MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE Plays Midnights at The Tivoli This Weekend

“Into the weenie mobile, weenie man away!”

Okay, you have a big decision to make this weekend: do you seen RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD at midnight at The Hi-Pointe Friday and MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE at The Tivoli midnight on Saturday, or do you see MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE at The Tivoli midnight Friday and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD at midnight at The Hi-Pointe on Saturday? Either way, there’s a couple of fun midnight shows in St. Louis this weekend (read my take on the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD screening HERE)

If you’re unacquainted with the origin of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE, a cult cable series on the Sci-Fi Channel, fret not. Think of Mad Magazine meets a live-action version of Beavis & Butthead, and you’re on your way to the moon. Instead of having Burger World’s Dickheads of the Month unspooling wisecracks over Ratt and Warrant video clips, you have two androids, Gypsy and Crow, and their human pal, Michael J Nelson, unspooling wisecracks over an endless stream of  Z-grade films. They are held captive aboard a bone-shaped space vessel by an evil scientist, Dr Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulie who also co-wrote the script), who plans to conquer the world by exposing Earthlings to celluloid crap and, in the movie, the choice of deconstruction is the 1954 sci-fi schlocker, THIS ISLAND EARTH (which is actually a good, if mildly cheesy, film – I’ve shown it at Super-8 Movie Madness). No household names with eye-candy looks, no costly visual trickery and certainly not much of a plot, MST-3K has less to do with science-fiction than the cannibalization of popular culture; their gleeful nitpicks are peppered with a litany of pop culture references from The Addams Family and TOP GUN, to Kate Moss, the Matsushita Corporation and even William Shatner. The namechecking may alienate some and the jokes are of a hit-and-miss variety but when it does hit, it hurts.

You’ll have the chance to see MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE in its big screen glory when it plays  July 11th and 12th at the Tivoli as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.

The Tivoli’s located at 6350 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO. Admission is a mere $8!

The Tivoli’s website can be found HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

Here’s the Reel Late at the Tivoli Line-up for the next few weeks:

July 18-19            2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

July 25-26            CLUE

Aug. 1-2               THIS IS SPINAL TAP 30^th anniversary, digitally restored

Aug. 8-9               AKIRA           

Aug. 15-16           TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – The Original!

Aug. 22-23           ARMY OF DARKNESS

Aug. 29-30           BLAZING SADDLES

Sept. 5-6              PURPLE RAIN – 30^th anniversary

Sept. 12-13         GHOST IN THE SHELL