880 posts tagged with SciFi.
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE INDESTRUCTABLE MAN Rewatch Season 4, Ep 9
Rewatch! Consider the vast field of scientific endeavor, viewed through the eyes of a B movie screen writer, or those of a blockbuster screenwriter for that matter. If you don't understand it, you figure, no one else does either. In this way, such things as electricity, radiation, DNA, evolution, robotics and anything else dealing with computers are used as stand-ins for whatever effect the writer wants, regardless of how possible it may be in actual life. That's how Lon Chaney Jr's character is brought back to life by electricity in this movie. This episode also contains the second episode of the short Undersea Kingdom, which would be the last episode of it, and the last theater serial, MST would do. Previously
Trepalium: Season One Season 1, Ep 0
The economic situation is a nightmare: only 20% of the population is employed. The Actives live inside the city. On the fringes, in the Zone, live the Jobless. Separating them is a wall. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: BEING FROM ANOTHER PLANET Rewatch Season 4, Ep 5
Rewatch! This episode is something of a sleeper, its subject is a Film Ventures International film (so, weird, irrelevant opening and closing sequences) in which it turns out an alien is buried in a mummy's tomb that causes people to rot when it touches them, and the alien is trying to get back its magic space jewel that someone stole from it. Previously
Mystery Science Theater 3000: TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE Rewatch Season 4, Ep 4
Re-rewatch! Say it with me now: When we get back to our home planet the high council may well sentence you to TORCHAA! It's tough being a space teenager. The astro-acne. The jet-fueled mood swings. Discovering your sexual and species identity. Bullshit restrictions from your culture's high rullng overuberpatriarch. And not agreeing with your expeditions genocidal mission to wipe out the population of a planet (Earth) because you need land to graze your giant food lobsters. Previously one and two
Book: Cryptonomicon
Written by Neal Stephenson and published in 1999. Two groups of characters, one from the late thirties and forties and one in the then present-day ~1999 (a few who are descendants of the earlier group) involve themselves with codes, codebreaking, and Axis war gold, among other things. [more inside]
Movie: Repeaters
The ninth step in recovery is apologizing to all those you've hurt with your drug addiction. When three members of a rehab group fail to complete this step, they are met with a strange consequence. For them, the day they were supposed to complete the ninth step keeps repeating. [more inside]
Movie: Tenet
Armed with only one word - Tenet - and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. [more inside]
Movie: Infinity Chamber
A man trapped in an automated prison must outsmart a computer in order to escape. [more inside]
Movie: Sputnik
In 1983, a cosmonaut is involved in an incident in space and crash-lands back to the Soviet Union. A nervy psychiatrist (Oksana Akinshina, Lilya 4-ever) is recruited to help him recover from his amnesia about the incident in this sci-fi horror movie. [more inside]
Movie: James vs. His Future Self
A brilliant scientist on the cusp of inventing time travel finds himself tormented by his unhinged future self (Daniel Stern) who wants him to give up his work for a normal life. When he doesn't go along with the plan, it becomes a wicked battle of man vs. himself--literally. [more inside]
Book: Harrow the Ninth
The second volume of Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb trilogy. [more inside]
Doom Patrol: Wax Patrol Season 2, Ep 9
The team tries to save Dorothy (and the world) from the Candlemaker.
Book: The Light Brigade
The Light Brigade: it’s what soldiers fighting the war against Mars call the ones who come back…different. Dietz, a fresh recruit in the infantry, begins to experience combat drops that don’t sync up with the platoon’s. And Dietz’s bad drops tell a story of the war that’s not at all what the corporate brass want the soldiers to think is going on. Is Dietz really experiencing the war differently, or is it combat madness? [more inside]
Doom Patrol: Dad Patrol Season 2, Ep 8
Niles and Dorothy set out to have one perfect day together; Jane and Larry try to appease Kay.
Doom Patrol: Dumb Patrol Season 2, Ep 7
Our heroes are infected with a magical virus that gives them bad ideas, which is mostly surprising because I assumed they already had been infected with a magical virus that gives them bad ideas. It would have explained a lot. Anyway, here we go.
