William Castle movie with some great spooky touches and the wonderful Vincent Price. Mike's solo commentary, by this point in the pre-RT era, was now fully in riffing mode, rather than the riff & info type of comments from earlier releases. Not as good as the RT version, with all three guys, but still OK.
As for "Godzilla vs. Megalon", it's not a particularly good movie. G-man is pretty much just a guest star in what's essentially a stealth pilot for a Jet Jaguar origin movie. The VFX are OK, though I suspect there's a lot of stock footage used. And the kid is annoying enough to be in a Gamera movie. The riffing was very good, though. And the host segments were OK, with a couple of all-time classics: the "Orville Popcorn" sketch and the lyrics to the Jet Jaguar theme. And when will we get a Rex Dart, Eskimo Spy franchise?
Not too bad last week. So, what's on tap for week 362? Glad you asked. For the off-rotation Outsider, we have... "Movie Jo Night: Haunts of the Very Rich"... - That's live on Twitch tonight. Let's hope MJ has forgotten what Frank said. ... and the rotation outsider is... "Skype interview with Trace (2013)"... - Just what it says on the tin, folks. It's over on YouTube. ... and the Originals selection is... "Earth vs. the Spider" (Show 313). - Will Dr. Strange make parallel universe spiders show up?
We'll be right back...
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Post by kmorgan on May 24, 2022 18:05:27 GMT -5
OK, where were we? Oh, yes, week 362...
"Haunts of the Very Rich", as noted, is an "ABC Movie of the Week" from 1972. It stars Lloyd Bridges, Cloris Leachman, Robert Reed and Ed Asner. A disparate group of people go on a trip to a tropical resort called The Portals of Eden. It looks like a pretty ritzy place, but there are troubling things going on. Like how no one knows exactly where the place is, and how they are the only guests. After one day of wining & dining, a bad storm hits and knocks out the power, and things get rather sinister. I thought this was a pretty effective movie, with a developing sense of unease. It's fairly well-acted, and the twists are effective, particularly the climax. However, MJ and a bunch of the audience disagreed. She got ticked off over the story, though she did like a few a things about it. As one of the fans who suggested this one, I hope I'm not in the doghouse. Oh, she did like one of the comments on the movie I made in the chat: "It's like 'Night Gallery' opened a hotel."
As for the Skype interview with Trace, it's from 2013 (when CT was still running) and was done by Bird from G.C.P. Productions. It only runs about 20 minutes, but I liked it. Trace is diplomatic over a couple of controversies that get mentioned, and speaks well of his fellow castmates. He also addresses why he left MST (he wanted to try new things, like unemployment), and says that if MST had never happened, he'd still probably be in show business (like taking tickets at your local theater).
As for "Earth vs. the Spider", this is a pretty good B.I.G. production, with some good VFX. Sure, the "teenagers" are overage, and people do some less-than-smart things (like standing around screaming instead of running away), but I've seen much worse. The riffing was very good, and I liked the host segments. There are even a couple of references to the then-still missing Larry Ehrhardt. (Fortunately, Joel was wrong about the spider getting him.)
Things turned out OK that week. So, onward to week 363. The off-rotation Outsiders feature is... "The Mary Jo Pehl Show (Episode 10)... - It's live on Twitch tonight. She's returning to the subject of game shows, and no coaching from the audience. ... and the on-rotation Outsider is... "RT: Night of the Lepus"... - It's wabbit season! ... and the Originals off-rotation offering is another new premiere..."Munchie" (Show 1304). - I know nothing about this movie. It looks...somewhat flawed.
Don't touch that dial...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 1, 2022 20:17:44 GMT -5
Well, time to look back at week 363.
MJ's show featured the game show everyone has been talking about: "The $1.00 Pyramid". With Chris' help, MJ was the host, with the contestants including Jonah and Rebecca. The categories included "British Invasion", "Rifftrax Movies" and "Superheroes". It all turned out very well, I thought, with a lot of laughs. We also selected the next feature for "Movie Jo Night": "Where Have All the People Gone?", with Peter Graves. That's going to be a good one.
The trailer for "Night of the Lepus" obscures the fact that the monsters are giant bunnies, who remain cute even with gore on their little pink noses. They at least play the story straight, but it's still pretty ridiculous. And when the bunnies get killed, I sure hope they used really good SPFX, but it looks awfully realistic. It's a pity co-star De Kelley didn't get to look at them and say...you know. The riffing was great, but how could it not be great with such material to work with.
