I Just Finished Watching...

[dbsommer]

Alien from LA

Bit of backstory on this. Kathy Ireland was my supermodel crush. As in I regarded her by far as the hottest supermodel around (And this is with blondes being my kryptonite). During a slow summer I happened to go to HBO and low and behold, this was on. So I watch it, and yeah, it's bad, and I did not picture that voice with that face, but hey, it's my crush so it was worth it.

Then I learned the guys riffed it, so I watched it about 15 years or so ago, and I thought it was okay. Pretty slow, and not much memorable. It was just there. So now I decided to watch it again on youtube since it's 'officially' there, and actually it's better than I remembered. The movie is still awful on a low budget, but its competent at the same time. There are a lot of jokes about KI being hot and her voice (both of which are fair since she is a super model and it's not like they've riffed too many of those, and that voice is squeaky), but there are other amusing lines in it. Lots of bad Austrailian accents. etc. The skits are pretty good as well with a Full Metal Jacket skit and 'Vend-a-gut' and 'Udder Fridge' inventions. Also loved Clay's first line about Mike's Pyle impression.

"Ah, I see you've decided to go full psycho. Godspeed."

But there are a lot of lines in movie, such as calling in reference to the Aussie accents, 'So this is 'Sad Max', and a number of others that were entertaining. While not in the upper echelon, I'd say this is pretty good and worth a watch. It's certainly fairly unique in a casting sort of way.

[dbsommer]

Pod People

I recall really liking this the first time I saw it. Now... my god this is a terrible movie. Even the opening 'Galaxy Invader' footage that has nothing to do with the movie was more coherent than this mess. Imagine Rock N Roll Nightmare having a bastard child with Alien Outlaw... and it's worse than that. It's a whole lot of nothing, and while the riffs make it barely endurable, that's all it does. It's a horror movie with no horror, an ET rip off less appealing than Mac and Me. As the guys mention, it's like three or four unrelated movies rolled into one. And all of them are terrible. I have no idea why I liked this as much as I did the first time around.

I'm not saying anything on this since many liked it. I mean the riffs are good, but it felt like there were many far better msts to go through first.

Mighty Jack

Unlike Pod People I remembered nothing of this. I suspect in another 24 hours I'll remember nothing of it again. It's a Sandy Frank compilation of something, because that is what Sandy got paid to do. This was entertaining visually, since it's based on a not successful Japanese TV series with spies, flying battleships, and spies. The plot in this case is understandably hard to follow since Sandy used two out of 14 episodes or so. And it's somewhat coherent. But there are things happening which can hold your attention, unlike Pod People.

There are both better spy films, Like Double Double 007, Agent of HARM, and better Sandy Frank Japanese adaptations, like Fugitive Alien and anything with Gamera in it. But it's still worth a watch. Just after the other things I mentioned.

[Iron Curtain]

Pod People

I recall really liking this the first time I saw it. Now... my god this is a terrible movie. Even the opening 'Galaxy Invader' footage that has nothing to do with the movie was more coherent than this mess. Imagine Rock N Roll Nightmare having a bastard child with Alien Outlaw... and it's worse than that. It's a whole lot of nothing, and while the riffs make it barely endurable, that's all it does. It's a horror movie with no horror, an ET rip off less appealing than Mac and Me. As the guys mention, it's like three or four unrelated movies rolled into one. And all of them are terrible. I have no idea why I liked this as much as I did the first time around.

I'm not saying anything on this since many liked it. I mean the riffs are good, but it felt like there were many far better msts to go through first.

Respectfully disagree about Pod People. It's a mess, that's for sure, but the sublime riffing makes it a watchable mess, and it's one episode I could watch over and over. The "it stinks!" line and corresponding host segment is a classic as well.

