teen-age strangler is a 1964 crime drama film , made in huntington , west virginia .

it exploits the popular concern with juvenile delinquency of the american cold war period .

it was re-released in black & white in 1990 , resulting in local screenings , newspaper writeups , and cast reunions .

it was featured on a season 5 episode of mystery science theater 3000 ( mst3k ) .

actor john humphreys , who played the role of " mikey " appeared at the mst3k first conventio-con in september , 1994 .

teen - age strangler

volume 10 : godzilla vs . megalon , swamp diamonds , teen - age strangler , & the giant spider invasion
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a nerdy teen - age girl goes looking for her missing archaeologist father , and stumbles into a strange subterranean civilization .
mystery science theater 3000 collection
volume 10 (
godzilla vs . megalon ,
swamp diamonds ,
teen - age strangler ,
the giant spider invasion
) ( 1955 - 1975 )
volume xxxiii : daddy - o , earth vs the spider , teen - age crime wave , & agent for h . a . r . m .
a meaningless drag race and a silly confrontation with the killer that sees lt . anderson shooting his gun at teen - age strangler through a broken window despite a prospective victim being in the line of the fire close out the movie .
teen - age strangler is a 1964 horror picture set and filmed in the city of huntington , west virginia . there ' s a mysterious killer targeting young ( ish ) women by strangling them , leaving their bodies in the open and marking their foreheads with lipstick .
: there is no teenaged strangler , nor does the strangler kill teenagers exclusively . likely intentional , not just to cash in on the
teenage x
genre , but as a
heck , it might even be jimmy’s little brother , mike . he’s a four - eyed sissy with girlish voice and a secret past of his own . though if he did turn out to be strangler , they might have to call the film pre - teen strangler .
( features clips from episodes 403 -
city limits ,
514 -
teen - age strangler ,
516 -
alien from l . a . ,
519 -
outlaw ,
521 -
santa claus ,
522 -
teen - age crime wave ,
523 -
village of the giants ,
603 -
the dead talk back ,
605 -
colossus and the headhunters ,
and 607 -
bloodlust
)
well , they did it and they did it all in just about an hour ! teen - age strangler himself wasn’t terribly active until the end of things , but i was having too much fun counting all the fake sports pennants hanging up at both the malt shop and in jimmy’s bedroom to really mind all that much .
( features the shorts from episodes 313 -
earth vs . the spider ,
315 -
teenage caveman ,
514 -
teen - age strangler ,
603 -
the dead talk back ,
524 -
12 to the moon ,
618 -
high school big shot ,
and 701 -
night of the blood beast
)
. however , the result of their unfortunate union in ` i was a teenage strangler ' is michi ' s pregnancy .
teenage strangler passes the bechdel test . betty and ann have multiple ( albeit brief ) non - male conversations during the prologue .
( set of four individual discs containing episodes 307 -
daddy - o ,
313 -
earth vs . the spider ,
522 -
teen - age crime wave ,
and 815 -
agent for h . a . r . m .
)
a troubled teen with an undeserved criminal past is the suspect when young women start turning up around town dead and marked up with lipstick .
i’m not sure if i’d call this a favorite but it is a good episode , mikey can’t be forgotten once you’ve seen him . as for people asking ‘is it a strangler who’s a teenager or someone who strangles teenagers’–i’d like to point out that spoiling the movie within the first five minutes would kill any suspense . # 49 “answer : c . john ensign , who plays jimmy walton in teen - age strangler . he was 47 when he made this movie . ” ensign played lt . anderson , not jimmy , so a 47 - year old police lieutenant makes sense .
[ teenage strangler should be with creative film enterprises / norman senfeld . giant spider invasion is with vci , who licensed gorgo to sf . ] *
this is the other feature on something weird’s teenage terror drive - in double feature along with the rougher more gang - ish teenage gang debs . teen - age strangler starring mike is the perfect chaser to all the deb action of the first film and will leave you debating with your friends which one of them showcased the worst song : this one’s ode to pin stripes or teenage gang debs ‘ insane attempt to start a kung fu dance fad with “black belt . ” regardless of where you come out on that issue , mike will surely end up being your favorite gang deb .
misties
rejoice ! hot on the heels of the last volume , rhino has delivered yet another exceptional selection of films and shorts from the sorely missed
satellite of love .
watch in awe as joel , crow , tom servo and the rest of the gang make a mockery of toho ' s green goliath in
godzilla vs . megalon
and lampoon roger corman ' s earliest effort ,
swamp diamonds .
stare in amazement as mike , in only his second outing on the series , and the bots skewer the homegrown horror of
teen - age strangler
and then
the giant spider invasion ,
starring alan
the skipper
hale jr .
there ' s a graphic scene with michi and freak nasty that makes for uncomfortable viewing . these two also get it on in somewhat less unpleasant fashion in the lost opening of ` vampire strangler ' which can be found in the bonus material on
( set of four individual discs containing episodes 206 -
ring of terror ,
409 -
indestructible man ,
414 -
tormented ,
and 1011 -
horrors of spider island ,
plus
mystery science theater hour
bumpers for episode 414 -
tormented
and clips from episodes 303 -
pod people ,
514 -
teen - age strangler ,
523 -
village of the giants ,
822 -
overdrawn at the memory bank ,
817 -
the horror of party beach ,
202 -
the side hackers ,
316 -
gamera vs . zigra ,
321 -
santa claus conquers the martians ,
804 -
the deadly mantis ,
and 907 -
hobgoblins
)
could not have been included . in this interview , they talk about their early film roles for factory 2000 and chelsea talks about the abortion sequence in ` i was a teenage strangler ' . there is a booklet containing some interesting reading material , though .
back at the malt shop , another horror unfolds before our disbelieving eyes . some girl gets up on the counter , proclaims her and this guy with a guitar the huntington astronauts , and starts singing one of those abominations that these low budget teen pictures traffic in .
( set of four individual discs containing episodes 419 -
the rebel set ,
504 -
secret agent super dragon ,
612 -
the starfighters ,
and 811 -
parts : the clonus horror ,
plus
mystery science theater hour
bumpers for episode 419 -
the rebel set
and clips from episodes 204 -
catalina caper ,
312 -
gamera vs . guiron ,
521 -
santa claus ,
522 -
teen - age crime wave ,
603 -
the dead talk back ,
806 -
the undead ,
814 -
riding with death ,
913 -
quest of the delta knights ,
and 1002 -
girl in gold boots
)
( set of four individual discs containing episodes 212 -
godzilla vs . megalon ,
503 -
swamp diamonds ,
514 -
teen - age strangler ,
and 810 -
the giant spider invasion ,
plus bloopers from episodes 804 -
the deadly mantis ,
815 -
agent for h . a . r . m . ,
705 -
escape 2000 ,
703 -
deathstalker and the warriors from hell ,
turkey day infomercial ,
806 -
the undead ,
819 -
invasion of the neptune men ,
809 -
i was a teenage werewolf ,
812 -
the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed - up zombies ,
817 -
the horror of party beach ,
822 -
overdrawn at the memory bank ,
807 -
terror from the year 5000 ,
820 -
space mutiny ,
810 -
the giant spider invasion ,
814 -
riding with death ,
805 -
the thing that couldn ' t die ,
704 -
the incredible melting man ,
701 / 701t -
night of the blood beast ,
and 821 -
time chasers ,
not to mention clips from episodes 302 -
gamera ,
314 -
mighty jack ,
317 -
viking women and the sea serpent ,
403 -
city limits ,
516 -
alien from l . a . ,
519 -
outlaw ,
521 -
santa claus ,
522 -
teen - age crime wave ,
605 -
colossus and the headhunters ,
804 -
the deadly mantis ,
807 -
terror from the year 5000 ,
904 -
werewolf ,
905 -
the deadly bees ,
910 -
the final sacrifice ,
and 1013 -
diabolik
)
according to imdb . com , lynne “romulan” gorman was born in 1920 , making her 37 at the time the short was made . she had quite a long career in canadian television and film . her boyfriend / fiancee was craig slocum , who was a regular in dark shadows in the late 1960s . he was only 22 when the short was made , and died in 1978 , age 43 .
it ' s the fuzz versus
the fastbacks ,
a gang of black leather high school hot - rodders , one of whom could be
the lipstick killer ,
a psycho who leaves a stocking wrapped around his victims ' necks . and there ' s nothing like guessing whodunit in a film packed with father knows best nuclear families , moderne living rooms , tailfins , jack warden hats , and period hairdos . pipe - chomping dads bellow ,
go to your room !
at misunderstood kids who just want to race their cars , get in fights at marty ' s malt shoppe , and dance the chickenleg twist . but strangler ' s show - stopper is the swinging ,
yipes stripes ,
introduced by a teen queen who flashes her petitpants and announces :
fellow citizens and lovers of good music , for those of you who have pledged your allegiance to peter , paul , and mary , who have an undying love for the beatles , paul anka , and the chad mitchell trio , i give you huntington ' s astronauts . they ' re out of this world !
check it out teenage strangler on a double bill special edition dvd with teenage gang debs from something weird video ! urltoken
on saturday morning , an autograph session scheduled for two hours stretched to more than four . that was followed by a celebrity q & a session featuring beverly garland ( star of three msted movies ) , david worth ( director of warrior of the lost world - - seen in episode 501 ) and john humphries ( who played mikey in teenage strangler - - seen in episode 514 ) . kim catrall ( who starred in city limits - - seen in episode 403 ) was also scheduled to attend but canceled at the last minute . studio tours went on all day saturday .
( features clips from episodes 615 -
kitten with a whip ,
202 -
the side hackers ,
623 -
the amazing transparent man ,
420 -
the human duplicators ,
319 -
war of the colossal beast ,
703 -
deathstalker and the warriors from hell ,
516 -
alien from l . a . ,
408 -
hercules unchained ,
308 -
gamera vs . gaos ,
620 -
danger ! ! death ray ,
522 -
teen - age crime wave ,
322 -
master ninja ,
705 -
escape 2000 ,
518 -
the atomic brain ,
105 -
the corpse vanishes ,
407 -
the killer shrews ,
603 -
the dead talk back ,
423 -
bride of the monster ,
316 -
gamera vs . zigra ,
512 -
mitchell ,
104 -
women of the prehistoric planet ,
417 -
crash of moons ,
508 -
operation double 007 ,
210 -
king dinosaur ,
511 -
gunslinger ,
and 624 -
samson vs . the vampire women
)
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q : i ' ve heard and read about the mst3k conventio - con and expofest - a - rama that was held friday , september 16th through sunday , september 18 , 1994 . what happened ? a : it was great fun . about 2 , 000 msties from around the country gathered at the radisson south hotel in bloomington , mn .
the line to get into the merchandise room was endless but its inhabitants cheerful . another room at the hotel featured a
museum
of memorable props and costumes from the series .
episodes were run in three different rooms 24 hours a day ; showings of episode 424 -
manos
: the hands of fate were standing - room - only . the friday night keynote event included the entire current cast and writing staff ( joel did not attend ) discussing the early days of the show , showing slides and answering questions from the audience .
it was the first time fans has a chance to see the now - familiar
poopie
and
scrapbook
tapes , which not only were shown to fans waiting in line during the autograph session , but were also shown on the hotel tv .
on saturday night , the entire convention was bused to a theater in downtown minneapolis for a live performance of the show , featuring the movie
this island earth .
there were standing ovations beyond count and deafening cheers rattled the hall . following the show , conventioneers returned to the hotel for a gala costume ball that extended well into the wee hours and where msties and cast members mingled freely .
q : i was unable to attend the convention . did bbi videotape any of it ? are those videotapes available ? a : bbi did tape some parts of the con , and some of that footage was included in a tape the info club offered called the mst3k scrapbook .
q : how about the live show ? is bbi selling tapes of that ? a : some footage of the live show is included in the scrapbook tape . none of the very funny riffing of the movie was included , but you can get some idea of what you missed by watching mystery science theater 3000 - the movie . many of the riffs are the same as performed that night .
q : i couldn ' t make it to the second convention , which ran from friday , august 30th to monday , september 2nd , 1996 . what happened ? a : dubbed conventio - con ii : electric bugaloo , it was held at the minneapolis convention center . some 2 , 300 msties attended ( short of the 4 , 000 bbi was hoping to attract . worldcon , a major science fiction convention , was held the same weekend and siphoned off some potential attendees ; also , some attendees canceled their reservations when a planned live show was canceled due to the resignation , only a few weeks earlier , of trace beaulieu ) .
the keynote session featured the entire cast and writing staff ( including trace ) and which featured a few cheerful but confusing comments from sci - fi channel head honcho barry schulman and a wonderful farewell video of classic trace moments . also seated at the table was a guy ( introduced as a new writer ) named bill corbett . rumors swirled at the con that bill had been chosen to take over crow , but bbi refused to confirm them at the time .
the celebrity panel featured ( at last ! ) kim catrall ( featured in episode 403 - city limits ) , russell johnson ( the professor from
gilligan ' s island
and co - star of
this island earth
