Activity from JHarris
Displaying post 300 to 350 of 1386
MST Club Halloween Show 2021
We're going to have a show of MST episodes and assorted other things and movies in the MST Club room at https://cytu.be/r/Metafilter_MST3KClub this Halloween, beginning "officially" at 6 PM Eastern. It's kind of a preview of Turkey Day (which we traditionally try to get the stream in the room for us to watch together) and our annual Christmas Marathon. You can help us pick which episodes to watch with this Google Forms poll.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE BRUTE MAN
Rewatch! Rondo Hatton is The Creeper, a deformed killer who wants to do something good, and so steals money to help a blind girl, but ends up killing people anyway. Hatton had acromegaly from chemical warfare suffered in World War I, which he managed to use to establish a career in Hollywood as "The Creeper" in a series of movies, but also killed him shortly after The Brute Man was made. Tragedy surrounds us. But there's also a short promising all the wonder and joy and relief from suffering that the future surely has in store for us: The Chicken of Tomorrow! Oh? Oh. Previously.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Taiwan
This week: police officers around the US threaten to quit rather than get vaccinated. And Now: The Weather Channel's Graphics Department Is Still Not Fucking Around. Main story: Taiwan, its history as an anti-communist tool by the West, its current-day democratic miracle, and its fraught relationship with Communist China. And Now: James Corden Loves Cinema.
Why should I smile while they toss me around?
Finally, a questionable sixteen-year journey comes to an end: the finale of Charlie the Unicorn, in which they finally explain what the hell is up with those two other obnoxious unicorns. Previously and again. Here are the previous parts, in one video.
Amphibia: Fight at the Museum/Temple Frogs
Fight at the Museum: The search for information to return the Plantars to Amphibia takes our heroes to the museum, where they meet potential ally Dr. Jan, and definite enemy, the frog robot. Temple Frogs: The day following the museum trip, Anne gets a message from Dr. Jan, but before she can follow up on it her mother pulls her into helping out at the local Thai Temple. The frogs fit in surprisingly well there, but their robotic pursuer is less welcome.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST
Rewatch! A dead astronaut comes back down to Earth, not-dead but infested by aliens who plan to use his body as a spearhead to invade Earth. Is it just me or is that a weird plan? Also with a short, Once Upon A Honeymoon, which naturally has to do with telephones. We re-enter the series after The Movie, without Frank and now with new regular Pearl Forrester. It's the beginning of Season 7, only six episodes long and the last hurrah of the show on Comedy Central. Previously.
Amphibia: Thai Feud/Adventures in Catsitting
Thai Feud: The Plantars are guests in the Boonchuy home for now, but Sprig wants to be part of Anne's family like how Anne is part of the Plantars'. He unwisely resolves to do something about a rival food truck that's taken to parking outside the Boonchuy's restaurant. Adventures in Catsitting: It's been a week since Anne returned to Earth and her parents' house with her favorite frogs, and Hop Pop suspects they're overstaying their welcome. Desperate for him and his family to pull their weight, they volunteer to take family cat Domino to the vet.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Misinformation Among Immigrant Communities
This week.... Idaho's Lieutenant Governor issued an executive order forbidding vaccine mandates, even though the Governor is opposed it. It turns out OAN, which has been covered by the show before, owes a lot of its existence to AT&T, the same AT&T that's Last Week's Tonight's abdicating business-daddy, which John Oliver cuts them no slack over. And Now: "Fox & Friends'" Brian Kilmeade Likes Christopher Columbus Way, Way Too Much. Main story (YouTube, 20 minutes) : Misinformation as it spreads through immigrant diaspora communities, for although more than 90% of Facebook monthly users are outside the U.S. and Canada, only 13% of hours the company has spent on monitoring information is focused outside the U.S. LWT made some memeable pass-around videos to try to spread the word about not spreading misinformation on the internet, available at bettermorningmessages.com.
Amphibia: Hop 'Til You Drop/Turning Point
Hop 'Til You Drop: The Plantars are excited to explore Anne's world, but are ignorant of its own kinds of dangers. Anne figures the best thing to do is to drop them in the deep end at the most chaotic place she can think of: the mall.
