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Posted by Sampo, on December 2nd, 2011 
VAN NUYS, CA–Actor Bill McKinney, perhaps best remembered the mountain man who assaulted Ned Beatty’s character in 1972’s “Deliverance,” died here Dec. 1 of cancer of the esophagus. McKinney also starred in several Clint Eastwood films, 1982?s “First Blood” and 1999?s “The Green Mile.” He was 80.
MSTies will remember his performances as Sheriff Kyle in the movie in episode 322- MASTER NINJA I and Chief Wilson in the movie in episode 1008- FINAL JUSTICE. They will likely also remember his good-natured comments in a bonus feature of “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XX.”
He also made appearances on various TV shows, including “The Monkees,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Colombo,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Hunter,” “Murder She Wrote,” “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “Baywatch.”
“He is survived by son Clinton, along with several ex-wives,” according to a statement.
Posted by , on December 2nd, 2011 RiffTrax recently asked me to review a beta version of their new RiffPlayer software and I enthusiastically said “sure, okay.”
Full disclosure: In addition to the RiffPlayer, RiffTrax provided me with a commercial copy of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse DVD and associated RiffTrax MP3 and sync files. But I’ll try to not hold that against them.
RiffTrax recommends that the RiffPlayer be installed on Windows systems running WinXP and above (DirectX is recommended) or Mac systems running Snow Leopard (10.6) and above, and have an Intel CPU. I was able to test the RiffPlayer on a laptop system running WinXP and a desktop system running Windows 7. Sorry, I don’t have a Mac. Let’s not get into that whole Kirk/Picard thing.
Installing the RiffPlayer is a breeze, and playing a DVD is a simple matter. You simply start the RiffPlayer, load the DVD, then use the RiffPlayer to select the associated RiffTrax MP3 file. The RiffPlayer scans the DVD for a few seconds, then you’re off and running.
When you look at the RiffPlayer itself, you might notice immediately that there are two separate volume control sliders; one for the DVD and one for the riffs. This comes in handy. On one of my test systems, the riffs were playing noticeably louder than the DVD. A simple lowering of the riff volume and raising of the DVD volume solved the problem. On my other test system, I experienced the opposite problem. The riff volume was low, and I had to raise it. Once I got the volume levels set, everything was good.
The new RiffPlayer almost entirely eliminates the need to sync up the RiffTrax to the DVD. But during my viewing of Eclipse my laptop experienced a momentary glitch, causing the tracks to be out of sync. At first I didn’t know what to do, but when I looked closer at the RiffPlayer I noticed an icon labelled “Resync.” Sure enough, when I clicked on it the RiffPlayer quickly scanned the DVD again and the two tracks went right back into perfect sync and I never experienced the problem again.
After Eclipse ended, I wondered if the player would work with previously released RiffTrax titles. The answer is yes and no. If the RiffTrax download included a sync file, everything worked great. In tests without the sync file, I received an error saying that the file couldn’t be found. RiffTrax has helpfully created new sync files for many of its older titles, and it has also created a list of DVDs that currently work with the player. You can find more info on the RiffPlayer page.
For those of you who have been daunted in the past by having to manually sync RiffTrax files to DVDs, you can’t do any better than the RiffPlayer. It’s the best way yet to get the full RiffTrax experience at home, short of having Mike, Kevin and Bill standing in your living room to riff the DVD for you.
Posted by Sampo, on December 1st, 2011 We’ve received another update from Robert Munch, who is working on “Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge,” the Manos sequel, which begins filming in El Paso next week. Take it away, Rupert!
Hi fellow Mysties! Here’s an update for you on the “Manos” universe:
The factually inept Canadian short film “Hotel Torgo” is a film documenting “Manos: The Hands of Fate” (1966). The premise of the film was that Bernie Rosenblum (who played “teenager in car”) was the lone surviving cast member of the “cursed, worst movie ever made,” and that the others met mysterious, untimely (and sometimes grizzly) deaths. Untrue! Simply not the case (sorry my crazy Canuck friends). In fact, besides Bernie, I have found and recruited The Master, himself: Tom Neyman, Jackey Raye Neyman-Jones (Debbie), and now…. wait for it……
 Diane Mahree, who played “Maggie”, the beautiful young wife of Michael (Hal Warren). Long thought to have died in a fiery car crash in the ’80s, Diane is alive and well. As if that isn’t cool enough (which it is), it just so happens that her story is nothing short of incredible! Shortly after “Manos,” Diane was discovered by Eileen Ford/Wilhelmina Models and in 1968 launched a 20+ year career as a supermodel (as Diane Rystadt). She worked with all the greatest designers, photographers, and magazines in the world…gracing the covers Vogue and Bazaar, etc. She dined with kings, dated royalty (and rock n’ roller Cat Stevens) and hung out with all the celebrities of the time. She was friends with Bridgette Bardot, Rod Stewart and had infamous encounters with Mick Jagger/Jeri Hall, and even Salvador Dali (who put a curse on her!!!). She would later go on to help organize the roots of what would later become The Telluride Film Festival, and helped design some of the great ski slopes in Aspen, Colo. (yes, she was an avid snow bunny).
It wasn’t until she heard of my sequel (and the fact that I was trying to do something special, and not just a crappy, self-aware goof) that she contacted me via 3rd party. She agreed to read my script. She really loved it, and after much debate “decided to go for one last ride on the merry-go-round” and join our cast. She is a lovely, modern-day renaissance gem of a woman, and we are ecstatic to have her on board. We hope you all dig it too!
In other “Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge” News:
CAST:
 Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo, current MFC Light Heavyweight Champion (winner of 16 consecutive fights) and recently signed to a UFC contract, stars as “Joe Miller.”
Joe Neal Warren (son of Hal Warren) will be playing “Michael”… the role his father played.
Erik Peterson (“TorgosPizza” of Rifftrax) is playing “Carl”.
Bryan Jennings III (son of The Sheriff in the original “Manos” film) is playing “The Sheriff” in our film.
Also, in case you didn’t know, other stars (earlier announced) include: Former WWE Superstar Gene (“it’s not mu fault”) Snisky, Playboy Playmate/WWE Diva Maria Kanellis and of course, from the original film, Tom Neyman, and Jackey Raye Neyman Jones.
CREW:
Tim Martin (Make-Up F/X Wiz) who has worked on the Spiderman, X-Men, Superman, Fantastic Four, AVP, and Hellboy franchises (to name a few), is our creature/make-up designer!
Jay Lee (director/writer/producer of cult film “Zombie Strippers”) is our Director of Photography!
We are very saddened to inform everyone that Bernie Rosenblum recently suffered a stroke and will be unable to star in our film. We offer our deepest sympathies to Bernie and his family, and will pray for his full recovery.
We also wanted to formally announce that Andy Cope and Eric Hueber of Alonestar films, filmmakers of the awesome film: “Rainbow’s End” are making their next film, a documentary on our sequel, tentatively called “Making Manos 2, The Sequel of Fate.” They have been following us and recording our exploits as they happen. Crazy!
And, finally, we want to share with you our newly designed website! The “official” and authoritative source for all things “Manos”. Enjoy!
Cheers!
Rupert Talbot Munch Sr. / Torgo
Posted by Sampo, on November 29th, 2011
Posted by Sampo, on November 29th, 2011 Frank Conniff is making a guest appearance on a web show called “Space Hospital.”
Here’s part 1, which came out about a week ago.
And here’s the latest installment.
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