) and rex reason ( star of
this island earth
) .
at one session , scenes that had been cut from mst3k - the movie were shown . it may be the only time the dave alvin version of the mst3k theme song , including lyrics , was ever heard in its entirety in a public setting . also shown was a rough cut of a short ,
assignment : venezuela ,
that was to be included on the then - planned cd - rom .
at another session , mike nelson demolished a number of lucky msties in the video game
doom ,
while mary jo pehl and bridget jones took another lucky group shopping at the mall of america .
the marvelous facility was also a star - - a vast improvement over the cramped quarters of the radisson hotel , where the 1994 convention was held .
q : will any footage of the second con be available to purchase ? a : despite the frequent appearance of a bbi camera crew at the con , no footage was ever made available for sale . however , several fans have compilations of fan - shot footage available for trade . post a note in the forums and someone will probably help you .
q : will there be another convention ? a : there will be no other official , bbi - sponsored conventions .
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go behind the scenes of the mission : impossible movies , check out the latest videos and trailers , and see which spy movies topped the box office in our mission : impossible guide .
movies i ' ve seen . . . ( because i have no life )
want to share imdb ' s rating on your own site ? use the html below .
a documentary - style drama about the
fouke monster
, a bigfoot - type creature that has been sighted in and around fouke , arkansas since the 1950s .
a sleazy , incompetent detective tries to simultaneously take down heroin dealers and a socialite who murdered a burglar .
young man goes to work for gangsters to impress his nightclub - singer girlfriend .
after her husband is gunned down , rose hood takes his place temporarily as marshal of a small western town .
the strange brothers , winston and myles , are having a party and they ' ve invited all of the local slackers and freaks . but a masked man shows up and starts strangling people to death at every available opportunity .
a man lets a former flame fall to her death rather than let her interfere with his new relationship , but her ghost returns to disrupt his impending nuptials .
a doctor experimenting with transplant techniques keeps his girlfriend ' s head alive when she is decapitated in a car crash , then goes hunting for a new body .
when lieutenant anderson calls headquarters the voice of the dispatch officer is obviously coming from off screen right and not from the radio in the car . anderson also fails to click only holds the receiver and fails to operate its buttons .
if the fans of mst3k , such as me , can ever get together and create an mst3k hall of fame , this movie might be inducted in as a charter member in the film category . john humphries definitely will be inducted as a charter member in the actors category , along with such luminaries as joe don baker , ross hagen , john agar and . . . the guy . . . you know , the one who played torgo . humphries made only one mst3k appearance , but it was a great one , playing a character so annoying that you ' re just begging the other characters to give him a swirley or rub his face in crunchy underwear . fortunately , humphries seems to have a sense of humor and reality , as he didn ' t foolishly follow other mst3k actors into years of horrible films , thinking he ' d eventually get his big break .
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enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with prime video .
a girl goes against the advice of her parents and her roommate and runs away with her boyfriend . the short asks the question of whether their love has the necessary elements to last long or not .
this short was included on shorts vol 3 , released by rhino entertainment on vhs in janurary 2001 , and on dvd in august 2004 as an limited time exclusive bonus for ordering mst3k : the essentials from a specially created rhino site .
a serial killer has been targeting teenage girls in a small town , strangling his victims with pantyhose and drawing an
x
in lipstick on their foreheads . lieutenant anderson (
) is frustrated by the crimes , and thinks that modern parents have become too lax with their curfews . local hot - rod gang the fast backs find themselves prime suspects , since an eyewitness says she might have seen their insignia , a bulldog , on the killer ' s back . their only alibi is an illegal drag strip race ( they ' re the number one group in the state ) , except for jimmy (
) , and can ' t answer for his whereabouts . tensions with fellow gang member curly cause jimmy to throw his fast backs jacket away , and a wild fistfight leads to a challenge to drag . when another body is found , the clues suddenly point to curly , but a high speed chase and a terrible accident only complicate matters further . so who is the killer ? is it the creepy janitor ? is it the dweebish kid brother ?
john humphries had never acted before doing this film . he has since said that he took his acting cues from jo canterbury , whom he knew had some acting experience off - broadway . so , as her performance became more teary and shrill , so did his . [ 2 ]
according to john humphries , most of the cast and crew of this film were friends or relatives of director ben parker .
the episode revitalized interest in the film so much so that it was given a premiere showing in huntington , west virginia ( where it was filmed ) in 1994 .
prologue : mike tries to phone his grandma for help . he runs into problems with calling long distance from space and answering machines .
segment one ( invention exchange ) : in deep 13 , the frank - n - forcer keeps frank out of dr . f ’s way . on the sol , the waiter - baiter attracts waiters so you don’t have to .
poetry and ponder the question ,
what is love ?
crow wants to hear more about
hot love
. the gang ends up pondering the nature of love , mostly in terms of famous celebrities .
segment three : crow of the crow - magnons and tom of the hovermothers want to rumble gangland style , but mike intervenes by
rapping
with the bots .
segment four : crow and tom have a gadget attached to a pair of giant glasses that will make mike act like mikey from the movie . mike wises up eventually , and takes revenge on crow .
as the bots go on thanksgiving break , lonely custodian mike sings
i’m a janitor
. back in deep 13 , dr . f uses sawdust to clean up after frank when he bounces along to the song .
stinger :
and he didn’t steal no bike neither . . . i did !
rifftrax would later riff “how much affection ? ” which is plugged in the short’s closing credits .
“the master wants you but he can’t have you . ” ( manos : the hands of fate )
“you can flip any chick in the house . ” ( the brain that wouldn’t die )
looks like he took dance lessons from arch hall jr . !
of eegah fame !
shtemlo !
( on seeing a sign for
women ' s residence )
well , except for tom hanks and peter scolari .
tom hanks and peter scolari starred in the sitcom bosom buddies as a couple of guys who pose as women so they can live in a women - only hotel .
actor emilio estevez did marry singer paula abdul in 1992 ; but their love ended about two years later . both forever your girl and cold hearted crow mentioned are songs recorded by paula abdul .
and then you became a
pillar of salt
. . . what ! ?
referring to the story of lot ' s wife from the book of genesis in which lot and his family flee from the city of sodom to avoid its destruction . they were advised by the angels escorting them not to look back but lot ' s wife did anyway . as a result , she
became a pillar of salt .
in 1966 , charles whitman climbed to the top of a bell tower at the university of texas in austin and began shooting random bystanders on the ground .
a reference to
da butt
, a 1988 song by experience unlimited that was featured in the spike lee movie school daze .
a play on scared straight ! , a 1978 television documentary in which a group of juvenile delinquents were led on a tour of a new jersey prison to demonstrate the ultimate consequences of criminal behavior .
a reference to the watchtower , a magazine published by the jehovah ' s witnesses .
andrew dice clay was a popular comedian during the early 1990s . he was known for his vulgar , chauvinistic on - stage persona and costume , a throwback to the
greaser
look of the 1950s which consisted a black leather jacket and dark , slicked - back hair .
a reference to black panther co - founder huey newton , who was accused of murder in two separate cases in 1967 and 1974 .
jonathan silverman is an american actor best known for his lead roles in the film brighton beach memoirs and the tv series
gimme a break
and
the single guy
. he has dark hair and a prominent nose .
k . d . lang is a canadian singer . she had short dark hair and was openly gay at a time when there was a stronger social stigma about homosexuality .
during the early 1990s , cbs broadcast a series of late - night crime drama series ( including sweating bullets ) under the name crimetime after primetime .
actress vivian vance was best known for playing ethel mertz on i love lucy .
cornjob
was joel and the ' bots ' nickname for a character in gamera vs guiron .
battle of the network stars was a series of television specials from the 1970s and ' 80s that pitted tv stars from the three major networks against each other in a series of athletic competitions .
during the 1990s , a series of public - service announcements promoting the use of seat belts featured the comical misadventures of a pair of living crash - test dummies , and used the slogan
you could learn a lot from a dummy .
a quote from the annie hall , in which woody allen ' s character reacts with paranoia about perceived anti - semitism .
lyrics from
the trolly song
featured in the musical meet me in st louis , used here because the soundtrack is similar to the trolley theme from mr . rogers ' neighborhood .
reference to a series of zest soap commercials prominently featuring showerers and the slogan
you ' re not fully clean unless your zest - fully clean !
.
[ we see liz , an oddly mature woman , brushing her hair before bed . ]
[ in the mirror , we see college girl peg toss her books on her bed . ]
: don ' t be silly , peg ! you always talk as if your mother were an… ogre , or something .
: honestly , peg — i don ' t know how many times , ever since we were in high school together , i ' ve heard you go on the same way about some man or other .
: and , now stay tuned for the clarance thomas - anita hill hearing .
commercially released on dvd by rhino entertainment august 2006 as part of the mystery science theater 3000 collection , volume 10 , a 4 - dvd set with godzilla vs . megalon , swamp diamonds and the giant spider invasion . collection 10 was discontinued shortly after release , due to rumored rights issues with godzilla vs . megalon .
re - released on dvd in february , 2008 in the mystery science theater 3000 collection , volume 10 . 2 , which replaced godzilla vs . megalon with the giant gila monster .
this dvd features an outakes section , about 15 minutes taken from the poopie ! ii tape .
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said killer has also appropriated one of the club jackets from a local drag - racing gang , leading to the protagonist jimmy being framed for the murders at first . eventually , suspicion drifts to other members of the gang , until the real killer is found .
the movie is punctuated with a musical number in the middle named
yipe stripes .
: the few parents seen in the film are probably among the worst examples you could find . jimmy ' s father seems far more concerned with how jimmy ' s criminal record affects the
than how it would affect the boy ' s future ; meanwhile , betty ' s mom is overly excited to meet a police officer , and her dad is definitely the
hands - off
type .
dad : that ' s your job [ to protect the children ] , isn ' t it ? that ' s what you get paid for ! det . anderson : and what ' s your job as a parent ?
: the female protagonist ' s mother and mikey are some of the most notable examples of what happens when
community theater goes to the silver screen .
also , jimmy and mikey ' s angry dad , who manages to say
by jupiter
with a straight face .
dark reprise : the murderer ' s theme is a darker and edgier variation of
yipe stripes
.
: a cop tells a woman that her neighbor has been murdered . her
the fool : non - comedic example in mikey , though he was probably intended to be more a littlest autism patient .
: mikey , especially his
he didn ' t steal no bike either !
moment . he ' s not even the only one in the cast overdoing it .
ham - to - ham combat : he was only following the example of the gal who played betty , as she was the only one in this film who had any kind of previous acting experience .
betty ( as
yipe stripes
plays on a jukebox ) : gee , that ' s a nice song .
there are no therapists : that ' s okay , though , as apparently there ' s no such thing as grief or psychological trauma , either . tony ' s girlfriend is killed , and he just goes to school the next day no problem . betty is nearly murdered and her attacker is shot dead in front of her , but give her 24 hours and she ' ll be back at the malt shop shakin ' her groove thang to possibly the worst song ever recorded .
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episode 514 is one of my favorite mst3k episodes thanks to the presence of the wimpy , goofy , nerdy mikey . this presents most every second he was on camera during the movie , along with the ' bots turning mike nelson into mikey as well . not stealing bikes has never been more fun !
mst3k premium cuts : mike era . best of the theater ( part 1 ) .
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includes unlimited streaming via the free bandcamp app , plus high - quality download in mp3 , flac and more .
fastbacks , the mekons and dinosaur jr . , dropping out of the punk and indie rock scenes one show at a time since 2007 . current personnel : dylan lee ritchie and nathan grumdahl .
