Monday, August 19, 2019

#RiffTrax Live – Invasion of the Giant Spiders, Top 15 #MST3K Episodes, Missing Link Review, and Ninja News

I have a post at the IWSG site today - Ten Ways to Support Other Authors.
Please check it out!


RiffTrax: Live – Invasion of the Giant Spiders

Another great show!

First there was a 60’s short with marionettes about phone lines and etiquette. The main marionette’s name was Handy, so the jokes took a bit of a dirty turn.

Then came the main feature, staring Alan Hale from Gilligan’s Island. And yes, his very first line was ‘Hey, little buddy!’

The story of a meteor crashing, creating a black hole, and releasing spiders from another dimension as barely thought out. (The giant spider was a VW with legs!) However, that just gave the guys full reign to make fun of its Wisconsin location and scream ‘Packers!’ often.

At one point, Alan Hale (as the sheriff who never left his office) got a phone call, and Mike said ‘You want me to bend over at a forty-five degree angle?’ It continued, but the funniest part was Bill and Kevin both cracking up at Mike’s deadpan delivery.

This was originally a Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie and props to the guys for not repeating any jokes.

Overall hilarious and the only way to watch the film! If you missed it, the encore is August 20.

Now enjoy some of the preshow slides:


Top Fifteen Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episodes

Why fifteen? Because there were too many for ten!

Spanning almost thirty years and three hosts, here are the funniest MST3K episodes ever:

#15 – Lost Continent – Rock climbing, guys, rock climbing…
#14 – Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders – Stories about artifacts taken from Merlin’s shop, or as I like to call it – ‘Ernest Borgnine Has Bills to Pay’
#13 – Space Mutiny – So bad, they did it twice - it was also a RiffTrax: Live
#12 – Cry Wilderness - The touching story of a boy and his Sasquatch
#11 – Laserblast – one alien weapon, one rock embedded in a goofy kid’s chest, and one Roddy McDowall gleefully going off a cliff to avoid being in the rest of the movie…

#10 – The Creeping Terror – Victims actually have to crawl into its mouth to be eaten. And watch out for the band number – it’ll be stuck in your brain forever.
#9 – Mac and Me – You’ll believe a boy in a wheelchair can fly – and roll down a hill and off a cliff.
#8 – Pod People – Watch Trumpy do stupid things!

#7 – Prince of Space – aka, Attack of the Chicken People.
#6 – Wild Rebels – bikers, drugs, the 60’s, and Ross Hagan – Google him! He did a lot of bad, bad movies.
#5 – Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues – No one puts Boggy Creek Baby in a corner!
#4 – Time of the Apes – no one stays long in Johnny’s world – would you?
#3 – Cave Dwellers – It’s got O’Keefe. How much? Miles…
#2 – Parts: The Clonus Horror – Hi, I’m Peter Graves. Tonight on Biography – I star in a really bad film about clones.

And the number one MST3K episode – 

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster 

Now shag on out there beanie-boy and fix that whoop-whoop noise!


Honorable mention goes to The Phantom Planet and Invasion of the Neptune Men.


How many of those episodes have you seen? (How many of the films have you had the misfortune of seeing without MST3K’s help?) Many are available on DVD, from NetFlix and Amazon, from the MST3K site, and on the MST3K Pluto TV channel. Sadly, you won’t be able to find Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster as they only leased it for five years. Unless you find someone like me who recorded almost every episode and now has them all on DVD!


Movie Review

Missing Link
A British ‘big and unusual game hunter’ travels to the USA to find Sasquatch.
First, I do want to note that the stop motion is amazing. There is also some computer animation blended in the background, and it all looks incredible.
However, the story was rather blah. Plus it was a very uneven film, with sprinkles of humor spread way too thin. It went for cheap, easy laughs. And missed. You want to see a movie about Yeti, go watch Smallfoot instead.
I’m not sure what the message of the film even was. Your dreams will be dashed – just be happy where you are? That’s what I got out of it anyway.
It was made by the studio that brought us Kobo and the Two Strings, which is a far superior film. Kobo was much more expressive, moving, and a complete story.
Unless you just really have to hear Hugh Jackman’s voice (also includes Zoe Saldana, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Thompson, David Walliams, Timothy Olyphant, and Stephen Fry), I’d skip this one.
Not recommended

Ninja News

Just two weeks left to enter the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Annual Anthology Contest!
Genre is middle grade historical – either adventure or fantasy – and the theme is voyagers.
See the site for full details.