"Munchie" is an alleged family comedy where a daydreaming, semi-bullied kid finds a supposedly funny creature with magic powers locked away in a cave. This creature then proceeds to help the kid by granting his wishes, sort of. As others have noted, it's like a less sleazy, less dangerous "Hobgoblins". The adult cast includes Loni Anderson as the kid's mom, Andrew Stevens as her all-but-traditional jerk of a boyfriend, Arte Johnson as the wacky neighbor, and Dom DeLuise as Munchie's voice. Hey, at least they got a paycheck out of it. And the kid cast includes a young Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose young career survived this awful flick. This one featured Jonah and the SOL crew, and they did a great job with the riffing. And their terrified reaction to Munchie's entrance rivals that of Joel & the 'bots first seeing Mr. B. The host segments were very good, including appearances by Emily & the Simulator 'bots, Pearl, and Dr. St. Phibes. I think the show's latest incarnation has really hit its stride now.
Not too bad this time. So, what's set for the remainder of week 364? Well, it's all rotation selections. For the Outsiders, the first selection is... "Joel & Trace Interview (1992)"... - This is an audio feature, recorded over the phone during a break in taping. Can't remember which episode. ... and the second selection is... "Movie Sign with the Mads: 'Valley of the Dolls'"... - You have to climb Mount Everest to listen to this podcast. ... and the Originals selection is... "The Slime People" (Show 108). - I'd better get some fog lights on my car.
We now pause for station identification...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 8, 2022 20:57:49 GMT -5
So, let's take a late look back at week 364.
The interview with Trace & Joel was very interesting. It was a phone interview with a husband & wife team from, I believe, a gaming magazine or site. (I'll have to double-check.) This was during season three, so some of the standard questions (how did the show start, who built the robots) hadn't been overused. They also addressed the great creative freedom they had working in Minnesota, and dealing with now being recognized by fans. Both Joel & Trace sound pretty happy here with how things are going. There are even mentions about a possible MST3K movie in the future. (Insert foreshadowing here.) One interesting thing: I got my copy, I believe, through a tape trade and it seems to have raw audio. As in it starts with the interviewers waiting for the guys to get on the phone, after the BBI receptionist says they're in a writing session and will be along shortly. And the interview is followed by a segment from an earlier interview they did with the late Gilbert Gottfried. He speaks in his normal voice, which is a bit jarring for those who haven't heard it.
The "Movie Sign" segment on "Valley of the Dolls" was both funny and informative. Trace, Frank & Carolina obviously have a great affection for the movie, while acknowledging it's campy badness. They talked about how they each first saw it, they compared it to the original book, and even mentioned a made-for-TV remake that was mainly known for being forgettable. They also mentioned the uncredited involvement of Harlan Ellison in the scriptwriting, and briefly mention his ill-fated work on "The Oscar". (This was recorded before they actually did a show on that loss.) It was a good program, but I'm left with a couple of questions. Did Trace ever get to see "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", and did Frank ever get to see "Mandingo"?
As for "The Slime People", it's tough to judge the movie. Half the time, you can't see what's going on, due to the fog and the murky b&w. It's sort-of OK, though it's saddled with the obligatory romantic moments, plus the question of why the monsters need iron lances to kill people. Les Tremayne's jerk of a writer character was interesting, if really annoying. And was the scientist/dad really the only one to figure out the salt thing? On the whole, the "Commando Cody" chapter was more engaging. The riffing was good, though. And I liked the host segments, including the bit of self-deprecation as the 'bots try to "improve" the concept.
Things went pretty well, I thought. So, onward to what remains of week 365. The first on-rotation Outsider is... "RT: Yambao"... - It's not the sultriness, it's the humidity. ... and the second selection is... "RT: Megaforce"... - Is my satin military jumpsuit back from the dry cleaners? ... while the Originals offering is the latest new episode... "Doctor Mordrid" (Show 1305). - That's live on the Gizmoplex this Friday. When Stephen Strange is just too expensive...
Time for a station break...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 14, 2022 11:55:59 GMT -5
Well, let's look at week 365.