Book: The City in the Middle of the Night
Humanity clings to life on January--a colonized planet divided between permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Two cities, built long ago in the meager temperate zone, serve as the last bastions of civilization--but life inside them is just as dangerous as the uninhabitable wastelands outside.
Sophie, a young student from the wrong side of Xiosphant city, is exiled into the dark after being part of a failed revolution. But she survives--with the help of a mysterious savior from beneath the ice.
Doom Patrol: Space Patrol Season 2, Ep 6
Traumatized by her confrontation with Baby Doll, Dorothy runs as far away from home as she can get. Meanwhile, Larry meets someone with an unexpected insight into his plight.
Doom Patrol: Finger Patrol Season 2, Ep 5
Vic tries to make amends with Roni, Larry reaches out to his son, and Dorothy makes a new friend.
Doom Patrol: Sex Patrol Season 2, Ep 4
Flex Mentallo returns, and tries to use the power of Muscle Mystery to free Rita of her inhibitions.
Doom Patrol: Pain Patrol Season 2, Ep 3
Rita, Larry and the Chief fall into a gruesome Clive Barker meets Takashi Miike nightmare, as meanwhile Vic begins a bittersweet romance and Cliff tries yet again to reunite with his family, all somehow without inducing complete tonal whiplash. Plus! A super depressing Nick Cave song montage!
Doom Patrol: Tyme Patrol Season 2, Ep 2
The Chief tries (and fails) to win Cliff's sympathy, and Rita devises a plan.
Doom Patrol: Fun Size Patrol Season 2, Ep 1
Our heroes return, but they have a small problem. Plus! A new addition to the family -- a strange little girl named Dorothy -- tries to find a place among the Doom Patrol, and she's bringing a few friends. [more inside]
Book: Death's End
Death's End is a science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the third & final novel in the trilogy titled Remembrance of Earth's Past, following the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem and its sequel, The Dark Forest. It was a 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist and winner of 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: POD PEOPLE Rewatch Season 3, Ep 3
Re-rewatch! Four different subplots kind of meander into orbit with each other in this dubbed French/Spanish movie. Movie A: poachers in the woods encounter and break the eggs of an unworldly creature. Movie B: singers on a trip in the woods have a deadly run-in with that creature. Movie C: a lonely young boy befriends another creature of the same species. Movie D: the boy's father noisily conflicts with the lead singer from Movie B. It's another episode from a time in the show's history when almost every episode became a classic. But as for the movie itself... (O.K. sign) It stinks! It's as disjointed as it was because originally it was supposed to just be a horror movie, but then when ET came out a hasty story adjustment was made to try to get some of those cute alien movie dollars. Previously and also previously
Movie: WALL-E
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind. [more inside]
FanFare Book Club?
I just went through the book posts for the last three months. There's lots of books I'm considering reading, and one book I read a while ago but don't remember well enough to do deep insightful commentary. In order to get more synchronicity on this, does anyone want to start a book club? Or even a couple in different genres? I would love a romance, science fiction, fantasy and/or nonfiction book club.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER Season 2, Ep 13
Rewatch! On Sunday: Godzilla has to share screen time in this one with terrorists and natives and Mothra. Compared to the excellent and bonkers Godzilla vs Megalon this one's so-so, I think at least. Previously
Mystery Science Theater 3000: GODZILLA VS. MEGALON Rewatch Season 2, Ep 12
Rewatch! On Thursday (today!): A truly crazy movie, the underground kingdom of "Seatopia?" Which is run by... Dorf? is upset at nuclear tests, so calls upon their giant monster Megalon to attack the surface world. They also target a couple of... scientists? Who make... water toys? For a... kid? That they raise? I mean that's great sure, but it's not really defined what's going on. And a humidifier? hangs from the ceiling by a chain? in their... lab? Anyway they make the robot Jet Jaguar who goes and gets Godzilla so they can have a fite that's the real movie. It's batshit crazy, but a great episode! Previously [more inside]
