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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 4, 2013 15:09:13 GMT -5
I agreed with him on most of his reviews, and disagreed with him on most of his philosophy. But of all the writers I've disagreed with, I've never read one with more grace, reason, humility, and generosity. His blog was required reading for me every week. He was a gentleman, except when the occasion called for him to be hilariously bold.
As far as movie criticism goes, I use one of his quotes as one of my maxims: "It's not what the movie's about that's important, it's how it's about it that matters."
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 4, 2013 13:41:00 GMT -5
I agree with NewMads. Yeah, the guy's a dickweed (Rice, not New Mads), but he's coaching college men, not kids. I played basketball all 4 years of high school, and I got called every name in the book by my coaches. I know it's not acceptable in polite society, but we all figured it came with being on the team. Intense, negative reinforcement is part of athletics.
This guy took it to inappropriate levels and should have been fired, but it's not like verbal abuse is anything new in coaching. And it's certainly nowhere near the horrors of sexual abuse of Sandusky.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 2, 2013 21:54:49 GMT -5
I think that's why I actually liked Donna best sometimes-totally different dynamic, really a good mate to the Doctor rather than the hot assistant type. I definitely liked Donna best. She was a great proxy for the audience, and played the overwhelmed normal person brilliantly. Plus, she was tough enough to stand up to the Doctor and push back on his arrogance. She was a fully-realized character, unlike the other ladies. I think both Moffat and RTD have created great episodes, okay episodes, and terrible episodes. I don't mind Moffat's serial story devices. The crack in the wall, the Pandorica, and River Song all did it for me. But some of his one-off episodes are forgettable. Like "The Vampires of Venice" or "The Curse of the Black Spot".
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 2, 2013 18:01:26 GMT -5
I'm excited about David and Billie returning, too. Just hope they get a good script to work with. I just rewatched the Tennant episodes recently, and by far the worst thing about them this time for me was Billie Piper. Her pouting, needy, lovelorn performances were unbelievably grating on me. Even her playful & happy episodes were abrasive. Which is odd, because previously it was her mom & Micky that bugged the heck out of me. This time, they were a welcome respite from Rose's overbaked, quivering-lip melodrama. If Eleven and Oswin are going to cross paths with Ten and Rose, will it be the real Ten, or the clone/part-human Ten and Rose in the alternate dimension?
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Post by Mr. Atari on Apr 1, 2013 1:54:00 GMT -5
Very happy that season 3 started tonight. Sadly, the episode was very dull. I know it's just putting the pieces in place for what's coming in an eventful season, but virtually nothing of substance happened tonight.
I just finished the fifth book last week, so I'm finally caught up, and I'm really looking forward to this season.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 30, 2013 10:50:02 GMT -5
Another year where my two favorite teams (Cubs & Rockies) will both lose close to 100 games. Sigh.
Actually, if the Rockies' lineup can stay healthy, they'll hit like crazy. And not just because of some mythical Coors Field effect. Their pitching is just so wildly inconsistent. And not just because of some mythical Coors Field effect.
On top of that, the last 3 World Series were won by the 2 teams I loathe the most. Baseball's been bery bery bad to me.
But I am not dissuaded. I just need to find a third team with reasonable hopes to cheer for. Possibly the Orioles.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 29, 2013 23:24:58 GMT -5
I can't bring myself to cheer for a team that plays zone defense. It's so lazy and cheap.
But a team that can't beat a zone probably doesn't deserve to advance.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 29, 2013 16:01:33 GMT -5
The Slime People
In honor of it being on the next box set, I dusted this one off. I had forgotten how much I really enjoy the movie. It's a classic Sunday afternoon rainy day film for me, much like "The Crawling Eye".
The riffing is great in parts and non-existant in others. I spent more time inventing my own riffs during the silent parts than I usually do. The plot holes are so ridiculously wonderful. I love how the hero is in a Piper Cub, but has somehow been in the air long enough not to know about Los Angeles getting quarantined and destroyed. He also can somehow fly through the "wall", and the one remaining station wagon in the city happens to immediately find him on the runway. And none of them think to try to use the plane to fly out of the "dome" again, the same way the hero just arrived.
The host segments were weak, but I honestly can't recall more than one or two in the Josh era that stand out as good host segments.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 28, 2013 11:55:22 GMT -5
I immediately thought of the "solar panels" guy in Birdemic. But I don't know if Rifftrax counts.
There's always Max Keller. Nothing like a sunken-chested, mullet-headed, pasty hero who can't string two syllables together.
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Psych
Mar 28, 2013 0:48:17 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 28, 2013 0:48:17 GMT -5
Bumping this thread because Psych aired its 100th episode tonight. It was an homage to Clue, complete with guest stars Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Christopher Lloyd. They even did the multiple endings gimmick that the film had in 1985.
It was a thing of beauty.
The only complaint I have is that they didn't get Michael McKean or Tim Curry. Curry has previously been a guest star, so I kept hoping his earlier character would show up.
They did a ton of reference humor, and dedicated the show to the late, great, Madeline Kahn.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 26, 2013 17:15:46 GMT -5
Does Bert I. have any comments about MST? They were pretty rough on him over the years. I have to say, of the awful directors featured multiple times in the show, Bert I.'s films had the most charm. Still incredibly inept, but there was a fun feel to them.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 25, 2013 11:25:31 GMT -5
Damn you, Walker.
(never gets old)
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 25, 2013 0:41:46 GMT -5
I know I've developed a love for bad movies because of MST. Before the show, I never would have made time for crap like, say, The Creeping Terror. Now, I have an extensive collection of old '70s TV movies and terrible '50s Z-movies. And I enjoy them all, often in an unironic way.
I understand why purists think the mockery is offensive. I can even appreciate their point that bad art is still art, if made with creative intent. But then they inevitably will claim that Roger Corman is some unsung auteur genius who deserves to be respected because he worked with Nicholson and Ron Howard. And that's where I draw the line.
Exhibit A: Digger Smolken.
I rest my case.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 23, 2013 11:43:57 GMT -5
I've always liked lousy.
Not as a synonym for bad, as a synonym for overrun. Especially when you consider the etymology. And then, especially when it's used for something positive. It's so wonderfully passive-aggressive. I'm complimenting you, but I'm also comparing you to the plague.
This board is lousy with nice people.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Mar 19, 2013 23:31:17 GMT -5
I liked the episode. I really liked Chang in the first season, and really haven't liked him since. This is an interesting twist that will limit Jeong's mugging for the camera.
Also- It might be because I know Chevy Chase won't finish out the season, or because he knew it when these episodes were being filmed, but he hasn't brought anything funny to the table. It's like they stopped writing jokes for him. It's too bad they didn't just end the Pierce character with last season's finale when he had a bigotry breakthrough at the trial. It would have been cleaner.
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