"Yambao" is a movie I'd have never heard of if it weren't for RT. And I'm not sure I should thank them for it. We've got an 1850s sugar plantation in Cuba featuring some of the happiest slaves this side of "Gone with the Wind". You've got a relatively benevolent master, with a demure wife in a dress that must weigh about twenty-five pounds. You've got the sultry daughter (or is it granddaughter, I'm not sure) of a voodoo priestess who's out to seduce just about everybody, especially the benevolent yet clueless master. You've got musical numbers, awful day-for-night, and THE PLAGUE!!! Plus I kept trying to figure out how many of the cast members were in blackface. Still, it did provide some great riffing material, and the guys really deliver.
As for "Megaforce", I think my attitude towards this movie has mellowed. Maybe it's because I just gave up on trying to take it seriously. I mean, the satin jumpsuits alone preclude that. And it does deliver some reasonably good action with no real bloodshed and only three confirmed kills (by disintegration!). And Henry Silva does a good job as the not-so-villainous bad guy. It's a shame they didn't do any sequels; I'd have loved to see him return. The riffing was very good, especially a bit involving Bill & Mike during the final sequence that I just can't spoil.
As for "Doctor Mordrid", it wasn't as bad as I would've expected. I'd never seen the movie in full before (thought the MST version was edited for content), so I wasn't sure what to expect. It wasn't too bad, though I thought the hero seemed a bit low-powered, at times. There were some good sequences, though that was balanced out by some annoying characters. I'll say this much: Full Moon Entertainment may have operated along the same principle as the Asylum (low budget movies based on current hot trends), but at least Full Moon tried to deliver an entertaining, well-made movie. The riffing from Emily & the Simulator 'bots was great, as were the host segments. We also got a reappearance by Dr. Kabahl (the mysterious financier from the future), a tease for the next episode (which was immediately spoiled by the "next episode" promo), and a surprise guest I wasn't expecting. I think Season 13 is turning out very well.
On balance, not too bad, I'd say. So, onward to week 366. For the Outsiders, the off-rotation selection is... "The Mads are Back LIVE: Cosmos, War of the Planets"... - That's live on-line tonight. It looks supremely cheesy. ... while the on-rotation Outsider selection is... "RT: Rifftrax Shorts, Vol. 2 (1st half)"... - Let's hope I learn something useful. ... and the Originals selection is... "The Thing that Couldn't Die" (Show 805). - Featuring Jan-in-the-Pan's distaff counterpart.
We'll be right back...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 21, 2022 12:01:22 GMT -5
Okay, let's see how week 366 went.
I'd like to tell you about "Cosmos: War of the Planets", but I can't, really. I still have no real idea of what the heck was going on. There's a power-hungry computer, a killer robot, a vampiric crewmember, silver aliens, a ship's captain who doesn't play by the rules, and other stuff. I think so, anyway. Plus, there's lousy VFX, not-so-great acting, and futuristic skullcaps galore. And NOBODY who was watching could figure it out. I even got a Facebook message from Chris Gersbeck who said that, even after watching the uncut version multiple times, he didn't get it, either. The riffing from Trace & Frank was good, which helped a lot. And the Q&A, with Jonah as special guest, was also good. They addressed one of my questions ("What's your favorite movie trailer?"), but the big subject for discussion was Jonah's autographed copy of the "High Anxiety" soundtrack album.
As for the RT shorts, they were good, as always. The shorts were "One Got Fat" (Mutant monkeys...ON BIKES!), "Lunchroom Manners" (All hail Mr. Bungle!), "Each Child is Different" (Pure, uncut depression & misery), "Why Won't Cathy Eat Breakfast/Petaluma Chicken" (Not as confusing as "Cosmos: War of the Planets", but close) and "Act Your Age" (Tantrums used to be considered bad). Great riffing throughout.
And "The Thing that Couldn't Die" was just...bland. The curse on the bad guy was actually fairly mild and easily broken. The bad guy himself was not all that scary and was equally easily defeated. Throw in nobody noticing that people are being pretty obviously mind-controlled. It's pretty much like Frank described "Stranded in Space": just a way to fill about 90 minutes of time. Not the best that Universal could come up with in that era. But, at least they didn't get John Agar as the bland, skeptical hero. The riffing was good, though. And the host segments introduced us to the Observers, including Brain Guy. And we got to see Crow's view of the Civil War. There's the lack of a stinger, though; I think there are suggestions on that in a YouTube video somewhere. And does anyone know who ended up with Servo's artwork after the prop auction?
