{"id":226,"date":"2005-05-24T20:55:05","date_gmt":"2005-05-25T00:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinemacrazed.wordpress.com\/?p=226"},"modified":"2016-07-10T03:26:05","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T07:26:05","slug":"michael-j-nelson-author-film-critic-and-all-around-nice-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2005\/05\/24\/michael-j-nelson-author-film-critic-and-all-around-nice-guy\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael J. Nelson: Author, Film Critic, and all Around Nice Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wpbr6OU\"<\/a>Cinema Crazed took a chance and luckily were granted an interview with Michael J. Nelson. To those whom are truly with the in-crowd, you know who the man is. But to those whom aren\u2019t aware, not only do I pity you, but: Mr. Nelson was the head writer, and the one time host (successor to creator and original host Joel Hodgson) of one of the greatest shows of all time “Mystery Science Theater 3000” which lasted eleven excellent seasons and spawned a very funny film. After ending on the Sci Fi Channel in 1999, Nelson went on to author six books including “Mike Nelson’s Movie Megacheese”, a collection of essays “reviewing” bad “A” grade movies, and \u201cDeath Rat\u201d.<\/p>\n

He now speaks at colleges, is a musician, a music aficionado, loves electronics, and is a very popular film critic reviewing big budget bad films. I\u2019ve been an avid watcher for many, many years and mourned the show’s end when Sci-Fi willingly killed it off slapping the fans in the face and then airing reruns for a few years. But as one who sat with them and watched \u201cHorror at Party Beach\u201d and \u201cManos\u201d, I was thrilled to see Mr. Nelson agree to offer an interview and answer questions during his busy schedule. Mr. Nelson was kind enough to answer them with thoughts about the death penalty, evolution, and an odd rant about speakers. Here they are (Warning: There is some shameless fan gushing. Shield your eyes):<\/p>\n

I just would like to thank you first of all. I and the site’s contributors (and our readers) are hardcore fans of \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000\u201d, I have been for years, and I think it’s one of the rare brilliant cult shows of the past thirty years, this is a true highlight for me.<\/strong>
\nYou\u2019re very kind.<\/p>\n

You were able to reach so deep in to an unspoken human tradition of mocking films. Years after the end of the show do you still find yourself mocking films while with your friends or family?<\/strong>
\nYeah, it\u2019s kind of in the blood. Plus most movies aren\u2019t very good, so it\u2019s kind of hard to avoid.<\/p>\n

As a follow up, are you still surprised a show about a guy and two robots sitting down to watch a movie became such a cult classic?<\/strong>
\nI was kind of na\u00efve when I started on the show, so I just assumed that we would always get to do it, whether or not anyone ever watched. But it was still great fun to watch as the show just kind of grew, and we started to see that some people not only liked it, they really liked it.<\/p>\n

The common phrase now shared by film fans of the modern age after a bad film is “The guys at MST3K should tear this to pieces”, what recent films do you think would truly deserve being mowed down by the group at The Satellite of Love?<\/strong>
\nI would love to have a crack at the whole list of Oscar-nominated films.<\/p>\n

An obvious question I have to ask, bear with me: Do you have a favorite episode of “MST3K”? (Mine would have to be the “Manos” episode.)<\/strong>
\nI am fond of \u201cMerlin\u2019s Shop of Mystical Wonders.\u201d I saw it recently with my sons, and they laughed a lot (so that\u2019s part of it.) But I laughed hard at the line when Crow says [as Merlin] \u201cRemember to believe in the power of magic\u2026 or I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Is there a film you aired on the show that you didn’t think was all that bad?<\/strong>
\n“Hamlet”, I guess. At least the script was good.<\/p>\n

What was easier in the long run to mock: bad foreign films, or B grade Schlock?<\/strong>
\nHome grown schlock was far easier. The dubbing made it really hard with the foreign stuff.<\/p>\n

Do you agree with fans that the Sci-Fi Channel mistreated the show?<\/strong>
\nWell, they didn\u2019t really like the show, so it\u2019s no surprise. To be clear, though, this was the later regime that came in toward the end. The people who brought us on board were mensches by and large.<\/p>\n

What’s Tom Servo really like?<\/strong>
\nHe\u2019s a total jackass. He always stole my Powerbars and blamed it on Gypsy.<\/p>\n

Be honest, did you exterminate Cro and Servo when the show ended?<\/strong>
\nIf by that you mean, \u201ccryogenically suspend them\u201d then yes, I\u2019ll cop to that.<\/p>\n

Do you think film as an art form has managed to evolve or de-evolve in terms of quality and originality now that filmmaking is becoming much more accessible?
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ll answer that with these four words: “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo”.<\/p>\n

Now that methods for making films has become much more available in terms of home software that enables easy filmmaking, do you think there are much more worse films out today than there were forty years ago?<\/strong>
\nI think in terms of volume, yes, there\u2019s more (say, 800 metric ton of bad films.) But not in terms of ratio.<\/p>\n

