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Posted by Sampo, on July 21st, 2018 Alert regular “Sitting Duck” writes:
In his interview on the Riding with Death DVD, Steven de Souza touches on the issue of, when writing a story, getting the capabilities of those opposing the protagonists just right.
Or in D&D parlance, the Challenge Rating (CR). Too low, and the story becomes a stakes-free cakewalk. Too high, and the protagonist comes across as incompetent, with the resolution often appearing as a deus ex machina.
Many MST3K films struggle to get their CRs in that Goldilocks zone. So which films do you think the CR was either too low or too high?
For too low, I’d go with Danger Death Ray. The goons practically walked right into Bart Fargo’s fists. For too high, I’d go with Devil Doll. English was just so hapless and he needed Vorelli and Hugo’s falling out to resolve the situation for him.
Too high: The evil night club owner in “Daddy-O.” How in the world was Pete Plum supposed to be victorious? Too low: “Batwoman.” She just walks all over Rat Fink.”
Your picks?
Posted by Erhardt, on July 20th, 2018
Posted by Sampo, on July 18th, 2018  Alert regular Kenneth has sent us a report from this year’s Blobfest in Phoenixville, Pa.
This past Saturday, Matt McGinnis made an appearance at Blobfest in Phoenixville, PA. [Editor’s note: McGinnis is an associate producer and writer on the relaunch, but most fans may know him as “Matt Claude Van Damme,” the purple-jumpsuited fellow shown briefly in episode 1112- CARNIVAL MAGIC. Blobfest, held every year in Phoenixville, is a celebration of the original “Blob” movie, much of which was shot in and around that small village, especially at the now-lovingly-restored Colonial Theater there.]
He talked about how he got involved with the Relaunch, including a pretty good impression of Joel. When asked about Season 12, he couldn’t say very much beyond that it was now in post and that he thought it turned out very well. He also deflected a question re: the Purple Jumpsuit. One question he did address was about the riffing in Season 11. Specifically, it was about how there were a large number of jokes in the early episodes, with the amount easing back as the season went on. He said the reason for this was simply that the writers were worn out from writing such a large bunch of riffs for the early shows and had to cut back. Regarding the six-episode season, Matt didn’t dismiss the idea that this might mean a shorter wait for a 13th Season, though it was also said that the upcoming comic book and the live tour might make up for the lower number of shows.
After that, Matt sold autographed copies of his “Famous Blobs Throughout History” artwork, as well as “ashcan” preview copies of the first issue of the MST3K comic book. The latter only included the first few pages of the first issue, but there was enough there to show that it looks great and they handled the riffing well.
Later on, Matt was going to host a spook show, including a showing of “Daughter of Horror,” the movie that was supposedly showing at the Colonial in “The Blob.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to that showing, but maybe somebody else can report on it. I did get to see that afternoon’s double feature of “The Blob” and “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” the latter in old-fashioned 3-D. And there was some audience riffing of “The Blob,” like in the scene where one of the “teenagers” tries to warn a bartender about the monster:
BARTENDER: Anyway, we don’t serve kids here.
RIFF: But I’m 35!
Anyway, I thought you might be interested in this.
Thanks Kenneth!
Posted by Erhardt, on July 15th, 2018
Posted by Sampo, on July 14th, 2018 Alert reader Brandon suggests:
The Good. Susan Gordon’s acting in “Tormented”.
The Bad: No monster in “Monster A Go-Go.
The Ugly: Mitchell’s baby oil.
Okay…The good: Batwoman. Because, duh.
The bad: RADAR!
The ugly: “Can you identify this bucket of your brother?”
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