Turning Point: In Amphibia, after Anne and the Plantars were sent to Earth, Sasha and Captain Grime escape from Andrias' castle and hide out in Wartwood, but are soon tracked there by a robot scout.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: SAMSON VS THE VAMPIRE WOMEN
Rewatch! One of the most improbable movie crime fighters of all time is Samson, a.k.a. El Santo the luchador, who here tangles with the undead and the forces of evil. It's "TV's" Frank Conniff's last episode until his guest appearance in Season 10, the last episode of Season 6, and the last episode before Pearl Forrester becomes a regular Mad. Previously.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: PFAs
This week... Covid + Brexit causes widespread gas shortages in the UK. Congress holds a hearing on the impact of social media on teenagers' mental health, causing confusion for Senator Richard Blumenthal on what a "finsta" is. Democrats try to pass the ambitious Build Back Better Act, and predictably Republicans are using every means to block it, aided by the villains of the hour, Senators Manchin and Sinema. And Now: Newscasters Take Issue With The Term "Leaf Peeping." Main story (YouTube, 20 minutes): PFAs, a class of chemicals that cause a variety of health issues and take thousands of years to break down, and has now bioaccumulated in nearly every human being on Earth, including 99.7% of US citizens. At the end, Danny DeVito appears in a bit "promoting" PFAs. Check the level of PFA contamination in the water in your area at ewg.org/pfasmap.
Amphibia: The New Normal
[this is jumping ahead a bit...]
The start of Season Three. After the momentous events of the previous episode (True Colors), Anne is back in Los Angeles! BUT the Plantars are stranded there with her, Sasha and Marcy are still stuck in Amphibia, Marcy is additionally in a tank on life support, and King Andrias plans on using the Calamity Box to send robots to invade Earth. But first, Sprig, Polly (now with legs!) and Hop Pop meet Anne's parents, the Boonchuys.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN
Rewatch! A mad MAD I SAY scientist makes a criminal invisible, great idea, and said crook wants to use his new amazing transparentness for crookly purposes. With short The Days Of Our Years, in which the pastor of a church laments that machines keep inflicting grevious harm on his parishioners. Previously.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Voting Rights
This week.... Two hosts of The View test positive for COVID mid-show moments before Kamala Harris was due to appear. In Del Rio, Texas, Haitians attempting to cross the border were met with border patrol agents on horseback wielding makeshift whips. And Now: Local News Anchors Announce The Changing Of The Seasons The Only Way They Know How. ("It's Fall, y'all!") Main story (YouTube, 20 minutes): Voting rights, why they're under attack, and what should be done to protect them. And Now: The Utterly Spectacular Dramatic Pauses Of ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. Finally: duck stamps. They're not postage stamps, but kind of a hunting permit. But they're also collectable, and effective at raising money towards wetland preservation. There is much more to this than you'd expect there to be (see inside for more info).
Mystery Science Theater 3000: ANGELS REVENGE
Re-rewatch! Welcome back to the seventies, where a bunch of women in sheer garments could single-handedly take on militias and drug dealers and the only casualty they suffer would be their teenage girl member, and who would just be knocked out, not die or anything. A large amount of low-level star power in this one, including the likes of Jim Backus, Alan Hale Jr. and Pat Buttram. Previously and again.
Amphibia: Family Fishing Trip
The Plantars take their annual fishing trip, and Sprig is looking forward to spending time with Hop Pop. But he's invited his new girlfriend Sylvia along, and so he resorts to cartoon pranks to keep his grandpa to himself. Meanwhile, Anne has comedy parasailing adventures while Polly looks on and laughs.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS
Rewatch! Flag on the moon. How'd it get there? It's the last of the three Coleman Francis movies, every one of them a vision into the dark heart of humankind, but this one also has Tor Johnson! Francis himself doesn't act in it, but he does narrate the entire movie. Come for the musings on technology ("Push a button. Things happen. A man becomes a monster."), stay to feed soda pop to the hungry pigs. Good freaking luck. A lot of your enjoyment of this episode comes from your investment in the MST3K premise. If you sit in front of the screen with your arms folded and say, "I'm here TV. Entertain me!", you will DIE. But if you want to see just how bad a movie can be, and a person trapped in space make fun of it with his automated mocking machines, this is some fine viewin'.Previously.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Lukashenko, Dictator of Belarus
Last Week Tonight is back, in a studio, and with a live audience and a new set! This week... Texas's awful new abortion law that lets private citizens sue people who got or in any way abetted an abortion, including the people who drove the patient to the hospital. And Now: Yet Again, It's That Time Of Year (Starbucks is bringing back their Pumpkin Spice Latte). Main Story (YouTube, 19 minutes): Belarus, specifically its leader Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed "last dictator of Europe," who has clung to power for three decades. He's the most popular president Belarus has ever had, but only because he's the only president Belarus has ever had, and is in fact deeply unpopular and controls that nation's media with an iron fist.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: DANGER! DEATH RAY
Re-rewatch! Swave spy-guy Bart Fargo (Bart Fargo Bart Fargo) hunts people who've kidnapped the inventor of a death ray in an episode whose stature has grown over the years. Ding! Ba-dup-ba-dup-ba-da-dah da dah. Previously and again. With this, we have ten Comedy Central episodes left.
