I don’t really have much to say about this. Three of the MST3K guys, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett (the second voice of Crow) have gotten back together because they enjoy working together and, probably, want a little coin. They don’t own MST3K, so they shamelessly rip it off here.
Playing comic versions of themselves, they work for a sort of Charley (ala Charley’s Angels), an offsite millionaire obsessed with seeing that even the lamest movie has a DVD commentary track. The guy’s job is to provide these. In other words, they basically riff through the movie as in MST3K, but sans the robot guises, and without appearing onscreen. There’s also an occasional bumper skit, as on the old show. The pacing of the gags is more relaxed, and a teeny bit naughtier.
The first whack at it is no great shakes (although it’s the not the utter disaster of the Elvira / Screech MST3K rip-off special that, sadly, TV’s Frank produced back in the day). Still, it’s an enjoyable, diverting enough hour and twenty minutes, assuming the viewer isn’t dedicated to carping about how it’s not as good as the old show was. It isn’t, but so what? Better than nothing.
The movie itself is a downer social drama / heist film of the sort where you know all will end badly. It’s claim to fame is that a (comparatively) young Rue McClanahan, later one of TV’s Golden Girls, plays a stripper. Frankly, Ms. McClanahan was no great looker even in her salad days, looking a bit like a second-rate Joan Crawford (who I never found attractive either) with bad skin. The cries of horror heard during her striptease were presumably not that difficult to fake.
The first wave of Film Crew movies will be released on a more or less monthly basis, with Killers from Space (August) and Wild Women of Wongo (Sep) up next. I think The Giant of Marathon is also scheduled at some point. I can’t say I’m planning to buy these (unless they come out in a cheap box set at some point), but I’ll certainly rent them.
The guys also have downloadable commentaries for more famous fiascos like Battlefield Earth for sale over at Rifftrax.com, although personally my knowledge of what an MP3 is, is about as developed as my understanding of quantum physics. I’m sure the rest of you aren’t similarly retarded, though.
