FanFare

Respectfully submitted for your perusal — a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we're going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. [more inside]
posted by thecaddy on Oct 9, 2023 - 10 comments

When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov), the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jan 5, 2023 - 7 comments

A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye. Trailer. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Dec 5, 2022 - 7 comments

A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes. The trailer contains spoilers for at least one of the stories, if you're not familiar with them already. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Dec 2, 2022 - 1 comment

A beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her. Trailer. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Nov 20, 2022 - 5 comments

A sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies. Trailer. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Nov 18, 2022 - 6 comments

The guests invited to weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who is haunted by half-remembered dreams and senses impending doom. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Nov 18, 2022 - 2 comments

Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Oct 13, 2022 - 12 comments

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, dote on their daughter, Rhoda -- as does their lonely landlady, Monica Breedlove. But self-centered Rhoda has a secret tendency for selfishness and loves to accumulate gifts, whether given or stolen, in her room. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Oct 3, 2022 - 6 comments

In this classic Preston Sturges comedy, the soldier-smitten Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) discovers that she is both married and pregnant after a raucous troop send-off party. While she has no idea who her new husband is, her longtime admirer, Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken), seizes the opportunity to help. When Trudy's cop father (William Demarest) catches wind of the situation, however, wacky misunderstandings follow, with the well-meaning Norval on the wrong side of the law.
posted by DirtyOldTown on May 9, 2019 - 7 comments

...she scribbled in her notebook: “LIFE IS A GREAT MYSTERY. IS EVERYBODY A DIFFERENT PERSON WHEN THEY ARE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE?” [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd on Feb 23, 2018 - 6 comments

"IT'S SHOCKING! It's Beyond Your Imagination!" "A cult of weird, horrible people who gather beautiful women only to deface them with a burning hand!" A family of three on vacation in the desert stumble upon a lodge run by the misshapen Torgo. Oh, what improbable secrets does the place hold? With short Hired!, part 2: The second half of the Chevrolet training short shown last week. ☠☠☠! Oh god! It's here! If it's not the worst movie they ever showed (a matter of some debate) it's a strong contender. It is not recommended that you make this your first episode of MST3K, or it may well be your last. The first eight minutes of this movie are just driving. The movie pushes Joel and company to the brink. The mad scientists apologize for the movie. Twice. YouTube (1h32m) - and here's the whole thing annotated, from the official MST3K YouTube channel! - And for sadists... ☠☠☠ UNRIFFED ☠☠☠ (1h9m) [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 6, 2016 - 16 comments

Not, as I assumed, some sort of concert documentary, but a farce portraying a sort of parody of a day in the life of the Beatles early in their career as they dodge hordes of screaming fans and commit shenanigans and hi-jinks on their way to a live TV concert. I found it charming and very funny. [more inside]
posted by straight on Dec 8, 2015 - 13 comments

The designers pitch their lingerie designs to Heidi, and the winning set was produced for sale in Heidi Klum's lingerie line. Special guest judge this week was Bella Thorne. [more inside]
posted by dorothyisunderwood on Sep 11, 2015 - 18 comments

"Santa Claus saves Christmas for the Children of the World!" "SEE: The Martians Kidnap Santa! Santa's North Pole Workshop! The Fantastic Martian Toy Factory! Earth Kids Meeting with Martian Kids! Space-ship Journey from Earth to Mars! Santa Turn Mars-Robot Into a Mechanical Toy!" St. Nicolas is kidnapped by Martians to help their kids and it's up to two Earth children, plus a mincing Martian named Dropo, to save Christmas on both planets. With a movie like SCCTM, it's difficult even to know where to start. I admire the movie's audacity, and once in a while it almost seems to work: Martian leader Kimar is kind of awesome, and villainous martian Voldar tries to kill our heroes sure but he's only acting on what he thinks is best for his home planet. But every time Dropo shows up I have to cover my eyes and ears. Truly, he is the secret archetype of Jar-Jar Binks. It's one of the best episodes of the whole run, a real must-see. YouTube (1h37m) Premiered December 21, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Sep 10, 2015 - 9 comments

