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It Takes All Kinds…

The right people will get it.

Hat tip: Deep Ape.

113 Replies to “It Takes All Kinds…”

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  1. MikeK says:

    :lol: :lol:

    This nitwit lost me when he started going on about movies in widescreen format. That’s his whole argument against MST3K. Does he even realize when MST3K was on TV? Did he even think that’s just the copy of the movie that the Brains had to work with?

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  2. digital_trucker says:

    Vote Ron Paul

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  3. gojikranz says:

    ill confess the lack of good quality prints always botbhered me at some level just as someone who likes the widescreen form (though a great many mst3k films were fullscreen originally) but obviously it isnt mst3k’s fault about that. only one film did i get annoyed by the cuts and that was godzilla vs the sea monster a very enjoyable film when seen uncut and in widescreen but i still enjoyed the episode i think you just gotta calm down sometimes.

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  4. Jamescush says:

    Wait…that wasn’t satire? :???:

    What a pretentious ass.

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  5. Gorn Captain says:

    #27 Widescreen movies were actually first tried in the silent era, but Hollywood wasn’t terribly interested until TV started cutting into their profits in the 1950’s.

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  6. Dr. Batch says:

    This guy is an idiot. He created his own shadowrama scenes to make his point. If someone doesn’t like MST3K, that’s fine. But come up with a legit reason.

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  7. piratejoe says:

    Holy Crap.

    That’s all I got to say.

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  8. FatherOfTears says:

    OK, he is entitled to his opinion but, as others have said, when you go on a rant where you swear like a drunken sailor your argument will fall flat. Now, I just looked at one of his creations, “The Magic Forest” and after only three minutes I had to switch to something else! “Scumbag The Clown”? Sock puppet animals making out? I even found MYSELF making a riff at this! “The bear has Bjork in its stomach”. Oh, I wonder if his little creation will be yanked off the Tube for copyright violation as I doubt that he got permission from Geddy Lee and co. to use “Tom Sawyer” as a soundtrack in part of the film!

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  9. crowschmo says:

    STONE HIM!!! :evil:

    I’m getting an incredible sense of deja vu. :shock:

    Did we not do all this with that Galbraith, or whatever his name was? (I forget).

    Okay. Don’t like the show. But swearing and ranting and using derogatory comments won’t legitimize your opinion. (Then he goes back and says something to the effect of, I realize using that language was wrong, but I sometimes go overboard when I’m blogging, or something in that vein – uh, that’s professional, so WHY should anyone take your opinions seriously?)

    Kind of sounds like you were – hmm – RIFFING the show? I get the sense that his comments were disrespectful, but when I watch MST3K, I get the sense that they actually ENJOY the movies they are riffing. (With some exceptions regarding some of the more mean-spirited comments, but we’re all guilty of that on occasion).

    There’s a different feel to it. So, it IS an art form.

    More people, as was pointed out, have been exposed to these movies through the show and have a respect for the process of making them, and of the movies themselves, then otherwise would have (is that a sentence?). But, you get what I mean. :roll:

    So when people like this guy and that other guy I mentioned above go on these rants, it just makes no sense to me. If it’s not your type of humor and you just don’t like it, it’s fine. You can even say they’re jerks if you want, just like J, M&TB’s say about some of the actors and filmmakers (to use the terms loosely). But it’s just the way they’re saying it that turns me off.

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  10. crowschmo says:

    Oh, yeah. And the point of the show wasn’t to see these movies in all their widescreen, uncut glory. You can go seek out the actual MOVIES for that. And more people’s interest might have been piqued to do just that because of the show. It was a TV show. Not a film festival.

