Cinematic Titanic visits MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann

I kind of missed the boat on this one (BIG SURPRISE!) but Trace, Joel, and Josh appeared on MSNBC last week, on long-time MSTie Keith Olbermann’s show. You can see it above and, yes, it’s about as charmingly Midwest-Awkward as you might expect. With exposure like this, I expect to see not just a ton more live shows, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of them heading into the studio sometime this year.

Not that I want to start a stupid Rifftrax vs. Cinematic Titanic discussion, but has Rifftrax ever received this level of promotion? Or is this the most mainstream exposure a Brains project has gotten since MST3K?

Josh Weinstein chats with Ken Plume

J. Elvis Weinstein just sat down for a chat with friend to all MSTies Ken Plume for what Josh describes as “a long, long time.” I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it is probably “entertaining,” possibly “incredible,” and most likely not “ghetto fly.” Give a listen here.

Weekend Backloggery: Hodgson Overdrive edition

Yep, it’s time to bust out the Joel Hodgson stock image. Over this past week, the Cinematic Titanic hype machine has continued to churn away, and Joel has been the one throwing coal on the fire, this time. He has three fairly decent interviews up, which you can check out here:

• UGO TV Blog
• The Toledo Blade
• NewsOK.com Blogging Community

And closing out this short edition of the backloggery, the NewsOK Blogging Community also has a long interview with Trace Beaulieu. Okay, now I’m off to do some writing that doesn’t want to be done.

Trace podcasts, reveals new Cinematic Titanic details

Puppeteer and Madman extraordinaire Trace Beaulieu was recently a guest on a Twin Cities-area podcast called The Well-Fed Guide To Life. Basically, the show’s hosts take their guest out to a local restaurant and record the interview right there. Interesting. The result, in this case, is an hour of fairly casual conversation about all things Cinematic Titanic, MST3K, and bear-related. Specifically, Trace revealed some interesting info about CT’s future plans.

First off, one of the crew’s upcoming targets will be Blood of the Vampire, an old porphyric hemophiliac flick that sounds deliciously awful. He also spoke of a “Frankenstein-like” movie, which has “Frankenstein” in the title, but not so much on-camera, and another movie that he refused to reveal. And he also confirmed that November will see the release of a Christmas edition of Cinematic Titanic.

Most interestingly, however, is that Trace almost seems to imply that the CT crew will be riffing a movie previously featured on MST3K. He doesn’t confirm it, but he’s just vague enough to make it a repeatable rumor. It’s a fun interview. They even ask him the dreaded “Mike vs. Joel” question, which Trace answers perfectly and hilariously. The podcast runs for an hour, and it’s definitely worth a listen.

Also, I’m loving the subtle commentary on the Flash-animated series…

SDCC: Film School Rejects interviews Jim and Joel

As you can see, I’ve been away for a while. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been in the process of moving to a new house, and Comic-Con couldn’t have come at a worse time. So, pardon me if I post a late Comic-Con article or two. (Though, fortunately, Queen Shadowrama was kind enough to do a little bit of the heavy lifting with her two excellent posts.)

Film School Rejects found time to sit down with Joel Hodgson and Jim Mallon during the con. It’s a pleasant little interview, and there’s no visible Midwestern rage or awkwardness between the two papa Brains. That is, no awkwardness apart from the awkwardness you get when you interview two quiet, unassuming Midwestern gentlemen. And Joel has some comforting words for us, re: a reunion show.

SDCC: Comic-Con Rocks, But You Knew That Already

To those who were unable to attend Comic-Con 2008 this year (Hugh included), I have been asked to report the goings-on to your eagerly awaiting computer screens.

By now, you all know that the DVDs for the 20th Anniversary Box Set are Laserblast, Werewolf, Future War, and First Spaceship on Venus, but did you know that Dr. Forrester has a third lightening bolt streak…in his pants? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Kudos to Trace for sharing that deeply intimate detail! Unfortunately, it made Mike and Kevin try to rip out their own eyeballs.

