Browse: Home / Film on the Internet: MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 – THE RETURN on Netflix

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • The Friday Article Roundup: Fear of a Blackhat
  • Year of the Month: Sunil Patel on HEAT
  • Devil Man Running In My Head: Miller on ASTRO-CREEP 2000
  • GORDY: 1995's Other White Meat
  • Film on the Internet: THE PROWLER (1951)

Film on the Internet: MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 – THE RETURN on Netflix

Posted By Julius Kassendorf on April 17, 2017 in News | 73 Responses

Hey guys, after nearly 20 years off the air, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is back. If you’re a true junky like me, you’ve probably been mainlining the new series since it premiered on Friday. And…really, only 14 episodes? *sigh*

Jonah Ray is very happy to be your new host. His lemon yellow jumpsuit matches the vibrancy of his energy as he mugs and preens for the audience in a way that shows just how excited he is to be part of the MST3K cast. Jonah’s hosting segments present a notable jump in energy from Joel Hodgson’s moderately depressed monotone hosting duties, or even from Mike Nelson’s frat boy slacker of attitude. Jonah knows you’re watching him host, and he’s always conscious of the fact that he has landed his dream job; which is a marked contrast from the in-show story of being trapped on the Satellite of Love.

And, yet, he works. He fits in with the new energetic feel of the show. The theme song, performed by the live Skeleton Crew, has a poppier ska beat to it. Felicia Day’s Kinga Forrester has a millennial new media energy that even infects her sidekick Patton Oswalt’s Max (TV’s Son of TV’s Frank). Most episodes have a new celebrity guest star, ranging from Pearl, Brain Guy and Bobo, to Jerry Seinfeld. And, Gypsy even plays a bigger part, coming down twice an episode to transfer a payload and make a comment before disappearing.

The biggest change is in the silhouettes. Now that the show is in full 16×9 widescreen, the movies are now presented across the whole screen and the silhouettes have been significantly shrunk now that they don’t have to compensate for CRT’s overscan. So, now we can watch the actual movie…

MST3K - Comparison

Which is just fine because they have a much better class of movies this year. For the most part. Some of them are directly connected to award-winning people! There’s Avalanche in which Rock Hudson* tries to woo his ex-wife, Golden Globe-winner Mia Farrow. The Time Travelers was lensed by future Oscar-winner Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). The infamous Star Wars knock-off Starcrash features future Oscar-winner Christopher Plummer and stars Marjoe Gortner, a former evangelist who was the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary Marjoe. And, even The Land That Time Forgot was lensed by Alan Hume, who went on to be cinematographer for The Return of the Jedi.

Some of you come for the host segments, and they can be pretty inspired. Jonah imagining the origins of the Bigfoot fantasy Cry Wilderness is almost as inspired as the Mexican-inspired fashion show from The Beast of Hollow Mountain. But, I come for the riffing. If you want to know what was my experience watching Sunset Song, Jonah and the robots come close in trying to fill the voids left by the long thoughtful takes of beautiful nothingness in Starcrash.

Anyways, the new season is quite solid.


*Fun Fact: The bar in Rock Hudson’s resort is named The Mine Shaft, which was also the name of an infamous late ’70s/early ’80s gay leather bar he used to go to and that served as the inspiration for Cruising. You’ll see the sign behind him when he storms off after some guy tells him that his resort is at risk of creating an avalanche where people will die. That’s not a spoiler, because that’s in the goddamned title.

Posted in News | Tagged At the Earth's Core, Avalanche, Carnival Magic, Comedy, Cry Wilderness, Film on the Television, mystery science theater 3000, Reptilicus, Starcrash, The Beast of Hollow Mountain, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, The Land That Time Forgot, The Loves of Hercules, The Time Travelers, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, Yongary

About the Author

Julius Kassendorf

Julius Kassendorf is the founder of The-Solute, and previously founded The Other FIlms and Project Runaways in 2013. There, he dabbled in form within reviews to better textualize thought processes about the medium of film.

Previously, he has blogged at other, now-defunct, websites that you probably haven’t heard of, and had a boyfriend in Canada for many years. Julius resides in Seattle, where he enjoys the full life of the Seattle Film Community.

Julius’ commanding rule about film: Don’t Be Common. He believes the worst thing in the world is for a film to be like every other film, with a secondary crime of being a film with little to no ambition.

Related Posts

Year of the Month: Jason Tucker on HUDSON HAWK→

Hollywood’s Guide to Female Friendship: Persia on BRIDESMAIDS and THE HELP→

placeholderStuff My Kids Watch: My Children and Educational Shorts→

Taking Over the MADhouse — The Last Days of EC Comics Part 2→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    35801 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    28331 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    27307 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • Gordon with Mr. Looper

    Attention Must Be Paid: Will Lee

    26737 views / Posted January 7, 2023
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    20876 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • From the still available on the Internet, I assume 90% of the movie is this scene.

    The Friday Article Roundup: Fear of a Blackhat

    December 1, 2023 / The Ploughman
  • Year of the Month: Sunil Patel on HEAT

    November 30, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Devil Man Running In My Head: Miller on ASTRO-CREEP 2000

    November 30, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Capitalist pig

    GORDY: 1995’s Other White Meat

    November 30, 2023 / The Ploughman
  • Film on the Internet: THE PROWLER (1951)

    November 29, 2023 / ZoeZ

Last Tweets

    ©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

    Menu

    • Home
    • Who We Are
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact Us
    • Login
    Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!