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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 26, 2022 19:18:01 GMT -5
Congrats on your first Mad review!
Nice full write-up, enjoyed the read.
And yeah, a few of the shorts in these shows don't come with titles, but after some hunting, I've been able to find them, so if you come across another for a future review, use me... er, rather my site.
The Neighbors short? I saw this live and once Frank got the heads-up that he was flying solo, he started firing off more riffs. So in that later section, for the download version Chris had to slightly move some lines around to make room for Trace (even replaced a riff -- “shut up, dad” (Trace) instead of Frank’s “screw you, dad”). So if it sounds like they suddenly are packing in a lot of material in spots in that one, that's why.
In addition, the audio was adjusted (Frank was a bit too quiet to hear clearly in spots). So the download was an improvement, made it a much smoother, enjoyable show (Hmm, I should add this info to my write-up now that I think of it. lol)
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 28, 2022 9:41:15 GMT -5
FIVE WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE NEW SEASON! And before the new Gamera movie drops, let's kick some shell one last time with the classic series! Scratching the last Gamera riff I need off my list, it's the KTMA version of Gamera vs. Zigra! Next Time: One last round with Josh, and without a pesky host in his way too!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 29, 2022 9:10:14 GMT -5
Note: I initially reviewed this movie for the KTMA episode, but given details I noticed while watching it uncut I decided to amend it. It's mostly the same review, just with two more paragraphs and some added clarification.Many might be familiar with Sax Rohmer's infamous villain creation Fu Manchu, though fewer might be familiar with another series of novels he wrote with another antagonist named Sumuru. Sumuru is basically Fu Manchu again, only sexist instead of racist. To the surprise of nobody, the producers of the 60's Fu Manchu films starring Christopher Lee also decided to bring Sumuru to the big screen, with less yellowface and more bare skin. Sumuru is a lady criminal mastermind with an army of women at her disposal. Her master plan is to sees her agents to marry the leaders of the world and murder them. However her plans are threatened by a pair of smarmy and horny agents from America. Their misadventures continuously come to a head (pun intended? I don't even know anymore) as these guys make love and kick ass all the way to Sumuru herself. In the more sexually liberated world of the 1960's, spy films of the era were shameless about utilizing women who used their curves as a weapon to distract from their own deviousness and, more importantly, sell tickets to men, because bad girls were hot. The Million Eyes of Sumuru is something of a inevitable peak of that, as all women featured are dangerous, shapely, and very ready, willing, and able to show off their bodies. Million Eyes of Sumuru isn't unentertaining, as there is a very primal 60's pop entertainment value at play (and, let's face it, the mostly female cast is hard for any male to resist). It's a bit problematic in that it pretends to be about female liberation and empowerment, yet as the plot moves forward we see Sumuru's plans thwarted by women in their army who seemingly just discovered their lust of male body parts, and turn on their master simply out of desire for the male leads in the film. In the end we get a movie that clearly thinks its feminist but feminist in a way that still has men dominating women. Of course, if you want to deep dive into those themes you can argue the film is anti-Sapphic as well. If you think about it, the film is about a large group of alienated women who only trust each other and don't wish to be associated with men, while being subservient to their queen dominatrix Sumuru. If that doesn't scream lesbian undertones, I don't know what does. Not to mention a fear of homosexuality in general, as these women are inherently evil. Then going back to the men of the film turning the women through sex, one can definitely say the ultimate message of the film is that all that's needed to turn a gay girl straight is the male member. The movie's humor can be a bit of a double edged sword too. The main characters have so many wisecracks and are so unphased by the violence happening around them that they almost border on parody. This isn't exactly a James