Hi. Welcome to Deep Ape, home to gratuitous amounts of Mystery Science Theater 3000-related news and nonsense! Click the "Entries RSS" feed link above to keep up-to-date on all the latest MST3K, Rifftrax, Film Crew, and Cinematic Titanic news, as well as other assorted shenanigans.
Deep Ape is not officially connected to Best Brains, Rifftrax, The Film Crew, or Cinematic Titanic and is 100% independent. The views expressed here are obnoxious, probably wrong, and they in no way represent the views of the aforementioned. Amen.
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Well, Comic-Con 2009 is officially over, and what a great time it was! There’s something very special about seeing so many geeks in one place, and this year was no exception. The convention hall was filled to the brim with various nerd treasures, from comic books to elaborate figurines, and even Star Trek perfume!
But of course, the real draw for me (and Deep Ape!) were the various Rifftrax events that were going on over the weekend. Click past the break to read about it!
I had a brief, 30-second conversation with MST3K creator Joel Hodgson. I had a brief conversation with Joel Hodgson. I talked with Joel Hodgson. I came into contact with Joel Hodgson. Joel… Hodgson.
On June 13th, my 26th birthday, I traveled to the city of Philadelphia to see the Cinematic Titanic crew do a live riffing of Danger on Tiki Island. Let me go ahead and spoil the article for you: It was amazing and you need to go see them live. Seriously. Now. Sell the kids, break out the rollerblades, do whatever it takes to get to a live show. Rifftrax, Cinematic Titanic, it doesn’t matter — the Brains and their work were meant to be experienced live. Click past the break for the full report.
(Please note: Due to my lack of a working camera, the header image came from Katy Beaulieu’s cell phone, hence the low quality. [That's a comment on cell phone cameras, not Katy's abilities as a photographer.] In case you can’t tell, that’s Trace on the left and me on the right. I look awful, but I photoshopped in a close approximation of how I felt at the time.)
Every once in a while, a movie like Manos or The Incredibly Strange Creatures comes along, and it’s just so repulsive and completely unappealing that it leaves a thick, black layer of sin and shame on your soul that can take days, maybe even years, to shake off. Yet, even amidst all that sheer celluloid evil, you’ll still often find a Torgo or a Madison to brighten your spirits and remind you that every dark raincloud filled with urine has a silver lining.
Still, what happens when there isn’t a silver lining? When no matter how deeply and desperately you claw and scrape at the filth and grime, you just can’t find any redemptive quality, any soul worth saving? What happens when there is no sweet, smiling Torgo in that dark, dark sky? Well, you get Legacy of Blood. Click ahead to read my long-delayed (sorry!) review of Cinematic Titanic’s fourth DVD release.
Posted on November 2, 2008 by Matthew J. Sanderson
In September, when DVD Talk reviewer King Stuart Elderberry Galbraith IV gave Cinematic Titanic’s The Wasp Woman a surprisingly vicious, scathing review, most of us reacted with appropriate rage. However, after spending some time with the crew’s take on Roger Corman’s 1959 snoozer, I have to admit that I’m not nearly as offended by Galbraith’s bile and ire as I used to be.
While I certainly don’t wish death and destruction upon the Brains and all their works now (as some seem to), Wasp Woman was definitely not the ideal DVD to show to someone who clearly has a bias against MST3K and its descendants. How bad is it? Well, it’s not “half-a-star” bad, I can tell you that much in the pre-review blurb. For the saucy, tantalizing specifics, hit the jump and read. You know you want to.
[Queen Shadowrama is back, offering her recap of Cinematic Titanic's recent live show in Minneapolis, on October 25th. She is awesome. READ ON! -Hugh]
After a long day of flying the turbulent skies, I have finally arrived home from a whirlwind weekend in Minneapolis. What on Earth would cause me to skip school on Friday and travel to a city I have never been to? Why, Cinematic Titanic Live, of course!
I spent most of the day on Saturday excitedly anticipating the evening’s show, but of course, I couldn’t just sit in my hotel room bouncing off the walls like a jittery fangirl! So, along with my partners in crime Robyn and Anchan, we decided to do some sightseeing. Of course, we headed to the one place all tourists gather:The Mall. Of course, I’m talking about the infamous Mall of America, our country’s largest tourist trap. And boy, did we get sucked in. From the amusement park to the aquarium, to the ten billion stores calling to my credit card, we were in absolute awe.