The designers start out with paintball guns and grudges in a group challenge that's gender-split and quickly goes downhill. Kelly Osbourne is the guest judge. [more inside]
posted by dorothyisunderwood on Sep 3, 2015 - 18 comments

The designers must put their own stamp on classic fashion designs, drawing inspiration from New York City. Mary Kay makeup is also involved somehow. Sally Draper (okay, Kiernan Shipka) guest judges. [more inside]
posted by en forme de poire on Aug 29, 2015 - 20 comments

"The Towering Terror From Hell!" "SEE a Sixty Foot Giant Destroyed...in Color!" When we last saw Col. Glenn Manning, he was 60 feet tall and had fallen into the Colorado River, where we might presume his corpse would have stopped its flow at some point, or at least provided free sustenance for weeks to its aquatic wildlife. But they never found his amazing colossal body! Well that's because he survived, somehow, improbably, even though he was supposed to be close to death from his untimely embiggening. His sister (the first movie said he had no family but no matter) is determined to find out what happened to him. With the short MR. B NATURAL: A magical pixie that gives off mixed gender signals comes to visit a confused young boy and tries to sell him band equipment. The movie's another Bert I. Gordon monsterpiece, and a sequel to the movie featured in episode 309, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN. It's a black and white movie, but it's color for the very VERY end so they could say that ad up above wasn't a lie. The episode's okay, but tends to languish in the shadow of the short which, in terms of concentrated riffing power, might be the funniest thing the Brains ever did. YouTube (1h37m) BONUS: A real rarity, Mr. B Natural (26m) on YouTube, un-MSTed! [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Aug 27, 2015 - 14 comments

If ever there was a movie that could be called "virtually indescribable," this one is it. Loosely, though, it's about a con artist (Robert Mitchum) posing, or at least halfway believing himself to be, a traveling preacher who, during a short prison stay, meets a man sentenced to death, one who had stolen and hidden $10,000. The would-be preacher learns that the man will soon have a window (Shelley Winters), and an idea is born. What follows is half-gritty Depression era crime tale, half Southern Gothic/Grimm Fairy Tale (and or Good vs. Evil fable), as he tries to track down the money, via the widow's children. Now playing through July 23 at Watch TCM, available with a cable sign-in. [more inside]
posted by raysmj on Jul 16, 2015 - 15 comments

Anyone interested in a Turner Classic Movies film club? [more inside]
posted by JauntyFedora on Jun 27, 2015 - 2 comments

(1978, Color, Japan, Sandy Frank, Music, Forklift Homicide, Intro, Classic) Two episodes of the Japanese TV show Star Wolf (スターウルフ) merge into a sorta-movie by our old fiend Sandy Frank. Ken is a Wolf Raider, one of a band of space pirates, but after turning against his culture when they tried to kill an Earth kid (also named Ken), he throws his lot in with hard-drinking Captain Joe and the crew of his ship, the Bacchus III. Hey! I made a Metafilter post about this show once! It has AWESOME MUSIC, which Joel and company make good use of. I tell you truly, this is one of the best shows the Brains ever made. The movie is extremely goofy, yet still kind of watchable and likeable, and the riffing is top-notch. If you can like MST3K, you will like this. Good times ahead! YouTube. (1h40m) First aired August 17, 1991. BONUS: It's not for newbies, but you can watch the guys' first take on this movie that aired on KTMA TV! YouTube (1h43m) [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jun 24, 2015 - 11 comments

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. [more inside]
posted by drezdn on Mar 27, 2015 - 3 comments

(1973, Color, Japanese, Godzilla, Kaiji, Classic) "Giant Against Giant... the Ultimate Battle!" A scientist, his guyfriend, and the shrill little boy they hang out with send the robot they made, Jet Jaguar, to get Godzilla to defend against the guardian monster of the Kingdom of Seatopia, who are angry because of nuclear testing. One of the best of Mystery Science Theater 3000 of all! The movie is ridiculous, the riffing hilarious, and it has some of the greatest host segments too, including the infamous Orville "Popcorn" Redenbacher sketch. But, unfortunately, this episode is very difficult to find these days, thanks to the legal machinations of Godzilla's owner, Toho. Unavailable on YouTube. First shown January 19, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 25, 2015 - 14 comments