Rifftrax: Shorts-tacular Shorts-stravaganza - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Review

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(More customer reviews)What do you get when you combine 10 old shorts with wisecracks from MST3K vets Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett? Two Hours of sidesplitting entertainment, that's what. As with "Wide World of Shorts", Rifftrax has dropped the "Volume" theme of the first two DVD releases.
The shorts run the gamit from self image and cat habits to fears of swimming and middle-aged strippers. Highlights start with "If Mirrors Could Speak", where three kids wearing disturbing clown make-up discover that bad behavior, selfishness, and depression can be cured by looking into a mirror with a pompus attitude. Three other elementary school shorts, "Primary Safety in the School Building" promotes properly tied shoes and walking on the right side of the hallways can save lives, if not your dignity. "Playing Together" says proper play is good, improper is really bad and "Kitty Clean Up" where a young girl takes her pet cat to school and the cat somehow doesn't go nuts, a true miracle.
"How Much Affection" focuses on the concerns of middle-aged high school students and how far they are willing to go. And speaking of how far;

Two shorts deal with the joys of catching syphilis. "Damaged Goods" and "Know for Sure" which features a bad Italian stereotype and two well known actors, Tim Holt ("Magnificent Ambersons", "Treasure of the Sierra Madre") and Ward Bond ("The Searchers", "Wagon Train").
Of course the most bizarre and pointless short is also the most ripe for the Rifftrax crew, "Your Chance to Live: Technological Failures" which somehow suggests that technology is good even if lots of folks have died from it.
On the downside, some of the shorts have the "YouTube Strobe Effect" notably "Playing Together". It's troubling, but not too distracting.
The riffs are funny and almost always on target. At times they crack each other up. Bill Corbett in particular shines by going back to his old "Crow" days and just ripping away at the stupidity of the films themselves. I heartily recommend this collection to all Mystie/Rifftrax fans out there. Enjoy!

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Instructional shorts are no longer just the things that you're forced to watch in silence by hungover substitute teachers! Now they're the foundation for hilarity when Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax.com team up to heckle them with their signature running commentary! Spanning some of the blandest & fear-ridden decades in American history, this latest collection of 10 shorts clocks in with over 110 minutes of laughs! The twin horrors of Plaid and Clowns meet in If Mirrors Could Speak! No concept is too basic to be lectured on for minutes in Cooking Terms and What They Mean. What audience could Playing Together have possibly been intended for? And what on earth was Your Chance to Live: Technological Failures about? Relive your finest note-passing days with Mike, Kevin and Bill. It's like serving detention with your funniest friends!

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Victor/Victoria (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)In the age of "Moulin Rouge" audiences would do far better by rediscovering this musical comedy gem, starring the incomparable Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Leslie Ann Warren and James Garner. Rarely has Hollywood captured the essence of great music with outstanding performances as it has in "Victor/Victoria." There are literally a dozen or so scenes that will leave you hysterical, as in gasping-for-breath hysterical, something many films aspire to, but few ever deliver on. But more than funny, this is a poignant, character driven film where every principal is allowed to shine.
Andrews permanently sheds her "Sound of Music" virginal skin in the title role, embodying the man-pretenting-to-be-a-woman-pretending-to-be-a-man part in a way noone has ever done before or since. Of course, the audience is in on the joke, but it never becomes tired or anything less than fresh. Robert Preston is the antithesis of his former "Music Man" personna, a gay-Paree emcee who discover's Victor's startling 8-octave vocal range and turns him/her into the rage of Paris. These two performances, along with Leslie Ann Warren's unforgettable floosy - all three Oscar-nominated - are drop dead fabulous. These are actors at the very height of their form....funny, passionate, real and endearing. The musical highlights are truly phenomenal, certainly better than other "best loved" musicals like "Singing In the Rain" or "An American In Paris." Andrews scores on "Le Jazz Hot" and shows an indelible comic flair few people knew she was capable of in the legendary cafeteria sequence, which literally had the audience I viewed this with ROLLING in the aisles. It's a movie where even the insects - cockroaches in this case - are memorable. But more so, its also a lesson in what Hollywood USED to do so well in its tradition of movie musicals....and what its forgotten to do over the past two decades since Victor/Victoria was released. In a nutshell, Hollywood forgot that the power of song and music is their ability to HUMANIZE a character and progress the plot, but also lend depth and color to the principals. For me, "Victor/Victoria" IS Hollywood's last great musical, and certainly one of the most visually stunning, fully realized films of our time. This ranks far and away as Blake Edward's crowning masterpiece - high above SOB or the Pink Panther flicks. And the supporting performances are some of the best ever caqptured. Just try and forget Warren's cooing to James Garner ("pooookie....I'm horny) or Alex Karras' gay gangster falling in love with Preston. From roaches to royalty, "Victor/Victoria" is quite simply one of the best films of the 80's or any other decade.
I am anxiously awaiting its release on DVD, and secretly hoping that the currently available Broadway show version silently goes away as it cannot hold a candle to the film. Rent it, buy it, LOVE IT.

