kmorgan's selections

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...

[kmorgan]

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...