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  11. crowschmo says:

    Dur-hey. :roll:

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  12. Rowsdowermobile says:

    I keep being reminded about Mitchell. That particular version riffed was a completely different edit. Made for TV. The same 4:3 (AV geeks know) TV ratio that Tony Cardoza (had to throw that in for my Coleman Francis peeps) cries about. Aside from the fact that many movies (especially comedies) are only made barely widescreen: 1.85:1 compared to the epic 2.35:1; It’s not like you’re really missing a lot. Granted, movies like Lord of the Rings; Star Wars; movies that use landscape to tell part of the story use that space to their advantage, but even the Godfather wasn’t that grand 2.35:1. In fact, critics pan movies where they use that widescreen when they don’t need to. It’s a director’s choice. Personally, I always prefer the widescreen; maybe I’ve been brainwashed by TCM like some other folks. Yet if it’s so great, why aren’t there more channels that subscribe to that train of thought? Speaking of TCM, how many “classics” were in widescreen/cinemascope? I know others have pointed out that widescreen was really advertised in the 50’s at the advent of TV, but would Citizen Kane be the undisputed movie champion if it only were a little wider in aspect ratio? Would Humphrey Bogart’s lines be more meaningful if Casablanca had the epic scope? Last time I checked the best movies aren’t decided by whether or not you can see a little more on the sides. It’s what happens to those you can see in the middle.

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  13. gojikranz says:

    furthermore he says we dont appreciate teh films and are derogatory to the filmmakers, but look at this site we catalogue tha actors and directors and when one dies we dont say huzzah we acknowledge their film work and givethem due credit, its not as if we hate them, (well maybe a few…)

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  14. DrChadFeelgood says:

    And now he’s shut off his comments.

    Aw, poor little guy…where’s his mom?

    His sense of value is a little skewed, don’t you think?

    “Christopher Nolan has more talent in his left pinky finger than all of “Best Brains” put together. Clearly everybody else agrees, as Best Brains isn’t being handed 200 million budgets, THE DARK KNIGHT grossed over a billion dollars and MST3K: THE MOVIE grossed about a thousandth of that ($1 million).”

    So, by his standards, a prostitute who makes $5,000 a day (ew, gross) is “more talented” and “better” than just a regular Joe making about $180 a day just working some honest job. MONEY makes it GOOD.

    And if he’s right, I wished Nolan had used his left pinky finger to direct “Dark Knight.” Maybe that school bus scene at the beginning and the two oh-my-god-they’re-going-to-explode ferries at the end would have made more sense.

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  15. Blind Lemminkäinen says:

    I dedicate this song to J.L. Carrozza…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bys7krGdWik

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  16. Matt D. says:

    I always liked the opposing viewpoints politically that seemed to pervade MST3K. You know that Frank was more liberal-leaning, and people like Mike tilted conservative. You got much more of a wide spectrum of jokes and observations.

    This is coming from a conservative by the way.

    Dark Knight was pretty great though.

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  17. Kentucky Cunctator says:

    Is using the word “pretentious” pretentious?

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  18. Lucas D. says:

    Well, the Dark Knight certainly was good in my opinion, but there’s no comparison between that and MST3K; it’d be like comparing kickass apples to pants-pissingly funny oranges. Who cares what makes more money? High School Musical made money, but that’s less of an indication of its quality than it is a A SIGN OF THE END TIMES.

    And I’m with WeatherServoNine: MST is hilarious no matter who you are or what you believe because they don’t single anyone out; everything gets equal time when it comes to riffing.

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  19. john says:

    If it wasn’t for mst3k I wouldn’t have a 300+ B movie collection. I always liked watching those bad movies, but they seem that much more enhanced with a funny soundtrack

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  20. Gorn Captain says:

    Comparing box office tallies between Dark Knight and the MST movie blows my mind.

    One enjoyed an incredible amount of promotion and hype, and literally played in every theater on the planet. The other was sabotaged by studio heads mesmerized by Pamela Anderson’s boobies, and I had to travel fifty miles just to go see it!

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  21. Hayley says:

    I for one can respect the guy’s opinion. If he gets no joy from the riffing then he gets no joy from the riffing, and no amount of defensiveness on our part can change that. His real problem comes in his dismissive attitude and offensive language. Because while I’ll agree that the old prints and the editing takes something from the film, it’s definitely true that the riffing adds something. Something we all know and love.

