There is a star of a fairly popular RiffTrax release which was made here in my home state of NC about 35 years ago. As far as I can tell, there has been some talk online as to what happened to her—IMDB and a few discussions I have seen speculate that she works elsewhere in the film industry or is a personal trainer who had/has at least some amount of a following.
No, she’s still here in NC, teaching dance to children. It appears she’s been here pretty much ever since. I’ve been a bit torn about how much of that info I should ever mention publicly (including this comment) because I’d hate to think that she’s not open to the fandom or their knowing her whereabouts.
Or maybe they already know and she’s fine with it. Either way, I’ve been wary of taking too much of a chance of opening that Pandora’s box.
FWIW, a long time ago, I met a lady at a (non-film-related) convention and, long story short, I later ended up recognizing her as an actress in a bunch of B-movies, and I debated for some time with the “should I, shouldn’t I?” thing but I finally said, “Say, is that you in…” Of course it was, and she was delighted that I had recognized her, and she became a very dear family friend.
I mean, you never know. But if you’re not gloating or leering or stalking? I think people become actors because they like attention.
In regards to the topic of ‘mean spirited’ riffs… there are some movies that piss me off too, so I do get that.
After watching Sidehackers uncut, I wished I hadn’t, but I get why it upset the Best Brains, and I have this “please hit this movie hard” attitude towards it now (the scene’s not grindhouse graphic, but it is deeply troubling, and heck, I stopped watching the popular Baby Cart movies after several rape scenes, it was just making me sick to my stomach. So it’s something I get, film reflects life, even the ugly parts, but it’s a sequence that’s tainted that episode).
Saying that, had I met someone who work on the film I wouldn’t have been hostile to them. They made a creative choice, they had a point they wanted to make with the movie as a whole. I might not agree with it (but that’s a whole other review) but still…
I’ve become FB friends with Jackie from Manos too, and she’s great. I also read that Robert Fiveson, who made “Parts: The Clonus Horror” was assisted in his lawsuit against a big studio who plagiarized his story in part by MST3K fans. THAT is the way it should be! Lastly, my wife and I were just saying how we would love to meet Reb Brown and his wife, the leads in “Space Mutiny” and tell them how much we admire their 40year marriage and defend their work against all odds in that movie!
Yeah, Michael Bay’s The Island is a direct lift of Clonus, and is actually miles dumber. And also, I guess, the producers were dumber, since they didn’t throw a pittance at the original author, and somehow couldn’t find anything better in the entire literary/cinematic canon they could’ve ripped off.
You know, it still can be a good movie - even if it was based on something with more vision and breadth. At the end of the day, we have every right to enjoy any title.
Yeah, de gustibus and all that. I mean, of the Star Wars prequels, the only one I can stand to watch is The Phantom Menace. It’s not great, but the next two movies are just slogs.
Personally I have had online interaction with Rick Sloan and Jackey Raye Neyman Jones. They have been really good sports about their role in MST3K history. I agree it’s so important to show at the very least respect and appreciation for their work, no matter how flawed.
Bruno VeSota was a terrific actor. His weight kept him from getting roles he deserved. He brought something to everything he was in and always gave 100%. I love him in Giant Leeches, I love him in Daddy-O, I love him in The Undead, etc.
I know the castleton guy who’s name escapes me premiered a sci fi flick in Boston a while back with Sean Young and Flash Gordon. I think he knew his audience were likely MSTies. They all seemed like it was just a fun experience. The movie was, well, it was the castleton guy. It could have been a really awesome TV show, though.