What made it especially fun is the fact that, while browsing a Minnesota-themed store (which, of course, only people not from Minnesota would ever set foot inside), we stumbled upon our first real sign that today was going to be a good day. We found a T-shirt that said, “I live in my own little world, but it’s okay… they know me here!” Those of you familiar with Joel’s early stand-up routine know that this was something that he would say often. Obviously, I had to make that shirt mine. Mall of America 1, Queen Shadowrama 0. Now, on to the riffing festivities…
Posted on September 9, 2008 by Matthew J. Sanderson
Earlier this year, DVD Talk writer Brian Orndorf wrote a glowing review for Cinematic Titanic’s The Oozing Skull. He’s an MST3K fan, so he obviously understood the premise and enjoyed the episode. So, now that it’s time to review CT’s take on Roger Corman’s The Wasp Woman, you’d think they’d hand it over to their MST3K guy, right? Yeah, you’d think that, wouldn’t you?
Nope. Instead, they haul out the incredulously named Stuart Galbraith IV, a f*cking film historian, to write the review. As one might expect from a film historian who clearly isn’t a MSTie, he utterly hated the episode, giving it the absolute worst panning that I’ve ever seen an MST3K-related product receive.
Now, I recognize that MST3K isn’t for everyone, nor do I expect it to be for everyone. But when your site has one DVD reviewer who understands and enjoys a certain genre of film, then you don’t go and give the review to another reviewer who hates that genre of film. That’s like sending a vegetarian to a steakhouse. So, pay no mind to Sir Galbraith’s review. Wasp Woman isn’t exactly Manos, but it deserves better than 0.5/5. Tsk, tsk, DVD Talk. (My review will be coming soon.)
UPDATE: According to this comment on Satellite News, the reviewer had no idea he was going to be reviewing the CT version of Wasp Woman. While this explains the situation a bit, I still don’t think it excuses what is an entirely inappropriate review. Also, you can read Bill Corbett’s thoughts in this comment.
UPDATE 2: And while we’re at it, it looks like most of the folks on DVD Talk’s forums don’t agree with Sir Stuart Hildebrandt Galbraith IV, M.D., either.
Posted on September 7, 2008 by Matthew J. Sanderson
When I reviewed Cinematic Titanic’s first episode, The Oozing Skull, I ran into a bit of a dilemma: It was the first episode of the series, and I didn’t really have anything to compare it to. After all, it would be unfair to compare it to Mystery Science Theater, the pinnacle of movie riffing. So, I simply had to give it an arbitrary grade. Now, however, with three new episodes of Cinematic Titanic on the way, two of which have been released, we can finally start to gain some perspective.
For their second episode, the Titanic crew chose a late-’60s sci-fi clunker that makes it hard to believe that, while it was having its run in theaters, George Lucas was probably starting to dream up Star Wars. (The bulk of the movie was filmed in 1967, but it wasn’t finished until 1972.) Doomsday Machine is a bland, woeful film, salvaged only by… uh, Ruta Lee’s prettiness? Oh, I don’t know.
By now, you probably already own this episode, but in case you don’t, or in case you give a flip about my opinion, hit the jump for my overanalysis of the film and the episode, both of which have 100% fewer hippies than Oozing Skull.
Well, now’s as good a time as any to keep tabs on what the internet’s saying about MST3K and its offspring. I’ll probably start making these posts more often, whenever I have a small surplus of links building up. So, onward.
[+]Movie reviews: a big one and a small one
With the rerelease of MST3K: The Movie on DVD comes a batch of new DVD reviews. OhmyNews International wrote a lengthy review, while CanMag posted a short one. Both reviews are typical: The Movie is good, though not the series’ high point; and the DVD is anemic, but welcome.
[+]It’s a John Philip Lawlapalooza!
This morning, I stumbled across a rather impressive video of an intro to what is apparently a documentary about the recently deceased John Philip Law, titled The Swinging Lust World of John Philip Law. I’ve embedded it after the break, along with even more John Philip Law than you can shake a stick at. Did you know he was in a movie called “Doctor Justice”? Oh hell yeah.
So, this is it. The second coming of The Hodgson. How are you feeling about it, folks? Was it worth the wait? General consensus seems to be, “Yes.” Prior to its release, I had hopes for this project but, as always, I was cautious in my optimism. After all, I’ve had my criticisms of Rifftrax and The Film Crew. They both have failed to capture the magic of MST as I remember it. Would a different combination of Brains do the trick? Would five be better than three?
