AGENDA . Agenda Picks

Cinematic Titanic

Fri.-Sat., June 12-13, 8 p.m., $38, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-5483, thetroc.com.


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Published: Jun 9, 2009

[ comedy ]

In a way, still-revered cable comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000 was like Duchamp slapping a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Except the movies Joel Hodgson and his robot friends poked fun at were hardly masterpieces. Still, from '88 to '99, it was a triumph of post-modern invention, simultaneously tearing down and celebrating the most poorly shot/financed/acted movies of all time.

Hodgson escaped the Satellite of Love in 1993, but has recently returned to the world of organized riffing with Cinematic Titanic. Alongside Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff and other MST3K alums, he's once again interrupting B-movies with his silhouette and good-spirited jabs — this time on DVD and, on rare occasions, in a live theatrical setting.

"It's a movie and a play put together," explains Hodgson. "'Cause we're onstage performing it. We're kinda sandwiched between this movie and the audience."

The Cinematic Titanic team will flank the silver screen at the Troc this weekend to show two laughable lost gems: 1978 space invasion free-for-all The Alien Factor and 1968 tropical creature feature Danger on Tiki Island.

"It's well made but they have the worst monster, probably, in movie history," Hodgson marvels about the latter. "He looks like the Michelin Man if he got in a fiery car crash."

Ah, just like old times, though Cinematic Titanic's format is robot-free. "I kind of cued off of Philip Glass, you know, watching Philip Glass perform. It's just so deliberate," says Hodgson. "The idea of us just standing there presenting what we do. And we kind of earned it because it's been 20 years. We don't have to dress up anymore."