Anyway, the 20th Anniversary panel was a roaring success, and everyone on the panel seemed to be having a great time. No tension at all, just fun. At the beginning, the lights were dimmed and we were treated to our favorite opening theme song, mishmashed so that all the eras were blended into a single song. Joel’s voice flowed into Mike’s and each of the Bots were given a double Robot Roll Call to cover the cast changes for each one. (Click for more, after the cut.)

New cast interviews on Shout Factory MST3K release

In the latest Cinematic Titanic email update, Joel makes mention of shooting some interviews this week, for Shout Factory’s upcoming 20th Anniversary MST3K DVD set. This might end up being for the aforementioned “History of MST3K” feature said to be included amongst the extras. Either way, it looks like Shout Factory is definitely putting some effort into this. Hopefully, the Rifftrax crew is also in on this.

Oddly, Shout Factory asked the CT crew to come “‘camera ready’ and dressed as ‘we’d want our children and grandchildren to see us’.” The latter phrasing makes it sound like they’re going to embalm them or something. Just in case, stay alert, guys.

New Jim Mallon interview, now with semi-candidness

Satellite News has an interesting new interview with (arguably) the chief Brain, former MST3K producer and current rights-holder Jim Mallon. They describe it as being “no-topic-off-limits,” and I appreciate the gesture, but it’s not quite as hard-hitting as I would’ve liked. Nonetheless, it’s a much better interview than what we’re used to.

While there’s nothing too controversial, there are a few noteworthy responses. Jim possesses the missing KTMA episodes, for one. (He seems willing to release the host segments.) And Jim doesn’t contradict any of Joel’s recent claims about the past, which is nice. He does, however, carefully maneuver around the question about Josh’s departure, and he says that the animated shorts were discontinued due to cost, ignoring the fact that 80% of the fans despised them.

Good read, though. Check it out.

Starship Bill

Pardon the graininess of the above image, but I love the picture so much, I just had to use it despite its small resolution. It’s from this interview (scroll down) at Minnesota Monthly, which is entirely about Meet Dave (formerly “Starship Dave”), the upcoming sci-fi family comedy that Bill wrote a while back.

If you need even more Bill, he also appeared on a radio show with the guys from Satellite News, a couple of weeks ago. The show is hosted by Rifftrax community member Mary Beth Ellis and you can download or stream it on this page (it’s the May 20th show). Also, this.

Cinematic Titanic at the Dallas Film Festival, Post-Mortem

Last weekend, the Cinematic Titanic crew performed a live show at the Dallas Film Festival, also signing autographs and answering questions and doing the usual fanboy placation. Kevin Murphy was supposed to join them for the MST3K 20th Anniversary panel, but he was sick and had to cancel. Thankfully, a handful of reports and interviews have cropped up, so here’s what I’ve been able to find.

First of all, let’s get some warm-up time with the CT crew, with this excellent pre-Film Fest interview at Kulturblog, featuring a misplaced Kevin. A lot of good lines in this one, with Kevin, Trace, and Josh really cracking me up. On a slightly more-related note, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also did a short interview with Joel.

Now, for some actual reports. Pegasus News has a real nice recap of the festivities, including a few choice answers from the Q&A and from the riffing. Oh, by the way, they riffed Roger Corman’s The Wasp Woman, so expect to see that as a future release. Comic book artist Benjamin Hall also blogged about the event, and took the picture you see at the top of this post. Satellite News has another fan’s account. And finally, Mary Jo offers her own take on their outing.

So, all in all, sounds like another typically amazing public appearance for the former cast of MST3K. Whether Rifftrax or Cinematic Titanic, it seems that it’s hard not to have a great time at a live show. Lastly, the quote of the evening belongs to Trace, in my opinion:

TV is dead. The internet is the future. Join us.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Joel Takes Another Stab At Q&A Session, As Does Kevin

Joel’s recent interview with the users of Slashdot was a bit of a bust. The questions were a little weak, his answers were a little canned, he dodged the Rifftrax question, and it just felt like a bad promotional interview. Joel, however, is not one to allow mediocrity to… be mediocre. Or something. With the help of “RAD,” Mary Jo Pehl’s husband, Joel recently fielded questions from fans on the MST3K forums and the Cinematic Titanic forums, resulting in two 20-question interviews: here and here.

