Latest addition:
• Episode 202- SIDEHACKERS.
Previously posted:
• Episode 106- THE CRAWLING HAND.
• Episode 204- CATALINA CAPER.
• Episode 203- JUNGLE GODDESS.
• Episode 201- ROCKETSHIP X-M.
• Episode 807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000,
• Episode 113- THE BLACK SCORPION.
• Episode 107- ROBOT MONSTER.
• Episode 207- WILD REBELS. (Some really good ones here.)
• Episode 805- THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE.
• Episode 806- THE UNDEAD.
• Episode 110- ROBOT HOLOCAUST.
Vote on YouTube (not here) for your choice (though you’re welcome to discuss it here, of course).
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wow. He did some nice work.
Catalina, the first one is clearly the choice.
Crawling Hand : tough to pick, there are 4 good ones…. but I’d have to put the screaming swede last.
This seems like a good opportunity to discuss the philosophy of the stinger!
Stingers are one of my favorite elements of MST3K, and an episode doesn’t really feel complete without one. It’s my understanding that they’re supposed to be five-second clips of an especially quirky, strange moment from the film that really stood out for the writers. I think it’s partly the intention and partly inevitable that, taken out of context, these clips become even funnier.
Even though it’s never been explicitly stated, I’ve always felt that selecting a stinger that includes a joke from the film defeats the purpose. For me, this is an issue with some of Eddie’s candidates for stingerdom. It’s just like saying, “Hey, this joke from the movie from actually funny!” which is all well and good, but it’s my opinion that a stinger should highlight moments when the film was random, confusing, or just plain weird. Yeah, that’s the word… Weird.
So, with that in mind, I’m voting for the “Ha ha ha… AAAAAAH!!” moment for the Crawling Hand and the “I don’t believe it.” for Catalina Caper.
Rex, you are sooooo right. Dead on, in fact.
Now off to look at the stingers and I shall return with my verdict.
Well, my philosophy is that the stinger should represent the film in its entirety, in just a few seconds. In these cases, the specific moment goes to the most memorable, in the sense of most called-back segments.
That in mind, I picked
“No dancing, no dancing. Not allowed.”
and
“Would you put your hands down, Lawrence”
without needing much thought at all, really.
Rex Dart (great name, BTW!) – I agree that a stinger doesn’t necessarily have to be a joke, and that they are usually best when they are a little bizzare. But sometimes the joke is the best summation of the movie, like one of my all-time faves ‘When we return to our planet the high court may well sentence you to torcha!’
Rex Dart – “a stinger should highlight moments when the film was random, confusing, or just plain weird.”
I couldn’t agree more. That’s why the “Hahahaha… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” moment from “The Crawling Hand” is my choice.
Also, if you check out the other videos that Eddie has posted to YouTube, you’ll see that he has made compilations of stingers for Season 2, Season 3, and Season 4. They’re very amusing and show just why stingers represent one of our favorite parts of the show.
Edwin B: I think my post may have been a bit unclear. The example stinger you give (“Torchaa!”) is a joke in the context of the MST3K episode, but in the movie. In the movie it’s supposed to be a serious threat, but ends up sounding hilarious. The stinger is awesome (in my opinion) because it highlights the ridiculousness of that moment.
In contrast, one of the stinger nominees for Crawling Hand features the love interest asking, “What does it mean to be stacked?” To me, this is an instance of the movie trying to be funny (and succeeding). To me, it’s redundant to make this the stinger because it’s already funny in the context of the movie. Taking it out of context doesn’t really make it any funnier.
One slight exception to this is Women of the Prehistoric Planet, for which “Hi-keeba!” is the only possible stinger. While this was a piece of intentional humor, I still think that’s it funny in a way the movie makers did not intend. Rather than working as comic relief, I think it’s funny because it’s such an over-the-top attempt at comic relief. But maybe I’m wrong? Regardless, it’s hilarious. Okay, I’m done dissecting humor.
Still waiting for Wild Rebels (and hopefully the following nomination) to be included.