[dbsommer]

The Crawling Eye

The first nationally aired episode which was up on youtube. Since this was that early, they were still learning pacing, leaving a bit too much dead air, and getting an overall feel for their work in progress. However despite the low budget cheese, I liked the movie. Cast is solid, and they built up suspense, which is good considering the eye props aren't. Forrest Tucker was a solid actor as well, and though being more reserved, is good as the lead. Skits were still a bit rough, but it was the early days.

I'd say it's solid.

Women of the Prehistoric Planet

Also from season one, it has some of the same problems the first did, with a much duller movie and thus less interesting. Where Eye was good at what it tried to do with its limited budget, this was not. I think this was where 'hi, keeba' originated, though so there was something memorable about it. So go with Eye before this, IMO

Last of the Wild Horses

This was one of the few westerns they did. I didn't remember a thing about it. Turns out while very cookie cutter plotwise, its a lot of virgin territory for the guys since its a western. It was low budget and hammy, but not truly horrible drek. I thought the riffing was very solid and enjoyable and worth it on its own. But that's not the best thing about it.

It's evil Star Trek mirror universe time in the skits. Everyone has a hilarious time when a science experiment result in evil and good doppelgangers and I loved the callbacks and parody of that old  Star Trek episode. We also get Clay and Frank in the theater riffing in the opening segment, which adds to the delight. Kind of sorry they didn't have the Mads do it more often. Definitely recommend.

And now we get to the what was my favorite

Quest of the Delta Knights

Another one of those from what was probably my favorite season. Hadn't seen it in a good ten plus years but I remembered bits and pieces of it. It was extremely low budget sword fair (no magic) aimed at younger audiences with the ever reliable David Warner forced to do two different roles, yet curiously neither character is supposed to be related to the other despite being identical. The movie is super cheesy. The busty wench barely legal. Our child hero definitely not. And Leonardo Di Vinci appears to be a plagiarist. The plot is basic so it has plenty to be riffed on, and honestly it all worked for me. They were in their groove at this time, churning out some of the best work and this stands up. The skits were entertaining as well, especially the Tom Servo chorus as they sang an homage to the movie. Very highly recommend.

[RoninFox]

Last of the Wild Horses

This was one of the few westerns they did. I didn't remember a thing about it. Turns out while very cookie cutter plotwise, its a lot of virgin territory for the guys since its a western. It was low budget and hammy, but not truly horrible drek. I thought the riffing was very solid and enjoyable and worth it on its own. But that's not the best thing about it.

It's evil Star Trek mirror universe time in the skits. Everyone has a hilarious time when a science experiment result in evil and good doppelgangers and I loved the callbacks and parody of that old  Star Trek episode. We also get Clay and Frank in the theater riffing in the opening segment, which adds to the delight. Kind of sorry they didn't have the Mads do it more often. Definitely recommend.

And now we get to the what was my favorite

Quest of the Delta Knights

Another one of those from what was probably my favorite season. Hadn't seen it in a good ten plus years but I remembered bits and pieces of it. It was extremely low budget sword fair (no magic) aimed at younger audiences with the ever reliable David Warner forced to do two different roles, yet curiously neither character is supposed to be related to the other despite being identical. The movie is super cheesy. The busty wench barely legal. Our child hero definitely not. And Leonardo Di Vinci appears to be a plagiarist. The plot is basic so it has plenty to be riffed on, and honestly it all worked for me. They were in their groove at this time, churning out some of the best work and this stands up. The skits were entertaining as well, especially the Tom Servo chorus as they sang an homage to the movie. Very highly recommend.

I love that you went back to back with the two big occurrences of Mads in the theater. Both Frank and Mary Jo had such strong showings its weird it didn't happen more often, and I'm so glad they both got so much more riffing spotlight post MST.

[dbsommer]

Gamera vs Gyaos

This was much better than 'vs Zigra' from a filmmaking perspective. Probably the best of the Gamera films of this time period with a flying pteradon like creatures that shoots a laser beam from its mouth and causes gushing blood from Gamera.

