MST3K IN DEPTH: The Movie Selection Process

One other part of the Sidehackers story that goes unmentioned is that the violent scene in question was actually an extremely important plot point, setting up everything that happens in the second half, forcing a very awkward moment where Crow just addresses the viewers directly while in the theater to explain that the hero’s girlfriend is now dead. Incidentally, the full movie is actually on Youtube now for anyone morbidly curious enough.

4 Likes

Really well-written, informative update! My question is about after the picking of the films, then there is an order that must be chosen. Is there any theory as to shifting tones or genres in cheesy films or are they just put in whatever order and written from there?

8 Likes

This update is AMAZING. THIS is the kind of stuff I’ve wanted to see all along from the MST3K Kickstarters. Thanks for making it happen!

15 Likes

Thanks Lesley and Matt for the update on the movie selection process. Interesting stuff!

8 Likes

First time poster, as I usually don’t have much to say that’s worth posting :).

That being said, I had to post to say that was a fantastic update. It was very informative, entertaining, and well written. Thanks for the peek behind the curtain.

11 Likes

I love that you guys are leaning into the forum with frequent links to the threads here. I’m still waiting for my silly D&D character thread to get its link. I know it’s on the list, I’m patient. :wink:

5 Likes

What about space for making riffs? How much does that go into it? Presumably there needs to be relatively quiet lulls so riffs don’t compete with film audio?

3 Likes

That was very insightful. Thank you!

3 Likes

This is certainly interesting when compared to the process for the original series, with the packages of VHS tapes being mailed to Best Brains and watched blind essentially. When Shout! acquired the Corman library, the first thing I thought of was its potential as MST3K fodder.

4 Likes

Great question. Sometimes I come across lists that have nothing to offer. There’s no set schedule for when title lists come my way, but if a particular list has nothing usable, I’ll revisit an older list and see if there was anything I forgot about.

14 Likes

This was super interesting! Can’t wait for the next part.

3 Likes

This was my favorite update ever!!! I’m glad we get to learn more about the process of how mst3k works, and the quotes in the white boxes were great!

11 Likes

I’ll preface this by saying the obvious - we all have different tastes - and while I agree, a good mix of genres and such is a plus, I found it funny that Delta Knights and Catalina Caper were used as examples as a counter to the Manos’ and such, as they are 2 of my least favorite episodes, I don’t get a lot of laughs out of them. Carnival Magic, however, was a gift, I love that weirdo movie (and want to buy the unriffed BD).

Season 6 is one of MST finest seasons IMO, and it’s filled with gray (Yucca Flats), depressing (High School Big Shot) nothing movies (Starfighters) that rank among the funniest, at least for me.

So yeah please don’t skip on those types, make sure they are part of the mix.

  • Interesting read, btw, I’m looking forward to next week’s update.
4 Likes

I wonder if one of the reasons we got episodes like the Coleman Francis films and The Starfighters is because the 24 episode season order forced them to take on stuff like that. Also, now that MST3K is a bigger brand than it was during the initial run, I wonder if that has allowed them to be choosier when it comes to the movie selection. I do think that the movie selection for season 11 felt like the most representative of the spirit of the show, a distillation of what makes the show work, and that includes the occasional inexplicable train wreck (Carnival Magic in this case).

5 Likes

I really appreciated this, and it helps to get an idea of the different types of movies you guys sort through. I appreciate the family friendliness of the movies. As I’ve said before, MST3k has been a big help in getting through the pandemic for pretty much the reasons outlined in the update, the movies don’t drag you down, and the comedy is a mood booster. :slight_smile:

7 Likes

during the tour that featured The Brain and Deathstalker i got the impression one show was more family-friendly and the other slightly more edgy.
Did i imagine that?

Questions for MMcG: is there any interest in making any more “adult” shows(either live or recorded)?

and similarly: if/when quality but off-color riffs are pitched during approved shows do you all ever struggle to massage a riff into less inappropriate shape to include it?

2 Likes

I have to say I’m surprised they would even consider riffing on The Final Programme, also sometimes known as Last Days of Man on Earth, which is my preferred title just because it has the most gloriously insane movie poster ever, that has practically nothing to do with the actual movie. I’m guessing Matt just grabbed the movie off the available Shout Factory list, seeing that it was a low budget British sci-fi apocalypse story and wasn’t aware of what it was based on:

Here’s the trailer, for those who are interested in what might have been:

The Final Programme is an attempt to adapt Michael Moorcock’s first (and arguably best) Jerry Cornelius novel of the same name, and while it only halfway manages to capture the weirdness of the book (and somewhat botches the ending), it’s unriffable in the same way that nobody should ever attempt riffing The Prisoner.

In fact, tonally, I’d say it’s about halfway between one of the more psychedelic episodes of The Prisoner and a Pertwee era Doctor Who episode, with a little bit of Emma Peel era The Avengers mixed in. Yeah, it’s weird as hell, and extremely overacted in parts, but it’s meant to be psychedelic and trippy (and bleak). You might as well try to riff The Damned or The Bed Sitting Room. There’s a difference between unintentionally (or incompetently) goofy, and something that’s deliberately over-the-top surreal. Totally wouldn’t have been a good MST3K pick.

4 Likes

The Final Programme , is now on my watchlist.

And The Damned, I actually like that movie. It’s a weird genre mash-up, where you have teenage punks, mutant children, an eccentric artist, all wrapped up in a kitchen sink, apocalyptic sci-fi mystery. That sounds crazy (and it is), but it has something to say and it says it with style.

I think critic Richard Brody summed it up nicely… “Losey’s strongest critique of the times emerges with a unique stylistic flourish in his wide-screen, black-and-white images, featuring slow glides, skewed angles, standoffish perspectives, and hectic striations.”

4 Likes

@Lesley One thing I would like to know is: Do you guys have a process for handling movies and shorts that are (supposedly) in the public domain, or do you just let Shout handle all of that as well? If you do look at public domain stuff, is there an actual definitive source that can be checked to determine if somebody has filed a legal claim of ownership on something?

There are a lot of public domain movies with good clean prints (•cough• •cough• Terror Beneath the Sea and The Man Without a Body •cough•) that seem perfect for riffing, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned through my friends over at OSI-74 and Cinema Insomnia it’s that trying to figure out copyright status on a movie is like being told to “go long” in a minefield.

3 Likes

I’m a huge Hammer buff, but hadn’t even heard of that one until it popped up on the latest BluRay collection that has a lot of their more obscure horror/thriller films that didn’t involve vampires, mummies, or Frankenstein. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It went from almost cartoonish street punks to incredibly bleak atomic war social commentary by the end.

I quite like The Final Programme too. In fact, now that I know it’s out on BluRay from Shout, I just ordered it. I love trippy British sci-fi from the 60’s and 70’s, and this is one of those things to pop in the DVD player when I’ve run out of Nigel Kneale to rewatch.

2 Likes