    But even that’s not my point. It sounds like this guy objects to the riffing of movies because he’s learning to make them and has learned that even making a B quality movie is DAMNED HARD.

    But something being damned hard does not make it exempt from critique. Whether it’s a blantantly misogynistic story of yesteryear, or a monster that’s clearly a dog in a rag-rug, or a piece of editing so faulty that a man appears out of thin air. And further, we can make these critiques, make jokes about them, make light of the failures of craft without necessarily being meanspirited about it. This guy seems to think every MSTie’s attitude is ‘let’s make fun of things because they suck!’

    But a lot of us have a love of shlock film that was nurtured, or even kindled, by MST3K. That’s why a number of the dvds come with the clean movie as an extra. That’s why so many people posting above are talking about movie edits. That’s why I spent $30 for a CD with the theme to a movie I’ve only seen MST’d.

    And filmmaking knowledge doesn’t universally make you balk at riffing, either. I for one watch the endlessly dry movie ‘The Creeping Terror’ with an extra bit of love and attention, because I can only imagine that heartbreaking moment when the director learned that the audio track was utterly unusable, and pulled himself together to try and stitch the movie together with that awful narration the best he could, dammit! It brings a tear to my eye.

    You think I’m kidding but I’m not.

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  22. MikeK says:

    Yep, with a few exceptions, there really isn’t any hate towards the movies on MST3K or those who made them. I know that’s how I am when it comes to these movies. Even a fellow like the late Ray Dennis Steckler, who didn’t like the MSTing of his film, gets respect from me. I’m glad these filmmakers made the movies that they did. We would have so many of our favorite episodes without them.

    I also think having a decent version of the riffed movie is important to the whole process of enjoying MST3K. A lot of time the jokes are directly related to something said in the movie. Still, it was very unfair for this fool to criticize MST3K for the quality of the movies they used.

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  23. Josh says:

    It’s really nice to see everyone here so understanding, but there is no reason in the world to give this guy creedence just because he makes films. I’ve been studying the craft of film for years and let me tell you, there is nothing more irritating than some self-righteous bumhug in the corner of the classroom acting like any piece of garbage is passable just because someone deigned to put it in a projector. Movies are not karaoke. There is no unspoken rule considering it bad form to mock someone’s lack of singing ability here. This cat needs to get over himself. Then maybe his youtube spam will start tasting better.

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  24. big61al says:

    He’s an internet douche. They are like tics. For every one you quash there’s a hundred more waiting for the right moment to suck your blood. It’s obvious he can’t prop up his own work so he trashes someone else’s.

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  25. Wow… I am really trying so hard to control my anger at the moment… okay, just swallowed it, tuck that away next to my liver, and i’ll cut out that tumor in about 20 or so years when it becomes life threatening :smile:

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  26. Pumaman says:

    That idiot is taking the show WAY to seriously!He probably just watched one episode and didn’t get it, what a dork.That guy has REALLY MADE ME ANGRY!!!!!

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  27. Mr.Mike says:

    Kids.
    They need to shut up.

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  28. Pixiesnix says:

    Folks, it doesn’t matter if you’re liberal, conservative, or moderate, as long as we’re all the same religion.

    Kidding!

    MST3K appeals to all political stripes, and that’s part of what’s so great about it. Funny is funny, and the show is/was hilarious. There’s nothing all that political about “Rowsdower!”, or “They TRIED to kill him with a forklift!” It’s just good stuff.

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  29. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    After checking out this clowns movies on his Youtube page I think his “films” fit securely into the position of laughable garbage that even a five year old should be embarrassed by. I hope he actually realizes that he is a GOD AWFUL film maker of the worst kind, and should the world ever be unfortunate enough to have to face the event of him actually making and distributing a full blown movie then it will be his terrible film being riffed 20 years from now. After watching a couple of his horrid pieces of laughable garbage I can’t imagine taking anything he has to say seriously. I’m sure Frank Conniff has forgotten more about movies than this idiot will ever know. Hell, I’m sure I’VE forgotten more about movies than this guy will ever know.