chaotic , glitched - out electronic music on the latest from porch sam , each song clattering and shrieking its way into existence .
on “obedient vibrations , ” spa moans creates a haunting , shadowy world with eerie synths and chilling , far - off vocals .
the majestic oakland goth / post - punk group gets ready to release its first lp .
the dunedin - by - way - of - oakland sound on this super cool post - punk release doesn’t skimp on hooks .
charlotte mermoud ' s sometimes wacky vocals blend with plenty of wiry bass and a slightly sinister punk vibe .
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visit our archives of the mst3k pages previously hosted by the sci - fi channel ' s scifi . com .
mike nelson , kevin murphy and bill corbett reflect on mst3k ' s final broadcast .
short : ( 1957 ) a college couple rushes into marriage , while another couple is taking their time . movie : ( 1964 ) in a west virginia town , a newly arrived family is at the center of a series of murders .
song : “i’m a janitor ; ” dr . f . cleans up after frank
i’ll admit that the host segments are a bit rough and inconsistent in regards to humor and they just plain fell flat during the beginning of mike’s tenure . personally , i was happy when they stopped the invention exchange because none of those clicked with mike’s time . however , i think you have to make allowances for this simply because , it is a learning process . none of the brains could or would know exactly how mike would fit in and these beginning episodes are just that , trying to find the rhythm and chemistry of mike with the other players on the show .
the writers , i’m sure , always wrote these host segments during the joel era for joel , utilizing his style , persona , delivery so that the scene and dialogue flowed naturally based on what made joel , joel . with mike , there’s no way they could know how mike would deliver this line or handle that segment . he was still finding his character , as were the writers . learning what his timing was , how he would address the situation created in the segment for the most comedic effect . until they found the best fit and personality of the character they couldn’t really write for him . it’s why i think the invention exchanges stayed for a time ; they wanted to see if mike could carry those segments .
you have to keep in mind , mike’s first episodes were a lot like mst’s first season , they were learning and adapting all in front of a national audience . i think we can agree that they did find mike’s niche and the segments got better and the show shined once again in all aspects . you have to give mike a pass , just like frank before him , and mary joe after him . season 2 was frank’s finding of his character . season 7 ended before the dynamic of mother and son could be fine tuned to fit the actors .
oh and i forgot to add , that i love host segment two simply because mike pulls off that attitude and approach and older person who tries to pretend that he understands kids by using their slang and simply coming off as fake and kind of lame . he nailed that perfect .
also , as a single parent of one i understand where dr . forrester is comng from with the frankenforcer . still my favorite invenrtion and my namesake . i finally got to know someone special - me ! nhhnnhnnnhnhnhhhhnnnn . love trace’s uncle albert inspired laugh .
in regards to mike’s whispered yelling . i always assumed that was a result of his chronic headaches . i can’t imagine someone who suffers the intense pain of those regularly is willing to go full voice yelling .
i don’t have legit proof ( my only copy is the official dvd ) , but i’m sure the deep 13 / non - spaghetti ball bumpers first showed up in the last episode , not this one . i mean think about it . it’s mike’s first episode . with a new opening theme and doorway sequence , you would assume they would have replaced all the gizmonic bumpers with deep 13 ones in brain , right ? so why aren’t they in the last episode ? well , did anyone ever notice that the earliest rhino dvds actually have less bumpers than the others ? meaning that those specific ones were all most likely cut from the official release ? surely there’s somebody who still has their old tapes ( when these episodes first aired ) who can confirm that brain has these bumpers ? makes me wish shout factory would put out more re - issues ( and more special editions like manos ) , they haven’t done any since this past march .
this episode’s great . nice short , mostly good movie with mikey being the highlight ( plus two gut busting moments at the very end ) . lovely song too . a real winner , five stars . season 5 has been on a roll since super dragon ( lost world and hercules were great too , swamp diamonds was average with a great short ) and there’s still plenty of great episodes to come . this is my personal favorite era of the show .
like many episodes , this one gets better with repeated viewings . somehow i’d forgotten about mike’s “the master wants you , but he can’t have you” callback , and burst out laughing while watching this tonight .
the invention exchange is one of the best ones , it’s just chaos . forrester getting increasingly aggravated with frank’s baby crying ( “i think someone needs a nap , permanently ! ” ) , crow and servo’s purposefully - annoying waiter baiter ( “excuse me , pardon me , if i could just… excuse me , pardon me , if i could just…” ) that plays over their chatter and mike scurrying around - classic .
though it should be noted that any conversations between mikey and another female character wouldn’t count , since mikey is still technically a male .
at least peg isn’t as anal as sue from are you ready for marriage .
i get that these sort of shorts are expected to have a goofus to illustrate how to do something wrong . but even so peg seems needlessly thick .
when i first saw this episode , i was genuinely unsure of mikey’s gender when he was introduced .
in the first segment , it’s amazing how many of those celebrity romances are no more : almost all of them . i guess that was the point , but i’m still impressed by their accuracy rate .
i would have been more impressed if they had a high accuracy rating for picking romances that would have lasted .
“the lovebirds have arrived . ” and they’re leaving their droppings all over the place .
meanwhile , back in the cold , bitter , loveless life of her parents .
“where were you , then ? ” i vas in austria during the rumble .
gary , i broke up with you while you were over there getting trashed .
some people might not realize that it was basically an offensive maneuver to let him slam me in the wall .
good episode . i’ve got to say though , as someone who’s quite susceptible to having songs stuck in my head for days , yipe stripes isn’t one of them . which is odd , since it’s the only song playing through the entire movie . or maybe the song is just so bad that i unconsciously push it out .
“in this episode they began using something different from the traditional five - second shot of the spinning spaghetti ball when they went to commercial . the bits show closeups of deep 13 . ”
these new bumpers actually debuted with the previous episode * . i’m not sure if most people realize this , but rhino always cut the non - spaghetti ball bumpers out of their vhs releases , which carried over to when those episodes were re - released on dvd ( up through volume 3 or so ) . shout ! has done a good job for the most part with re - releasing these shows and restoring these bumpers ( and other things ) . you can find the full version of ep . 513 ( and 512 ) together on the bonus disc included in the 25th anniversary set .
* and they’re with every episode to the end of season 6 , each unique to their respective show . for future reference to those of you who only own the rhino dvds , these episodes don’t got the bumpers either : 515 ( shout’s dvd is the same , unfortunately , but the version on the vimeo streaming site has them all intact ) , 517 , 518 ( this is getting re - released again in september ) , 606 , 607 , 609 , 619 , 622
this movie was largely made by , and featured , people who had never made a movie before and would never make a movie again . hence , no cast and crew roundup this week .
a fun episode that’s worth some revisits . come to think of it , i should probably rewatch this one soon .
i want to think that anyone who was still potentially on the fence about mike after the brain that wouldn’t die became more of a believer after this one . it doesn’t hurt that mikey is one of the most memorable characters featured in an msted movie . the episode in general was great , but the riffing caught on fire when mikey popped up .
i can see arguments both ways as to whether or not this film ( and its short ) should have been featured for the first mike experiment . on one hand , you have a film that’s not as oppressively grim as the brain that wouldn’t die . there was also the potential for humor with mike trying to leave the theater after the short , only to find that he had an entire film to sit through . on the other hand , there are some great things going on in the host segments , and you would have to lose them in order to establish the mike character and his bond with the ‘bots . i go back and forth on this .
seeing the mst3k scrapbook only makes me wish that i could have been at the conventio - con to hear what john humphries had to say for the celebrity guest panel .
eight years later , and i find that i like this episode more than ever . frank in the frankenforcer and dr . forrester going into rage mode cracks me up , as does tom’s hover skirt getting stuck and disrupting the bots’ turf war , and mike as mikey is priceless .
the movie is…not that bad . i mean , it’s awful , but it’s not all that bad . i like these little regional indie films , and the fact that they managed to produce something with a storyline plus a beginning , middle and end is impressive . i could probably watch this movie unriffed , if i had to . though i’d rather not .
one more thing . there’s a scene toward the end , with betty and the janitor at the locker . he asks her what she’s looking for , and she says , “i’m trying to find something . or not find it . or something . ” i always thought that her delivery was this close to being good – if only she’d taken some acting lessons !
the “it wasn’t me that was murdered” riff cracked me up , and that lady really reminded me of some of the actors i’ve worked with in community theater in the past . this entire movie reeks of community theater , and that made it all the more entertaining to watch . definitely one of my favorite of season 5 .
i really like the way the movie’s title comes up with the guitar playing . it’s pretty effective . just about the only effective thing in this movie , which is full of moments by turns perplexing and utterly charming .
good movie , but for me a great short . for the first one mike did , “is this love ? ” was a real winner . i had the shorts 3 vhs and in high school i was in a critical thinking class and at one point we were discussing ways teenagers were seen in the past versus today . well , i talked my teacher into letting me show the short to the class . after a hurried explanation of why there were three weird characters at the bottom of the screen , i just let the thing play and it went over very well . the “we have a winner ! ” riff got a particularly big laugh . i did cut it off right before m & tb started reeling off their own short titles , fearing that might be a bridge too far for the teacher .
afterward , the short actually led to a good discussion . so , mst3k educates the youth of america ! think about it won’t you , thank you .
as for the rest of the episode , there were no duds but the ‘mikey glasses’ skit i think was the first real gem from mike’s era . it’s one that just sticks in the mind , especially crow’s sniveling at the end . jimmeh ? jimmeh ? …
joel’s very ‘pc’ attitude was really kind of annoying . the ‘booing’ whenever a woman was hit was probably the most annoying .
exactly ! thank you , uranium – 235 . i am glad someone mentioned this . i love this show passionately–it is my favorite tv show all time–but the one negative for me is the pc stuff…in particular the ‘white male’ bashing ( so very tiresome ) …along with the above - mentioned item .
haydn 70 : exactly ! thank you , uranium – 235 . i am glad someone mentioned this . i love this show passionately–it is my favorite tv show all time–but the one negative for me is the pc stuff…in particular the ‘white male’ bashing ( so very tiresome ) …along with the above - mentioned item .
the big riff for me was , “i beat myself up ! ” love the short , but the way the original writers created the characters grates on me . i hate that the “lesson” is delivered by making one side saintly while the other is completely unreasonable and childish . “no ! i won’t wait a few weeks more and graduate with a degree and a free house from my parents ! i want to get married now ! and no , i won’t even let me folks meet my fiance before we elope ! ”
my favorite part of this episode is when the mother of the heroine is talking on the phone and the poodle in her arms appears as if he’s looking down towards crow , and crow growls at him .
tom : maybe this is the start of the counter culture . ( tom usually gets the worst / best puns . ) mike : now is this a teenager who strangles or a person who strangles teenagers ? crow : it wasn’t me who was murdered , was it ?
i like this episode a lot . mike is starts to get into the flow of things , and the movie wasn’t half - bad either , it had a coherent plot , and while the acting was not very good , these were small town people not professional actors . still , it lends itself great for riffing and i am glad that john humphries ( mikey ) was a good sport and showed up at the first convestio - con . i agree with sampo about yipes stripes , i have had that song in my head since i watched it on the 28th of june , it’s not a half - bad song either , nonsensical yes , but no worse than professionally produced bubblegum music . fave riffs : “now we’re stuck in lake forest ! ” mike “i live the other way , but all right . ” servo “oh . don’t invoke jupiter . ” mike “go on . git ! ” crow