I’m honestly not prepared, nor entirely willing, to start making “Joel vs. Mike” comparisons, nor “Trace vs. Bill” or “Josh vs. Kevin.” And as much as we’d all like to see a Mary Jo vs. Bridget kickboxing match, I think it’s kind of like comparing apples and oranges. For most, it will probably be more a question of which riffing style you prefer. I’m a Mike/Kevin/Trace man, myself. Oddly enough, though, I found that this preference had little bearing on my own personal enjoyment (or lack thereof — who knows?) of Cinematic Titanic.
So anyway, nevermind the bollocks. Here’s the Oozing Skull review (after the cut).
Posted on January 17, 2008 by Matthew J. Sanderson
More Oozing Skull reviews have been popping up on blogs, so here’s what I’ve found so far. The winged unicorn that is flying my special, magical Leprechaun Edition of Oozing Skull to me seems to have gotten caught in some turbulance, but I’ll post my review ASAP, once it arrives. Then, we can commence with the inevitable flaming. Start practicing those witty comebacks.
Before I post the links to the CT reviews, I just want to quickly say a word about piracy. Basically, don’t do it. Especially be careful with eBay. There’s no need to look on eBay for copies of CT. You will end up paying more than you need to, and you’ll probably end up with an illegal copy (CT DVDs have no copy protection). And don’t download the episode via P2P or BitTorrent, despite what some are supposedly saying. Being short on money and unhappy with EZTakes’ quality, I had originally contemplated pirating the first episode, just to try it out. But no, that would be wrong, George. Please make the same decision, out of respect for the artists.
Posted on January 13, 2008 by Matthew J. Sanderson
I just came across the first Oozing Skull review that I’ve seen. Evidently, some copies may have arrived on Saturday, so watch your mailboxes tomorrow. Looks like the reviewer enjoyed it. But I disagree with everyone in the universe, so I’ll keep my hopes at the “cautious” level, for now.
Also, it seems I was right about the Bush jokes. Frank, honey, I know you’re mad, mean-mad, but please try to lay off those jokes. They fail. Hard.
Posted on December 4, 2007 by Matthew J. Sanderson
It would seem to the naked, dirty eye that I’ve left behind my days of writing reviews. But nay, say I. As long as I have opinions, I will desire to force those opinions on others. It’s the American way. Of course, since I’m only 50% American, I’ve been slacking off horribly. Now, with the release of the Rifftrax DVD Player software, I have found something so lovely that even I cannot procrastinate it any longer.
For the majority of the Rifftrax brand’s lifespan, the hordes of Nelson followers have been clamoring for a piece of software that would simplify the tedious process of synching the Rifftrax MP3s with their fetid DVD counterparts. Speaking for myself, I know that this has been a large factor in keeping me away from the commentaries. No matter what Rifftrax employees will tell you, synching is a huge pain in the ass. People tried using certain programs, but nothing really seemed to make the process easy enough. Fortunately – and believe me, I’m going light on the hyperbole here – Rifftrax has finally made the synching process downright delightful.
The Rifftrax DVD Player, now currently in beta, far exceeds my expectations of what Rifftrax synching software ought to be. As you can see in the interface pictured above, it’s sleek and relatively straight-forward. Simply pop a DVD in your computer, load the .riff file (more on that later) and, in theory, the player links the commentary and the DVD together, allowing you to start, stop, fast-forward, and rewind them both simultaneously with just a click of a button.
Why do I say “in theory”? My laptop’s DVD player isn’t quite in working condition, so I haven’t actually been able to try it out myself. So, yes, this is a somewhat incomplete review. Still, from what I can see, the player looks like a phenomenally sweet piece of work, especially considering that it’s only just in beta. It’s totally free (not sure if that will ever change), so I’d recommend downloading it right away. Check the FAQ, if you’re still not satisfied, Demanding McDemandypants.
Are they any negatives? Well, yes. For one, Mac users and fans from outside the U.S. are out of luck, as it requires Windows XP/Vista and only works with NTSC DVDs. The Rifftrax in question also has to have a .riff file available, and not all of them have one yet. If you’ve already paid for an MP3 Rifftrax, check the “Files” tab in your order history to see if there’s a .riff file available for the track(s) you own. If so, the .riff file should be free to download. You can even extract the MP3 from the .riff file via the Player, should you need to port the track around in your iPod of choice.