Yeah, that is some serious material for the guys to work with. And they do their kaiju magic on this one. The skits were solid was well. Definitely worth a look and stands up over time. Especially if you're a fan of the large monster movie types they do.

The Projected Man

Another one I only vaguely remembered, but it's fun. Sure, this is British super low budget cheese, but the plot is actually solid and the actors all know how to act (perhaps not well at times, but these are professionals unlike those in the next review), which makes it something non-painful to watch while the guys work it over. I thought it a wonderful combination of humor in conjunction with what was happening on the screen. They knew how to work this type of movie well, and they were in their zone over this time period.

The skits lead us to Castle Forrester which would be the cast's home until the end. Also Crow get the 'touch o' death' like in the movie. Another solid recommendation.

Soultaker

It's Martin Sheen's 'Chris Penn', Joe Estevez, in the titular role. He's what you get when your grim reaper does not originate in Sweden or Japan. Just some guy with black make up around the eyes slowly walking everywhere and trying to keep looking like his brother Martin. Super low budget (as if Joe being in it doesn't send up that warning flare), with a cast of unknowns and Robert Z'Dar's chin, but only briefly. The movie has an idea of what it wanted to be, so there is coherence and a linear plot. It's just really boring. The guys play well with the material and take something that could be hideously boring entertaining. They definitley had to work to make it so.

However that's not the highpoint. Rather we have Joel and TV's Frank back for an episode, and it's a joy to see them with the cast. That alone would make this worthwhile, but in combination with the movie, yeah, highly recommend.

[dbsommer]

Racket Girls

It's on Prime and I remembered nothing of it, so I gave it a go. Starting with the low points:

Easily among the worst movies they've ever riffed. It is brief at barely an hour long, but even then it has padding with female wrestlers 'wrestling' in the most boring fashion imaginable for prolonged periods of time. Pure dead space. The plot and feel of the movie are on par with Ed Wood, except it's more boring than absurd which somehow makes it worse. The 'actors' are like Wood extras (since some of his main stars like Bela had some modicum of talent) and all cardboard. The movie itself has no redeeming qualities. I mean nothing.

The decent:

The riffing somehow makes this enjoyable to watch despite the unwatchability of the actual film. Everyone should get credit for managing that. Nothing truly amazing or memorable in the riffs, but the experience becomes entertaining. Also the constant grandma riffs... yeah they were kind of spot on. And since there's nothing else going on in this turkey, I can't really blame them for using that one it a lot. It's fitting and nothing is actually happening to make a joke about.
The short, which is actually a bit long, on marriage was serviceable and average IMO. Meaning worth watching, but not awesome either.

The good:
Bridget does the best Lisa Loeb impression ever. (She's the 'Stay' song girl. Now you remember). She even looks the part in the outfit. Would have loved to see her do this and Mike doing his Morrisey side by side. She steals the skits she's in with this one. Rest of the skits were solid, but this is what I'm going to recall when the name 'Racket Girls' comes up.

Final tally: I see why I remembered nothing of it. But now I truly treasure Bridget making one thing about this memorably good. Lot of other stuff worth watching before it. A lot.

Stranded in Space

I remembered three things about this:
Only the first two minutes takes place in space.
The line regarding blowing up the room and taking half of TV's villains with it.
Cameron Mitchell.

I'm going with the movie itself first:
This failed 70's made for TV pilot was light years better than Racket Girls. Everyone in it can actually act, and many of them did so for years. It's coherent. I have a soft spot for Lew Ayers so that's always a plus. It's competently shot. Silly plot is weak, but still understandable.
On the downside, it's dry and slow. The main star is unremarkable. I can see why it was never picked up since it's so 'meh.'

For the MST3K bits: The riffs were good and it was a solid showing. There's nothing insanely over the top in the movie and so the riffs don't have anything absurd to lock on to. So it's kind of middle of the road in that regard. Skits were solid as well.