The WEP Challenge for August is Red Wheelbarrow.
Post your entry this week and then add you link to the WEP site.










Anyone else catch the RiffTrax show? What are your favorite MST3K episodes? Seen Missing Link? And are you entering the IWSG Anthology Contest or WEP competition?

See you all September 4 for the next IWSG post day – and the deadline for entering the contest!

And be sure to check out Ten Ways to Support Other Authors.

82 comments:

nashvillecats2 said...

Good day Alex, wonderful post as always, so interesting . love to read what's going on . Will catch up with you on the ISWG.

Have a good week.
Yvonne.

Pat Hatt said...

haha I'm sure some people might prefer such Game of Thrones deleted scenes over that last season. I was iffy on watching Missing Link, sounds like it will stay skipped.

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, Alex!

I love Alan Hale and, as you recall, featured him recently in a post on SPMM. I also love low budget horror and sci-fi films but don't remember seeing The Giant Spider Invasion. I see that Alan also played a sheriff in an earlier spooker, The Crawling Hand (1963). The cast of that one included Allison Hayes who had the title role in the original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Those Rifftrax shows and MST3K eps seem like great fun, especially for boomer age guys like me who saw many of the original films when they were first released.

Have a great week, good buddy Alex!

Cathrina Constantine said...

I'm afraid to say I've never seen an MST3K episode. I guess I should check it out!. I read your post on Ten Ways to Support Other Authors, Great advice. We all need to pay if forward. Have a good week, Alex.

Mason Canyon said...

The Invasion of the Giant Spiders sounds intriguing. Always enjoy your posts. Lots of interesting things going on.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Pat, those deleted scenes would've been far better!

Shady, and MST3K and RiffTrax have attacked both of those earlier films!

Thanks, Cathrina.

lostinimaginaryworlds.blogspot.com said...

I am in awe of what you do, Alex.

Joanne said...

funny Monday post. The Missing Link previews looked cute, but I'll skip based on your review. Hobbs & Shaw and NOZ - Ray hates any nitrous references. They crack me up.
Godzilla vs. Sea Monster - I might have to catch that one.
Happy Monday!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Marmaduke turns into Scooby Doo...love it!

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Love the "Marmaduke" and "Hobbs and Calvin" slides! Too funny!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lost, thanks!

Joanne, glad I could amuse you.

Murees Dupè said...

I've never checked out RiffTrax, but I have heard you talk about it once or twice😁

Christine Rains said...

Thanks for the top 15. Gives me an idea what to watch next! :) I've no desire to see the Missing Link. I watched The Boys on Prime, though, and loved it. Have a terrific week, Alex.

DMS said...

I will be over to check out the post about ways to help authors.

Thanks for the heads up about Missing Link!
~Jess

Juneta key said...

I am not familiar with a lot of those. Heading to IWSG to check your post.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I grew up in a very small town without much to do, so we were riff tracking movies and TV shows before we even knew what to call it.

Birgit said...

I always thought Scooby and Marmaduke were one and the same. I don't know what MST3K means but I love Alan Hale Jnr. I also love tacky horror flicks and I have seen that Godzilla movie. I have not seen The Missing Link and will not see it even though I love Hugh Jackman

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Christine, prepare for laughter!

Elizabeth, you are extra cool.

alexia said...

Great points on your IWSG post about supporting other authors!

Susan Kane said...

Haven't seen those! Dang! I need to get a heads-up on when and where!

We have seen a few great/awful movies on R.Trax. There were 2 Santa movies. One had Santa playing an organ while leering at the audience. There was an awesome Merlin. Another Santa had crashed, got stuck in a tree, was pursued by some devil hit men trying to stop him from getting to his job. Oh there was one where Santa is stuck in the sand on some beach. He was freed by a rabbit ice cream truck, and some teenagers.