So, if you’ve been complaining about the synching aspect of Rifftrax, your days of legitimately whining are over. (Unless you don’t have a DVD drive, that is.) If you’re still skeptical about the software, the folks at Rifftrax put together a video tutorial for the player, which is embedded above. The negatives are fairly minimal (for me, at least) and I’d have to grade it thusly:
Posted on October 19, 2007 by Matthew J. Sanderson
A little bit overdue, but I try to follow through on my promises. Here’s my collection of reviews of the second Film Crew release, the Peter Graves-vs.-bug-eyed-aliens thriller Killers From Space. As I said in my last recap, I’ll be focusing on the reviewers’ numerical ratings of the riffing content, since that’s the meat of the product. If they gave the packaging 2/10 because the disc wasn’t made from the ivory of a unicorn’s horn, I will not be taking it into account. There aren’t as many reviews this time, so please feel free to post links to unlisted reviews in the comments.
As you can see, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s generally positive. The general public seems to still be of the opinion that, even when Mystery Science Theater is bad, it’s still pretty good. I guess that’s sometimes true. It’d be nice to see some more frank and honest reviews, though. Believe me, MST3K had some crap episodes. I haven’t seen the Film Crew’s DVDs yet. Are they worth the hype?
Posted on September 2, 2007 by Matthew J. Sanderson
Over the past few months, The Film Crew has gotten a fair amount of interweb press coverage for their DVD releases. If you’re still undecided about whether these Midwestern mooks and their straight-to-video shenanigans are worth your hard-earned scratch, then you can use these handy-dandy collections of reviews as your guide. Here are all the reviews I’ve come across for Hollywood After Dark. Feel free to add more in the comments. Killers From Space reviews will follow shortly after.
And now the Deep Ape Highly Mathematical Overall Average Summary Grade Thing: A-. Almost everyone seems to think that the movie segments are great, but everyone seems to find the “host segments,” movie video quality, and extras lacking. Ultimately, though, these don’t detract much from their experience. In other words, go buy it. It’s not too shabby.
*This is the rating for the actual “in-theater” riffing content. They review and rate other aspects of the DVD, such as video quality and extras, but I’ve excluded these numbers and focused on their opinions of the real meat of the product. Who cares about the video quality, you dirty film snobs?
If you’ve been neglecting your duties and not reading either thisblog or Satellite News, then you’re probably not aware of Frank Conniff’s new project, a web series called Cartoon Dump. It’s an anti-children’s show, with a heaping helping of dark humor and gloom shrouded in the guise of Nick Jr. visuals and perk. After a short, live-action intro, they show a craptastic vintage cartoon, in what’s perhaps the most MST-like portion of the show. There’s no riffing, but there is a whole lot of bad. You can watch the series for free here.
The first episode opens with the cute and spritely Erica Doering, as “Compost Brite,” singing the cheery and simplistic theme song. After starting things off with a series of bulimia jokes to set the tone, Frank’s character is introduced. As Moodsy The Clinically Depressed Owl, Conniff is essentially playing TV’s Frank on a bad day. Moodsy goes on to introduce their “sponsor,” Little Boy Blue Anti-Depressants For Children, something that looks like an Invention Exchange right out of Deep 13, if you’ll pardon another MST3K comparison. From there, it’s onto the episode’s cartoon.
And that cartoon is Mighty Mister Titan, a very short slice of hell that makes it all too apparent that Dr. Forrester should’ve looked to the bastard children of the animation world in his campaign for global domination. The short is an amazing piece of crap that manages to blend physical fitness, patriotic propaganda, and a nearly Aryan animated host into a fetid milkshake of hell. The majority of the dialogue consists of a brain-piercing chorus of children shouting out, “One, two, three, four!” as the uncomfortably masculine host and his stick-figure companion repeatedly demonstrate three exercises. Once the cartoon finishes, Compost and Moodsy share a smoke and the episode ends, all in under eight minutes.
The first thing that hit me about the show was how alarmingly low-tech everything is, lacking a proper set and adequate lighting. I suppose that, after being accustomed to Mike, Kevin, and Bill’s various projects, I was expecting something on the higher end of low-tech. But that’s not important. The writing is pretty good, throwing in references to bulimia, the war in Iraq, suicide, and smoking – all excellently inappropriate subject matter. While they successfully convey the delightfully dark tone of the series, the jokes aren’t really as sharp as they could be, though I assume that’s just the result of its being the first episode. Given some time, this show could be quite exceptional. For now, it’s a fun novelty. We get to see Frank and his charming companions, and we get to cringe at an awful cartoon. A good deal, all in all.