Overall on this one: Average in the overall picture, but 'average' for them is always worth watching and eventually owning. Not a classic but not a dud. I'd probably put this in the middle of the pack.

[RoninFox]

Racket Girls

It's on Prime and I remembered nothing of it, so I gave it a go. Starting with the low points:

Easily among the worst movies they've ever riffed. It is brief at barely an hour long, but even then it has padding with female wrestlers 'wrestling' in the most boring fashion imaginable for prolonged periods of time. Pure dead space. The plot and feel of the movie are on par with Ed Wood, except it's more boring than absurd which somehow makes it worse. The 'actors' are like Wood extras (since some of his main stars like Bela had some modicum of talent) and all cardboard. The movie itself has no redeeming qualities. I mean nothing.

The decent:

The riffing somehow makes this enjoyable to watch despite the unwatchability of the actual film. Everyone should get credit for managing that. Nothing truly amazing or memorable in the riffs, but the experience becomes entertaining. Also the constant grandma riffs... yeah they were kind of spot on. And since there's nothing else going on in this turkey, I can't really blame them for using that one it a lot. It's fitting and nothing is actually happening to make a joke about.
The short, which is actually a bit long, on marriage was serviceable and average IMO. Meaning worth watching, but not awesome either.

The good:
Bridget does the best Lisa Loeb impression ever. (She's the 'Stay' song girl. Now you remember). She even looks the part in the outfit. Would have loved to see her do this and Mike doing his Morrisey side by side. She steals the skits she's in with this one. Rest of the skits were solid, but this is what I'm going to recall when the name 'Racket Girls' comes up.

Final tally: I see why I remembered nothing of it. But now I truly treasure Bridget making one thing about this memorably good. Lot of other stuff worth watching before it. A lot.

Being a long time wrestling fan, this movie was both fascinating and insulting. And yes, so infuriatingly dull that even though I've watched the movie several times I couldn't tell you what the plot was beyond the one woman who refused to throw her match.

Your comparisons to Ed Wood movies cracked me up a little, since in the Tim Burton movie there was a prominent poster for this movie in one scene under it's original title "Pin Down Girls."

[ihavemyreasons]

Pluto TV been showing the Gamera movies on heavy rotation lately. To be honest, even with riffs I have a hard time giving them my full attention as I just find the movies very repetitive and unoriginal. But the "Gamera is turtle meat" from whatever one I had on in the background tonight is indeed great.

[Iron Curtain]

Pluto TV been showing the Gamera movies on heavy rotation lately. To be honest, even with riffs I have a hard time giving them my full attention as I just find the movies very repetitive and unoriginal. But the "Gamera is turtle meat" from whatever one I had on in the background tonight is indeed great.

I have a somewhat different take. I think the first Gamera was a terrific movie, riffed or not, but each successive Gamera movie was like a parody of the one before it. As for the riffs themselves, many of them hold up extremely well, such as the "Like a Good Neighbor Statefarm is there" jingle one, as well as the "It dawned on me how weird this movie is", so as far as I can say, any time is Gamera time.

[Darth Geek]

Pluto TV been showing the Gamera movies on heavy rotation lately. To be honest, even with riffs I have a hard time giving them my full attention as I just find the movies very repetitive and unoriginal. But the "Gamera is turtle meat" from whatever one I had on in the background tonight is indeed great.

I have a somewhat different take. I think the first Gamera was a terrific movie, riffed or not, but each successive Gamera movie was like a parody of the one before it.

I agree with this. The first Gamera movie is a really good Kaiju movie, especially for the time. It just happens to have a kid in it. The rest of them are stupid kids movies made by people who don't respect kids or the kaiju genre.

[dbsommer]

The Deadly Bees

This was decent, but not great. Part of it is the very cheap feel to the movie which feels like it should have been a plot to an old episode of 'The Avengers' (The Steed/Peel version), but was dragged out to a full length movie. It's not terrible to watch, just slow moving. There was nothing really terrible in the movie to lock on to. Jokes were fine and flowed well. Skits were solid. I want to talk more about it, but there isn't much to say.