    Also @Rowsdowermobile post #62

    I might be misunderstanding what you are saying but do you actually know that both Citizen Kane and Casablanca were filmed in 1.37:1 ratio, and are not actually cropped when shown full screen on a 4:3 television? It’s hard to tell for sure what you mean in your post, but it sounds like you are implying that they were originally 1.85:1 and that it wouldn’t make much of a difference if they had been shot at 2.35:1. The reason that so much of the stuff TCM shows is “fullscreen” is because almost everything before the early 1950’s was shot at 1.37:1. It wasn’t that “classics” weren’t shot in “Widescreen” (mainly the 1.85:1 and 1.75:1 ratios) because wider aspect ratios just weren’t used or promoted before the early to mid 50’s. They didn’t even exist before then (except in a few very rare and experimental films such as some segments of the 1927 silent epic “Napoleon” which were actually an incredible 4:1 ratio, or four full frames projected side by side). I understand your point about there being more to a film than just it’s visuals, but I actually highly disagree with your categorizing of 1.85:1 as “barely widescreen”, and the implication that therefore the viewer isn’t actually missing much when it is cropped to 4:3 for television. The difference between 1.37:1 (roughly 4:3) and 1.85:1 (roughly 16:9) is very noticeable and can have a great impact on the visual composition of a film, especially when a film that was designed to be seen 1.85:1 is cut down by a full quarter of it’s width. It can drastically change, and in many cases absolutely ruin the visual composition of a film.

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  30. This Guy says:

    #74:
    I think you mean “ticks,” but tics are pretty annoying too.

    Also, I’d forgotten that Kevin Murphy already responded to essentially the same criticism years ago in the ACEG. Gore Zone had done a review of episode 112–Untamed Youth–and complained that they “talked over Eddie Cochran’s only song in this movie,” continuing:

    We can only apologize to the folks at Gore Zone, and hope that the Criterion Laser Disc version of Untamed Youth comes out soon, so they can experience the rich fullness of Eddie Cochran in complete silence and with rapt attention. Thank you, Gore Zone, for revealing our unseen faults. We’re sorry for what we have done to you, and we will never ever talk over another movie again, ever.

    I most certainly couldn’t have said it better than that.

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  31. Trilaan says:

    I took one and only one thing away from that guy’s article…Godzilla movies were originally widescreen like that!? Y’know I’ve been a Godzilla fan for many years and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen an older Godzilla movie in any format other than Pan & Scan. Now I’m thinking “wow, what have I been missing from the other Godzilla movies I went out of my way to attain when I was younger?”

    Also the guy’s argument is so flawed one wonders if he just wants attention as any idiot knows that MST3K HAD to do pan and scan because there WERE no widescreen televisions back then(as far as I know) or widescreen video releases of films unless it was laserdisc and, honestly, how many people had those? And the whole thing about newer films is a ridiculously theoretical argument based on what it would be like if there were no such things as widescreen televisions and HD widescreen broadcasts and the television industry was still stuck in the early 90s. No, I cannot take this guy seriously.

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  32. Speedy says:

    #65 It’s like MST3K was foreshadowing or in this case is it foreshadowrama?

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  33. Nicolletta says:

    Hello, I’m film maker writing for a blog.

    I’m going to write a long, rambling blog post about how MST3K sucks and how I’m such a blindingly superior film lover and film maker (and not an oh-so-obvious attention whore). How DARE Joel, Mike and the bots talk over the movie! How DARE they point out ridiculous flaws, bad acting, and lousy special effects? Can’t they see that “Track of the Moon Beast” is a film to be treasured by one and all? Can’t they just overlook the toy submarine from “Danger! Death Ray!” No, the damn filthy heathens. That’s where I come in. Now the world will bask in all my psuedo-intellectual glory and realize that MST3K is a steaming pile of “faggoty-ass” ****. Go me!

    When my readers point out the glaring flaws in my argument, I’ll whine and moan and make myself look like an even bigger jackass while lamely trying to defend my argument. I rule!