Well, shall we move on to week 367? We've got two off-rotation attractions coming up. The first off-rotation Outsider is... "Movie Jo Night: 'Where Have All the People Gone?'"... - This is a TV-movie with Peter Graves, and it's pretty good, and it's live via Twitch tonight. On "Biography". ... and the on-rotation Outsider is... (INSERT TITLE HERE)... - Slight difficulty here. I'll have the selection later. ... and the Originals offering is the new episode... "Demon Squad" (Show 1306). - Joel's back on the bridge! And the movie looks awful.
Don't touch that dial...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 22, 2022 11:43:41 GMT -5
Okay, problem taken care of. So, the rotation Outsider selection is... "RT: Hillbillies in a Haunted House". - Or, "Rathbone & Carradine really needed the work."
We now return to our regularly scheduled program...
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Post by kmorgan on Jun 28, 2022 12:32:06 GMT -5
Well, where was I? Oh, yes. Week 367… “Where Have All the People Gone?” is actually a pretty good movie. We have Peter Graves as a businessman with his late-teen children on vacation in the mountains when a solar flare and an earthquake herald the apparent end of civilization. There are animals turning violent, people dying and dissolving into powder, generators not working, societal breakdown, and other stuff. The movie is fairly well-acted, avoids a bunch of the standard post-apocalypse clichés, and works well as the intended pilot it was. I wouldn’t have minded seeing it go to series. MJ and Chris didn’t think too much of it, though. At least they didn’t hate it, like “Haunts of the Very Rich”. Still, we all had a good time. As for “Hillbillys in a Haunted House”, this is just sad. It’s the standard plot that goes back to the East Side Kids, with a “haunted house” as cover for spies/crooks. There are a couple of nice country & western tunes, and John Carradine (who was used to being in crud) doing his best. But Basil Rathbone just looks kind of bereft. I’d forgotten that Lon Chaney Jr. was in this one, and I bet he wished he could forget it, as well. Not even a guy in a gorilla suit could save this one. The riffing from the guys was good, though. And, yes, they followed the CT example and threw in a tasteless David Carradine joke. One question: RT cut between 15 and 20 minutes from this movie for their version. Was this a rights issue, or something? As for “Demon Squad”, it has a low-grade paranormal investigator looking for an ancient artifact of great power that, in the wrong hands, could end the world. Standard stuff, really, but “Cast a Deadly Spell” did it better. This one is very low budget and confusing, and I wasn’t really invested in the characters. But at least they were trying, unlike the stuff from The Asylum. The riffing was very good, with Joel back from the future (yes, they explain it) and working with Emily’s ‘bots. It was good to see him back on the bridge and in the theater. It was also good to see J. Elvis back as Larry (with a funny bit involving his voice) and, for a while, as MIGHTY VOICE Tom Servo. Well, things went well, I thought. So, on to week 368. The off-rotation Outsider is… “The Mary Jo Pehl Show” (Episode 11)… - That’s live on Twitch tonight. MJ will be fixing another mystery recipe. But will be bid us peace?… and the on-rotation Outsider is… “RT: The Crater Lake Monster”… - Don’t remember much about this one. Early-mid 70s low-budget monster flick, as I recall.… and the Originals selection is… “Samson vs. the Vampire Women” (Show 624). - Safe trip, Frank. And at least Santo doesn’t have a time machine in this one.
Please Stand By…
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Post by kmorgan on Jul 4, 2022 10:10:59 GMT -5
Now let's pause our celebrations to look back at week 368.
MJ's show turned very well. She was away at a family reunion, so she started out giving instructions to Chris on how to handle things while she was gone. Briefly, a temp was in attendance until...you can see for yourself. Anyway, in a pre-taped segment, she and special guest Bridget baked a spice cake where one of the main ingredients was... Campbell's Tomato Soup (Condensed). Bridget mentioned that it reminded her of the Campbell's Soup short she & MJ riffed on a while back. (I'd missed that one, watched it, and laughed a lot.) Anyway, the cake was baked and tasted and...reacted to. Back live, we also chose the theme for next month's shows. Very funny stuff.
As for "Crater Lake Monster", it's about a monster in Crater Lake. More specifically, it's a dinosaur who's awakened by a meteorite strike in a northern California lake. You've got your hapless people who get chomped, the initially disbelieving sheriff, your scientist who wants it kept alive, and your nameless locals. There's also a heavy atmosphere of 1977, a violent stick-up man who adds nothing to the plot, and a painfully unfunny comedy relief duo complete with overbearing music. They try for some pathos at the end, but it's too late. The best I can say about this one is that a couple of doomed people are actually spared, there's good stop-motion animation, and the guys' riffing is top notch.
