Santa Claus Conquers the Martians gets the Mystery Science 3000 treatment from Cinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic -- the creator-driven successor to the fantastic Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- has a new installment just in time for the holidays: this month, the guys kick the crap out of "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" (which has plenty of crap to kick!). For those of you who haven't been following this excellent series, the premise is simple: the five Cinematic Titanic comics are present in silhouette, superimposed over the picture, coming up with snappy jokes every second or so. I average about two belly laughs a minute, and about ten times more chuckles. The Cinematic Titanic guys are basically an artist-owned co-op who record and release this stuff off their own bat, direct to you at $15 a pop. Screw "It's a Wonderful Life," and to hell with the merely kitschy experience of watching "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" without commentary. It is only through the auspices of Cinematic Titanic that the holidays can truly be realized.
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That's... kind of odd, actually. The classic MST3K crew of Hodgson, Murphy, & Beaulieu already riffed on this movie, back in their early Comedy Channel years. Seeing the Cinematic Titanic project return to the same wells as MST3K, inviting direct comparison with the old show, just seems strange to me.
They make references to some of them already seeing this movie at the beginning.
I love it! I've been a fan of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ever since I first saw it on MST3K. I've happily made it one of my holiday movie traditions, alongside It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.
A friend bought me the DVD copy as a gift (we couldn't work out how to gift the download version), and I'm happy to add it to my collection.
As a DVD, it felt a little lacking; it only had the main video, plus chapter selection by thumbnail. I've come to expect more from the medium. Maybe a short making-of featurette. Or one-screen stills of the biographies of the riffers, at least.
As for the movie, it was nice to see some of the "extended scenes" that were cut for time out of the MST3K version. And all the jokes are fresh and new, as well as timely (and thus dateable, like a reference to bittorrent) and I don't feel any of the MSTiness was recycled.
Got the DVD last week, and it's a hoot. They MST'd it without repeating a single joke from the original MST3K, and it was still a riot.
@#1, I agree, but they approached it as a kind of experiment -- could they approach a classic MST3K film with all-new riffs backed with a decade or more of new pop-culture references? They definitely succeeded.
What are your thoughts on this show?
I have yet to see an episode, but I've heard it pales in comparison to the original MST3K with Joel. Is this a fair assessment?
"You're comming in too cheap" ? I lol'd.
From Joel Hodgon's blog on the CT site...
***
That’s right, we’re re-riffing “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”! This edition has completely different riffs from our MST3K version and also features several bonus minutes of the original movie that weren’t featured in the MST version. We thought it would be a cool experiment to see what revisiting a movie after all these years would produce.
***
I'm looking forward to seeing it!
Yeah...I have a copy of the original shellacing from MS3TK. One of my all-time favorite episodes.
"Hooray for Sandy Claus!"
I have no problem with they returning to the same source for riffing, but you could have at least mentioned that it had been a MST3K episode before for the five people in the audience who didn't already know.
#4
The series is very good and, in my opinion, stronger than Mike Nelson's Rifftrax project. Nothing will ever be as good as MST3K, and I think all fans need to come to terms with that. But this one is definitely worth your time. It has its flaws, but I don't think they ruin the experience. It's also owned and operated by the cast alone, and they're all really nice people, so give them your money!
JTegnell, this man's opinion is that it does not "pale in comparison". It's different — it's a bit less sleepy and warm and unpolished, a little more glossy and clean and modern. Riff for riff, I think they're on par with MST3K; I laugh out loud a whole lot. ("Is that a desk, or is he wearing wooden pants?") What you've lost is the bots and the intersegmental sketches, which was a big part of the show for some people — but you've gained the presence of TV's Frank and Mary Jo Pehl in the theater. (I *heart* Frank.) The dynamic is different — they're playing themselves, more or less, so it's more like friends who've known each other and worked together for a long time hanging out than a grownup trying to wrangle his automated kids. Joel buying Xmas gifts for the Titans has a different feel than Joel buying gifts for Tom, Crow, and Gypsy.