    When my readers tell me to get over myself, I’ll just whine and moan a little more, because I am so much better than them, so much better than MST3K, and so much better than you. I am a film lover, and what I say goes. See, I am just that cool.

    In a nutshell, MST3K sucks. It’s been off the air for 10 years, but I’m just now getting around to speaking my mind since I’ve had better things to do because I’m such a superior film maker and all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another whiny faggoty-ass blog post to write.

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  34. Hey, #28 has it right.

    Why in the world are any of us taking the time (hey, even me writing here? Hmmmm, this is sort of getting meta weird, but I have to comment now on why I’m wasting the time in even writing this… Oh, and I’m trapped inside of a paren as well) to respond to this guy ANYWHERE?

    Hey — I have a blog. Perhaps I should write something really goofy about some show that clearly doesn’t deserve it. Will I get lots of internet attention? And if not, why not?

    (Okay, I’m starting to think about writing something about how Monty Python was a bunch of no-talented rip off artists who looked at The Goon Show and couldn’t figure out what it was all about so they tried to do the same thing themselves, and how none of them have ever gone on to do anything as good as TGS, etc. etc…) Oh, and it really sucks that widescreen television wasn’t developed when MST3K was first on — why the heck didn’t the MST3K guys invent HDTV?

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  35. Dyne says:

    Track of the Moon Beast was great, with or without the riffing.

    Going back to that interview again Kevin said it perfectly when talking about how some movies were just plain unwatchable and the riffing helps it barely cross the line into watchability. On the other hand are the movies that make fun of themselves like Pumaman or Space Mutiny (Slab Beefcake, anyone?) where it can be watched and their riffing just makes it even better. Episodes like that (I’d personally love to see the uncut, original versions of Samson vs. the Vampire Women and Jack Frost) were definitely among the best, and the recent trend for Rifftrax to riff on even the best movies continues that pattern.

    And yes, vote Ron Paul, not because I’m a free-market Libertarian (there’s a difference between us and the Party) but because Mike commands it in the Two Towers Rifftrax! :lol:

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  36. HeatUpTheDeathRay says:

    @ #81

    I took one and only one thing away from that guy’s article…Godzilla movies were originally widescreen like that!? Y’know I’ve been a Godzilla fan for many years and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen an older Godzilla movie in any format other than Pan & Scan. Now I’m thinking “wow, what have I been missing from the other Godzilla movies I went out of my way to attain when I was younger?”

    *puts on pretentious kaiju eiga ‘expert’ hat* Actually, Trilaan, yeah, almost all of the Godzilla films were originally shot in widescreen (some in the semi-famous, gorgeous TohoScope), with the exception of the first two (Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again). Actually, Godzilla films do benefit immensely from being seen in their original aspect ratios. The monster battles really become much more dynamic and impressive, and it becomes easier (I think) to appreciate the intricacy of the model landscapes. At any rate, if you’re a fan of Godzilla movies, you owe it to yourself to log onto Amazon (do it! Right now!) and order up Classic Media’s recent releases of, for example, Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster; Rodan; Mothra vs. Godzilla; and others. You’ll be glad you did. Sampo!

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  37. Confused says:

    Agree with #28 and #84; I’m a little baffled about why this is posted as a news story. Someone out there doesn’t like MST3k… So what? There is nothing out there that is popular with 100% of the population, so why get bent out of shape when you see one negative opinion?

    It’s not like this guy is a well-known journalist, reviewer or blogger. Why is it note-worthy that some random guy disagrees with us about what a great show MST3k is?

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  38. jaconey says:

    his anti-mst rant appears to be gone now!