Kevin Murphy also decided to offer up his own 20 25 questions in this blog post. (The actual Q&A occurs in the comments.) Not much of note there, but he does seem to offer some discouraging words about The Film Crew. Also, I don’t think he’s parodying Joel’s interviews, but referencing the usual “20 questions” sessions they have on the Rifftrax forums.

Studio Kaiju Interviews Kevin Murphy and Mary Jo Pehl

Well, this isn’t exactly news, since it happened last December, but it’s new to me and probably new to you. Studio Kaiju is an intriguing little website starring Mr. Colin Reboy, a now-13-year-old young man who has been interviewing cult-variety celebrities since 2003. Well, while I was perusing his recent interview with James Urbaniak on YouTube, I happened to notice that he had also interviewed Kevin Murphy and Mary Jo Pehl. Kevin’s interview actually includes video and is broken up into five parts, while Mary Jo’s is audio-only. I’ve embedded the bulk of them after the cut.

Kevin’s interview (part one is above, by the way) just reinforces my love for the man. He just seems like a really amazing, friendly guy, and I also finished his book recently, so I’m in a Kevin-lovin’ mood, these days. (Sorry, am I getting fanboy juice on you?) And who doesn’t love Mary Jo? (Hey, I said “Mary Jo,” not “Pearl”.) Sadly, her interview is much shorter and the audio quality is a little lacking. Still, she’s charming as ever.

I recommend checking out the rest of Studio Kaiju’s interviews. They’re fairly awkward, but I think that adds to the charm, plus there’s quite a few notable names among his interviewees, like “the guest list of the greatest Dragon*Con ever,” as Urbaniak puts it. I figure, even though Mr. Reboy is in those awkward teen years, he also happens to be doing something awesome that, frankly, I’m quite envious of. I’d say he’s got a pretty sweet deal going. Again, more after the cut.

BadMovies.org Interviews Rick Sloane

BadMovies.org, fittingly enough, recently posted an interview with Hobgoblins director Rick Sloane. It’s pretty wordy and somewhat long, so don’t go into it expecting it to be all giggles and mockery. There’s nothing too revelatory, but there’s some talk about his upcoming Hobgoblins sequel. He even threatens us with the possibility of a second sequel, having apparently already completed the script for it.

You know, I’m going to have to bore you with a rant about Rick Sloane and the MST3K phenomenon that is Hobgoblins, sometime. In short, Rick Sloane and his creation are a non-entity to me. The film is not a good movie. It’s not a bad movie. It’s not a good bad movie. It fails, in every conceivable way. It doesn’t even make for a good MST3K episode, as far as I’m concerned. I watched the episode and I felt like I’d been in a coma for an hour and thirty-seven minutes.

Anyway, the interview is worth a read. It’s always good to get to know your prey, MSTies. Even if that prey is a self-important incompetant.

Joel’s Slashdot Interview Finally Goes Live

In November, Slashdot took questions from readers for a Joel Hodgson interview. Now, two months later, it’s finally been posted. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why it took so long, but who am I to judge lateness?

Frankly, the interview’s a bit of a let-down. There are a few notable answers, but most of it’s a little mundane. He also failed to answer the question that asked his opinion of Mike, Kevin, and Bill’s ventures, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, at least. And Joel always sounds so formal in interviews… What’s up with that, dude? Sorry, guys, he just rubs me the wrong way, these days. Am I crazy?

Josh Weinstein Interview Is Live

The interview with J. Elvis Weinstein that Joel promised us is now linked from the Cinematic Titanic website. You can catch it here. It’s nice to finally hear from Josh. I generally feel like I don’t even know the man, despite the fact that he’s one of the show’s founding fathers. Get to know the man who “discovered” that Mike Nelson guy. It’s your duty as a MSTie.