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A review by vanessakm
Twenty Five Mystery Science Theater 3000 Films That Changed My Life In No Way Whatsoever by Frank Conniff
3.0
Frank Conniff spent 5 years appearing on Mystery Science Theater 3000* picking the films and appearing on the show as TV's Frank. If you look at the cover illustration, you'll be like, "Oh, THAT guy." If you think that sounds like a kickass job, you are right.
The other reviewers are correct: I wish this book had more anecdotes about MST3K or the movies they watched. I didn't entirely mind though. Parts of the book have their moments of obviousness (all new batches of young people are equally annoying to each subsequent batch of old people, Trump is terrifying), but Coniff is also witty, profane and charming. These are qualities I can get behind.
(It also has some typo issues, the kind a basic word processing spell check should have caught. Since other reviews mention it, I'll just say yes there are typos that even a casual reader will notice. But unless you are completely unable to get past such things, you should still be able to read and enjoy this.)
I did like the essays that discussed the movies or MST3K trivia the best (some go off on a completely unrelated tangent, with mixed results), but even the diversions can be charming: Bride of the Monster becomes an essay on Ed Wood's outsider art (less Conniff sound delusional here, he fully acknowledges the fact that Wood is a terrible filmmaker), I Accuse my Parents turns into a sweet homage to his late mother.
Conniff was with MST3K during its golden years, so the book includes some of their greatest hits like Manos: The Hands of Fate, Eegah! and (YESSSS!!) Mitchell. I really wished he would have delved into how unhappy Joe Don Baker was about that film getting the riff treatment, but I was even more curious about what it's like to have Buford Pusser himself pissed at you.
*Kids, back in the 90's there was an amazing show on Comedy Central where people made fun of bad movies while other people at home watched them watching and making fun of bad movies. Maybe this sounds dumb and pointless, but the millennial who sits next to me at work spends hours upon hours watching YouTube videos of someone else playing video games which seems to me even more dumb and pointless. Anyways, some of MST3K is available via your local streaming outlets, and some of it is on the YouTube. So, you should check it out. Especially if you enjoy a good Harold Pinter reference.
The other reviewers are correct: I wish this book had more anecdotes about MST3K or the movies they watched. I didn't entirely mind though. Parts of the book have their moments of obviousness (all new batches of young people are equally annoying to each subsequent batch of old people, Trump is terrifying), but Coniff is also witty, profane and charming. These are qualities I can get behind.
(It also has some typo issues, the kind a basic word processing spell check should have caught. Since other reviews mention it, I'll just say yes there are typos that even a casual reader will notice. But unless you are completely unable to get past such things, you should still be able to read and enjoy this.)
I did like the essays that discussed the movies or MST3K trivia the best (some go off on a completely unrelated tangent, with mixed results), but even the diversions can be charming: Bride of the Monster becomes an essay on Ed Wood's outsider art (less Conniff sound delusional here, he fully acknowledges the fact that Wood is a terrible filmmaker), I Accuse my Parents turns into a sweet homage to his late mother.
Conniff was with MST3K during its golden years, so the book includes some of their greatest hits like Manos: The Hands of Fate, Eegah! and (YESSSS!!) Mitchell. I really wished he would have delved into how unhappy Joe Don Baker was about that film getting the riff treatment, but I was even more curious about what it's like to have Buford Pusser himself pissed at you.
*Kids, back in the 90's there was an amazing show on Comedy Central where people made fun of bad movies while other people at home watched them watching and making fun of bad movies. Maybe this sounds dumb and pointless, but the millennial who sits next to me at work spends hours upon hours watching YouTube videos of someone else playing video games which seems to me even more dumb and pointless. Anyways, some of MST3K is available via your local streaming outlets, and some of it is on the YouTube. So, you should check it out. Especially if you enjoy a good Harold Pinter reference.