Rick and Morty: Star Mort: Rickturn of the Jerri Season 4, Ep 10
An adventure with an invisibility belt, but a family that disappears together, must stay together.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS Rewatch Season 2, Ep 11
Rewatch! There are few MST movies that are as full of ridiculous crap as this one, it's kind of amazing. On Earth a space message is recovered from Venus to which scientists affix the catchy name the "cosmic document." They don't know what it says yet, but they decide to bring it along with them on a trip to its home planet to meet its makers. Along the way we meet a team of people with the huge letter 'A' on their uniforms, an international team of weirdos, a chess playing robot that can't handle losing, a vaguely oppressive sleep computer, the oppressive crib mobile of Venus, a flood of killer goop and alien architecture straight out of Dr. Seuss. In the end the cosmic document gets decoded and turns out to be plans to destroy the world, so, that's nice. Previously [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: ROCKETSHIP X-M Rewatch Season 2, Ep 1
Rewatch! Operator error sends the Earth's first ship to the moon, 828 thousand miles away, instead to Mars, which is at best 33.9 million miles away and usually much further. That's some error; some scientists would give multiple limbs to be able to make errors like that. It's the first episode of Season Two, considered the point where Mystery Science Theater 3000 started to become really good, although the movie here is kind of dull. Next time.... Previously. Remember: for the time being we're also doing Sunday shows, so if you want to watch this one you'll want to show up tonight. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: MOON ZERO TWO Rewatch Season 1, Ep 11
Rewatch! On Thursday [4/16]: It's class warfare on the moon! A working-day moon savager is hired by rich-guy "Hundred Percent" Hubbard to help them crash a meteor made of gemstone on the moon. Problem is, the plot on which they crash is already claimed by a miner, Wild West style. Nefarious schemes are afoot up there in no-atmosphere zero-G. An okay movie made ridiculous by things like scantily-clad moon dancers and a board game called (groan) "Moonopoly." It's still Season One, but the riffing has improved a lot by this point. Three more episodes until Season Two! Previously.
Vagrant Queen: Nobody's Queen Season 1, Ep 3
Elida deals with the life she left behind. Isaac and Amae find themselves in dangerous territory. [more inside]
Devs: Episode #1.7 Season 1, Ep 7
The Devs team perfect the system, and Forest and Katie wait for the completion of the Devs project. Lily and Jamie try to avoid its threat, but a visit from Kenton leaves Lily with no choice.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: ROBOT HOLOCAUST Rewatch Season 1, Ep 10
Rewatch! One of the best season one episodes, and at the time/for a while the newest movie MST had done (the turnaround time was but three years), a bunch of people in goofy costumes traipse around a city park somewhere on a journey to the power station ruled by the eeevil Dark One and his second-in-command Valeria, who speaks her Rs as Ws like Elmer Fudd and the Homestar Runner. An amazingly silly movie, released directly to VHS. Previously. This episode will be a Sunday show. MST Club news inside-- [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: PROJECT MOONBASE Rewatch Season 1, Ep 9
Rewatch! Poor Commander Brietis has the misfortune to be a women space officer in a man's (specifically, Robert Heinlein's) world. Her peers all casually call her "Bright Eyes," and her commanding officer actually threatens to spank her at one point. But in the end she and a fellow astronaut get stranded together on the moon, and Madame President (whose existence I guess was supposed to make up for how badly Brietis is treated) demands that they be married to avoid a scandal, which they agree to because they're sweet on each other. A disheartening movie, which make wisecracks from an orbiting human and his automated mocking machines all the more welcome. Previously.