Amphibia: Wally and Anne
Anne sees a famous cryptid while out foraging with the Plantars, and no one believes her except for One-Eyed Wally. They go looking for it, and in the process Anne learns to be more comfortable being herself.
Amphibia: A Night At The Inn
Polly feels like she's not allowed to do anything because she's just a pollywog. Meanwhile, Bessie breaks down (she can do that?) on the road, so Anne and the Plantars stay at a roadside bed & breakfast. As a result they almost die.
Amphibia: Cracking Mrs. Croaker
Everyone in town loves Sprig! Everyone except elderly Mrs. Sadie Croaker, who for some reason is always "meh" whenever she encounters the young frog. This eats at Sprig to the extent that he resorts to outlandish means to get her to like him.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: RED ZONE CUBA
Re-rewatch! Welcome back to Cuba, for the middle section of the movie that takes place there! Our protagonists are criminal at best, murderous at worst. Written, directed and starring Coleman Francis, whose vision of bleak despair and dark ennui practically sloughs off the screen. With great riffing, but a terrible movie, this is one of those episodes that really puts the show's premise, watching a bad movie but having what fun you can with it, to the ever loving test. There is a short beforehand, Platform Posture and Appearance. Previously and again.
Amphibia: Snow Day
Once a year the entire town of Wartwood freezes over for a night and the whole town hibernates, and each time someone disappears and is never seen again. But this year they have Anne, who's warm-blooded, to watch out for everyone.
Amphibia: Trip To The Archives
To prepare for their journey to find a way to get Anne home, the Plantars visit the Wartwood Town Archives. As a result, they get trapped in a building and Anne almost gets eaten by giant cicadas. (Thanks, Sprig.)
Amphibia: Croak & Punishment
Sprig finds a rare Blue Moon Shell. He wants to give it to Ivy, but it disappears before he can! Convinced it was stolen, he goes overboard in his attempts to discover who took it.
Amphibia: Hop Popular
It's election time in Wartwood, and Hop Pop, still without a place to sell his vegetables, tries to unseat Mayor Toadstool.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: HIGH SCHOOL BIG SHOT
Rewatch! A smart high school student makes terrible decisions, decides to help crooks steal "a million bucks!" out of a safe, and causes the death of several people. Roger Corman executive produces. This episode also has the short titled Out Of This World, which obviously given the name is about a bread delivery man being tempted to slack off at his job. His work ethic is the subject of a bet between an angel and a devil, as written of in the book of Sara Lee. Previously.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Afghanistan
Farewell to the white void! It's the last episode from the blank existential nothingness voiced by H. Jon Benjamin. This week... we begin going right into the main story (24 minutes), about the withdrawal, after twenty years, from Afghanistan, a process that began under Trump, continued under Biden, and arguably had to happen someday, but we had hoped would be done in a more orderly and less violent and chaotic way than it has. And Now: Tamron Hall Will Have You Know She Is Fifty. Then, a word about the legal battle between our old friend, Jim "Texas Hammer" Adler, and newcomer to the tool-wielding, television-advertised personal injury law scene, Mike "Alabama Hammer" Slocumb, who looks like he may have stolen some of Jim's shtick. John suggests a new nickname for Slocumb: "The Alabama Banana Slicer," complete with prop that he will happily send on request. And, at last, another, final, moment with the void.... Last Week Tonight is off for the next two weeks.
Amphibia: Civil Wart
From the boundless memory card of Anne's phone comes something called a movie, that splits Wartwood into two camps, each stanning one of the romantic leads. Sprig and Polly end up heading the rival factions, even though Hop Pop begs Sprig to let Polly win due to her being younger.
Amphibia: Hop Pop and Lock
Hop Pop reunites with old flame Sylvia Sundew, but is immediately challenged by a another suitor, Monroe. Can Anne help Hop Pop learn to dance so he can express his feelings?
Mystery Science Theater 3000: THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON
Rewatch! One of the four Russo-Finnish movies MST has done, and the third and last of the three Aleksandr Ptushko films. Actually a pretty great movie, with high production values, but also some very strange goings on. Kind of an underrated episode if you ask me. Previously.
Amphibia: Grubhog Day
Sprig is assigned to take care of the focus creature of a Wartwood festival, meaning he can't go on any rides or have fun, but Anne convinces him that he could still enjoy the festivities if he took the grubhog with him. As you've probably guessed, things go badly.