volver ( [ bolˈβer ] , meaning " to go back " ) is a 2006 spanish drama film written and directed by pedro almodóvar .

headed by actress penélope cruz , the film features an ensemble cast also starring carmen maura , lola dueñas , blanca portillo , yohana cobo , and chus lampreave .

revolving around an eccentric family of women from a wind-swept region south of madrid , cruz plays raimunda , a working-class woman forced to go to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter paula .

to top off the family crisis , her mother irene comes back from the dead to tie up loose ends .

the plot originates in almodóvar 's earlier film the flower of my secret ( 1995 ) , where it features as a novel which is rejected for publication but is stolen to form the screenplay of a film named the freezer .

drawing inspiration from the italian neorealism of the late 1940s to early 1950s and the work of pioneering directors such as federico fellini , luchino visconti , and pier paolo pasolini , volver addresses themes like sexual abuse , loneliness and death , mixing the genres of farce , tragedy , melodrama , and magic realism .

set in the la mancha region , almodovar 's place of birth , the filmmaker cited his upbringing as a major influence on many aspects of the plot and the characters .

volver was one of the films competing for the palme d'or at the 2006 cannes film festival .

it eventually won two awards : best actress ( shared by the six main actresses ) and best screenplay .

the film 's premiere was held on march 10 , 2006 , in puertollano , spain , where the filming had taken place .

penélope cruz was nominated for the 2006 academy award for best actress , making her the first spanish woman ever to be nominated in that category .

