The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 3 (The Atomic Brain / The Sidehackers / The Unearthly / Shorts, Vol. 2) (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)They could have given MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER VOLUME 3 the subheading of "Shorts", as there are more short films on offer here than in any previous box set, and most likely any future releases simply won't contain as many as there are here. There are nine short features here, six from the Shorts Vol. 2 disc, and three more scattered throughout the other three discs. I love the heckling that the MST3k crew give to those short packets of hilarity. While some films are able to transcend their time, the short films are intrinsically tied to the sillier aspects of decades past.
Here are some quick comments on each of the discs:
THE ATOMIC BRAIN: This is a film from that era of bad science fiction films where filmmakers put the word "atomic" in front of any dubious sounding scientific technobabble, hoping that this would somehow make the whole endeavor appear to be more scientific. In this film, a mad atomic scientist attempts to harness the power of the atom to atomically put an old woman's atomic brain into the atomic body of a young, sassy, atomic blonde. Features the short film WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY?, which only provokes me to wonder, "Well, what about it?"
THE UNEARTHLY: More scientists here. This time they're trying to insert a new gland into human bodies so that people will live forever. Or something. If the back of the DVD box hadn't told me that this was a horror flick, I really wouldn't have noticed. Maybe someone forgot that "horror" and "boring" are different things. Also features the shorts, POSTURE PALS (teaches kids to mock the posture of their peers), and APPRECIATING OUR PARENTS (teaches kids to obey). Strangely, every film in this episode seemed to be filmed in Blue and White, rather than Black and White.
THE SIDEHACKERS: Truly hilarious fare here. Grown-up idiots decide to risk life and limb by attaching shopping carts to the sides of their motorbikes and run them around in circles. There are also some subplots involving jealous lovers and mentally unstable cyclists. No sidehackers were harmed during the making of this movie, unfortunately.
SHORTS, Vol. 2. Features the following short films: CATCHING TROUBLE (a 50's sadistic version of the Crocodile Hunter inflicts pain on helpless animals), WHAT TO DO ON A DATE (no, it's not what you think, and when you see who will be doing the dating, you'll be glad it's not what you think), LAST CLEAR CHANCE (teens + cars + moody cops = death), A DAY AT THE FAIR (old men like to show off their corn at the fair), KEEPING CLEAN & NEAT (teaches kids to clean their bedrooms by employing clever camera tricks; any kids without a film camera will remain unenlightened), and THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS (tells us why it's always the worker's fault when someone ends up dying on the job).
Unfortunately, the original, uncut films aren't available as extras on this box set. To make up for this, those folks at Best Brains Inc. have included raw unedited footage and bloopers from the various host segments that appear in these episodes.

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 - I Accuse My Parents (1945) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD from Rhino offers up one the funniest -- and most charming -- episodes of the legendary TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000," where they take on a 1944 drama/gangster movie/message flick called, "I Accuse My Parents." There are few episodes of the show I recommended higher for all-around quality.
For those of you unfamiliar with "Mystery Science Theater 3000," (MST3K for short) it is a ninety-minute show featuring a silhouette of a man and two robots (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) in movie theater seats projected in front of a bad movie. The hosts provide hysterical, satiric, and culturally-savvy wisecracks to accompany the movie. The episodes also includes sketches and songs and adds up to some of the most hilarious comedy you will ever see.
"I Accuse My Parents" is episode #507, from the last days of Joel Hodgson's run as host. Although the movie itself is actually not that bad, this episode comes at point in the show's development when the writers and performers were at the peak of the powers, and the result is one of the most hilarious episodes, and one that really grows on you with its sense of warm parody. It's a good episode for newcomers as well, since the film is average enough so that its awfulness doesn't distract from the wisecracks. (I've noticed that when I show an episode of the show to a friend who has never seen it before, the worse the movie being parodied is, the more my friend focuses on the movie instead of the hosts. This, therefore, is a good "training" episode.)
The camaraderie between the cast is quite wonderful here, and the warm, jocular style of the Joel years is at its strongest. After Mike Nelson took over as host (a few episodes later), the comedy style became more satiric and antagonistic toward the film. I love both hosts, but there is something rather magical and pleasant about the comedy of Joel's stint as host, and this episode displays that style perfectly. It is one of quintessential Joel Hodgson episodes.
The movie is a competently shot `B' programmer from low-budget studio PRC. Our hero is Jimmy, a really stupid high school graduate who has to get a job at a shoe store despite his skills at essay writing (he won an essay content and mentions it endlessly). While lying to impress a girl, Jimmy idiotically ends up getting into debt and having to go to work as a courier for a gangster, while he also romances the gangster's girl Kitty (played by actress Mary Beth Hughes, who also appears in another MST3K episode, "Last of the Wild Horses.") Well, pretty soon our poor fool is in trouble with the law and the mob and on the run. And when it all explodes in his face, whom does he accuse? Yep, the title gives it away: His Parents! And why? Because they drink and argue. See, it's all their fault.
What makes this episode so dang funny is not that the film is particularly rotten looking or the acting is awful, but because the film's premise and main character are so stupid. The hosts lance into the characters at every point: Jimmy's incessant lying ("I liberated France while you were out dancing"), Jimmy's constant bragging about winning an essay constant ("Welcome to the Annual Essay Awards Ceremony!") his alcoholic parents who keep throwing money at him ("I'm up here with the D.T.s, honey! Would you get the yellow lizard out of the bathroom?"), Jimmy's rank stupidity ("Sir, I just don't get the holy spirit. Is it a bird?"), and the extremely obvious gangster organization ("Organized crime, please hold...organized crime, please hold...). This is a very `character'-driven episode, and it's hilarious. There's also some great sketches between movie watching. In one sketch, Joel and the Robots psychoanalyze Jimmy to show that more than just `drunk folks' are behind his problems. (Crow, or course, determines that Jimmy is just stupid.)
This DVD is a laugh riot, and a quintessential Joel episode. It feels like plunking down on the couch and watching a film with your best buddies; I think that's the main charm of the Joel years of the show. Newcomers and old fans alike will want this classic. (There are absolutely no extras on the DVD, however, but the episode is such a gem, it doesn't matter.)

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