"Stop screaming, Tim."

This seems like a wonderful opportunity to finish Volume 25 tomorrow! Thanks for the motivation!

The answer is "yes." It's one of the best anime programs I've ever seen. Top tier. While I grew up with some shonen, it was the shoujo like Utena I watched at the same time that stayed with me all these years later. Additionally, that OST is BANANAS GOOD.

"Do you know? Do you know?"

Thanks for the reminder that I need to rewatch Utena for the 10th time.

Absolutely! Jack Frost and Sinbad are shockingly beautiful as well. Vibrant compared to a lot of the flicks they were forced to endure. That said, I have to admit that I don't think I'll ever remove Hobgoblins, Space Mutiny, and Time Chasers from my Top 5. I just can't do it.

I've spent the year revisiting all of the episodes (I'm on Volume 25 right now). I caught all three of those Finnish-Russian productions recently (including Jack Frost and The Sword and the Dragon), and all three remain stellar.

That's the plot of Operation Kid Brother in a nutshell. Hell, the characters even call him "Connery" throughout the movie! It's campy and silly, making this an entertaining episode. You've got brawls, assassin nuns, go-go girls, AND music composed by Ennio Morricone. This is a fun one to watch.

Operation Kid Brother: Do you like Bond? Do you like Sean Connery? What about a Bond rip-off where Sean's brother, Neil, plays a hypnotist-turned-agent who thwarts a crime ring? Also, what if the movie noted that his brother was actually Bond and actors from Bond movies reprised their roles?

I say that because the movie's vibe reminds me of Season 3 films like Pod People and Cave Dwellers. In a way, it feels out of place in Season 1. However, I really enjoyed the end credits jokes; since the credits were longer, Joel and the bots had to sit there and discuss what they liked about it.

I'm not the biggest fan of Season One episodes, but this one was overall pretty enjoyable. IMO, it's sort of an oddity, though, because the film is in color, and it was released just a few years before MST. I sort of wonder if this would have been better if the cast riffed it in later seasons.

Robot Holocaust: I've watched more than 100 episodes of MST3K this year. While most of these flicks are bad and/or cheesy, at the very least, the acting in most isn't necessarily atrocious. However, RH might take the cake in that regard as this is arguably the worst script I've encountered yet.

All things considered, it's a chill week due to Thanksgiving, so it's a good time to fire up MST3K Volume 25. These four episodes are either completely new to me, or I'm drawing a blank if I ever did watch them. Let's see how things shape up.

@optimstie.bsky.social: Volume 24 in the books. This was a great set. It's fitting that since Vol. 23 had one of the worst flicks (Fu Manchu), this one had one of the best. All four here are great fun. Rankings:

Samson V. Vampire Women: Top tier.
Fugitive Alien
Sword and the Dragon
Star Force

Samson Vs. the Vampire Women: "Oh, it's a cage match!" This ultimate camp movie remains a classic. Look. You've got the lucha Santo taking on hot vampires. What's not to love? This was also TV's Frank's last episode, so the send-off was touching in its unique MST3K way. This is a must-watch episode.

So why is "dragon" in the title? Well, one technically appears in the final 10 minutes of the movie, so there's that. Other than that, the film chronicles the deeds of a legendary hero, but the legend itself isn't fleshed out. Oh, and there's a flash forward of 20 years because he's in a dungeon.

Sword and the Dragon: "This baby can handle anything but a three-headed--SON OF A..." The last of the Finnish-Russian fantasies riffed on the show. The film itself doesn't have the juice that Jack Frost or Sinbad did. In fact, it's downright incomprehensible at times. However, the jokes are killer.

Luscious Jackson's performance of "Here" lives rent-free in my head:

youtu.be/kVY7JuEvvXY?...

I feel that these two episodes as well as the Master Ninja ones are probably most enjoyable when viewed together in one sitting rather than separately.