We now have the four fan-selected episodes for Turkey Day! The winners are:
The Magic Voyage of Sinbad Hercules Against the Moon Men The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
and Prince of Space!
I’m definitely surprised by some of these, myself. But we’re not going to just stop voting – that would be silly! Let’s keep going and find out which episode is the ceremonial “winner” of the 2021 Turkey Day Tournament.
All of the Ptushko films are such a cozy watch this time of year. There is an undeniable beauty and joyfulness to them, no matter how silly they are in translation. Sinbad is an especially notable episode, both for the film and the host segments. Truly among the best of the best.
Old boomer Jake, scratches his head in confusion and google searches, “Meaning of ship in fan fic?” Returns, now in the know, pretends he understood all the time and answers with an erudite…
Call me a heretic but I find Sinbad to just be so BORING. The riffing and host segments are great, but getting through the movie is hard regardless. Hercules vs. the Moon Men has it all. Perfect riffing, solid host segments, AND a movie that borders on watchability. To me there is no question that HAtMM is the clear, obvious, transcendent winner and that Sinbad doesn’t deserve to wipe up Herc’s pec sweat.
So let’s call it was it is, Sadko vs Maciste! And may the better man, or episode (which is Sadko) win
(joshing, in truth, movie-wise I really enjoyed the early Bartolomeo Pagano silent era films I’ve seen - Cabiria, Maciste, The Warrior, Maciste in Hell - and the later Maciste movie they did on MST)
I’m in the camp of the pseudo-historical/mythical epics being the toughest movies to get through, but I’ll give the nod to Sinbad on the basis that there’s so much energy in the original (before it got Cormanised into mush). Tough to choose on the riffing/host segments as both are pretty on point.
Congrats Sadko on the well-deserved victory. Though I don’t expect you’ll be able to overtake Prince of Space, which I anticipate will easily dispatch Brain on its way to being crowned king of the turkeys, you’ll always be tops with me!