1301- your thoughts

MST3K Central Season 13
41

I am gonna watch it again without the livestream stuff before I give a full ranking…

but I laughed hard… a lot… WTF is this movie… I thought I was prepared after having watched the previous samson vs vw episode a ton of times… but my god. this one was a lot more bizarre. I missed the last 20 mins or so cause I had to get my little guy to bed. Came back and it was the QA session and gizmoplex tour.

as others commented… the riff density and pacing was clearly intentionally slower… I think they dialed it in perfectly here and after kind of a slow start it had me rolling (with the exception of the really stiff appearances of gypsy)

SOL looked just fine given the circumstances… it didn’t bug me like the Turkey day sketches. Sketches were hit and miss… but passable…

The Mads sets were so awesome in the netflix seasons and during the gauntlet they completely nailed the energy, camera styles, and lighting… man it’s hard to go from that to the mad ‘set’ here… Patton’s natural charm was there but Felicia’s performance felt a lot stiffer and awkward… which is a shame cause I really enjoyed her on the netflix seasons. Looks like it will be like Season 7 for me with the Mad segments… just gonna have to power through them to get to the rest of it…

Blinking crow is awesome. Love it. Door sequence was ok. there was a certain charm to it I liked but yeah it did seem odd.

The opening theme song sequence was painfully bad IMO and the song performance was a big part of the problem. Tom singing it didn’t work for me and kinga’s parts were really rough.

It’s often an issue with rifftrax these days and some of the old episodes but the volume difference between the movie and the riffing was too much. It was less a problem when I switched to headphones.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the out of sync sound. it wasn’t terrible but is a must fix before they finalize the episode.

Thoughts on the livestream… glad folks had fun through the tech issues and it wasn’t too long of a wait. I was happy we got an intermission… I just generally support a planned bathroom break for livestreams… but wow that break dragged way too long… too many commercials, the nacho segment was ok but then the soda one went on forever. It really pulled me out of the movie and it took a while to get back into it.

I have no idea how or why Mary Jo’s time is being wasted on introducing the ‘sponsored’ ads… but I’m not a fan. It doesn’t even make sense within the storyline of the new show.

Overall impression… less excited about future live events but over the moon excited about the riffs we are gonna get for the movies they lined up.

11 Likes
42

I only had one quibble and its the same problem as existed in the Netflix seasons… The mouth movements on the puppets is not good. Tom Servo in particular just seems to have his mouth randomly moving and it doesn’t sync with what he’s saying even a little bit. Go back to the Lollipop with strings because it was 100X better at syncing with the voices.

To be clear - I’m talking about the host segments here. In the movie theater if you guys at Alternaversal want to keep using whatever inferior method you’re using now then go ahead because we as viewers can’t really tell much difference in Shadowrama. But for the host segments you absolutely MUST nail the sync of the mouth to the words and it just isn’t happening with the computer thing. Go back to what worked.

Otherwise - the episode was great. Riffs were solid. Host segments OK. I like the idea of selling ad space. Surprisingly I missed the commercials. Hopefully you guys can line up some major sponsors some day!

3 Likes
43

I don’t know if I’m conveying it well enough in what I’m saying here, but I’m overjoyed and thoroughly delighted by how this episode AND this viewing experience turned out (heh, those opening technical issues aside, of course, the professionalism of White Dot notwithstanding).

It not only has me very excited for the rest of the season, but for the future of MST3K in general.

This was a lovely, wonderful time that reminded me (as if I needed reminders) as to why this is my favorite show of all time, and why MSTies represent the greatest fanbase that ever existed.

12 Likes
44

I thought the movie was great and there were some really funny riffs too. The host segments were fun and I think Hampton, Baron and especially Jonah seemed more at ease and really on another level compared to the Netflix seasons. The Mads segments fell a little flat for me. I think in part the green-screen didn’t work as well for those segments, or maybe it was all the exposition they were tasked with. Overall a strong showing and an episode I’ll definitely watch again.