Good stuff, good memories, Alex.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Speaking of spiders. We've had our share this year. Their webs are spread from tree branch to tree branch and every time I take a walk I run unto a web or two. I've learned to carry a stick with me to clear the air. Poor spiders, I keep them busy rebuilding their webs.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

I laughed out loud at: The touching story of a boy and his sasquatch.
Thank you, Alex.
A great week to you.

Andrew Leon said...

Not only have I not seen any of those movies, I've only even heard of one of them.
Okay, it's -possible- I saw the Godzilla one on TV when I was a kid, since I used to watch the Godzilla movies when they were on on Saturday mornings, but I don't have any memory of it as a specific movie.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Love the one about Hobbs and Calvin!

sherry fundin said...

always enjoy your posts. love marmaduke and scoody doo so that was a real hoot.
sherry @ fundinmental

Mark Koopmans said...

Oh. Crap. I just resigned up for IWSG like 2 weeks ago and completely forgot to make an IWSG-post today.

Running to set note in calendar as I don't want to get kicked off again!!

J E Oneil said...

Man, you're so lucky to have those DVDs. I want to go hang out over at your house.

Helena said...

Sigh. So many bad, bad flicks to catch up on. But sorry, I really have to draw the line at giant spiders. I couldn't even look at the one in the Harry Potter movies.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, I have seen all three of those Santa films!

Beverly, you just might have a black hole in your yard...

Robyn, I am here to amuse!

Mark, I'll remind you before the September date.

JE, we must own a thousand movies...

Anonymous said...

That's too bad about The Missing Link. Stop motion animation is really cool and I'd love to see more of it.

John Wiswell said...

Lovely post, Alex. I actually grew up unironically enjoying Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster. I should totally check out the MST3K!

G. B. Miller said...

Never really had the chance to see any of MST3K, even when it was on t.v. Would love to find out where one can see them these days.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Rifftrax looks interesting (and fun). Can you only see it in theatres?

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I think I got my love for sci fi from my childhood. I was so excited when sci fi movie came on TV. Even if by today's standards they were hokey. When Godzilla ate its first human in the movies, I was horrified. My dad was the boss of the TV but I knew he'd vote to watch anything science fiction and...western.

Off to read 10 ways.

Teresa

Sandra Cox said...

Sounds like a great post. I'll have to check it out.
YOU have a great one.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Haha Those "spoiler" memes are great! Hubby doesn't get MST3K, but I think they're hilarious.

Lynda Dietz said...

lol Alan Hale, the original "look directly into the camera when you're not supposed to" actor. Gotta love him.

Thank you for the list of MST3K top movies! It will be hard to choose a fave, based on your descriptions. They all sound phenomenal.

Mary Kirkland said...

I loved Roddy McDowall in those old movies. He was always great.

diedre Knight said...

Howdy, Captain!

I haven't seen any of the MST3K episodes you mentioned, but I did watch most of Village of the Damned (again) last weekend. Definitely a lot scarier when I was a kid ;-) I was interested in seeing Mac and Me, now I wonder...The more I read about it, the more I'm compelled to check out the WEP Challenge. I'm off to see your post on supporting other authors!

Rhonda Albom said...

Sounds like I missed a really great show. Anything with Alan Hale starting out with hey little buddy, would have to be amazing. Thanks for the warning about missing link. Jeff and I met someone in Belize a long time ago (long story for another time) and the police referred to him as the "missing link".

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

I've seen a few episodes of MST3K, but I don't think any of them are listed. The one I remember was about a family who were forced to stay at a hotel run by a guy who took both the wife and girl as brides.

Powdered Toast Man said...

This whole post was lost on me. I never watched Mystery Science. Now I wish I had. I feel left out like recess in 7th grade.

Raimey Gallant said...

Those slides are hilarious. I love the Marmaduke one especially. I bet that is totally true. ;)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex - your stories about the films make me laugh ... but they're not for me ... I'm sure I'd have seen Alan Hale ... but I can't remember, even though he played in lots of films. Thanks for the reminder about the Red Wheelbarrow ... and I'll be over to check your IWSG post out - cheers Hilary

Jemi Fraser said...