Bond-ian suave one-liner type of dynamic that's in play (though it might be intended) as they see people they've interacted with moments before get killed and even crack jokes at their expense, which is weird and tacky. This movie might even have been intended to be seen as a parody because of this, as there is a certain argument that can be made for its off-center tone. I don't think it quite works in either direction, because it just winds up offputting. But, if you're into 60's adventure flicks, Million Eyes of Sumuru has its pleasures. Action is abound, and intrigue is in play for a while. I'm charmed by the idea of the girl power premise, even if it doesn't quite deliver on that. If someone were to debug the idea of a femme fatale spy organization seeking world dominance and make it less problematic this could be a fun idea for a franchise, but as is Sumuru doesn't hit the mark. I kind of liked it, though I probably would never be interested in watching it again. Million Eyes of Sumuru was followed by a sequel several years later called The Girl from Rio. There is a Rifftrax for this movie, as well as Sumuru, so there's an easy way for fans to double feature these flicks without having to watch them straight. Next Week:
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 31, 2022 9:20:40 GMT -5
There was a point where I was a happy man. I remember those days. Then I saw the movie Winterbeast and now I know nothing but the deepest, darkest despair. But the guys from RiffTrax are here to ease my pain. How successful they are is debatable. And since that movie left a rank smell behind, Bridget and Mary Jo are here with a BONUS SHORT full of sweet scents to cover it up. Together we will learn The Joy of Living With Fragrance!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 2, 2022 9:25:15 GMT -5
There's a Star man waiting in the sky! He'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds! Oh Star man blows alright...our minds, that is. Today I take a look at RiffTrax tackling the mighty space hero in their riff of Attack from Space! Taking our gaze from the stars we settle our view on a boy named Tommy and his loose tooth. Our BONUS SHORT today is a look at Tommy's Day! As an aside, RiffTrax posted their full riff to Attack from Space on their YouTube channel on Monday. I was not aware they were doing this, as I wrote this review last week, but this was a fortuitous coincidence!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 4, 2022 11:30:44 GMT -5
FOUR WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE NEW SEASON! Today we watch one last episode with Josh Weinstein, and we don't have a pesky host to get in the way! It's the all robot spectacular that monkeys around with no host, it's the KTMA version of Time of the Apes! And with that we have completed the earliest run of MST3K. I take a look back at the beautiful crudeness of the imperfect perfection that is The KTMA Era! Next Time: Bunny hop.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 7, 2022 9:04:44 GMT -5
We are invited to a wedding! We are going to witness the sacred union between Rue McClanahan and Patrick Duffy! But can the pending nuptials survive the horrors of the Children of the Bride? Find out with Bridget and Mary Jo's latest riff! And maybe the bride's children wouldn't be so problematic if they didn't break their pencil and kill their tadpoles when they were young. It's time for them to learn some Beginning Responsibility: Taking Care of Things in today's BONUS SHORT!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 9, 2022 9:21:06 GMT -5
Snakes! Why'd it have to be snakes? We watch the Titans clash with the slithering serpents in what would be their last recorded live show. It's Cinematic Titanic vs. Rattlers! WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES! And as chilly as it has been this winter, let's look back on a sunny summer day on a farm. Bridget and Mary Jo milk the cows and play at the fair with the Farm Family in Summer!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 11, 2022 9:58:54 GMT -5
THREE WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE NEW SEASON! Let's set out into the wilderness, find adventure, battle aquatic wizards, and catch some trouble. Roger Corman's masterpiece cautionary tale Teenage Cave Man is todays episode! And with the last Roger Corman movie crossed off my list, we finish up another box set, this time with three movies made under Corman's wing! It's a retrospective on Volume XXXV! Next Time: Wait...didn't I just watch this movie?