An Average effort.

Earth vs The Spider

It's officially up on youtube. Ah yes, B+W early giant prop bug horror. Many a movie in this genre has been done by the guys, and Joel and Company knew how to work them. Now I would say this is top notch until the titular creature shows up, then curiously it slides down. I think part of it is the way the movie is built  up with the characters alone, and their absurd interactions as they try and piece things together, make for great fodder. I was laughing out loud several times and really found it wonderful. Once the big bug shows up, the movie becomes very painfully run of the mill, and so do the jokes since the whole thing is formulaic with nothing truly bizarro, like Giant Spider Invasion. It's still quite good, but it's a stronger first half followed by a weaker second.

The skits have Crow working on his 'Earth vs. Soup' script, which is a very good string of skits through this that fit well with the topic. Definitely great work on this end.

Slightly above average.

The Incredible Melting Man

Weird coincidence. This is the follow up skit (years later) with Pearl and Dr. F working with Crow in bringing 'Earth vs. Soup' to the big screen. Apparently the whole thing was a poke at having to work with big movie studios for the MST 3K Movie that hit some of the big screens, in that failed release campaign the studio did. Not quite as subtle a jab as David Lynch smashing a sledgehammer through a tv screen in the opening scene of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, but hey, it was theraputic for them. The skits are really great and memorable, and I like the connecting of them. Each one is fun to watch.

As to the film itself, dear god it's a classic for me. The Melting Man who... melts. He kills but really, it's all about the gooey melting. Dr. Ted Nelson, one of the most bland, yet mockable names due to the delivery in the movie, is the hero and they make perpetual fun of him and this horrible cast of characters. All of them memorable for all the wrong reasons, right down to the nameless janitor at the end. I mean it's a terrible movie with many terrible bits with is mined for comedic gold. The mix was delightful, and I laughed numerous times through the whole movie. And it's both great and awful the entire time. It's a steady stream of ineptitude and there's always something to mock. Absolutely fabulous.

Classic worth watching and rewatching.

[dbsommer]

Wild Rebels

This was on Prime so I figured why not? Couldn't remember a thing about it, and reading a brief description, it sounded like a variation of Sidehackers, an episode I enjoyed.

Nope. This is another 'I forgot everything about it because nothing in it is worth remembering.' I'll dissect the movie first: it's a boring premise for a half hour show, stretched out to well over an hour. No one can act, but it's bland rather than scenery chewing. Every location is boring. The interactions between the characters are lifeless. The 'plot' is meh. The lead is a charisma vacuum. But the things is, there's nothing bad in a way the guys can lock on to, or even 'so bad it's good' in this. Beast of Yucca Flats is godawful, but in such a way there's a ton of stuff to mock and make fun of. But this movie bored the heck out of me.

And the guys can't save it. There's nothing in the movie to lock on to like a good futuristic Italian apocalypse always has. No Eye Creature props. There's no running gags to work with. Nothing over the top to mock. I mean they try, but there's nothing they can do. I don't remember a single line, which is rare.

This easily rates towards the bottom of the list. There are tons of far better ones to hit before this one.

[ihavemyreasons]

Samson vs the Vampire Women
Was on Pluto TV this morning. Not one of my favorites in the past due to movie, but riffs really hit for me this time for some reason. More wrestling then I remembered. "Who will I kill" song great and a perfect example of why the over produced songs on the comeback seasons just don't hit home for me.

[eegah]

Women of the Prehistoric Planet

Also from season one, it has some of the same problems the first did, with a much duller movie and thus less interesting. Where Eye was good at what it tried to do with its limited budget, this was not. I think this was where 'hi, keeba' originated, though so there was something memorable about it. So go with Eye before this, IMO

Finally figured out why this episode is #104 even though it was the last episode of the season filmed and shown. Time dilation!