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A woman singer masquerades as a man impersonating a woman in Paris, circa 1934. This brings her success in her professional life but complicates her personal life.Genre: MusicalsRating: PGRelease Date: 4-JUN-2002Media Type: DVD

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The Producers (Deluxe Edition) (1968) Review

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This is it! The source, THE PRODUCERS, the 1968 release with screenplay and direction by Mel Brooks, juicy parts by Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and others, and a well-deserved reputation as one of the funniest movie comedies ever. Filmed on a pittance (less than $1 million, cheap even by Sixties standards), THE PRODUCERS almost died unrecognized until it became a cult hit in New York, L.A., Chicago and then, everywhere.
SPOILER GRAF: The plot is brilliantly diabolical: a corrupt Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and his nebbishy accountant assistant (Gene Wilder) deliberately oversell a play with the design to create a flop and keep the proceeds. They hire the worst possible playwright, director, and choreographer and deliberately insult the drama critics. But the play is so hilariously awful it becomes awfully hilarious. The essence of 1960s camp: It's good because it's so bad.
It's hard to overstate just how good Mel Brooks' first movie is. The low budget forced a lot of outside shooting in New York City, and as a result the movie looks fresh, not cosmetized. The premise of a play about "Adolf and Eva in a gay romp at Berchtesgaden" was, if anything, more offensive just 23 years after the end of the Second World War than it is today. A big gamble on Brooks' part, but it played.
This edition is well worth the extra couple of dollars over the "movie only" version. It includes a second CD, apparently put together about the time of the 2001 Broadway musical, and contains stills, bios, and an engaging documentary about the film's making and reception. The last is especially fun since all the principals involved (except the late Zero Mostel) are alive and active and possessed of strong memories of that "kooky" classic-in-the-making.
The 2005 movie with Broadway vets Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick is proving a disappointment to those who remember the original movie or the 2001 Broadway smash. The new movie took the Broadway book and set it in an imagined-and expensive--"indeterminate past" full of late 1950s cars and fashions. Unfortunately, what works on the stage doesn't always translate on film, and despite all the talent and money involved, the new movie comes across as stagey, self-absorbed and at times a bit labored. And LONG: half again as long as this original, which clocks in right at an hour and a half.
The verdict: All versions of THE PRODUCERS are funny, but the 1968 movie is the one to start with. Enjoy it now at a great price.

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A "startling, stunning, outrageous [and] breathtaking debut" (Los Angeles Times) from acclaimed writer/director Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs), this Oscar®-winning* comedy combines "pure pell-Mel lunacy [and] wild, ad-lib energy [into an] uproariously funny" (Time) film!Low-rent Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) and his high-strung accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), discover that, with the help of a few gullible investors, they can make more money on a flop than on a hit! Armed with the worst show ever written ("Springtime for Hitler") and an equally horrific cast, this double-dealing duo is banking on disaster. But when their sure-to-offend musical becomes a surprise smash hit, they find themselves in the middleof a Broadway blitzkrieg!*1968: Original Screenplay

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The Pee-Wee Herman Show - Live at the Roxy Theater (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Pee-Wee Herman Show was a successful performance which catapulted Paul Reuben's career beyond his own imagination.The performance was held in front of a live audience at the Roxy in La for around 5 months. Luckily HBO brilliantly caught one of these live performances and gave people the opportunity to see Pee-Wee Herman. Pee-Wee Herman along with an ensemble cast of notables produced a hilarious performance that had me laughing from start to finish. Let us not ignore the actual set design for the show as well as Jambi the Genie. The show put Pee-Wee on the map of stardom due to his creativity and ingenious ways of entertaining his fans. The show immediately starts with Pee-Wee Herman digging through a bag of toys pulling out one thing after another, and stumbles upon "NAKED GUMBY AHH". Another funny idea was the Mr. Bungle skit. The Mr. Bungle skit was an actual 1950's dramatization on exhibiting manners. The funny part of this whole skit is they actually showed this to little girls and boys back in the 1950's. One scene shows the boy getting served hot food and next to the hot food the cafeteria person places a big piece of cake on the tray. By the end of the skit Pee-Wee says something like "is that piece of cake big enough for ya!?" then does his Pee-Wee laugh. Classic. I think the real interesting phenomenon of Pee-Wee Herman was he could entertain both adults and children. Understandably this led to his hit Saturday Morning cartoon show "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" which had several emmy nominations throughout the late 80's and early 90's. Furthermore Pee-Wee teamed up with Tim Burton to mesh together a film called "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure". The Pee-Wee Herman show was a unique, weird, yet funny performance that catapulted Pee-Wee Herman into a cult classic for many people.