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  39. Fred P says:

    Wow, I guess I did open a can of worms. I’m not knocking all liberals. Some of my best friends are liberals( We agree to disagree on some things). I lean the other way and am proud of it. I just don’t like pretentious, jerks who flip flop on things because it becomes the popular thing to do. He admits to loving the show and then started to hate it because of the fact that he’s now a “filmmaker”. I went to college and was a broadcasting major. We made some student films. I would’t have the audacity to consider myself a director or filmmaker. ( Jules shouldn’t either especially if you see his “Films”) If some of you took that as attacking all liberals that wasn’t my intention at all. We all love the show no matter what are age, sex, religion or political background. Love for you guys hate to Jules. As for the comment about him having a girls name, my ten year old daughters best friend is named Jules. I was just trying to be silly and figure out the reason he’s so negative and biter :lol:

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  40. Fred P says:

    OOPS.That should be bitter not biter. Bad typist, bad typist. :mrgreen:

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  41. It’s gone! That sucks because I was just about to show a friend this guy’s screen cap of Godzilla’s tail scoot in widescreen. It was exciting.

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  42. R.A. Roth says:

    Here was my response to the anti-MST3K blog, which is now deleted, as posted a few days ago:

    “Your post is inane and bespeaks a bitter, frustrated mind that finds creativity elusive, thus prompting you to lash out with the irrational fervor of a scorned child.

    Good luck with that.”

    Randy

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  43. MikeK says:

    The blog is gone? Good. Obviously he could not handle the criticism of his criticism. :lol:

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  44. Vice Brigadier Sir Thomas "Bullhead" Servo says:

    Not only is the blog now gone, but every blog post since then has exactly ZERO comments on each.

    This can only lead to two conclusions:

    1) The only way this guy can get hits on his website is to “bash” something and wait for the windfall that ensues.

    -OR-

    2) There are a whole lot of empty blog posts aching for comments that continue to debase, deride and otherwise bitchslap this little douche into oblivion.

    Of course, it could be the ever-famous “ALL OF THE ABOVE” as well. :smile:

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  45. Eric in Kalamazoo says:

    Kids say the darnedest things! Especially the really stupid ones . . .

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  46. Uh, okay guys. That’s really interesting. I think there’s a little saying about those who write on sh*thouse walls that applies here…

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  47. Hugh says:

    I just wanted to address M Sipher‘s comment (#28), real quick.

    I, too, considered whether or not I should give him even what meager publicity my site can provide. I almost didn’t post it. In the end, I made the post because it was interesting, even in a small, stupid way. I figured that MSTies would have a good chuckle and set this sap straight, whether he learned his lesson or not. So, while it did, unfortunately, give him publicity, I think it benefited us and MST3K’s good name more than it benefited his career. I doubt any movie deals will come out of this. :)

    And speaking of publicity, thanks for picking my post up, Sampo.

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  48. Hugh says:

    Also, he’s posted twice in the comments on Deep Ape, if you’re interested in reading his response.

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  49. gojikranz says:

    i concur 86 widescreen godzilla is essential. but im fine with mst3k godzilla of course cause im not a defensive windbag. still say sea monsteris a good film though :smile:

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  50. Captain Cab says:

    Two things first before I talk about the idiot:

    Heatupthatdeathray is right. All kaiju fans here NEED to get the Classic Media Godzilla DVDs (not to mention their discs for Rodan and War of the Gargantuans). Their two disc set of Gojira is a must have, the rest have the gorgeous TOHO Scope cuts and all feature great bio pieces on their respective directors, producers and actors. The Terror of Mechagodzilla disc has a great feature on “The women of TOHO.” I never realized how progressive the studio often was with the female characters in its films.

    Dyne, do you post on any of the better known video game forums like Gaming Age or The-Next Level? Your username looks very familiar but maybe that’s just ‘cuz I’ve seen it here and my mind is playing tricks. :p

    Anyways, I’ll bet this kid’s parents were the type to write the sort of hilariously angry and indignant letters to the editor that Gary Larson features in his Far Side collections.

    I got all I didn’t need to know from the posters here and am glad I missed this, just another turd blip in the endless stream of profanity laced tirades on the ‘net. I would have guessed he was being facetious/”satirical” just to get attention but the fact he took down the post shows he’s a wuss who takes himself waaaay too seriously.

    Sampled one of his dull clips, “Dream House.” Bland acting with poor cuts and gasp…..no widescreen!

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