It's not MST3K, but it's sharp new riffing from Joel & Co., which is a good thing too. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course, but I wonder sometimes if the "pales in comparison" crowd watched CT's first episode and compared it to their very favorite MST3K episodes, filtered through Nostalgiavision™. That's a high bar to clear. CT only has five episodes out; putting them head-to-head against five randomly selected episodes of MST3K, I think the Titans do just fine — in particular, I think SCCTM is a bit funnier this time out (though I do miss "A Patrick Swayze Christmas").
I and pals were very excited for Cinematic Titanic. But when we sat down to watch their first effort, "The Oozing Skull", it was just terrible. And not good terrible, either. We were so disappointed we've never ordered another one, even though we do watch the Rifftrax versions from time to time.
Has Cinematic Titanic improved from the first one? You guys seem pretty happy, but I'm scared to go back into the water.
I'm still slogging through the back episodes of the original show. The two Godzilla movies they did are my favorites so far. Rex Dart, Eskimo Spy!
I've been enjoying Mike Nelson's Rifftrax efforts for a while now (even without the bots it still sounds like Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow riffing the films). I too got turned off by the first Cinematic Titanic effort but I'd be happy to hear that they're much better now - I've always been a big fan of Joel, Mary Jo, and TV's Frank too.
How come no love for RiffTrax on boing boing? They're DRM-free, their riff of the Star Wars Holiday Special is just as much of a holiday classic...they even referenced Cory back in the Independence Day riff!
I got a chance to see Cinematic Titanic LIVE when it came to Saint Louis. They riff'd on this movie. I'd be interesting to see if the Live show had any different riffs--I don't think so.
Anyone remember the show where they took a classic movie and just dubbed the lines--used to be on Saturday afternoons when I was a teen (late eighties)--always made me laugh. I loved MST3K too, but I'd like to find that old program too.
I found it. Mad Movies with the LA connection, circa 1985. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199240/usercomments
DVDs can be purchased and tickets for live performances can be found here:
http://www.angelfire.com/la3/laconnectioncomedy/Mad%20Movies.html
loved these guys
Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mik73GHKK0c
Loved this when it was MST3K'd.
Santa, talking to a couple Martian kids: "You know, we have children just like you on my planet."
Servo (I think): "Only they're better actors..."
...That's the problem with either of the post-MST3K projects: neither of them have the Bots. Tom Servo, Crow and Gypsy were what made MST3K work more than anything else.
I'm afraid to watch it, it's feels taboo to watch something that has been re-riffed by the same guy
I've rented some MST3K from Netflix and haven't found them very funny a decade later. So many of the jokes were topical, they're pretty stale now. The host segments, which I used to hate, seem funnier than the film riffs. I'm in favor of updating.
A scene from one of my favorite MST3K movies: "Mitchell!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOCqlKNW9rU
Ant @ 21.
I totally agree, I don't have an awful lot of time for them myself. I remember seeing them years ago and thinking it was ok, but not anytime recently. That's compounded by the fact that lots of times when I was scouring the internet for one particular old film or another, the only versions I could find had MST3K-chat sprawled all over them.. grrr.
'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' is presented on Svengoolie every year around this time, me and my dad would always watch it together. MST3K's commentary could never be funnier than Svengoolie.
I think after the onset of the internet, people commenting on anything has kind of lost the novelty appeal it once had.
David Quaid was the director of photography on "Santa...Martians." He taught a generation of American cinematographers how to do it and wrote the intro to both the Cameraman's Handbook and the Lighting Handbook. He was very proud of his work on the film, especially what he could do with little or no money.
#16
Perhaps you are referring to "What's New Pussycat?"
Although that was just the one movie.
@ Antinous:
"I've rented some MST3K from Netflix and haven't found them very funny a decade later. So many of the jokes were topical, they're pretty stale now."
Many of the episodes have held up well, in my opinion. Yes, of course the jokes were topical, especially for people who grew up in the '60s and '70s, people who grew up in the midwest, and people who grew up watching old movies.
Most of the jokes were references to things that existed years, decades, or even centuries before MST3K. In that sense, they were stale before they ever hit the airwaves. But, as mentioned here, Mitchell is a classic. Another great one is Santa Claus, not to be confused with the movie profiled in this post. Some of the episodes are every bit as funny, such as Eegah!, Catalina Caper, The Skydivers, and Pod People.