volver

y me muero , por volver . ' y volver volver , volver a tus brazos otra vez llegare hasta donde estes yo se perder , yo se perder , quiero volver , volver volver . '
nos dejamos hace tiempo , pero me llego el momento de perder tu tenias mucha razon , le hago caso al corazon y me muero por volver . ' y volver volver , volver a tus brazos otra vez llegare hasta donde estes yo se perder , yo se perder , quiero volver , volver volver .
volver offers private and semi - private dining spaces with bar volver - inspired menus . start planning your event today .
if you want to answer the questions ,
who starred in the movie volver ?
and
what is the full cast list of volver ?
then this page has got you covered .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing volver near you .
this cast list of who was in volver includes both lead and minor roles . ( 12 items )
buena velada con chan marshall en la trastienda . que ganas de volver a los conciertos ! ! # catpower
spanish director pedro almodovar ' s film volver has received six nominations for this year ' s european film awards .
volver ; spain directed by pedro almodovar produced by el deseo d . a . , s . l . u .
volver cast list , listed alphabetically with photos when available . this list of volver actors includes any volver actresses and all other actors from the film . you can view additional information about each volver actor on this list , such as when and where they were born . to find out more about a particular actor or actress , click on their name and you ' ll be taken to page with even more details about their acting career . the cast members of volver have been in many other movies , so use this list as a starting point to find actors or actresses that you may not be familiar with .
este amor apasionado , anda todo alborotado por volver . voy camino a la locura y aunque todo me tortura se querer .
“volver” is rated r ( under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian ) . it has violence , obscenity and sexual references .
gracias # selenecantumakeup búsquenla en # fb # casting # llamado esperando volver a la tv . # patrocinadoroficial # mty aw ! urltoken
almodóvar , pedro . “confession , ” volver press notes ( sony pictures classics , 2006 ) . urltoken accessed january 21 , 2013 .
tobin , yann . “volver - les femmes de la mancha . ” positif - revue mensuelle de cinéma ( may 2006 ) : 15 - 16 .
@ arymichee on twitter :
gracias # selenecantumakeup búsquenla en # fb # casting # llamado esperando volver a la tv . # patrocinadoroficial # mty aw ! urltoken
the nominations for volver and the lives of others will also put them in strong contention to be named in the foreign language category for next year ' s oscars .
even if volver sounds too high - concept for you , know that almodóvar is smart enough not to rest on laughs alone , extending his premise to dark , though occasionally tidy psychological territory .
“volver” tells the story of raimunda , played by cruz , a young and hard - working wife of an unemployed husband whose roving eye falls upon her teenage daughter , and of raimunda’s revenge .
the first spanish actress to receive a star on the hollywood walk of fame , cruz has starred in films like vanilla sky , captain corelli’s mandolin , vicky cristina barcelona , volver and nine – all of which have opened to incredible audience and critical reception . she has won an oscar for her performance in vicky cristina barcelona and has received oscar and golden globe nominations for her performances in volver and nine .
they could not be more different ,
said cruz , who earned her first oscar nomination for
volver
and also worked with almodovar in
all about my mother
and
live flesh .
madrid ( reuters ) - the tragicomic tale of a mother’s survival , “volver” swept to a triumphant victory at spain’s top film awards early on monday , grabbing best movie , director and best actress for oscar hope penelope cruz .
the village houses the supernatural . madrid represents the natural world . death in the village involves ghosts and volver —return . death in the city is more prosaic , a frozen food locker rather than a tombstone that must be tended .
cannes , france — expect more male characters from pedro almodovar , whose credits include such female - centered films as
all about my mother ,
volver
and
women on the verge of a nervous breakdown .
spanish director pedro almodóvar is known for making colourful , complicated , funny films which often deal with family trauma and tragic histories . with volver , he drew influence and inspiration from the grit of italian neorealism ( a clip from luchino visconti’s 1951 film bellissima appears at one point ) as well as his upbringing in la mancha . penélope cruz’s outstanding performance earned her a best actress nomination . and in typically , lovingly convoluted almodóvar fashion , volver’s plot has its origins in his 1995 film , the flower of my secret , in which the lead character is a romance novel writer who throws out a new , darker novel she is working on only to have its plot – volver ’s plot – stolen and used as screenplay for a film called the freezer .
volver received a rapturous reception when it played the cannes film festival in 2006 . at the festival the film almodóvar won the best screenplay prize while the entire female ensemble won the best actress prize . in the fall of that year , the new york film festival showcased the film as part of a pedro almodóvar retrospective . thanks to her wonderful work in the film , penélope cruz received her first oscar nomination in the best actress category . volver went on to garner several critical accolades and was a massive worldwide success .
the movie , set in spain’s barren la mancha region , won five prizes at the goya awards ceremony in madrid , beating off “pan’s labyrinth , ” which was last week chosen ahead of “volver” as a nominee for best foreign language film at next month’s oscars .
actress penelope cruz smiles upon receiving a
goya
award for director pedro almodovar during the spanish film academy
goya
awards ceremony in madrid january 28 , 2007 . almodovar won the best director award for his movie
volver
. reuters / andrea comas
to the accompaniment of a live orchestra , the evening includes pieces by great choreographers from m ichel fokine to russell maliphant . ivan putrov dances the role made famous by nijinsky in le spectre de la rose and daniel proietto performs the exquisite afterlight , a piece inspired by nijinsky . royal ballet principal , edward watson reprises the comic but ultimately poignant volver , volver which sees him move from matinee idol to spiderman . matthew ball , rising star of the royal ballet , makes his london coliseum debut and the legendary irek mukhamedov makes a welcome return to the stage in a new work created for him by arthur pita .
boston society of film critics awards 2008 - bsfc award - best supporting actress for vicky cristina barcelona ( 2008 ) cannes film festival 2006 - best actress for volver ( 2006 ) shared with carmen maura , lola dueñas , blanca portillo , yohana cobo , chus lampreave , to the female ensemble cast . cinema writers circle awards , spain 2007 - cec award - best actress ( mejor actriz ) for volver ( 2006 ) david di donatello awards 2004 - david - best actress ( migliore attrice protagonista ) for non ti muovere ( 2004 ) empire awards , uk 2007 - empire award - best actress for volver ( 2006 european film awards 2006 - european film award - best actress for volver ( 2006 ) 2004 - audience award - best actress for non ti muovere ( 2004 ) fotogramas de plata 2007 - fotogramas de plata - best movie actress ( mejor actriz de cine ) for volver ( 2006 ) 1999 - fotogramas de plata - best movie actress ( mejor actriz de cine ) for niña de tus ojos , la ( 1998 ) goya awards 2007 - goya - best lead actress ( mejor actriz principal ) for volver ( 2006 ) 1999 - goya - best lead actress ( mejor actriz principal ) for niña de tus ojos , la ( 1998 ) hollywood film festival 2006 - hollywood film award - actress of the year imagen foundation awards 2003 - creative achievement award los angeles film critics association awards 2008 - lafca award - best supporting actress for vicky cristina barcelona ( 2008 ) also for elegy ( 2008 ) . national board of review , usa 2008 - nbr award - best supporting actress for vicky cristina barcelona ( 2008 ) new york film critics circle awards 2008 - nyfcc award - best supporting actress for vicky cristina barcelona ( 2008 ) ondas awards 1993 - film award - best acting ( mejor interpretación ) tied with javier bardem peñíscola comedy film festival 1995 - best actress for todo es mentira ( 1994 ) premios ace 2007 - premio ace - cinema - best actress for volver ( 2006 ) southeastern film critics association awards 2008 - sefca award - best supporting actress for vicky cristina barcelona ( 2008 ) spanish actors union 2007 - award of the spanish actors union - film lead performance , female ( protagonista cine - categoría femenina ) for volver ( 2006 ) 1999 - award of the spanish actors union - film lead performance ( protagonista cine ) for niña de tus ojos , la ( 1998 ) 1993 - award of the spanish actors union - film : supporting performance ( secundario cine ) for belle epoque ( 1992 )
no other director has as much swoon factor as pedro almodóvar : the texture of his movie - making is quite unique . volver could have gone on for another hour or two : there seemed so much more to say . what a triumph for this great european director who just seems to get better and better .
volver marked the first time i was not only wowed by a cruz performance but frankly , even the least bit impressed by one . by the mid - 2000s , i ' d merely been acquainted with her turns in garbage like captain corelli ' s mandolin , gothika and vanilla sky , so i had to question why this seemingly skill - free actress was landing these high - profile roles in the first place . then , i saw volver , followed by elegy , and then i caught up on all about my mother too . and i finally got it . if only cruz could work on all of pedro almodovar ' s pictures !
spanish director pedro almodovar is becoming one of the darlings of art house cinema . after winning an academy award for his screenplay for talk to her , he followed up that effort with the acclaimed film bad education . now , he ' ll continue to have a presence in north america as sony pictures classics will release his movie volver .
volver means to come back , and pedro almodovar ' s love letter to resilient women who transcend secrets , lies and bitter disappointment through ferocious love for their families is a series of variations on a theme of returning : revisiting your roots , mending relationships , reconsidering the past and even coming back from the dead . sultry , outspoken raimunda . . . read more
ith its overwhelming richness , its colour and warmth , pedro almodóvar ' s new movie is set to capture your heart . volver seemed guilelessly wonderful when i first saw it earlier this year in cannes . now it looks even better . the picture ' s ingenuities and contrivances just seem to float out of the screen , like psychedelic moodshapes . i found myself floating right along with them .