Great post over at IWSG! The online writing community is amazing!

SpacerGuy said...

Godzilla is a favorite of mine, I cant recall how many versions there are of this movie but its always fun watching the King of monsters wreak havoc, I mean this guy eats everything and uses aeroplanes for toothpicks. MST3K Rocks and so does becoming one with the rock, but really I know whats its like to test-drive fingers on high hard granite walls and when you get to the top, so I'll have to watch Lost Continent.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

GB, they have their own channel on Pluto, plus you can stream them on Amazon Prime.

Stacy, no! You can visit their site and download RiffTrax movies.

Sandra, having a great one!

Lynda, just pick one and go.

Rhonda, funny!

PTM, time to rectify that!

Spacer Guy - rock climbing. You have been warned...

Sandra said...

A spider with a body of a VW? Now that's a novel take:)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

It's amazing the big names studios get to voice animated films. Haven't watched MST3K. I might need a few glasses of wine to do so.

Ronel Janse van Vuuren said...

More great actors in a meh movie. Sigh. I think I'll re-watch "Aquaman" next movie night. Again!

Yeah, I've just entered my story for the anthology competition!

I'm heading over to the IWSG blog to check out your post :-)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I'm pretty sure I've seen several of them, back in the day when my kids were huge fans. I don't remember titles though.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex - I meant to comment on the fact you have over 1,000 DVDs - how many times do you watch them ...?? Amazing ... enjoy though! Cheers Hilary

Magic Love Crow said...

Great post Alex! The Giant Spider Invasion, sounds like fun! LOL! Godzilla vs the Sea Monster!! I think my brother watched that one! LOL! Have a great one Alex!

mail4rosey said...

We weren't impressed by the preview for Missing Link. Glad we didn't go see it. The skit sounds funny. Deadpanning in comedy is often my favorite. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, careful - you might laugh some good wine up your nose.

Ronel, glad you entered!

Hilary, we do! Most have been watched at least once, some multiple times.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Most of this post is lost on me. The only place I've even heard of Rifftrax and MST3K is here on your blog. We don't stream anything. Nothing. Nada. (I know. We're dinosaurs.) But we DID see Hobbs & Shaw in the movies, and we loved it!

Liz A. said...

Hobbs & Calvin... LOL

I have never seen a full episode of MST3K. I have no idea why. I was aware of it at the time. They are on Netflix? Or did you mean the original movies? Because I finally have Netflix, but I won't watch those in the original form.

Al Penwasser said...

Methinks I'll head on over to MST3K on You Tube right now.

Sandra Cox said...

Marmaduke is living out his fantasy:)

The Angry Lurker said...

I like the 007 spoiler!

Carrie-Anne said...

That sounds like a really fun show! So many bad movies easily lend themselves to commentary much more entertaining than the original stories.

mshatch said...

I have not watched Rifftrax or MST3K. I know, I'm probably living under a rock. Maybe not having cable is the reason?

I can totally see that about General Akbar. Totally.

XmasDolly said...

Well, not too much time this evening to put a bunch of words because hubby has to get up early tomorrow morning. This time it's his turn for the doctor and maybe we'll find out what's wrong with him. Fingers Crossed. Anyway, hope you had a great weekend and now here comes MONDAY again.... bummer! Sooooo you always have so much going on. Goodness! Can you imagine even any of these things being real??? BUMMER! i WOULD'VE LOVED to enter your challenge, but couldn't figure out how! Sometime you'll have to helpt me enter one of your giveaways!!! BIG HUGS... Have a GREAT week!!! HUGS

Tonja Drecker said...

I'm off to the IWSG post! Have a great week :)

Cherie Reich said...

I'm kinda glad I didn't see Missing Link after your review. I love the Hot/Not one.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Thanks for letting us know which movies to see and to avoid! It's always good to know. :)
I went to see two movies this last week - really wild for me. We went on $6 Tuesday for my birthday to see Hobbs and Shaw - which was fun in a mindless, humor-filled, action-packed kind of way and hit the spot. :) Then, two friends took me to see The Lion King, which had blow-me-away CGI along with the original moving story-line (aka Hamlet with lions). I wanted a little more Timon and Pumba time, but it was really well done.

