In a pleasant surprise, Amazon opened up its preorder window for Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. 12 today. Given some of the rights issues these releases have been encountering—especially that of Volume 10, which was pulled not long after release—it’s probably worth it to get in early. (Unfortunately, Volume 10 now goes for upwards of $250.00, and it’s not known if the rights will ever be renegotiated with Toho for Godzilla vs. Megalon to allow a re-release.)

Volume 12’s Episode List:

• 419 – The Rebel Set (Short: Johnny at the Fair)
• 504 – Secret Agent Super Dragon
• 612 – The Starfighters
• 811 – Parts: The Clonus Horror

…along with a suitable stable of extras, of course.

On a related note, MST3K-successor The Film Crew has two more releases in the next two months:

• Wild Women of Wongo, due out on September 11th (Preview)
• Giant of Marathon, out on October 7th (Preview)

It’s not known if there will be any more releases beyond the initial four, but if sales are brisk enough how could they say no?

Stay tuned for reviews of the first two installments here in the near future.

Giant of Marathon, The Film Crew’s ‘Herculean’ fourth installment available October 9th, is now available for preorder at Amazon.com.

View a clip from the upcoming Film Crew treatment (and more) after the cut.

→ continue reading "Film Crew: Giant of Marathon"

…you might be interested to know that Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are back as The Film Crew, which essentially boils down to the tried-and-true Mystery Science Theater 3000 formula with the following exceptions:

• The Film Crew’s releases are strictly DVD-only, rather than televised
• Because of the DVD-only nature of each release, the Crew’s riffs can be a bit more on the mature side (but not quite raunchy)
• All three play as themselves (i.e., sans ‘bots)
• The setting and premise are rather different, but the structure of each episode is more or less the same.

The episodes are, in order of release:

• Hollywood After Dark: Available NOW
• Killers From Space: Available August 7th (Preorder)
• Wild Women of Wongo: Available September 11th (Preorder)

The fourth DVD episode, “Giant of Marathon”, will come out sometime in October (but isn’t available for preorder yet).

Last week, looking around for a copy of the MST3K Amazing Colossal Episode Guide to secure my place as a connoisseur of the obscure movie reference, I managed to find a copy being sold by a Goodwill in Tacoma through Amazon—signed by the cast—for a “competitively-priced” $6.07. It goes without saying (though I find myself saying it) that I snapped it up immediately.

Really, you’d think that for being a fan for over a decade and a half now, I would have picked this book up long ago. Sometimes good things really do come to those who wait. Or, more than likely, I’m just being rewarded for my laziness.

Some good news in entertainment-land. It looks as if the post-Season 8 crew of riffers from MST3K are coming back together under the same roof to work their magic using the tried and true formula. Check out Film Crew Online for more details — and a bonus greeting from none other than Kevin Murphy, the voice of MST3K’s Tom Servo. While you’re there don’t forget to vote for the first release, coming April 2007.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, you can still catch Kevin Murphy’s Rifftrax, which lampoons classics such as Top Gun and Halloween in MP3 format. Downloaded commentary tracks are then played alongside the movie’s DVD release through your iPod (or whatever MP3 device you have) in order to deliver the riffs.

Either way you slice it — between The Film Crew’s projected release and Rifftrax — the MST3K formula is alive and well 18 years later.