what is most unexpected about
volver
is that it ' s not really about murder or the afterlife , but simply incorporates those awkward developments into the problems of daily living . his characters approach their dilemmas not with metaphysics but with common sense . a dead woman turns up as a ghost and is immediately absorbed into her family ' s ongoing problems : so what took her so long ?
almodóvar deserves his reputation as a woman’s director . “ volver is as manless a movie as i have seen , ” wrote reviewer anthony lane . two of the men who have speaking roles disappear . one is murdered , the other goes away . two other men appear even more briefly . one makes googly eyes at raimunda , but nothing comes of that . the other raimunda simply shuts out .
acclaimed on its presentation at the 2006 cannes film festival , volver reunited director pedro almodovar with two of his leading ladies of years gone by - penelope cruz and carmen maura . reviews suggest the film is a typical effort from the acclaimed spaniard : a high - strung female - centred melodrama with extroverted colour palette , earthy humour , black comedy , some unusual genre crossover ( here a ghost story ) , and a fair bit of self conscious camp . despite exuding a far warmer and cuddlier air than the director \ ' s divisive bad education , and securing strong box office results for a foreign language film , volver \ ' s showing at the recent oscars was lean indeed . penelope cruz represented the film alone for best actress , almodovar not even securing a best foreign language film nomination .
the action in “volver” moves back and forth between a workaday neighborhood in madrid and a windswept village in the spanish countryside . really , though , the movie takes place in a familiar , enchanted land — almodóvaria , you might call it , or maybe pedrostan— where every room and street corner is saturated with bright color and vivid feeling and where discordant notes of violence , jealousy and fear ultimately resolve in the deeper harmonies of art .
the nominees for the european film awards were announced at the seville film festival today , with pedro almodovar ‘s “ volver ” from spain and florian henckel von donnersmarck ‘s “ the lives of others ” from germany dominating the nominations . each received six nods , including a nomination for best european film of the year . ken loach ‘s “ the wind that shakes the barley , ” a co - production of multiple countries , received five nominations . selected in the race for best european film were neil jordan’s “breakfast on pluto , ” jasmila zbanic’s “grbavica , ” von donnersmarck’s “the lives of others , ” michael winterbottom and mat whitecross’s “the road to guantanamo , ” “volver , ” and “the wind that shakes the barley . ” 1 , 700 efa members will vote to select the winners of the annual prizes , to be presented on december 2nd in warsaw , poland .
for almodovar , too ,
volver
is like a homecoming . whenever we are most at ease , we fall most easily and gracefully into our native idioms . certainly as a young gay man in franco ' s spain , he didn ' t feel at home , but he felt displaced in a familiar way , and now he feels nostalgia for the women who accepted him as easily as if , well , he had been a ghost .
i only wish i could discuss this score less as an album , and more as a film score , for i find - as is often the case with this genre of music - that iglesias \ ' s scores inspire me more after i know how the dramatic demands of the film have influenced the musical choices . having said that , volver works remarkably well as an independent listening experience , and offers fans of film music with a taste for eclectic classical chamber music much to enjoy . for these , and for fans of elegant drama scoring in general , alberto iglesias \ ' s volver is a must . one of the best film music albums of 2006 . and hopefully there \ ' s much to look forward to in 2007 from this composer - including savage grace , caotica ana ( julio medem \ ' s new film ) , her majestic minor , and a non - film music album .
was it hard to play a such a borderline character ? as a matter of fact , it was very complicated . in the beginning , i thought she was a very neutral character , but as i had already played women on the verge of a nervous breakdown with pedro , i could give more depth to this character and create a wonderful mother . the rehearsal period was fundamental to enhancing this idyll between director and actress , which we already knew was strong , and which became even stronger after volver . actually , there was one thing that really made me nervous . i have been to many festivals , international premieres and press conferences in my life . however , i have never been as nervous as during the world premiere of volver in pedro ' s hometown , puertollano , in la mancha . it was such a big thrill . la mancha was there to support pedro , it was an amazing display of tenderness .
“volver , ” full of surprises and reversals , unfolds with breathtaking ease and self - confidence . it is in some ways a smaller , simpler film than either “talk to her” or “bad education , ” choosing to tell its story without flashbacks or intricate parallel plots , but it is no less the work of a master . and it’s a testament to the filmmaker’s generosity of spirit that he effectively hands the movie over to its ensemble of lively and resourceful actresses , and in particular to its star , penélope cruz .
to relate the details of the narrative — death , cancer , betrayal , parental abandonment , more death — would create an impression of dreariness and woe . but nothing could be further from the spirit of “volver , ” which is buoyant without being flip , and consoling without ever becoming maudlin . mr . almodóvar acknowledges misfortune — and takes it seriously — from a perspective that is essentially comic . very few filmmakers have managed to smile so convincingly in the face of misery and fatality : jean renoir and billy wilder come immediately to mind , and mr . almodóvar , if he is not yet their equal , surely belongs in their company . “volver” is often dazzling in its artifice — josé luis alcaine’s ripe cinematography , alberto iglesias’s suave , heart - tugging score — but it is never false . it draws you in , invites you to linger and makes you eager to return . it offers something better than realism . the real world , after all , is where we all have to live ; for some of us , though , mr . almodóvar’s world is home .
pedro almodóvar gets back in touch with his feminine side in volver , the spanish helmer ' s most femme fable since 1999 ' s all about my mother . one of that film ' s stars , penélope cruz , here takes centre stage as a domestic drudge caught up in family strife - including the return of her supposedly dead mother ( almodóvar veteran carmen maura ) . despite dwelling on death , there ' s plenty of life in this mix of tears and laughter , although the style ' s subdued compared with the writer / director ' s earlier melodramas .
volver
is spanish for
to return ,
i am informed . the film reminds me of fellini ' s
amarcord ,
also a fanciful revisit to childhood which translates as
i remember .
what the directors are doing , i think , is paying tribute to the women who raised them - - their conversations , conspiracies , ambitions , compromises and feeling for romance . ( what fellini does more closely resembles revenge . ) these characters seem to get along so easily that even the introduction of a
dead
character can be taken in stride .
raimunda lives in madrid with her daughter paula and her husband paco , who is always drunk . her sister , sole , is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women . the two sisters lost their parents in a fire in la mancha , their birth village , years ago . their aunt , paula , still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister irene , mother of the two sisters , as if she were still alive . when the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns ( volver ) in a twist of mystery and suspense .
is the film going to compete in cannes ? going to cannes doesn ' t depend on me . or it does , but only partially . i was asked to send the film , which i did , and afterwards i asked the girls if they would fancy walking around the croisette , showing off their outfits and it seems that they would . as bad education was the opening film in cannes , maybe this time volver could be the closing film , although that isn’t very interesting . i would like the film to be shown in competition , but i haven’t received an answer so far .
their visiting and loud air - kissing take place in the region of la mancha in “the village . ” ( it is fictitious alcanfor de las infantas , camphor of the princesses—and smell plays a jokey part in this film . ) this is “black spain , ” rural , conservative , backward , superstitious , and church - ridden . but almodóvar has said , “ volver destroys all the clichés about black spain and offers a spain that is as real as it is the opposite . a spain that is white , spontaneous , funny , intrepid , supportive and fair . ” well , sort of .
from two - time academy award ( r ) - winner pedro almodóvar ( 2003 , best original screenplay , talk to her ; 2000 , best foreign language film , all about my mother ) comes volver , a comedic and compassionate tribute to women and their resilience in the face of life ' s most outrageous tribulations . a luminous penélope cruz leads an ensemble of gifted actresses , including carmen maura ( women on the verge of a nervous breakdown ) . raimunda ( cruz ) and her sister sole lost their parents in a tragic fire years ago . . . or did they ? superstitious villagers claim that the girls ' departed mother , irene ( maura ) , has been seen wandering around their aunt paula ' s home . when irene appears to sole , she explains that she has returned to set right her daughters ' troubled lives and reveal shocking secrets that will impact everyone ! raimunda has
female troubles
of her own , least of which is a corpse in the freezer ! winner of numerous film festival and critics ' awards , volver is a hilarious tale of love , loss and forgiveness . © 2006 el deseo d . a . , s . l . u . all rights reserved .
meanwhile , irene turns up at sole ' s apartment , starts helping her with her hair clients , and get to know her granddaughter paula , but dares not reveal herself to raimunda , from whom she has been estranged for years . before all the women can reconcile , some secrets about the night of the fire , and even further back , will have to be revealed . this 2006 pedro almodovar film features his usual wonderful mix of absurdity , rich emotions , strong women , terrific laughs , and wonderful acting .
volver ,
by the way , is spanish for
to return .
