Once you go black…

01 November 2004 @ late morning | Comments (2)

There’s something pure about MST3K and its genre’s offspring that warms my heart.

Perhaps it’s because I get enormous satisfaction from watching poorly-made Sci-fi flicks. Or perhaps it’s because my sarcastic nature has always driven me toward impromtu narration of films, even since I was young. Or it might just be simply that it’s enjoyable to watch someone make fun of themselves, in any context. Whatever the reason, I simply love it.

It takes a certain tolerance for absurdity in order to sit through a full-length feature film, while a chorus of idiots creates false dialogue and points out every low-budget flaw. However, there are a few things that make the experience enjoyable for just about anyone:

• 3-D
• Halloween
• A beautiful theater
• Live jazz accompaniment

This weekend I was lucky enough to score tickets to “Creature from the Black Lagoon“ (1954), part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival. The Jazz Passengers’ original score was fantastic (in the tradition of John Zorn), the creative dialogue was hilarious, and the 3-D was three-dimensional. They achieved B-movie perfection that would make Jack Arnold proud.

Btw, I can’t believe that Jack Arnold lacks an entry in Wikipedia. Wtf?