Raquel Welch: Space Girl (1970)

Dressed in Bob Macki outfits and dancing in front of sculptures from the Ruta de la Amistad public sculpture project at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City… you may notice a sexy space girl outfitted Raquel Welch doing a go-go routine from her self-titled 1970 variety special.

Sometimes sci-fi is just amazing, ain’t it?

Cinematic Titanic makes Rolling Stone!

For those of you who have not seen the newest project from Joel Hodgson and the other geniuses behind the award-winning Mystery Science Theater 3000… get bust and see it. I approached The Oozing Skull with some trepidation. Though I watch the program on an almost daily basis, it has been years since I’ve seen anything new comer from them. My expectations were low. Very low.

As such I almost collapsed in tears when the movie proved to be an almost perfect distillation of everything I love about MST3K. The five performers (Trace Beaulie, Mary Joe Pehl, Josh Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Joel himself) took me right back to those late night viewings of Hercules and the Captive Women, or the belly aches I got from laughing at the ‘Tried to Kill Me With a Forklift!’ song from Fugitive Alien.

The only drawback was that it was over too soon. But I’m hoping that there are more on their way… soon.

Go here and buy a copy today!

Torchwood Season 2

Beginning this week in the UK and Jan 26th in the US is the second season of Torchwood.

Last year the first season gathered the highest viewing figures ever seen on BBC America (admittedly not a really big deal given that a majority of the channel’s programing consists of home repair shows), which has resulted in the first near-simulcasting of a BBC sci-fi program since the 20th anniversary Doctor Who special The Five Doctors.

By far, a much better quality show in my opinion compared to the new Doctor Who, Torchwood consists mainly of rain-slicked streets and ‘beautiful people’ striking poses and facing off against strange aliens. This season looks like it will be taking the drama up a notch as well as introduce new characters including the too-charming for his own good James Marsters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

Ofcourse an added surprise is the addition of Martha Jones from season three of Doctor Who. 

Cinematic Titanic movie details!

The first project from Cinematic Titanic was released at midnight on 12/22/07, the first release from the fellas behind MST3K.

Details from the official website below:

We’re really proud to announce that the first Cinematic Titanic DVD is available for sale! It’s been a fun and busy three months and I really hope you like it. Buy it now!

Click here to find out all about how you can get it.

First, some background about the film we chose…

Originally titled “Brain of Blood” for theatrical release and “The Creature’s Revenge” for television, it was shot in 1971 and somehow perfectly catches the spirit of the seventies-schlocksploitation zeitgeist. Once we found out we had a chance to obtain the rights to this find, we became kinda obsessed.

We began negotiating with Sam Sherman, one of the film’s producers and story creator, who’s a really nice man with a great sense of humor. Once Sam realized what we were intending to do to “Brain of Blood”, he granted us permission to license it, with the proviso that we change the name of the feature to avoid confusion in the marketplace with the original, unTitanic-ed version. This is such a great looking film, with so many unbelievable situations, it was an easy decision to oblige Sam’s wishes, and so we came up with the title “The Oozing Skull”.

Watch the trailer here!

Cinematic Titanic 1: “The Oozing Skull” was first performed as written in the studio. It was then performed live at Lucasfilm and and ILM. Once we got Cinematic Titanic on its feet in front of a live audience, we were amazed by the response. All of us being former stand-ups, we realized that we were performing the jokes differently in front of a living, breathing audience– we were changing the way we delivered our lines, and also adding lots of extra material. In those two performances, enough new and better material evolved to warrant another pass at the film. This became a sort of an emergency fire drill for our production team, headed by Stoney Sharp and Tim Ford, but they seized the challenge with great aplomb. Yeah, it’s late, but we think it’s worth it.

So, that’s the dealio. This idea of doing the material live was a happy accident, not designed into our creative path, but we know it made the product better by performing in front of our fans. It was the perfect push we needed to figure out the pilot for Cinematic Titanic.

Also, for the time being, this feature is only being made available as an actual DVD. We found out in the eleventh hour of negotiating with Sam Sherman that only the DVD rights are available right now, with the ‘download to burn’ rights becoming available in the spring. Sorry about that chiefs. Our survey indicated that four out of five of you prefer DVD anyway. But this download thing– We suspect there’s a future to it.

So that it’s for now. We’re very happy and can’t wait for you to see Cinematic Titanic 1: “The Oozing Skull”.

The Cinematic Titanic: Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, and J. Elvis Weinstein.

Suddenly I feel like it’s Christmas!

Heroes Season Three Tease

With the writers strike proving to be the most powerful super villain of all for TV, who knows when this third year of Heroes will air, but at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival, attendees were treated to this glimpse of what may come.