What do you think about the current trend in Hollywood of remaking any and every film? And are there any remakes that particularly angered or irritated you?<\/strong>
\nWell, for years I\u2019ve been shopping this idea: \u201cDeputy Dawg: The Motion Picture\u201d, with no success. So, yeah, I\u2019m bitter that they\u2019re remaking the wrong stuff.<\/p>\n

Which current film director do you think needs to stop and take up a new profession?<\/strong>
\nI will take the high road and practice \u201cif you can\u2019t say something nice\u201d diplomacy. (*cough* Joel Schumacher *cough cough*).<\/p>\n

The most popular complaint among the movie going audience today is their anger towards lack of consideration in movie theaters, and deteriorating of well mannered movie goers. Are there any complaints you have toward that? Any gripes or thoughts?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m pretty forgiving about such things. I believe that people who bring small children into the theater and let them run around should only be given life imprisonment with hard labor and not the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Do you keep up with The Golden Raspberry awards? If so, what do you think about this year\u2019s nominations?<\/strong>
\nI haven\u2019t seen them, but I assume the name \u201cTara Reid\u201d is mentioned somewhere.<\/p>\n

You seem to have an obsession with film, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re aware. Do you have any other obsessions or addictions?<\/strong>
\nPipe tobacco, stereo equipment, and vacuum brewed coffee.<\/p>\n

Who is hotter: Barbarella, or Torgo?<\/strong>
\nBarbarella has marginally better legs.<\/p>\n

You did an excellent impression of Torgo on the show, are there any other impressions your friends or family get a kick out of?<\/strong>
\nI do an impression of an old woman who once interrupted me while I was playing piano at a retirement home. The folks at MST used to beg me to do that. It\u2019s technically a very difficult impression and I\u2019ve never met anyone else who can do it. I\u2019m very proud of that.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite film of all time?<\/strong>
\nIt changes all the time, but right now I\u2019m very fond of the most recent \u201cNicholas Nickleby.\u201d I love to see bullies get what\u2019s coming to them, and to see good triumph over evil, and Dickens has that in spades. Plus it\u2019s just extremely well done: Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson are simply amazing as Mr. and Mrs. Squeers.<\/p>\n

What are some of your thoughts on the tabloid craze? Why do you think the media is sure we need to know about Nick and Jessica and or Britney Spears?<\/strong>
\nWhat have you heard about Nick and Jess?! Do you know anything?! You have to tell me!!<\/p>\n

To borrow from the supreme rulers James Lipton and Bernard Pivot:<\/strong>
\nWhat noise do you hate?<\/strong>
\nThe sounds inside a water park.<\/p>\n

What noise do you love?<\/strong>
\nThe sound of trains.<\/p>\n

What’s your motto?<\/strong>
\n\u201cLive without mottos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shameless gauge: Is Cinema Crazed not the coolest site ever?<\/strong>
\nUm, yes, it is not the coolest site ever. Wait, that didn\u2019t come out right.<\/p>\n

Shameless plug time: Which one of your books do you suggest we buy?<\/strong>
\n\u201cDeath Rat\u201d! It\u2019s partially about a big rat. Everybody loves big rats.<\/p>\n

Whom are some of your literary idols?<\/strong>
\nP.G. Wodehouse. Shakespeare. Twain. C.S. Lewis. Peter DeVries. Robert Benchley.<\/p>\n

What projects are you currently working on at the moment?<\/strong>
\nA children\u2019s book. A DVD commentary for a re-release of \u201cThe Little Shop of Horrors.\u201d A grown-up book. Developing a video series.<\/p>\n

Do you have any closing comments you\u2019d like to share for the readers?<\/strong>
\nYes. A good loudspeaker should have a flat frequency response not only on axis, but as far as 60 degrees off axis (horizontally). 60 degrees represents the \u201csecond arrival\u201d and has a huge impact on how you perceive the quality of the sound. The \u201cthird arrival\u201d is 30 degrees off axis. So before purchasing a set of speakers, make sure it sounds good off axis.<\/p>\n

(Hint: speakers with 4th order crossovers tend to be better behaved off axis, and active crossovers, though rare, are probably the best solution of all.)<\/p>\n

And that’s it, folks. We’d like to thank Mr. Mike Nelson for taking time out of his busy schedule<\/strong>
\nto answer our questions. He’s a nice guy, and funny as hell. This was a great experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cinema Crazed took a chance and luckily were granted an interview with Michael J. Nelson. To those whom are truly with the in-crowd, you know who the man is. But to those whom aren\u2019t aware, not only do I pity you, but: Mr. Nelson was the head writer, and the one time host (successor to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[244,246,508,657,692,906,1112,1132],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-crow","tag-cult","tag-interview","tag-michael-j-nelson","tag-mst3k","tag-science-fiction","tag-tom-servo","tag-tv-show"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21373,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions\/21373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}