As for "Samson and the Vampire Women", El Santo doesn't have a time machine and, thankfully, he doesn't spend have the movie just watching people get victimized. I don't think it's really explained why the vamps had to wait centuries to get their plan going, but it's not really a big deal. It's mainly just an excuse to see vampire women who don't work for Hammer, and see El Santo beat people up. I think I like this one a bit better than "Treasure of Dracula", though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because we don't see El Santo in a mask and a three-piece suit. The riffing was top notch. And the host segments with Frank's departure were handled pretty well. And, even though Second Banana Heaven didn't turn out well in the end, at least Frank got a somewhat happy send-off.
Now, time to move on to week 369. For the off-rotation Outsider, the selection is... "RT: Patriotic Shorts"... - I'm celebrating our nation with that most American of activities: watching riffed videos. ... while the on-rotation selection is... "ConventionCon II Highlights: Celebrity Panel"... - With guest stars Rex Reason, Russell Johnson and KIM CATRALL! ... and we have two Originals on tap. The off-rotation one is..."Gamera vs. Guiron" (Show 312)... - There's a live tribute to this ep on Friday via the Gizmoplex. Bring your own doughnuts. ... and the on-rotation selection is... "The Corpse Vanishes" (Show 105). - Does Nero Wolfe know about Bela mis-using orchids?
Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!
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Post by kmorgan on Jul 12, 2022 11:54:43 GMT -5
Slight mix-up, folks. I don't have time to review week 369 right now, but I'll post it ASAP. I can, though, put up what's coming for week 370. For the off-rotation Outsiders selection, we have... "The Mads are Back LIVE: Night of Shorts 8"... - That's live on-line tonight, and it features a threepeat for Mr. B. Try to hold your applause. ... and the on-rotation Outsider is... "RT: She"... - Featuring Bridget & Mary Jo, and not Ursula Andress, unfortunately. ... and the Originals selection is... "Star Force: Fugutive Alien 2" (Show 318). - You're still stuck here!Please stand by...
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Post by kmorgan on Jul 19, 2022 13:13:38 GMT -5
Well, we’ve got two weeks to look over. So, let’s get started with week 369…
For the “Patriotic Shorts”, I watched the same line-up I had last year: “Patriotism” (w/ Bob Crane), “What it Means to Be an American” (w/ fruit farms), “As We Like It” (w/ beer), and “The Bill of Rights in Action” (w/ a neo-Nazi). I added in one more: “American Look”, riffed on by Bridget & Mary Jo. It’s about that all-American practice of product design, to which we owe everything. The riffing was good, but they had an abbreviated version of it. The RT version, running at about seven minutes, was less than half of the full runtime. See below for another instance of this. The Celebrity Panel from ConventioCon II was an event I actually attended, and really enjoyed. Guests Russell Johnson, Rex Reason and KIM CATRALL talked about their experiences filming the movies that were later MSTed, as well as their early careers. Kim recalled when she first saw the odd sight of a puppet robot singing about her, Russell talked about his early work with Paul Henreid, and Rex spoke with his excellent, radio-drama-worthy voice. And, yes, there were some slightly dirty references to “Gilligan’s Island”, as well as the sidesplitting moment when Johnson had to explain to Reason…you’ll see. This was a fan-made recording, so it features the usual focus and audio problems, but I’ve seen worse. I’m not sure if BBI had made their own recording of the event. Hey, if they’d put out a general call for a crew, I’d have helped out in a second, for free. Meanwhile, the re-broadcast of “Gamera vs. Guiron” also featured a lousy movie, but with a different quality of lousiness. The awful dubbing, the surprisingly graphic violence (I thought they were meant for kids at this point), the confusing plot…you get the picture. Still, some of the VFX were well-produced. And, of course, Cornjob. The riffing was top-notch, and they featured some great host segments, like the Richard Burton salute (did he really appear in “Fall Guy”?), and Mike as Michael Feinstein. And I’m pretty sure somebody actually makes collapsible garbage cans, like Joel invested in this one. (Does he get a royalty for that?) This Gizmoplex re-broadcast also featured Joel & the ‘bots riffing on a new short on healthful sleeping (I could use some help with that), as well as the Shout Factory documentary on how the show dealt with