Cinematic Titanic

A Guy Named Joel: Launching Cinematic Titanic

November 09, 2007

Repeat to Yourself: It’s Just a Show

By Pablo Hidalgo About 20 years ago, the Satellite of Love began circling high overhead. Within the confines of this orbital station, everyman Joel Robinson was subjected to watching terrible movies, with only his wisecracking robot sidekicks — Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot — to help him by delivering well-timed hilarious commentary. Quickly following its 1988 debut on a local Twin Cities television station KTMA, Mystery Science Theater 3000 became a cult hit, moving to the Comedy Channel, then Comedy Central, and then eventually the Sci-Fi Network.

From 1988 to 1993, comedian and series creator Joel Hodgson played the main role of Joel, before handing over the reigns to Mike Nelson, who hosted through to the show’s end in 1999. “End,” though, is really used figuratively here, because even though the show is off the air, an active fan-base continues to celebrate all things MST3K, by buying the latest DVD releases or circulating videotapes of hard-to-find episodes. Riffing on bad movies has become a pastime for many MST3K fans who keep the spirit alive. At Industrial Light & Magic, there’s a monthly tradition of bad movie screenings called “Flecks” that has been going on for years, and has since spread to other effects and animation studios.

Hodgson has spent the past decade behind-the-scenes developing a variety of entertainment projects, but he will soon be returning to the silhouetted spotlight when he and the original cast of MST3K debut an all-new video project, Cinematic Titanic (visit the website here). In preparation for this new venture, Hodgson visited the offices of Lucasfilm, and StarWars.com was granted an exclusive interview.

Full interview on starwars.com.

Do you hear that?

It’s a million fans online making that whoop whoop whoop sound.

The site Cinematic Titanic just went live last week (thanks for the heads up, Tim!) and already the response from fans has been enormous. The project will reunite Joel, Josh Weinstein, Frank Conniff, Trace Beaulieu and Mary Jo Pehl riffing on a film that will make “Manos the Hands of Fate” look like “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” in a car wreck with “Eegah!” with notes of peach.
The first release will be on December 10th after the live show on 12/7/07.

My birthday is in December, you know?

Abrams’s Fringe

The (hopeful) savior of Star Trek and TV both, director JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias), has recently sold his first new TV series as part of a recent deal with Warner Bros.

Entitled Fringe, the series will be horror/sci-fi much in the same vein of the much lamented X-Files.

Seeing as how the war between reality TV programming and wacky contest shows is starting to result in a few experimental dramas, this could mean another step out of the cultural depression that has plagued TV since American Idol first gripped the throat of the viewing public… but I digress.

The two-hour pilot is budgeted at over $10 million.

More from the press:

The show’s main character is a young, female FBI agent (The Hollywood Reporter raises the possibility of Abrams’ “Felicity” star Keri Russell as potential casting) who has to work with a brilliant research scientist and his estranged son as she explores unexplained phenomena.

The trade papers reference the quirky FOX landmark “The X-Files,” early David Cronenberg films and Paddy Chayefsky’s “Altered States” as major influences.

OooooOoooo… Cronenberg and Altered States as influences? I might actually watch this.

Star Trek: The Menagerie set for cinemas

Fans of the recently remastered original Star Trek series have reason to be excited. It has just been announced that the two part story The Menagerie (which incorporates the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage) will be screened on November 13th in 300 cinemas nationwide.I have to admit, this is my favorite Star Trek story and the remastering alterations (including a stunning zoom in on the Enterprise bridge) are truly awe-inspiring. Check out the clip below for an idea on how great this is.

A short 30 minute film about the remastering process will accompany the episodes.

For more info, visit StarTrek.com and Fathom Events.

Life on Mars

 

Cop dramas once ruled the airwaves in much the same way that the medical and crime dramas do today. In 1975, ITV produced some of the most over the top violent and self-justified cops of any era.

The Sweeney introduced the phrase, ‘get your trousers on, you’re nicked’ and ’shut it!’ to the common parlance as the coppers drive down alleys and streets at harrowing speeds. Series lead John Thaw played DI Jack Regan, a hard talking, hard living copper who took no lip from no one. The program ran for four years and achieved two motion picture releases as well. Embedded in the group memory of TV viewers, The Sweeney has remained a vital part of BBC mythology.

Regan loves the ladies

The 2006 BAFTA Award-winning BBC TV series achieved the seeming impossibility of paying homage to programs such as The Sweeney (and, to an extent, The Professionals).