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Not quite a children's show, The Pee-Wee Herman Show is slyly subversive, a little bit naughty and always outrageous. Making its premiere as a midnight show on February 7th, 1981, at The Groundlings Theatre in Hollywood, the performance then moved to the famed Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip where it was filmed as part of HBO's new series On Location. Conceived as an homage to children's television programs of the 1950's and 60's, this live stage production features original music, puppets, a cartoon, a short educational film and Pee-wee's hilarious live-action friends.

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The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 1 (Bloodlust / Catalina Caper / The Creeping Terror / Skydivers) (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)In case you're new to the world of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (MST3K for short, that what us fans - "Misties" - call it), this is the famous TV show where a silhouette of a man and two robots sitting in theater seats provide running commentary for some of the worst movies ever made. The ninety-minute episodes are also scattered with sketches and songs and amount to some of the smartest, most pop-culture savvy, side-splitting comedy ever made.
This is the first of the four-episode collections of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" offered from Rhino (previously they had only offered them in single DVD editions). It contains an interesting mix of movies: a science-fiction horror flick, a drama about skydivers, a 60s beach comedy, and a thriller on a tropical island. Three of the episodes come from the excellent sixth season, when Mike Nelson was the human host and the wisecracks and comments had become razor sharp and fast and furious. One episode comes from the second season, when the show had a more laid-back, friendly humor when Joel Hodgson was the host. Although this collection skews toward the later seasons, it is still a good general introduction to the show for newcomers, since most of the episodes are terrific. Fans who favor Joel Hodgson's style won't enjoy this as much as the second and third box set, but for most fans the inclusion of "The Skydivers" and "The Creeping Terror" make it a must-own.
Here's what you get:
BLOODLUST! Episode #607. A rip-off of "The Most Dangerous Game," only with young college kids (one of whom is Robert Reed, future Brady Bunch dad!). The four dummies land on a jungle island to go exploring and become trapped by the rich but extremely wishy-washy maniac millionaire who owns the island. Apparently, he enjoys hunting down people to turn them into stuffed trophies. The film isn't really awful, just completely unoriginal and acted with total flatness. Robert Reed never seems more than mildly "cheesed" and "fed up" (to quote Mike and `Bots) with the life-threatening situation. But it's season six, and the show's writers couldn't do any wrong at this point, and the result is the usual hilarious romp.
CATALINA CAPER. Episode #204. This is the only Joel Hodgson episode in the collection, and it's an oddball entry in MST3K history: it's the only time the show took on an overt comedy. True, "Catalina Caper," a teen 60s bikini beach comedy, isn't funny at all, but since it doesn't take itself seriously it becomes a tough target to make fun off. Joel and the `Bots have a good time with the lousy `prat-fall' comic, the awful musical numbers (one featuring Little Richard, waaaay out of his element), skinny Tommy Kirk, and the famous `creepy girl,' but this is a spotty episode and the weakest in this pack. Don't form your opinions of Joel's episodes based on this one.
THE CREEPING TERROR. Episode #606. This is a classic, and one of the worst films the MST3K team ever took on. A big shag carpet (oh, excuse me, I meant `alien') starts eating the citizens of a quiet California town; or at least it gets close enough to them so they can hoist themselves into its mouth. And why is the town so quiet? Because while making the film, someone accidentally kicked the sound equipment into a lake, so the whole movie has almost NO DIRECT SOUND. Yep, we instead have a narrator telling us what the characters are saying, doing, discussing, and so on. You have to see it (or hear it) to believe it! Mike and the `Bots unload on this one, and it's a scream. One of the funniest episodes ever.
THE SKYDIVERS. Episode #609. One of the most beloved of all MST3K episodes. Writer Paul Chaplin said of it: "I don't want to criticize this movie. I'm too fond of the final result for our show...there's never been a better movie for our treatment." I'll drink to that. This drama about the loves and losses of people working at a parachuting school is so weird, so bizarrely scripted, so awfully acted, filled with so many inexplicably wack-o characters, and shot with such stunning ineptitude that it positively amazes. The riffing from the hosts is some of the best, sharpest commentary they ever did. This is the first of three movies MST3K did from director Coleman Francis (who makes Ed Wood look like Orson Welles!). The second one, "Red Zone Cuba" is available on its own DVD. The third, "The Beast of Yucca Flats" isn't out yet, and Rhino should really get this one on a future collection.
All four films are offered in "non-MST3K" versions on the flip side of their discs, which is a nice feature if you really want to see how much the show added to these awful films. "Bloodlust" and "Catalina Caper" are all right - although dull - on their own, but see how long you can sit through the other two without Mike and Robots before you tear your eyes out!
So there you have it, three of the most phenomenally funny episodes of MST3K, plus one of the most unusual. A great package for fans and newcomers alike! (Just watch out for acid in your parachute!)

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MST3K COLLECTION VOL 1 - DVD Movie

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