“That square bugs me! HE REALLY BUGS ME!”
There are so many different types of stingers, my conclusion is that the stinger is not supposed to mean anything. Instead, they each illicit an appropriate, meditative, and unique response from each individual. They are animate, and divine.
That’s why I chose “stacked” from Crawling Hand.
Also the “slapfest” from Catalina Caper, “dumb” from Jungle Goddess, “moonlight” from XM, “disco old guy” from Year 5000, and “dead guy” from Scorpion.
Dyne – I just got my un-misted tape of Wild Rebels, and I hope to have a video on Youtube by Saturday! Your stinger will be there, but there are a few others that are pretty funny, too.
For me, and forgive me for getting even more pretentious than usual, the perfect stinger can exist as a self-contained nano-narrative. It does not need the context of the film from which it was taken. But it can paradoxically be definitive of that very context. The selection of the stinger creates a new work of art that is also the essence of the original film.
The zen master will approach the entire film and remove everything that is not the stinger.
To paraphrase one of the MSTaments : by their stingers shall ye know them.
ummmmm….what?
yeah I know. I laid it on a little thick there. But I stand by it… A good stinger is a tiny self-contained story and you don’t need to have seen the movie to enjoy it.
Heavy! :mrgreen:
When I first started this project I tried to get all Zen and really figure out which stinger would perfectly encapsulate the movie. Then I remembered what the ACEG said about stingers on page 25: ‘The selection of each stinger is typically a haphazard process, done at the last minute prodding of editor Brad…’
The epitome of zen is to do without doing. They were SO masterful that they accomplished the task at hand instantly, with ni intermediation.
They became the stinger.
( with apologies to TV’s Frank and his rendition of one of my favrite lines… I AM the button ).
Considering the sureal pastiche of clips that are stingers I really don’t want to ‘become’ the stinger! :cool:
hee hee. well anyway, despite our differences in philospohy, I think you’re doing very nice work. We can agree, I hope, that however it is derived, a good stinger is a gem.
Wild rebels possible stingers:
1st and obvious one: Banjo slaps the table and says” That square bugs me… HE REALLY BUGS ME!”
2nd: Rod rolls his car on the racetrack.
3rd: Banjo confronts Rod when he and Linda are making out… “Boy, you messin’ wid private sock!”
4th: Fats smacks the lady on the fanny when they rob the bank.
5th: Fats gets shot while in the lighthouse.
I still like Tommy Kirk saying “Join us.” best for Catalina Caper. Que sera, sera.
Some good ones there for The Undead, but I still think “Staaayyy!” is by far & away the best, truly captures the movie’s essence.
This guys doing a good job but it reminds me of how good an editor Brad Keely was.
He also fashioned another kind of stinger in nearly each episode. I call them “Door slammers.” Ever notice that, just before the door slams as J or M and the bots leave the theatre before (I think) the first mid-show host segment, the film goes on a bit for a few seconds? This is usually a very well-timed very funny moment (like the astro-nut in Fire Maidens feeling around the room). I’m sure to a certain extent they were “haphazard” too, but having done some film editing myself, you do make choices, and Keely usually creates a funny moment. Watch this the next time you watch an ep. The door usually slams on something that deserves a good slam in the face and creates its own funny moment.
BTW, “Door Slammers” is copyright Losingmydignity, 2008
You can go ahead and copyright that all you want — I own the trademark to Door Slammers.
Door Slammers… YES! Another under-appreciated
element of the show, courtesy of the under-appreciated editor.
My all-time favorite happens in the episode of “Santa Claus:” A shot of Pitch, saying:
“See Ya Later!”
A perfect door slammer from (IMHO) a perfect
episode.
I like for Wild Rebels “That Square Bugs Me…”
But it should begin with him slamming his hand down on the table. You have to have that slam noise to begin it.
Thats the way I always edited it on my homemade copies. Trust me, its perfect that way.
Yes, that’s a good one AGNJoel:grin:
Where’s 523 – Village of the Giants?