FanFare

[TRAILER] Captain William "Buck" Rogers (Gil Gerard) is a jovial space cowboy who is accidentally time-warped from 1987 to 2491. Earth is engaged in interplanetary war following a global holocaust, and Buck's piloting skills make him an ideal starfighter recruit for the Earth Defense Directorate, where his closest colleagues are Dr. Huer (Tim O'Connor), squadron leader Col. Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), the wisecracking robot Twiki (voiced by cartoon legend Mel Blanc), and a portable computer-brain named Dr. Theopolis. Produced as a television pilot, but released theatrically in advance of the TV show. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on May 1, 2024 - 29 comments

[TRAILER] A Virginia congressman (Michael Woods) and his wife (Faye Grant) see signs of the devil in their adopted daughter, Delia (Asia Vieira). [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Apr 4, 2024 - 6 comments

Steven Spielberg's second TV movie (after the terrific Duel) is a solidly-directed, but underwhelmingly scripted haunted house picture. A young couple moves into a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. What they don't know is that there is an unseen presence in the house, and that it wants to take possession of the wife. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 2, 2023 - 0 comments

Writer Ben Mears (David Soul) returns to his hometown to write a book about the supposedly haunted Marsten House, but finds someone else has bought the long-empty property. When townspeople start dying mysteriously, Mears discovers the owner of the mansion is a vampire turning them into an army of undead slaves. Based on the Stephen King novel and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 13, 2022 - 9 comments

The lives of Edith Bouvier Beale (Jessica Lange) and her daughter Edie (Drew Barrymore), aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jeanne Tripplehorn). An HBO original film based on the women featured in the documentary of the same name. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 7, 2022 - 2 comments

When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again and save the city of Trolberg. (Netflix)
posted by curious nu on Dec 31, 2021 - 4 comments

Strategist Dominic Cummings (Benedict Cumberbatch) leads a campaign to convince British voters to leave the European Union. Directed by Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who). [more inside]
posted by memebake on Jan 18, 2019 - 3 comments

Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle, and nothing is ever the same for anyone in the Houseman family. [more inside]
posted by jacquilynne on May 30, 2017 - 6 comments

"Sometimes we find friends in the most unlikely places." A kid in a boarding school improbably knows Bigfoot, who appears to him in a magic vision and says his dad's in danger. So he runs home, finds his Dad, a Native American, every wild animal in North America, and a US Marshall with poor regard for the law. The guys are after an escaped circus tiger, but really the Marshall wants to kill Bigfoot, but fortunately a magic Native American and FOB (Friend Of Bigfoot) is around with an eye-gouging eagle. The kid is not traumatized by witnessing this. HAPPY END! I think this one's an early classic of the new season! The movie is just so ridiculous, it doesn't really have a plot, things just sort of happen, and everyone in it does at least one thing that is wildly irresponsible. And hey, a later host segment features a visit from Pearl, Bobo and Brain Guy, who are again tooling around the universe in the Widowmaker, going to space casinos. Pearl's attitude towards family is pretty much the same as it was around Dr. F, too, because some things never change. Episode 1102 is on Netflix. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 15, 2017 - 51 comments

"Jet Packed Drama at a Giant Air Terminal!" Pilot for a TV show featuring the wacky shenanigans dramatic occurrences at... (spins the Wheel of Television) ...a major airport. A staple of MST3K is the failed TV pilot that never went to series. Well ha ha, this one did make it to series, minus its whole cast except for Clu Galuger, whose name sounds like it should be sung by Huckleberry Hound. YouTube (1h33m) Premiered November 19, 1994. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jan 26, 2017 - 10 comments

After enjoying a summer romance, high school students Danny and Sandy are unexpectedly reunited when she transfers to Rydell High. There Sandy must contend with cynical Rizzo and the Pink Ladies in attempt to win Danny's heart again.
posted by Small Dollar on Feb 1, 2016 - 20 comments

A live production of the 1975 Broadway musical, "The Wiz", which put a modern spin on the classic "Wizard of Oz" tale with a cast of only African-American actors.
posted by Small Dollar on Dec 5, 2015 - 24 comments

Originally Saru No Gudan. (1987, Color, Japanese, TV Movie, Apes, Post-Apocalyptic) Two moppets and a lab assistant are flash-frozen by Science Machines during an earthquake and wake up hundreds of years later when APES RULE THE WORLD. They team up with the enigmatic human Godo and fight against their simian overlords to find a solution to their plight. The first of the cable run of MST3K's non-Gamera Sandy Frank films, and the origin of the Sandy Frank song, a mocking tribute to the American producer who brought us Japanese shows edited together as movies. One of the best episodes! Host segments explain "Why doesn't Johnny Care (a film by Bell Labs)" and introduce the Miracle Growth Baby. YouTube (1h37m) First aired July 13, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on May 14, 2015 - 10 comments

STRANDED IN SPACE, a.k.a. The Stranger (1973, Color, TV Movie, Seventies, Sci-Fi, Dystopia) "The planet he uncovered was a twin to Earth... but so ominously different!" An astronaut goes up, but something seems weird about the planet he comes back down to. It's "Terra," a dystopia where everything is under the control of the "Perfect Order" and everyone lives in fear of being sent to the ominous "Ward E." As Crow points out to us, "lot of Chryslers on this planet." A TV movie salvaged from a failed series pilot, so don't expect an awful lot of resolution. As third season episodes go it's a bit of a sleeper, but that just means it's very funny. Has some classic host segments. Dust off your memories (if you're old enough to have them) of 70s TV stars for this one. YouTube (1h40m) First aired June 29, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on May 7, 2015 - 7 comments

A chilling real-time thriller starring Maisie Williams - from Game of Thrones - as a teenager battling with an anonymous cyber-stalker. The plot of Cyberbully is inspired by dozens of real-life cases. Channel 4 TV movie. Notable for taking place in real time, in one room, with only Williams (the rest of the 'cast' are online in skype calls, vines, youtube videos etc). [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Jan 17, 2015 - 4 comments

A live telecast of the beloved J. M. Barrie story.
posted by mathowie on Dec 4, 2014 - 45 comments

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry. [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Sep 29, 2014 - 7 comments

I'd like to do a FanFare post on HBO's Temple Grandin - would people be interested in discussing this? [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Sep 18, 2014 - 10 comments