That said, the Marx brothers are dated. Charlie Chaplin is dated. Fleischer's Popeye is dated. The Honeymooners is dated. The references are unrecognizable to most everyone alive today, and the comedy is stale, but just as enjoyable. MST3K was a milestone in television programming. It's worth revisiting, even if Netflix let you down. I would recommend seasons 3-6, viewed in sequence if possible.
@ #27
I think you're thinking of Woody Allen's 1966 re-dubbed film "What's up, Tiger Lily?"
"What's New Pussycat?" was a comedy starring Peter Sellers.
"Key of Keys"?
I'm uber excited to see if this is as good as MST3K! (though it's not the same without Crow and Servo's silhouettes waving side to side with each snarky remark) Either way, makes a great gift to throw into my husband's stocking and watch on Christmas Day.
@Travelina:
I say "Hot merging action," in traffic. Lots.
I'm a fan of the original series with Joel, and loathe the later incarnation with the VW Bus, et al. SCCTM is like their Citizen Kane. And this is like the remake of Psycho- unnecessary.
Bah-dunh-dunh-dunh-dun! Tequila.
(and)
Watch out for snakes!
I'd love to support them but $15? Yikes. RiffTrax, comparably, is a more affordable $4.
I mean, their business model is their business model, but geez.
Bus, with CT you're also buying the movie. With Rifftrax, you need to obtain the movie yourself.
CT is also a video production; Rifftrax is essentially a podcast.
Addendum: the Rifftrax Best of Shorts DVD, which includes both the riffs and the films (and which I am likely to buy), also costs $15.
I haven't heard the word "Riff" so often since I was in West Side Story.
I'd rather get a group of my friends and do the same thing ourselves, which we do. We use the Christmas specials, like Grinch, Charlie Brown, Muppets, Forsty, etc.
I just screened the MST version this past evening, hadn't seen it in a while.
If you all want to see a Santa movie that's even more fucked up and inept than the one being discussed here, check this one out sometime:
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053241/
(I got a DVD of it at K-Mart last January for $2.99. It's already at the top of my list of regular holiday videos.)
you can download the un-mocked flick for free here, because it's public domain.
http://www.archive.org/details/santa_claus_conquers_the_martians
-T
I'm very interested in seeing the new Cinematic Titanic take on this (seen every one of their flicks so far and really enjoyed them) but I've got to say that one of my favorite MST3K lines EVER comes from this episode:
"Pills for dinner--what are we, Judy Garland?"
I can't help but wonder how much better MST3K would have been if they were using Motorola Krave phones. I've been astro turfing my livingroom with one for a few weeks now and this thing is amazing!
i'd like to remind everyone to keep circulating the tapes.
Great to see more of the great MST3K spirit living on! But what's with the no love for RiffTrax on BoingBoing (http://blog.rifftrax.com/2008/12/06/whats-it-take-boingboing/)? Not only are they vocally DRM-free, but they've been big boosters of community-made riffing with their iRiffs project. Remember kids, it's OK to support both Cinematic Titanic AND RiffTrax!
Since all the original MST3K staff is now doing MST3K type stuff if makes you wonder why they don't just all get back together & revive the show.
Jim, your username is unwittingly apropos! According to one version of the events, Joel approached Jim Mallon (original MST3K producer, voice of Gypsy, and current rights-holder to the property) with the idea of reviving MST3K for the 20th anniversary. Mallon nixed the idea, choosing instead to work on his own solo MST3K projects. (There's apparently bad blood between them — Joel says creative differences with Mallon were the reason he left the show in the first place.) So Joel & crew formed Cinematic Titanic, and Jim Mallon is producing MST3K Flash animations on mst3k.com. Mike, Kevin, and Bill already had their own successful property going with Rifftrax, so they didn't run off to join CT, though crossovers are a possibility — Mary Jo Pehl has already appeared on both.
If Mallon gets his thumb out of his...thumb cozy, we might see an MST3K revival someday, since, as you say, all of the principals are already actively engaged in closely related projects.