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Total Riff Off Episode 4: Man V. Monster

RiffTrax is the creation of the second crew of hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett) who have parlayed the art of making smart-ass comments at bad film and television into a life-long career. In the Total Riff Off series, they partner with the National Geographic channel to officially send up overly pompous documentarian Richard Terry.

Here is the description of the show from the RiffTrax website:

Never one to let something like “not finding the made up creature we all knew never existed in the first place” discourage him, monster hunter Richard Terry is back on the prowl again! This time he’s seeking out the Mekong Flesh Eater, a creature that if it were real* would have the Thai people living in utter terror!**

When a Thai woman is attacked by the creature while gathering shellfish in the river, Richard leaps into action and visits a cave that is not on the river. He bravely manages to get himself stuck almost immediately. Upon making the shocking discovery that the creature that attacked the woman in the river is not in an unrelated cave, he’s left to bumble around Thailand harassing the natives in search of a constantly changing goal that is at various times: a catfish, a cobra, a legendary creature called the Naga, D.B. Cooper, a fearsome catfish, and someone to lend him money for a plate of curry.

Will Richard track down the legendary Mekong Flesh Eater? Will he button his shirt? Will he mistake a floating log for a monster in a particularly chilling scene? The answer to one of these questions is YES! Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill for another episode of Man V Monster, as originally seen on National Geographic.

*It isn’t.

**But it isn’t so they aren’t.

On Body and Soul (2017)

On Body and Soul is a Hungarian film that was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The plot revolves around two workers at a slaughterhouse who discover that they share the same dreams. 

There are some borderline gruesome slaughterhouse scenes at the beginning of the movie. (The credits state that "[s]ome animals were harmed during filming, but none of them for the sake of this film.") The film, itself, is a subtle, restrained experience that delves deeply into the connections between people.

Andhadhun

This is a Bollywood crime comedy that fascinated me when I first watched it. (Full disclosure: I was home ill with a fever at the time.) With a script that sits somewhere The Sting and Singham, Andhadhun is a quite watchable and enjoyable film. For all I know, it's a completely formulaic Indian film. But I'm unfamiliar with the formula, so I enjoyed it. It's light fare for such a heavy subject. And crime is always played with a nod and wink.

Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home

Kevin McCloud made a name for himself in the UK by hosting the wildly popular home-porn show, Grand Designs, where people who are richer than you will ever be build homes that are more fabulous than you will ever build. But McCloud's true calling is in building affordable, sustainable housing for everyone. And the later episodes of Grand Designs do include experimental and affordable homes. These particular shows stand out because they are the ones where the homebuilders are not a bunch of complete twats.

With Man Made Home, McCloud puts his money where his mouth is and builds a sustainable, eco-friendly clubhouse in the woods using only locally sourced and salvaged materials. And he assembles a cast of people more daft than he is to help him build it. The result is an absolutely wonderful adventure. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

A Very British Murder

Royal Palace Curator and television presenter Lucy Worsley would be great company at any dinner party. She takes the normally dry BBC documentary genre to new levels with her learned, conspiratorial and sometimes downright daffy style of presenting what has up to now been traditionally stodgy television fare.

In this series of historical documentaries (she's done many, check them out) she takes a look at some of the most horrible and despicable murders in British history. While the descriptions can be gruesome at times, it's never sensational the way that modern news coverage often is. 

This three-part series is a good introduction to work of Lucy Worsley. If you like this, check out Empire of the Tsars, which is her history of Tsarist Russia.

Wings of Desire

Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire is a dream of film that pulls you into its universe so completely that you cannot help but be forever changed for having experienced it.

Filmed in Berlin two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this movie explores the barriers between people and emotions. The angels in the film are detached, immortal beings who can only be seen by children. The angels can hear the thoughts of mortals and attempt to comfort them. But in the end the angels cannot experience sensory pleasures the way that humans do. 

The film is in black and white when displaying the angels' perspective and in color when showing the mortal point-of-view. And it features a wonderful supporting cast including rock musician Nick Cave and television and film actor Peter Falk as themselves.

Travel Man

Travel Man host Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace) travels to a city in Europe for 48 hours with an actor or comedian friend such as Paul Rudd, Chris O'Dowd or Noel Fielding. Equal parts travel show and buddy picture, the result is low-key, delightful banter between two witty people who suddenly find themselves in exotic and novel situations. I'd call it the television version of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's The Trip films, except that all of those films also have six-part television versions (which I believe are more watchable than the film versions).

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a low-budget parody of a low-budget, 1980s horror television show. In many ways, Darkplace is truer to the form than 80s nostalgia shows such as Stranger Things. 

The conceit is that sometime in the early 1980s, hack horror writer Garth Marenghi (who proudly claims to have written more books than he's read) has teamed up with publisher and pornographer Dean Learner to bring Marenghi's dark tales of horror to the screen. What we're watching is not the original series, but rather the DVD re-release, containing the episodes interspersed with modern-day interviews with the cast. 

Lots of great people pop up in this series, including The IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan and The Mighty Boosh stars Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. The series also features Alice Lowe playing actress Madeleine Wool in the role of Dr. Liz Asher. Most recently Lowe was seen as the psychiatrist in the Black Mirror interactive episode, "Bandersnatch."

Fishing with John

Jazz musician (The Lounge Lizards), painter, and actor (Last Temptation of Christ, Stranger than Paradise) John Lurie somehow convinced Japanese investors to fund a fishing show starring himself and featuring big names in show business like Dennis Hopper and Tom Waits fishing in exotic locations such as Costa Rica and Thailand. 

Lurie turns every convention of a fishing show and a television documentary on its head. Fishing with John is funny and brilliant, and it adds an element which I believe has been long-missing from traditional fishing television shows: surrealism. Also, curiously, there is really not that much fishing in it.

The Criterion Collection DVD release (the only fishing show to receive such an honor) contains Lurie's commentary for each episode. And those commentary tracks are every bit as entertaining as the original shows. Plus the commentaries illustrate just how hard John Lurie worked to create this televised fishing experience.

The still above is from the first episode where Lurie and director Jim Jarmusch fish for sharks using only a wedge of cheese and a handgun.

Gogglebox, Series 13

Watching people watch television sounds awful—unless you watch the right people. Over 13 seasons Gogglebox on the UK's Channel 4 has succeeded by being part MST3k and part water cooler conversation. Personally, I find it all the more entertaining because I only have the vaguest familiarity with what they're watching. I have discovered a couple great shows by watching Gogglebox. And I do enjoy seeing how others view the US. But let's face it, I'm here for the snark. And no one snarks better than the English.