Life On Mars tells the story of DCI Sam Tyler who, after surviving a car accident, finds himself in the 1973 of his youth. The part of the lead is played by actor John Simm (recently seen debasing himself in the absurdly horrible finale of Doctor Who season three), the most promising actor to come out of the BBC in ages. Simm is challenged with a series that operates on a number of levels, demanding a wide and in-depth range of emotional work for him to go through. Luckily, he has a superb supporting cast to work with.

Surrounded by bent, drunken, vicious, inept and belligerent cops, Sam attempts to discover how or why this switch has happened. No longer in charge of his division, Sam has to work with DCI Gene Hunt who appears to be based lovingly on The Sweeney’s Regan. Hunt is played by the marvelous Philip Glenister (previously seen by me in the excellent Clocking Off which also featured Simm and former Doctor Who Chris Eccleston). Glenister plays the role of Hunt so well that in the short time the program was on the air, he became a TV legend.

Sam meets the Gene Genie

As the series progresses, Tyler attempts to ‘fix’ or even lead the department toward a more civilized police force, much to his own dismay. Each episode features a standard whodunnit crime in which Gene Hunt kicks in doors and kicks seven shades of fertilizer out of anyone he suspects as being involved. Sam is unrelenting in his belief that he cam make a difference and keeps at Gene, trying to do ‘real police work’ rather than just jumping to conclusions and beating confessions out of potentially innocent citizens.

The cop drama elements are so over the top and absurd, no doubt true to the boyhood memories of series creator Matthew Graham has of The Sweeney. To me, it’s a key element to enjoying the program, but there are plenty of other facets to Life on Mars to enjoy.

In addition to the crime-fighting aspect, there is a metaphysical struggle as Sam tries to deal with this potentially unreal world. He hears voices of his loved ones and doctors as his body lies in a coma in 2006, unable to communicate. Enraged, he experiences moments of disorientation as his body is subject to attempts to bring him out of his condition, often interrupting the course of an investigation.

‘It’s Sam Tyler! How are you today?’

Luckily, he is not saddled with just neanderthalic detective Gene Hunt and his merry band of good for nothing coppers for company. Sam trusts sympathetic WPC Annie Cartwright with his unbelievable time travel story and she listens to him. Not entirely believing him, Annie is an ear and shoulder for Sam in his unfriendly world. Their relationship is ofcourse of the will they/won’t they variety as Sam is 50% sure that none of this is real and he is really having a weird hallucination. Thanks to performances from the brilliant John Simm and Liz White, it’s possibly the best man/woman relationship I’ve seen on TV since Sapphire and Steel (go look that up, mate).

Since the series takes place in 1973, the music is absolutely amazing. Featuring tunes from Bowie to T Rex (an actor playing Marc Bolan makes an appearance early on) to Roxy Music, you’ll want to turn the volume wayyy up while watching this. Car chases not seen since the 70’s, foot races are backed by pounding glam and rock music every week, taking the viewer back to a time when McCartney was good.

Lasting only two years, Life on Mars is the most perfectly packaged TV series alongside such greats as The Prisoner and Blake’s 7 (you’re writing the shows you don’t know down, right sunshine?). The ending to the second and final season is jaw-dropping and poignant at the same time, something that modern TV viewers are not used to (remember the outcry over the ending of the Sopranos).

Surprisingly, a follow-up series featuring a female detective stick in the 80’s has been planned. Hunt and his crew are expected to appear ten years after Sam’s experiences, due to a plot contrivance involving Sam Tyler’s notes. For up-to-date details on the follow-up series, Ashes to Ashes, check actor Philip Glenister’s blog. I’m not entirely sold on this sequel business, but Glenister says that it’s good stuff.

We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, BBC America have recently started screening Life on Mars season two on cable. If you have access to the ‘On Demand’ feature, you should be able to catch previous episodes. Or you can do the old ‘multi-region DVD player’ scheme I’ve mentioned… or stop by and I’ll screen it for you.

Just promise to not go ‘all Dorothy’ in the emotionally moving bits… or I’ll have to thump ye.

Heroes spinoff?

Not even a full day after the Heroes season two premiere, a spin-off series by Newton, Mass native and former psychologist turned director Eli Roth and fanboy turned… fanboy Kevin Smith has been announced.

Titled Heroes: Origins, the program will develop a new super hero character each episode. Viewers will be encouraged to vote at the end of each episode to decide which characters get introduced into the regular Heroes program.

The series is expected to be a six episode mini-series.

By clicking onto the official site you can read an original online ‘novel’ and try to win that Nissan Rogue that your daddy never gave you (am I the only one who finds that weird?).