Vagrant Queen: Yippee Ki Yay Season 1, Ep 2
The team is forced to stop for repairs, but the cannibals who inhabit the planet have other plans. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE SLIME PEOPLE Rewatch Season 1, Ep 8
Rewatch! It's like a zombie movie but not, and from before that became a genre! You might consider it ahead of its time, or you might consider that zombie movies were never all that to begin with. It's another first season episode, when the guys and robots were still finding their feet and/or hoverskirts. Previously. [more inside]
Movie: Containment
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments due to an apparent epidemic. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape? [more inside]
Vagrant Queen: A Royal Ass-Kicking Season 1, Ep 1
Former queen Elida is cornered by her nemesis. An old friend comes to her aid, delivering big news. (SyFy Channel US, Citytv Canada) [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: ROBOT MONSTER Rewatch Season 1, Ep 7
Rewatch! We're baaaack.... A alien invader (guy in a gorilla suit with a fishbowl on his head) called Ro-Man destroys everyone on Earth except for a family that lives in walking distance of his cave (which has a bubble machine in front of it). The family tries to thwart Ro-Man's attempt to wipe them out, until Ro-Man gets a crush on the family's teenage daughter. At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? In the end it's all a dream had by a comic-addled young boy. Up until this point MST had shown bad movies, but this was the first truly transcendent example they did. Some have called it the worst movie ever made. Enjoy! Also has two Radar Men From the Moon shorts. Previously [more inside]
Movie: Radius
Liam discovers a horrible truth: anyone who comes within a 50-foot radius of him dies instantly. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE CRAWLING HAND Rewatch Season 1, Ep 6
Rewatch! An astronaut crashes to earth and dies, all except for his hand (or hand and forearm, depending on the shot). It strangles people then hooks up with a teen to do more stranglin'. In the end it gets eaten by a cat, saving the world. Good kitty! This is an important episode in that it's the first one that sets up the "style" of the show in almost all later episodes, the opening going directly into the theater tunnel, and Joel explains the premise, really for the first time on cable. Also, the movie features the song Surfin' Bird. Previously. -----
In other news, for the extent of the pandemic, the MST Club video room will be open between shows with a playlist of as-broadcast MST episodes, funny YouTube finds, and other special appearances, for bored social distancers dropping-in. "Enjoy!"
Movie: Species
imdb: In 1993, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Project receives a transmission detailing an alien DNA structure, along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. The result is Sil, a sensual but deadly creature who can change from a beautiful woman to an armour-plated killing machine in the blink of an eye. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE CORPSE VANISHES Rewatch Season 1, Ep 5
Rewatch! Bela Lugosi plays a mad scientist who extracts brain juice from young brides to keep his wife young, because that's a thing that works. Come on, if it did Trump would be trying to suck it out of people's heads with a drinking straw. Both this and the previous movie are among the oldest films MST ever did, made in 1942. There's another Commando Cody short too, and some classic sketches, such as the robots saying bedtime prayers and the haircut bit. Previously
Mystery Science Theater 3000: WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET Rewatch Season 1, Ep 4
Rewatch! Space people crash on a planet, and leave behind a man and woman. The departing commander names the planet Earth, making the left-behinds Adam and Eve. Except since this is obviously before any terrestrial languages how did that name come down to us? And there are neanderthals on the planet too. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, is what I'm saying. At least it's in color. This is actually the last episode made of the first season, so it's not as quiet as some other 1st season episodes. This is the episode that gives MST its most popular catchphrase, Hikeeba! Previously [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE MAD MONSTER Rewatch Season 1, Ep 3
Rewatch! An amiable handyman is turned into a furred killer by virtue of a syringe of Wolf Juice, in service to that diabolical process called science. When it is proclaimed of our our somewhat-hairy, yet still humanoid, victim that he has "become a wolf," it is a profoundly silly moment. Comes with Pt. 2 of Radar Men From The Moon. Previously [more inside]
Movie: Prospect
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Forced to contend not only with the forest's other ruthless inhabitants, but with her own ...
Movie: The Fare
World-weary taxi driver Harris finds himself engaged in the only kind of courtship he can have with his passenger Penny -- one that lasts as long as her trip... until she disappears from the back seat without a trace. When he resets his meter, he is instantaneously transported back to the moment when she climbed into his cab. As he and Penny find themselves trapped in an endless nighttime cab ride, secrets will be revealed, truths will come to light, and Harris' entire life will be changed forever. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE ROBOT VS THE AZTEC MUMMY Rewatch Season 1, Ep 2
Rewatch! Evil Dr. Krupp, aka "The Bat" continues his plans to steal a treasure from the body of an Aztec mummy. This time he builds a robot to do it for him, which, why? Sell the robot, get more money than the treasure is worth! No matter. He's opposed by the virtuous Dr. Almada and the mummy, Popoca, itself. Also riffed is the first part of Commando Cody serial Radar Men From The Moon. Previously