such troubles ! the blood belongs to her husband , paco ( antonio de la torre ) , who has recently expired in a bright crimson pool on the kitchen floor after taking a carving knife to the belly . his killing is not exactly to be shrugged off — and he does eventually receive a proper burial of sorts — but he is not exactly mourned either . men , for raimunda and her circle , tend to be malevolent , irrelevant or simply absent : straying husbands , predators , dead bodies . they cause a fair amount of trouble , but the point of “volver” is that it’s not about them .
volver is a meeting of
mildred pierce
and
arsenic and old lace
, combined with the surrealistic naturalism of my fourth film ,
¿qué he hecho yo para merecer esto ! !
(
what have i done to deserve this ?
) , that is , madrid and its lively working - class neighbourhoods , where the immigrants from the various spanish provinces share dreams , lives and fortune with a multitude of ethnic groups and other races . at the heart of this social framework , three generations of women survive wind , fire and even death , thanks to goodness , audacity and a limitless vitality . they are raimunda ( pénelope cruz ) , who is married to an unemployed labourer and has a teenage daughter ( yohana cobo ) ; sole ( lola dueñas ) , her sister , who makes a living as a hairdresser ; and the mother of both ( carmen maura ) , who died in a fire along with her husband . this character appears first to her sister ( chus lampreave ) and then to sole , although the people with whom she has some unresolved matters are raimunda and her neighbour in the village , agustina ( blanca portillo ) . volver is not a surrealistic comedy although it may seem so at times . the living and the dead coexist without any discord , causing situations that are either hilarious or filled with a deep , genuine emotion . it ' s a film about the culture of death in my native la mancha . the people there practice it with an admirable naturalness . the way in which the dead continue to be present in their lives , the richness and humanity of their rites mean that the dead never die . volver destroys all the clichés about
black
spain and offers a spain that is as real as it is the opposite . a spain that is white , spontaneous , funny , intrepid , supportive and fair .
attempting to fuse the classic noir of mildred pierce with the kitchen - sink whimsy of the director ' s own what have i done to deserve this ? , volver ( which means ' to come back ' ) suffers from plot implausibilities and uneven characterisation ( paula ends up a sidelined cipher ) . but the humour and the heartstring - pulling hit the mark , as do most of the cast , not least cruz . sporting a prosthetic posterior , she ' s one hot mama . but never mind the buttocks : it ' s the pitch - perfect blend of pride and vulnerability , spirit and sadness that really makes her performance stand out .
and they say that actresses disappear after 40 ! mirren ' s two globe wins put her in the front row - - oscar could very well go for a king and queen this year - - though meryl streep ( who also a globe winner , in the musical or comedy division ) also gives a formidable performance . ( admittedly , it ' s a supporting performance , but as with
the last king of scotland ,
the academy will certainly overlook the picture ' s ostensible lead , anne hathaway . ) kate winslet could make it three british contenders here , and i ' m hoping penelope cruz nabs the fifth spot for
volver .
penélope cruz and lola dueñas play raimunda and soledad , two sisters living in madrid whose parents were killed three years earlier in a fire . when soledad returns for a visit to the village where they grew up , she learns that her mother irene has returned as a ghost ; then , when soledad returns to madrid , turns out irene has stowed away and returned with her ( ‘volver’ means ‘to return ) . meanwhile , raimunda is dealing with dramas of her own , involving her daughter , an attempted rape , a murder , and a dead body hidden in a freezer . things get more complicated after that , comprende ? si , es una película de almodóvar .
first off , cruz has never , ever looked more more radiant than she does in volver . the camera is madly in love with her and even though the entire picture has a sumptuous , colorful , painting - like look , cruz brightens up every single moment she ' s on the screen , like a ray of sunshine . it ' s a remarkable turn , though carmen maura , yohana cobo and lola duenas are just as terrific - it ' s unfair , i think , to single out just one performance , even if cruz ' s screen presence is the most enchanting . this is one of almodovar ' s very best films and i could see giving cruz the win in a weaker year .
first thought a ghost , irene returns in the flesh . mother and daughter are finally reunited tearily in the house of the dying agustina . death again . but the last line of the film is , “ghosts don’t cry . ” in the dvd commentary , almodóvar says . “actually the ghost cries , which means she isn’t a ghost but has condemned herself to live like one . she makes up for what she has done , and that’s very important , ” that balancing of the books to achieve a rough justice . irene will mother agustina , atoning . the last shot has red - skirted irene disappearing into agustina’s house . there is a death in the house but also a rebirth , a return , volver .
volver is the portrait of a dark , bleak spain , which contrasts your colourful and passionate style . did you want to use franco’s
dark
spain to then expose the passion of its people , despite the dictatorship ? i wanted revenge , the kind of revenge that sometimes may take centuries to carry out and that a grandchild , or the nephews of nephews , might still carry on their shoulders . i think this happens everywhere in spain , not only in la mancha . it was important for me to show another , totally different spain , where life goes on , despite the cruel acts that have taken place in the so - called darker spain . la mancha is a region with a great tradition of tragedies .
in pedro almodovar ' s enchanting , gentle , transgressive
volver ,
a deceased matriarch named irene ( carmen maura ) has moved in with her sister paula ( chus lampleave ) , who is growing senile and appreciates some help around the house , especially with the baking . they live , or whatever you ' d call it , in a spanish town where the men die young , and the women spend weekends cheerfully polishing and tending their graves , just as if they were keeping house for them . in exemplary classic style , almodovar uses a right - to - left tracking shot to show this housekeeping carrying us back into the past , and then a subtle , centered zoom to establish the past as part of the present .
volver . coming back from buenos aires and do the opposite trip to europe . bonds are tied from now on and for a long time to come . yes , this album is a sequel , the second chapter of a diptych initiated with “palermo hollywood” a year ago by benjamin biolay , written and composed across two times , as an intense , sentimental and geographical musical chassé - croisé . along with the neo - cumbia and urban beats comes local rock music , without forgetting the elegance of a high - end french author . 16 tracks incl . 2 exclusive tracks : villa crespo and san mascolo including collaborations with illya kuryaki and the valderramas , mala rodriguez , miss bolivia , borges , sofia wilhemi , ambrosia parsley , dionys mascolo…
recording and mixing of the album ( by jose luis crespo and red led ) is superb - communicating each voice in the ensemble . performers - including a few regulars from previous iglesias recordings - acquit themselves finely . the three songs on the album all appear in the film - as is common in almodovar films . ( penelope cruz \ ' s character apparently sings
volver
, though on album it is performed by estrella morenta ) . none of the songs overly intrude for the listener trying to focus on iglesias \ ' s score , though the final track
a good thing
( performed by saint etienne ) belies its name . after such atmospheric scoring , this girl power ballad can \ ' t help but feel extremely slight .
volver , ( in english , coming home or coming back ) , is a gripping melodrama inspired by the trash tv that is a soundtrack to its characters ' lives . penélope cruz is raimunda , a hard - working woman with a teenage daughter , paula ( yohana cobo ) , and a feckless , layabout husband . with her sister sole ( lola dueñas ) she tends to the graves of her parents , and visits her ailing aunt paula ( chus lampreave ) , who is heartrendingly in the final stages of dementia . raimunda ' s family life shatters with one terrible act of violence , and there is a secret about her late mother irene ( carmen maura ) that surfaces when irene returns from beyond the grave to make contact with her astonished daughters .
“this is a movie about mothers , ” almodóvar says in his commentary . mother - love is almodóvar’s constant theme , not just in this movie . but , as the psychoanalysts tell us , babies not only love mother because she feeds them , but babies also hate her when she doesn’t . ( those furious screams of frustration . ) we as adults , all of us , are ambivalent toward mothers , and mothers are toward us . volver nicely captures that psychological truth in its double - barreled portrayal of mothers ( and daughters ) as both giving life and taking life . and it is so artfully done we scarcely notice that , underneath the satisfying mystery movie , lies a disturbing truth . almodóvar shows once again how subtle and powerful an artist he is .
pedro almodóvar , the benevolent deity of this world , has revealed it — or , rather , created it — piece by piece from one film to the next . his two previous movies , “talk to her” ( 2002 ) and “bad education” ( 2004 ) , explored previously uncharted regions of masculine melodrama , while “volver , ” whose title can be translated as “to return , ” revisits the woman - centered territory of “all about my mother” ( 1999 ) and “women on the verge of a nervous breakdown” ( 1988 ) . drawing on influences ranging from latin american telenovelas to classic hollywood weepies and on an iconography of female endurance that includes anna magnani and joan crawford , mr . almodóvar has made yet another picture that moves beyond camp into a realm of wise , luxuriant humanism .
so volver is a ghost story . or is it ? as the movie drifts along the periphery of the supernatural , i went into a trance , which almodóvar induces with a master ' s confidence . all the movie ' s secrets are rolled out in a narrative design that is exuberant and elegant . its cinematography and art direction , by josé luis alcaine and salvador parra , give everything an intensity that , like previous almodóvar films , has the feel of a douglas sirk film . almodóvar has something of sirk ' s passionate empathy with women , mixed with a gay sensibility - though the film is unlike sirk ' s in that men are entirely marginal . in its vividness and intense , almost neurotic sensitivity to colour , particularly the colour red , it also looks like a hitchcock thriller .
