MST3K Rocks!

For the ones that aren’t on DVD: http://dapcentral.org/

And, of course, alt.binaries.multimedia.mst3k

The torrents on the pirate bay work very well with decent speed. I’m about halfway through the 135 or so gigs of all ten seasons plus extras. I figure another month or so and I oughta be done.

MCCLOUD?

I chose Joel not only because he had Dr. F and TV’s Frank vs. Pearl/Bobo/Brain Guy (jesus what a collection of assholes) but because I thought the skits were funnier with Joel. As has been pointed out, he was a lot more laid back than Mike, but I think that helped - he just had this flippant attitude that made even the bad jokes chuckleworthy. I like Mike, but there are a lot of instances where it just feels like he’s trying too hard.

It’s unfair to judge Mike by the later cast.

Hell, they had that horrible pre-Frank assistant guy in the first season, and he was the world Tom Servo ever.

UN. WATCH. ABLE.

This one is without a doubt my fav MST3k.

“Theory of flight, I’ll teach you the theory of fist!”

Ator hang-glides off a mountain…

“I’ve invented the wheel!”

“This is a little ridiculous. Okay, so… he kills a deer, he tans the hides, he stretches the skins, he makes an anodized aluminum frame, he learns how to extrude and weld… all in about five minutes?”

— Alan

“He’s good.”

“He’s THE BEST.”

I so want that “I’m a VIRGIN” T-shirt.

By the way, those that want to experience Space Mutiny first hand can watch the whole thing (the MST3k version that is) on Google Video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8590533394044637016&q=mst3k (I think that should work)

The Rifftrax for The Phantom Menace is probably the best one I’ve heard so far. The amount of slagging is tremendous, and the constant oriental cooking jokes whenever the Trade Federation guys are on screen never gets old (and I think they threw in a Tora! Tora! Tora! moment in there too).

— Alan

Baaaack from the deaaaaddd!

I voted but didn’t post last time, so I’ll take the opportunity now (thanks, Alan!) to explain Why, God, Why I voted for Mike: It’s easier to hear his voice over the movie. Joel was fine, but his voice was so low I was never sure whether I’d missed a joke.

The writing did get worse in the Sci-Fi era. By that time, the riffs were little more than “This movie sucks”. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but earlier season riffs seemed to demonstrate why this movie sucks, crediting the viewer with just a smidgen more of intelligence. Like, in The Creeping Terror:

Narrator: Everyone who experienced that catastrophe and survived would never. Go there. Again.
Servo: As opposed to those who did NOT survive such a catastrophe and would never. Go there. Again.

(This one also has my all time favourite riff, “You see guys, when a monster and a small car love each other very much…”)

Some interesting if not slightly odd news on the whole MST3K front, including the return of Best Brains Inc., a relaunch of MST3k.com and… new stuff. Kinda.

http://www.mst3kinfo.com for more info.

— Alan

Hmm. Well, that could be funny, but animated robot adventures aren’t exactly the MST3K of old.

…and on the heels of that comes:

http://www.cinematictitanic.com/

— Alan

Trace and Frank!

Booyah!

Truly we may be entering the golden age of riffing.

Mike is hilarious, but Mary Jo Pehl is the anti-funny. So every episode that she’s not in wins against all the others.

Holy cats, that CinematicTitanic announcement just made my day. Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and whatever TV Frank’s real name is were always the heart of MST3k to me. Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy are funny enough, I suppose, but I never got from them the sense of genuine affection for bad cheesy movies, sans any hint of sneering, that I got from Joel, Crow/Dr. Forrester, and TV’s Frank. That’s what made me love the early MST3k so much, and why I’m completely unmoved by that RiffTrax stuff.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that RiffTrax totally misses the point of MST3k. By goofing on movies like LOTR and 300, those guys aren’t really doing anything besides talking during a movie that I might otherwise enjoy watching. Sheesh.

To me, MST3k is about enjoying the silliness of movies that you loved as a kid, when you were too young to know any better. It’s not ridicule. It’s appreciation.

-Tom

I’ll agree with you to the degree that I’ve bought the RiffTrax only for movies that I thought were dumb. I hadn’t noticed that pattern before, but now that you mention it, it’s true for me.

To me, MST3k is about enjoying the silliness of movies that you loved as a kid, when you were too young to know any better. It’s not ridicule. It’s appreciation.

Interesting also. Certainly holds true for the Gamera films. I actually got into playground fights defending his honor as the best giant monster. (New York City is tough. Even the playgrounds are tough…)

BUT, I don’t think that’s all it is. I don’t mind a little meanness now and then. And the rifftrax for the SW prequels are pretty epic.

Sorry, but I can’t imagine anybody of sound mind enjoying most of the movies that MST3K riffed on. It was pretty rare for them to riff on a movie that was ever considered good.

[I]
S-A-N-T-A C-L-A-U-S

Hooray for Santa Claus![/I]

Worked when I was five.