11 Likes
45

I agree, there were definitely lip-sync issues with the host segments, but it wasn’t just the puppets. I kept feeling the “rubber lip” thing happening with Kinga and Son of Frank. Maybe it was partially a transmission problem

5 Likes
46

Pros:

  • Riffing was great
  • Movie was awful in a nearly perfect way
  • Host segments were very good

Meh:

  • New intro/song - Not horrible, don’t mind something different, but not really my cup of tea either.

Cons:

  • Audio issues - definitely some issues with levels/tone/etc not meshing well between different sources.
  • Greenscreens - Not a fan of the generally very ‘flat’ look the current style has plus there’s definitely some ‘levels’ technical issues there as well. Something with the black levels/gamma settings/white balance/etc was off for Jonah & the bots. Fair bit of soft edging that could be cleaned up with more/better filter passes. Mads had the same issues, but more-so. Plus the weird colored lighting on them - actually like it visually but without tying it to the backgrounds/sets somehow it really emphasised the ‘just floating on a greenscreen’ thing.
  • Locked Camera - Still getting a locked-down camera and always shot from the exact same straight-on view. Greenscreen I’m sure doesn’t help here any, but it was like this on Netflix as well. Really hope we get back to some more dynamic & varied staging in the future.

Overall - Good stuff! The most important bits are there. The problems are mostly technical and many could be completely fixed for the final version of the episode. The remaining issue mainly being the visual language brought in for the greenscreen/virtual sets thing. I can certainly understand why this was done, what with all the Plague Times and all, but it’s not something I’m a fan of. Just doesn’t match the aesthetic we’ve had for so long. Certainly not a deal-breaker but not a positive either.

12 Likes
47

I completely agree. When netflix pulled the plug and jonah posted that touching but sad goodbye … it just felt like it was over… and it sucked all the joy out of the show for a while. I took a long break…

the kickstarter, timebubble tour, and now episode 1301 have been such a joy.

13 Likes
48

The show has always been like that. Cambot doesn’t usually move.

3 Likes
49

But when Cambot does move, as in the following classic host segment, it adds so much to the scene.

I guess the green screen does limit the amount of camera movement they can do. It’s a trade off. I’ll live with it as long as the jokes are funny.

6 Likes
50

Also, after being referenced in Homestar Runner so many times, MST3K FINALLY DELIVERED A STRONG BAD EMAIL REFERENCE :smiley:

simpsonswhatatime

15 Likes
51

I just wanna’ know why the Count looks like anemic, brilliantined Judd Hirsch if he borrowed a chin from Kirk Douglas? :dizzy_face:

5 Likes
52

Yep, M. Waverly and Growler will return.

12 Likes
53

We’re just gonna have to wait and see… on friggin’ April Fools Day. The day of pranks.

4 Likes
54

Microwaved nachos and weird soft drinks served by goofy guys in orchid jumpsuits and their adopted great-uncle. Never knew until now how much I needed that in my life. <3

8 Likes
56

For awhile, it seemed like El Santo was barely in his own movie.

13 Likes
57

What?!? I totally missed it I can’t wait to watch for it again!

3 Likes
58

I forget the exact phrasing, but there was a shot of Santo with a group of people in a room, and one of the riffers said something about checking his email in a gruff Strong Bad-esque voice.

7 Likes
60

First viewing impression: Overall I loved it and had a great time watching tonight. Aside from the movie being a bit too quiet compared to the volume of the riffing, I have no major complaints. The riffing was pretty top notch, and the movie had that perfect blend of cheese and charm that I hope for in an MST experiment.

3 Likes
61

I think that after so many decades of watching the originals, my brain must be plugging in (or overlaying) the look of the original sets somehow. Because I really didn’t think much about the greenscreen. I admit that I’m a bit sad about Tom’s opaque head, but there were practical explanations for that earlier. Whadaya’ gonna’ do?

6 Likes
62

Not sure I’ll stop thinking about how Tom’s head looked like a Christmas light with his wrestling mask on

6 Likes