Amphibia: Prison Break
"Far, far away from Wartwood..." Anne's friend Sasha, who was also sent to Amphibia, helps the toads deal with a heron attack.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Ransomware
Two weeks left in the white void! The spread of the Delta variant of the Coronavirus continues to grow, helped by hordes of ideologically-driven parents threatening school boards over mask mandates. And Now: Pete Nelson From Treehouse Masters Really, Really Likes Trees. Main story: Ransomware (YouTube, 22 minutes), which is an epidemic of its own right now. How it started, what's happening now, and a couple of ways you can help protect yourself.
Amphibia: Toad Tax
Over a month after her arrival, Anne is still made fun of and called "Scarecrow" by Wartwood's residents. But then a small band of toads arrives from Toad Tower to punish folk who haven't paid taxes, and Anne joins them to try to earn some respect from the townsfolk.
Amphibia: Plantar's Last Stand
Mayor Maire Toadstool quadruples the rent on the Plantar family produce stand. To save it, Anne suggests selling fruit juice as a patent medicine called Plantar's Potion, which sells extremely well but tests Hop Pop's honesty.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: RACKET GIRLS
Rewatch! Girls wrestle and wrestle and wrestle and wrestle. There's a plot about money laundering. But mostly, girls wrestle. It's pretty skeevy. Since the last time we did this movie, I've learned that it's actually kind of the second in a trilogy, of a set of movies connected by having the character of Umberto Scalli, played by Timothy Farrell. The lady wrestlers are played by real lady wrestlers. Has the short Are You Ready For Marriage, containing 100% more BOING than the standard short! Previously.
Amphibia: Lily Pad Thai
Local food critic Albus Duckweed threatens to close the family's go-to restaurant, Stumpy's, with a bad review, so Anne promises to turn the place around in two days. As a result they almost die.
Amphibia: Family Shrub
While Hop Pop leaves the house to buy glue to construct his "family shrub" chart, the kids discover a secret passage in the family house that leads to the old basement rooms of the Plantar ancestors. As a result they almost die.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: The Sackler Family
This week, from the white void (for three more weeks).... Andrew Cuomo tries to ride out the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him. Russia competes under another name in the Olympics, as the Russian Olympic Committee. And Now: The Electrifying Small Talk Of San Antonio's 'Daytime With Kimberly & Esteban.' Main story (Youtube, 24 minutes): While on the surface it appears that Purdue Pharmaceuticals is finally being duly punished for their role in the opioid epidemic, the plan under consideration lets the Sackler family that currently owns it off in many ways. The Sacklers have created a website. judgeforyourselves.info, to give their side of the story, but Last Week Tonight got the dot-com version, judgeforyourselves.com, to give a broader picture, featuring video of "Richard Sackler" (played by Richard Kind).
Amphibia: Contagi-Anne
Anne pretends to be sick, with the "mochalattes," to get out of work during a storm, but as a result the Plantars actually get sick, and she is guilt-stricken.
Amphibia: Anne vs. Wild
Feeling left out when she discovers the Plantars were going on a camping trip without her, Anne asks to come along. As a result they almost die.
Amphibia: Dating Season
After Anne and Hop Pop learn that Sprig has a girl frog friend, they try to set them up during the Firefly Formal dance. As a result they almost die.
Amphibia: Girl Time
Anne is concerned that living with two boys is causing Polly to grow up to be coarse, so she takes Hop Pop's wallet in order to treat her to a day of pampering.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: KITTEN WITH A WHIP
Rewatch! A straight-laced political candidate gets mixed up with a troubled young lady, who threatens to make him look bad if he doesn't acquiesce to her whims. Oh, won't anyone think of the problems of the rich and powerful? Kevin Murphy dresses as a cat in a host segment, so there is that. Previously.
Amphibia: Sprig vs. Hop Pop
Unhappy with Hop Po's leadership, Sprig challenges Hop Pop to a ceremonial fight and wins, becoming the new head of the farm. Predictably, disaster ensues.
Amphibia: Breakout Star
Anne, who up until now has been treated like a monster and a freak by the townsfolk, breaks out in pimples that resemble warts, and suddenly she's a star among the frog citizenry. Mayor Toadstool tries to take political advantage, straining relations between Anne and the Plantars.
Amphibia: Anne Theft Auto
Hop Pop says Anne can drive the family snail Bessie, but only if she reads a large book (that he wrote) explaining Bessie's life and facts about her. As a result Anne almost dies.
Amphibia: Taking Charge
After introducing the Plantars to her favorite show, "Suspicion Island," the mysteriously bottomless battery of Anne's cell phone finally gives out, and she and the Plantars go to find a way to charge it. As a result they almost die.
Amphibia: The Domino Effect
Anne misses her cat Domino from back home, but finds a caterpillar in the woods who looks a lot like her and decides to keep it as a pet, against Hop Pop's rules. As a result they almost die.