the Gamera series. The latter featured comments from Joel, Josh, Trace, Frank & Jim. It was very interesting, although the ongoing chat featured a couple of people making unkind remarks about Jim that I thought were really uncalled for. “The Corpse Vanishes” is pretty much your standard Poverty Row era Bela Lugosi movie. For quick reference, it’s a slightly less-polished version of “Voodoo Man”, which was memorably riffed for RT. I will say this though: even with the low grade production and the cliché elements (plucky girl reporter, condescending instantaneous romantic male lead, bumbling comic relief sidekick, etc.), Bela delivers a good performance. The man could really commit to a role, even in a lousy movie. Actually, the “Radar Men from the Moon” chapter was better. This is a pretty early Season 1 effort, but they were getting much better under the new, scripted routine. The host segments were OK, including references to “Tiger Bot” magazine (is that still published?) and an early instance of Servo literally blowing his top. Moving to week 370…
The latest “Night of Shorts” from the Mads turned out fine. There were four this time: “Snap Out of It” (It’s about dealing with disappointments. RT also did this, but I don’t remember if I’ve seen it.), “Osborn Load Runner Idler-Runners” (An industrial short about some gadget. I still don’t know what it actually does.), “Parents: Who Needs Them?” (Basically, a remake of “Appreciating Our Parents” from the episode with “The Undead”. Oh, Mr. Bungle makes a creepy guest appearance.), and the threepeat of “Mr. B Natural”. It was the full version, but with a not-so-great print. The riffing for all of these was top notch, with Trace & Frank clearly enjoying themselves. And we got another view of Trace’s new beard, which one chatter said makes him look like Prof. Lilloman from “High Anxiety”. The guest for the Q&A was Bridget, and it was a lot of fun. And they used one of my questions: “Do you know of any remake or reboot that compares favorably to the original?” (They knew of several, including “The Maltese Falcon” and “Ben-Hur”.) “She” is the 1935 version of the H. Rider Haggard story, which has been filmed several times. This one is a pretty good production, actually. It has some impressive production design and photography, as well as a good musical score by Max Steiner. Coming from the producer of the original “King Kong”, I guess this is to be expected. It also co-stars Nigel Bruce, who tones down his trademark bluster. However, star Randolph Scott underplays his role to nearly wooden levels. Also, they try to put in a sci-fi angle (the leads are looking for an unknown element, like in “Invisible Ray”) that isn’t really needed. Plus, each of the big dance-heavy ceremony sequences seem to go on about as long as the one in “Colossus and the Headhunters”. And need I mention the “white male reality” angle that Joel would’ve commented on had they done this back in the day? And, finally, Helen Gahagan as She just isn't as memorable as Ursula Andress was in the Hammer version. Bridget & Mary Jo’s riffing in this one is very good, though I was surprised they didn’t make even one Dr. Watson joke towards Bruce. Oddly, this is another RT offering where the movie was cut down; it’s at least fifteen minutes short, by my count. I don’t know if this was due to rights issues, or if they just cut it for pacing issues (like Chris Gersbeck will cut movies the Mads riff on). And, as for “Fugitive Alien 2”, I suppose I might understand what was going on if I watched the original series. Maybe. I guess. In any case, there’s a superweapon, a space warp, not-Ken’s mom, a villain who’s defeated rather easily, and stuff that Lucasfilm could’ve sued over. It was OK, though not up to the original, such as it is. The host segments were good, especially the surprisingly dramatic scene of Joel trying to revive Tom (who blows his top again!) and the Capt. Joe intervention. The riffing was OK, though I, too, was getting tired of Crow’s “Again?” I’m surprised Joel didn’t rip off an arm over that. Well, I think I’m up to date now. So, on to week 371. The off-rotation Outsider for this week is… “Movie Jo Night: ‘The Elevator’”… - That’s live on-line via Twitch tonight. It’s a made for TV disaster movie, I think, with Roddy McDowall. … and the on-rotation Outsider is… “The Making of MST3K-TM”… - Do they mention the endless supply of executive water bottles in this? … and the off-rotation Original is another new episode… “Gamera vs. Jiger” (Show 1307). - Well, this’ll leave one from the original Gamera series, if we survive this one.Don’t touch that dial…
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