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 13, 2022 9:25:07 GMT -5
L One of the more landmark names in the history of science fiction is H.G. Welles, who of course gifted us such classics as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man. I used to read a few of his books as a kid myself but one that I hadn't gotten around to was a book called The Shape of Things to Come, which was a story about a future that is ravaged by plagues and wars, reverting to less advanced civilization that rebuilds from the ground up with new ideals. At least that's the gist of it that I can get from skimming the Wikipedia overview. I don't know if that summary is entirely accurate or not. Anyway, pop culture moves on to another landmark in science fiction, a movie called Star Wars released in 1977. Suddenly feature films set in space are big business and many are rushed into production. Some became classics, like Alien, while some wound up on Mystery Science Theater 3000, like Starcrash. In the heat of this science fiction boom the decision to capitalize on the name of a noted science fiction author probably seemed like a smart advertising plan in the moment, and H.G. Welles was probably the best name you could use. The problem was that Welles didn't really have any space operas under his belt. I guess you could reinvent War of the Worlds into one if you really needed to, but the George Pal adaptation was still highly regarded at this point and I imagine nobody was interested in touching it. The Shape of Things to Come had been adapted to film before with a film called Things to Come in 1936, which apparently was fairly loose itself but more faithful than this film. This version of The Shape of Things to Come pretty much borrows the title and maybe a few character names and nothing else, instead creating an original space adventure to capitalize off of Star Wars. This movie shows man having been relocated to a moon colony following the ravaging of Earth from the Robot Wars (Robot Wars is a prequel in my headcanon and you can't change my mind). They find their way of life in danger when Jack Palance suddenly appears with an army of robots and insists that he is the new emperor of the galaxy. It's up to a scrappy group of dogooders to fend off Palance on the distant planet of Delta 3. With little knowledge of the source material, I instead have to judge this movie based on its own merits, which are uneven. Here's the deal, the models in this movie never don't look like models, but a lot of the designs are neat to look at and I admire the crafting of them if nothing else. If you squint really hard, this movie almost passes off as the original Battlestar Galactica series from the 70's. But looking at it eyes wide can show it's a much shoddier production, with lackluster costume design and some bulky and clunky not-too-intimidating robot antagonists. The movie does have some inherent cheese factor that helps keep it afloat though, so B-movie enthusiasts will be of interest. The music is overbearing and often silly in how large it feels in comparison to mundane things onscreen. There is a slow motion sequence in a "gravity vortex" which is hilarious and makes the wormhole sequence from Star Trek: The Motion Picture look like nuanced cinema. And then there is just Jack Palance, who is Palancing it up a storm. I haven't seen him Palance it up like this since Tim Burton's Batman. The Shape of Things to Come is a crummy movie, but it's not a painful one. It's enjoyable under the right circumstances and even a bit funny and entertaining. I had fun with it, even if it does staple a dead man's name on its poster for a tasteless marketing ploy. Next Week:
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 14, 2022 9:23:33 GMT -5
Take me away! I don't mind! But you better promise me I'll be back in time! And back in time we go, with time machines, endless woods, lots of padding, and Nazis! Come watch the Mads jump into The Yesterday Machine! And for today's BONUS SHORT we see what happens when a stray school bus follows a boy home. Why bus safety lessons, of course! Get acquainted with The Big Yellow Fellow!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 16, 2022 9:21:57 GMT -5
With MST3K reviews behind me, The Last Drive-In reviews are back! And what a way to break me back in with the anti-Valentine's Day special Joe Bob's Heartbreak Trailer Park! We start out with heavy metal and the sons of Satan, as Joe Bob hands us a bouquet of Black Roses! But that's not all... WANNA DATE, Mod City? LOOKIN' FOR SOME ACTION, Mighty Jack? GOT ANY MONEY, Afgncaap5? The answer to all these questions and more in the legendary, the fabulous, the elegant, and the 420 friendly Frankenhooker! For a good time, click the link! Price not negotiable.
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Post by Mod City on Feb 16, 2022 18:25:36 GMT -5
Well, I'll have to add that to my "to watch" list. I remember ads for Basket Case when it came out on the Viewer's Choice satellite PPV service in the early 80s. Sounded awful, but that was before MST3K changed my perspective on movies in general. The GIFs on your blog have my interests piqued, I must say
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 16, 2022 20:35:05 GMT -5
Well, I'll have to add that to my "to watch" list. I remember ads for Basket Case when it came out on the Viewer's Choice satellite PPV service in the early 80s. Sounded awful, but that was before MST3K changed my perspective on movies in general. The GIFs on your blog have my interests piqued, I must say I had so many great gifs to choose from that I couldn't pick just one and just kind of shoveled them all in at the end. But the one I really wanted but couldn't find was of Frankenhooker asking Jeffrey "Got any money?" And he says "no" only to have her belt him across the face.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 18, 2022 8:15:27 GMT -5
TWO WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE NEW SEASON! An episode watching a movie I watched two entries ago? ::drops to knees:: DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL! Today we revisit the Time of the Apes, the Season 3 version this time! And backing it up we have a pair of making of specials, one from Comedy Central and one from Sci-Fi. Check out This is MST3K and The Making of Mystery Science Theater 3000! And one more box set on the shelf, this time with a lot of Japanese TV, a dash of Ed Wood, some Rondo Hatton for good measure, and delicious chicken on the dinner table. Let's take a look at Volume XXII! Next Time: The last one.
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