FanFare

Re-rewatch! Once again, it's the last episode of Season 11, the first Netflix season. People go to the center of Edgar Rice Burroughs Earth and meet dinos and cavefolk. It's Growler's first episode, and the episode of Kinga's ratings-stunt marriage that never ends up happening. It ends on a kind of cliffhanger, but Jonah's okay, he's outside the SOL in a space suit. Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Mar 23, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! Santa is gonna be put out on the streets (floes?) by his landlord, a Mr. Prune, unless Mr. Whipple can save him. Don't squeeze the Charmin! Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Mar 16, 2023 - 2 comments

Re-resuffer! Welcome back to the "Manos" of Season 11: Carnival Magic. Alex the chimp can talk, sorta-kinda, but not about anything interesting. His owner Markov is a cut-rate magician and hypnotist that for some reason everyone seems to deeply respect or despise. Probably the worst movie of Season 11, and one of the worst ever made. But at least Mark Hamill appears in this episode in a host segment! Previously and (ugh) again.
posted by JHarris on Mar 8, 2023 - 4 comments

Re-rewatch! In contrast to the movie of the previous episode, which was quirky and had interesting characters, this movie is sometimes cited as one of the worst of Season 11. It's a meandering fantasy that reused footage from four other fantasy movies, into a plot that doesn't make much sense. Despite the title and an attempt to tie it in with the previous movie at the start, it really has nothing to do with the first Wizards of the Lost Kingdom except it also had Roger Corman as an executive producer. Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Mar 2, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! A wizard apprentice searches for warriors to help him retake the castle from Thom Christopher (he has a habit, he's trying to quit) and his minion Apelua. Ends up finding a walking pile of shag carpeting and Dadbod the Barbarian. Features a moonshining gnome and a cyclops in a wedding dress. One of the best episodes of Season 11!
posted by JHarris on Feb 22, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! A petroleum-eating monster and an itch-ray inventing kid. Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Feb 16, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! Oh, more super-muscled hijinks with the mythological demi-man. Hercules' wife gets killed (again) and he hooks up with another woman within days (again). He just can't keep his spouse alive! It's wacky! Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Feb 8, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! A German U-boat sings a passenger vessel, but rescues survivors. The strife between the two groups is set aside when they find a land peopled by prehistoric people and dinosaurs. Previously and again
posted by JHarris on Feb 2, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-re-rewatch! (what, really?) Stella Star is a star rogue kind of lady, whose second-in-command and guy-pal Akton also seems to have weird space powers. Anyway, they're on the run from the Space Law, until the Emperor of the Universe wants them to track down his lost son amidst the "Haunted Stars." If this seems awfully random, trust me, it's only the beginning. By the end there's amazons with a giant lady robot with metal breasts, a Texan-speaking law robot, the evil Count Zarth Arn, and much much more. A legendary ridiculous movie, and prime fodder for Jonah and a pair of wisecracking robots. Previously, again, and one more time. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jan 26, 2023 - 5 comments

Re-rewatch! How many movie genres would be improved by a stop-motion dinosaur suddenly attacking in the third act? Film noir? Road movie? Heist? Serious drama? Period romance? Can you guess why I'm asking this question? Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Jan 19, 2023 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! A real estate developer's hubris results in the deaths of some of the guests to his new hotel. This one is seventies-tastic! Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Jan 5, 2023 - 2 comments

Re-rewatch! Continuing with the first streaming season, some scientists are trapped in the future because of Danny. Thanks, Danny. Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Dec 15, 2022 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! One of the best episodes of the streaming era of the show, Cry Wilderness is an absolute classic and proved to many that MST3K was back. It's an incredibly strange film combined with brilliant riffing. Parents, please don't get your information on how to raise kids from this bizarre bigfoot movie, please. Bang! Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Dec 8, 2022 - 4 comments

Re-rewatch! It's the beginning of the streaming era, and it's Denmark's turn to get attacked by those darn kaiju. Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Dec 1, 2022 - 1 comment

Re-rewatch! Stella Starr and her platonic space wizard friend Akton are on the run from the space police, until they aren't, given a reprieve if they go find Space Emperor Christopher Plummer's son, David Hasselhoff. Along the way they meet a robot with a Texas accent, space amazons and their giant lady robot guardian, stop motion androids, a frozen planet, a traitorous crewman, space cavemen, trooper-carrying space torpedoes, and the evil Count Zarth Arn. An imfamously silly movie, but still fun, there's always something going on. Previously - Also previously [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 5, 2020 - 9 comments

One of the highlights of Season 11, Cry Wilderness makes even less sense than the standard Mystery Science movie. Paul is a kid living in a boarding school... but he's friends with Bigfoot... and his teacher doesn't believe in it and is angry with Paul except for when he isn't... and Bigfoot comes to Paul in a vision that his father is in danger... so he hitchhikes... and there's racoons... and a US Marshall with poor eating habits... and a couple of Native Americans, but one is dead... and he has an eagle... and there's an escaped circus tiger... it all makes absolutely no sense. Enjoy!
posted by JHarris on Jan 30, 2020 - 0 comments

Coming in unexpectedly high among the episodes of Season 11 in the poll is Carnival Magic, a talking ape movie with a very low opinion of both traditional apes and the ones known as men. Particularly hard to watch, but the riffs lessen the pain... somewhat. Could be considered the Manos of the revival. Good luck with this one. Previously - Also Previously
posted by JHarris on Jan 23, 2020 - 0 comments

A lot of 70s actors try to survive an avalanche caused by one actor's self-sighted building project. Some do, some don't. The audience certainly won't. Previously - Also previously
posted by JHarris on Jan 16, 2020 - 1 comment

Welcome back to crappy fantasy land, where our apes are bats, and our conquerors have Dad Bod. Previously - Also Previously
posted by JHarris on Jan 9, 2020 - 1 comment