Debra Renée Byrd said...

Those memes are hilarious. I don't understand exactly what Rifftrax is, but it also looks funny lol.

Sandra Cox said...

I've seen some great Wheelbarrow entries. A fun topic by the way.
Have a great one, Alex.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, that gets you some cool points!

Liz, they are on NetFlix! And Amazon and Pluto.

Al, methinks your are a genius.

Marie, praying for you!

Tyren, we'll catch Lion King on video.

Yes, I saw one that was awesome, Sandra!

Roland Clarke said...

I'm late to this but highly amused, even if I missed that show as in the UK, not Wisconsin. And got distracted more recently by wheelbarrows, vampires and attempting something historical. Still insecure about my entry.

Loni Townsend said...

Someday, I might actually have to check out some MST3K episodes. :)

I'll skip Missing Link with the kids. The trailer had me going hmmm to begin with.

Donna K. Weaver said...

I wasn't inclined to see Missing Link anyway. Now I for sure won't.

Anonymous said...

I keep saying I'm going to watch MST3K and then I forget. I watched two episodes of what they had on Netflix last year. I can't remember if it was Rifftrax or MST. Either way, it was funny!

Are you planning on seeing Ready or Not? We saw it last weekend and it was better than I thought it was going to be. Some cringey stuff but also some very funny stuff too.

Have a great weekend, Alex!

Elsie

Sandra Cox said...

Lots of interest in the anthology contest?

Anonymous said...

Where is my comment? I left one yesterday and I don't see it. Strange.

Anyway, I said something along the lines that I watched MST3K on Netflix last year but only two episodes. At least I think that's what it was. I don't think they have Rifftrax on there yet.

We saw Ready Or Not last weekend. Whew, some moments were so cringey and there were some really funny moments too. Are you going to see it?

Steven Arellano Rose Jr. said...

I've only seen a few episodes of MST3K, including Giant Spider Invasion, which I've also watched outside of MST3K. And I'm actually okay with it, actually I prefer it. Not that I don't like MST3K, I actually find the characters really funny in that show and enjoy seeing them make fun of the movies and that includes GSI. But GSI kind of has some sentimental and nostalgic value to me because I had first seen it with my maternal uncles and aunts when I was only 6 at a drive-in theater and was both amused and creeper out at the same time. At age 6 I didn't see through the cheap effects and bad acting like I do now. So I liked the movie so much that I bought my own copy on dvd 2 yrs. Ago. Sadly I wasn't able to make the Riff Traxx Live when it came here to Sacramento. But I think I'll put in the dvd of the movie tonight and both get creeped out by the real tarantulas in the movie while laughing and making my own jokes at the fake giant one. I can do that easily with both MST3K (and other horror-hosted movies) as well as without. But it's fun to also watch them on shows like MST3K and laugh along with the hosts. I have Netflix so I'm going to try to watch a lot more of MST3K.

Susan Kane said...

Sad or proud to confess, we have seen #15-9.

But in reality, we would go to see most of them if we knew they were showing.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Hi, just catching up. And Roland's comment above made me chuckle...off to check the IWSG now. Have a brilliant week.

Theresa Milstein said...

Thanks for the review of Missing Link. It looks like a film to avoid!

The Wisconsin one made me laugh!

Toi Thomas said...

I think I've only seen two of those episodes, or perhaps I just have a bad memory.

Too bad about Missing Link. At least it looked really good.

Sherry Ellis said...

I saw the trailer for Missing Link, and I couldn't say it interested me. Glad it had some good animation, though.

I'll check out your guest post. I'm sure you have great things to say about the topic because you're so good at supporting other authors!

Theres just life said...

I loved watching Mystery Science Theater. I have moved to Austin and they have a troupe of comedians here called Master Pancake Theater that put on a live version. I haven't been able to make a show yet but I plan on making it to one.