the surprise appearance of carmen maura at the bad education screening during the 2004 cannes film festival led to rumours about a possible reunion between her and almodóvar . fans were delighted to discover the rumours were indeed true . set in pedro almodóvar’s childhood home town of la mancha , volver focuses on two sisters , raimunda ( penélope cruz ) and sole ( lola dueñas ) , attempting to deal with the family secrets surrounding the death of their parents three years earlier . things get complicated for each sister when sole discovers that the ghost of her mother irene ( maura ) has stowed away in the trunk of her car . meanwhile , raimunda and her daughter paula ( yohana cobo ) struggle to cover up the death of paula’s father paco ( antonio de la torre ) , who attempted to molest her .
the opening dialogue tells us that women here—in this village—live longer than men . women are strong and noble , while husbands are sexually insatiable lechers who molest their own daughters . there are two of them , hence a pattern of “ volver —return . ” the women dominate . they don’t need men , who are , with the exception of the filmmaker , the artist , worthless . but women can be artists , too . at the center of this film , as in other almodóvar films , there is a work of art : raimunda sings the title song . ( actually , she lip - syncs to the beautiful singing of flamenco star , estrella morente . ) the song tells of someone returning to a first love after a long time , just what this film is about : first love is mother love .
alternatively , women can be not sexy but drab and gray and manless like agustina . either way , again and again in this film women provide food and caring . and in the final scene , we see irene nursing and nurturing the dying agustina . women mother , but they also live in the presence of death , as in the opening scene . women give life—young paula—but they also destroy life . they murder—twice in this film . young paula , her mother , and her grandmother all participate in murder . and the deaths strengthen the bonds between the women who , after the men are gone and the secrets revealed , are now densely related as mother , daughter , sister , niece . this double value forms the core of volver as in almodóvar’s splashes of red , sometimes blood , sometimes just a lively color .
pedro almodovar ‘s “ volver ” maintained a healthy percentage of its box office in its second weekend , according to a sony pictures classics estimate . the film made an estimated 172 , 340 on 5 screens , for a per screen average of 34 , 468 and an estimated total of 466 , 204 so far . ( last weekend , the film made $ 197 , 703 on 5 screens for $ 39 , 541 per screen . ) paramount vantage expanded “babel” to 1 , 251 screens this weekend , earning an estimated 5 , 650 , 631 , for an average of 4 , 517 and an estimated total of 7 , 487 , 893 so far . “ fur : an imaginary portrait of diane arbus , ” from picturehouse , earned an estimated $ 30 , 000 on 4 screens , according to box office mojo , for an estimated $ 7 , 500 per screen average . [ eugene hernandez ]
volver marks the sixth collaboration between iglesias and almodovar , and the more melodramatic air of almodovar \ ' s new film seems to have given the composer room for a lighter touch than their last few efforts . it \ ' s probably closer in sound to la flor de mi secreto - their first collaboration - more than any of the others .
las vecinas
jumps to life with jaunty string rhythms , pizzicati , and a revolving door of elegant solo instrumentation - including guitar , piano and violin . the vibrant
titulos
adds to this engaging blend of voices brass , percussion and string support - the energetic orchestrations giving way to the composer \ ' s elegant writing for clarinet , and a morose passage for a larger group of strings . there \ ' s a theme presented here that recurs throughout the score , and sounds a little like gabriel yared \ ' s unused
paris and helen
love theme from troy , though i say that for sake of comparing it with something rather than suggesting an influence .
a high rating mostly for the way in which this plot manages to turn and return so seamlessly , covering all kinds of ground : abuse , poverty , murder , cancer , familial bonds , lies , secrets , love and more . as always , almodovar ' s characters are very rigid people , set in their ways and keeping their walls up , focused on one thing , and in volver , penelope cruz plays one of the most impenetrable characters i ' ve ever seen on film . she ' s so beautiful and she ' s struggling , so everyone would want to help her , but - without giving away too much of the plot ! - she has a secret that she must do everything to keep . a bit slow in the early going , but the intensity continues to rise until the film ' s conclusion , which if you ' re not careful , will make your head spin . for me it all started to sink in as the credits rolled , and i found myself nodding , slowly coming around , saying
yes , that was a good ending
each time i followed another thread to its end . a director whose work i will soon delve into deeply , no question . a very good film .
alberto iglesias \ ' s score should also be counted among those unluckily passed over by the arbiters of cinematic taste in los angeles . with a recent induction into the music branch following on the heels of his nomination for his score to the constant gardener , the spanish composer \ ' s work appears to be highly esteemed by both critics and peers . indeed , volver was cited by hans zimmer , gabriel yared , howard shore and recent oscar winner gustavo santaolalla as a personal favourite among the scores of this year in a recent hollywood reporter
film and tv music
issue . and rightly so - for over the years iglesias has perfected an approach to scoring based on ( for the most part ) chamber ensembles specific to the ideas of each film . in both concept and composition , he has offered compelling solutions to the musical demands of films by carlos saura ( dispara ) , john malkovitch ( the dancer upstairs - one of the most underrated scores ever ) , and of course the films of his ongoing collaborators julio medem ( la ardilla roja - one of stanley kubrick \ ' s favourite modern films ; lovers of the arctic circle and sex and lucia ) and almodovar , all of whose films since la flor de mi secreto have been scored by iglesias .
to what extent is volver a portrait of pedro almodóvar ? i became very fragile when i started doing the film , but it was not the type of fragility that makes you more vulnerable . let ' s say i became softer . there was a more rigid part of my life that , after this film , became a little more relaxed . it was a healthy process , although i don ' t do films to solve my problems . it ' s almost the opposite : i do films so that they can become something revulsive in my life . however , when i started shooting , i never imagined that those characters i knew from when i was a boy would actually appear to me when going back to the places of my childhood . i hardly ever go back to la mancha , but when i do , i feel like a little boy . there , i am not an internationally acclaimed director but the eight or ten year - old kid i was when i left the place , a kid who was very much disturbed by all the chaos there . when i wrote the script , i knew we would shoot in some places from my childhood , but i was hardly imagined that it would become such an emotional journey . this film brings back memories of my mother and father and exposes a fragility that i thought i had overcome . i am grateful for that .
pedro almodóvar these days , spanish helmer pedro almodóvar is one of the most respected filmmakers in the world , an oscar winner whose films have become cannes mainstays and who’s capable of attracting almost any talent that he’d like , despite having never made a film in the english language . but his global reputation is all the more remarkable considering just how challenging his fare can be . his violent , sexual taboo - pushing early work is the most obvious example , but throughout his career his interest in gay issues , sirk - ian melodrama , explicit sex and obsessive behavior has hardly been the kind of thing that usually makes the chattering classes line up around the block . but it’s the quality of his work , the way that his films are weirder , sexier , wittier , more puzzling , more moving and richer than 95 % of the stuff that sees the inside of theaters , that’s made him one of the most beloved filmmakers working . and there’s barely a bad film in his canon , particularly in the extraordinary run of films since 1997’s “ live flesh . ” and yet none have cracked sight & sound’s list . while our own favorite of his , 2007’s “ volver , ” is probably too new to judge whether it’ll stand the test of time , some of his most acclaimed films like 1999’s “ all about my mother ” and especially 2002’s “ talk to her ” ( which time named among the top 100 movies of all time in 2005 ) , didn’t make the crop either . are his films , like fassbinder , too vulgar , too sexual , and not serious enough for the critical establishment ? or is it simply a matter of letting time pass a little ?
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the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
catches director pedro almodovar and star penelope cruz at the peak of their respective powers , in service of a layered , thought - provoking film .
set in spain , this is a generational story of three women : a good mother who is desperately in love with a man who is far from being a saint ; a young mother carrying a hard life upon her shoulders ; and an illegal hairdresser whose shop is the meeting point for all the neighborhood gossips .
it ' s up to charm to twinkle our attention away from the loose threads and daytime tv plotting .
it ' s clever and entertaining . it ' s marvelously deft , but never daffy . it works well enough , despite feeling like the most conventional film this great , envelope - pushing spanish director has ever made .
pedro almodóvar whipstitches a movie from patches of those mother - daughter melodramas mildred pierce , bellissima and two women and makes it seamless and original , funny as it is fierce , breathtaking as it is life - affirming .
the return rattles its chains for a spell , but it doesn ' t linger - - it quickly leaves .
beautiful performances , a refreshing story , and spot - on comedic timing make this a wonderful movie .
this is a woman ' s picture in the best sense of the term , anchored by bravura turns from penelope cruz and carmen maura . something of a departure for the spanish auteur , it also seals his status as a cinematic master . never that this was much in doubt .
almodóvar himself once again returning , with delicious self - consciousness , to an old plot . . . and reconfiguring it , as he does here even more radically than in his other recent films , in the subtle but provocative manner of his mature style .