Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

I watched a movie and it was called Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, directed by Jim Mallon, released in 1995. It stars Michael J. Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu. This is a movie based on the tv series of the same name, where a scientist (and his assistant) submits a man and the robots he built to terrible movies to see if they will crack, in a satellite in space. It’s a simple show that really needs no explanation. The thing that makes it funny is that these three “riff” aka make funny comments about how terrible the movies are. It’s basically like watching a movie with three wiseacres making comments throughout. It is an acquired taste and requires some knowledge of pop culture to be fully appreciated, at least I think so. This is the movie version of the show, like I said so there are some slight differences but not too much to stray away from the roots of the original show. In this incarnation, the human is Mike Nelson. He is joined by Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy, who pilots the Satellite of Love where they have the actual experiments. The scientist is Dr. Forrester and he is evil. Well, mad. He actually is the first person you see and does an introduction to what we are about to see and the concept of the movie so you can be up to speed, basically forgoing the explanation via theme song like in the show, which actually works. We then see the Satellite of Love float across the sky (looking suspiciously like a bone) and we see Mike inside running on a treadmill…more like hamster wheel complete with water bottle. This is the first sketch of the movie, which was something that tv show did as well before going to commercial, also known as host segments. Basically there would be an introduction and something crazy happening, in this case its Crow using a pick ax to “dig” out of the Satellite of Love to get to Earth, which will be the running theme of all the host segments for the movie. The movie they watch is the “terrible” Universal classic This Island Earth. One of the interesting aspects of these host segments is you get to see Servo’s room, which was not explored in the show. All I can say is underpants.
The production value of the show went up quite a bit because it is a movie, where the sets don’t look as cheap, which again, totally works. The hallway to the theater gets a special upgrade (and is not used again when the series resumes on Sci-Fi channel later) and even the bots get an upgrade, though that might be the lighting. The movie that is chosen has some quality riffs on it and is pretty consistent throughout. One of the best parts is the guys even riff on their own credits, which they didn’t ever do it the show.
This is a special part of the show and to me personally. This movie has the distinction of being one of the movies I have seen more than 100 times. Im not even exaggerating. I worked at  video store for 3 years and one of my co workers who was my manager in the first year I worked there, would watch it every time we closed, which was basically every night for that first year. He moved and I still kept the tradition, in his honor, for the remaining 2 years I worked there. I am still amazed that this movie even got made as I have read many articles and commentaries that say it had quite a bit of executive meddling so that made it quite difficult. So much in fact that Trace Beaulieu left after this film.
This is a great little movie and hilarious to boot. I may be biased because I’m a fan of the show and the movie but I think you might like too if you give it chance.

Night Shift

I watched a movie called Night Shift, directed by Ron Howard, released in 1982. It stars Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, and Shelley Long. This is one Ron Howard’s earlier directorial efforts and a lot of starts for some of its stars. The story is about a timid man, Chuck, played by Henry Winkler, who gets pushed around by everyone and doesn’t fight back. He works in a morgue to get away from the stress and hassles of his life. All that changes when his new partner, Billy, played by Michael Keaton comes into his life. What will happen when these personalities clash?
This a really funny comedy film by Howard and it helps with a cast that includes such talent as Winkler, Keaton and Long. Winkler, of course, had been popular from playing The Fonz and outside of that environment of Happy Days, he is a really great actor. With movie, he is a great straight man to the wild and obnoxious Keaton. He plays such a quiet, timid little man and it is hard to believe this is the guy who played the Fonz not too long before. This, and a lot of his early films, really showcase how talented he is. Keaton, hits it out of the park as the obnoxious partner, Billy, the “idea man”. As much as you don’t like Keaton, he does have a heart though how to get there requires very little. Long plays Chuck’s neighbor, Belinda, who happens to be a prostitute. That comes to play in the plot but I’m not going to say anything about it. Again, Shelley Long has yet to become a waitress at Cheers, the television show and she is so sweet in this role and very attractive. She is great playing on Winkler’s character and brings a lot of laughs in herself with some of her lines.
It is a simple kind of movie without a complicated plot, I suppose and there are some really good laughs to be had watching it all unfold. A lot of cameos in this movie as well from a lot of up and coming actors as well as a certain brother who is always around. I remember seeing this movie as a kid and thinking it was pretty funny and I do own the dvd of it, I just hadn’t watched it in a while. I caught it on cable and sat down since it is quite engaging and easy to watch. I noticed at the end a handful of the songs featured in this movie were written by Burt Bacharach and performed by people like Rod Stewart and Quarterflash, who did the title song. I certainly didn’t know that as a kid. Billy has a self leitmotif of Jumping Jack Flash that also gets performed in various ways throughout the movie, which adds to his craziness and obnoxiousness.
You should see this movie, got some great comedy, features some pretty decent acting from some now established names and hey, it’s a Ron Howard movie, how can you go wrong?

Trading Places

I watched a movie called Trading Places, directed by John Landis, released in 1983. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis. The story is that Winthrope, played by Dan Aykroyd, is a well-to-do gentleman who works for the Duke Brothers, played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche, in the commodities trade market. Everything is going great for Winthrop until he runs into (quite literally) Valentine, played by Eddie Murphy. Valentine ends up getting arrested on trumped up charges by Winthrope but one of the Duke brothers makes a bet with the other to see if Winthorpe can make it without his well-to-do stature and bail out Valentine and replace him for Winthrope, disgracing him in the process to accompany his fall. Will Winthorpe make it back up to where he was? Will the Duke Brothers get their come-uppance?
I haven’t seen this film before and I must say that it was quite enjoyable. As a John Landis fan, I was impressed with the film but I certainly wouldn’t call it one of his best. There are little Landis things in it (close up gun pointing in sync, a poster of See You Next Wednesday, a gorilla, the use of music as leitmotif, cameos) and it is great. The music is done by Elmer Berstein, which is masterful in conducting, since a majority of it is classical Mozart. The part where the Duke Brothers make their wager, it reminded me of Job, initially, like God and the Devil making their bet that a holy man would denounce God if all this misfortune fell upon him. It was a bit creepy in some ways because I imagine this how some people actually would be. Though to be fair, Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche were perfectly cast as the greedy antagonists. Aykroyd really showed a lot of range in this film as being a sympathetic character even as a pawn in an elaborate scheme, especially when he hits rock bottom and figures out a way to get even that didn’t involve murder or violence. Eddie Murphy was at the top of his game here as well, flush from Saturday Night Live and gaining momentum though he still was toned down compared to later roles such as Beverly Hills Cop or 48 Hours. I felt like Jamie Lee Curtis was somewhat under-utilized even if she did take in Winthorpe and helped him in the end but still, there seemed like there was much more potential for her in some way that wasn’t used. Denholm Elliot plays Coleman the butler to Winthorpe and Valentine and is well cast as a sympathetic character as well because it seems he has done this before and this was the breaking point for him after seeing so many people go through this “experiment”. Paul Gleason was also perfectly cast as the ubiquitous Clarence Beeks as he played a smug government agent and that is just what he was made for.
Overall, I thought the movie was well made. It had some genuinely funny moments (some of the third act on the train seemed to be ad libbed in some scenes) and some great tension. It was surprisingly short so there isnt a long back story on anyone which works since this is a comedy and it doesn’t need to get bogged down in all that. The characters were well represented and you actually learn about the commodities market as well, at least in simplified terms. Check it out.