This week's Cinema Playground Journal is highlighted by a prerelease review of Send Help, and also looks at Mercy, Return to Silent Hill and more! Also, Oscar gauntlet starts with the phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters and Best Picture nominee Train Dreams. mst3krifftrax.blogspot.com/2026/01/cine...

Finally talked myself into watching The Paper. Not hating it, but not sure why it's an Office spin-off. Outside of Oscar, the connection to The Office is tenuous. If you wanted to do an Office style show at a newspaper, you can just do that. It doesn't have to be an Office sequel.

The Testament of Ann Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I appreciate how exceptionally passionate and well-made the movie is, but the amount of chanting, lunging, flailing, and wailing in the movie's setpieces makes the experience of watching it almost like being trapped with Florence Pugh in Midsommar."

Send Help ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 "The third act is pure Sam Raimi chaos, offering up unpredictable turns and absolute splatstick comedy, making this the purest Raimi film since Drag Me to Hell. Send Help also parallels that film in thematic ways, being about "weak" people proving strength through cruelty."

Early access screening for Send Help! Let's fucking go!

Expedition 33 update: I don't know if this is just the way she's built or if my chosen abilities accidentally created a powerhouse, but Sciel is a fucking powerhouse queen. I just fought the mask guy, two teammates died instantly, but Sciel chipped away at him one on one and kicked his ass.

Return to Silent Hill ⭐️ "I feel like when I put up with a movie this nonsensical, the only way to address it is in a nonsensical way. Ergo, if you were to ask me my thoughts on this movie, my response has to be that the CGI spider had a nice ass."

Mercy ⭐️1/2 "The movie's mistakes are summed up when it empathizes Ferguson's AI character. She becomes so humanized that it feels like the movie has completely forgotten it's entire point."

I'm going to tell my children that these were the KPop Demon Hunters.

H Is for Hawk ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "It almost produces a feeling of lost daze, replicating the uncertainty of its main character, sparking to life during the hawk training scenes because those are the points where they feel alive."

Clika ⭐️ "The moral of this movie seems to be you can get rich by either selling drugs or becoming instantly famous, so do one or both. And with that money you can buy a Playstation 5. Thanks for the advice."

Okay fine, universe, I'll watch KPop Demon Hunters

2025 #BestPicture #Oscar Nominees as #MST3K movies, a thread: Bugonia

‘SINNERS’ has broken history as the MOST-NOMINATED FILM OF ALL TIME at the Oscars with 16 nominations See the full nominees list: bit.ly/OscarNoms26

Best Picture noms from best to worst: 1. Sinners 2. Frankenstein 3. Hamnet 4. Marty Supreme 5. Bugonia 6. Sentimental Value 7. One Battle After Another 8. F1 Haven't seen Secret Agent or Train Dreams

Star Trek PRANK WAR!

Presented without comment because nothing I can say would ever do this justice

It's time for classic #DoctorWho watch! As stated before, I have to skip Season 11 because I have no internet for Tubi. Season 12 is on reliable blu-ray though! So we're jumping to Tom Baker's debut in a serial called Robot, which I assume is a Lost in Space crossover. Let's hit it!

"CROOOOOOOOOOOW!"

I found it. The best MXC contestant shout-out.

Saw all five of the Razzie Worst Picture nominees. Snow White is a bit hyperbolic but the other four...I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Razzies got it right. Impressive that they actually read the room this year.

Most people don't know this, but in the original film that the sitcom Home Improvement was based on, Wilson was clearly a German Nazi spy.

Still watching MXC. I want to know this guy's story.

My main complaint about Expedition 33 so far is that all the costumes I've found have been for Gustave. WHEN DO I GET TO DRESS MY LADIES?!?!

Yet another loaded Cinema Playground Journal taking a look at nine new flicks this weekend, from 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple to Killer Whale! Also, must-see flicks like No Other Choice and Dead Man's Wire, as well as a whole lot of garbage. mst3krifftrax.blogspot.com/2026/01/cine...

All 5 GrimTrax Returns shorts summed up: 1. Capitalism is the primary cause of divorce and missing person's cases 2. Workplace Final Destination 3. Monty Python's Squid Game Babies 4. Veal is for dinner 5. Apples for desert #RiffTrax

Dead Man's Wire ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 "I love watching Skarsgård in anything because you never know what performance you're going to get but, whatever it is, you know it's going to be good."

Sheepdog ⭐️⭐️ "A trite regurgitation of themes that other movies have done better. Greyhm never justifies why this movie should exist too except that he just wanted to put a bunch of tropes in a blender and drink the milkshake."

Killer Whale ⭐️ "Most of the movie is made up of crystal clear shots of the actresses on top of blurry water. Gardner and Jarnson are so clearly acting in a vacuum that it feels like they could have shot most of their scenes in a parking lot."

No Other Choice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "It showcases the cut-throat nature of shrinking job security in an industry that has little value for you as an individual. One gets their hands dirty to get on top, and maybe there was cruelty in one's actions, but it's easy to wave that off when you're reaping the rewards."

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 "I didn't know I needed a buddy stoner movie between Ralph Fiennes and a zombie in my life but now it's here and I dig it."

Signing Tony Raymond ⭐️1/2 "Someone saw the movie Air and thought to themselves "This movie ain't vanilla enough," then decided to rock the sports world with their own patented and admittedly impressive level of blandness."

And that's a credit roll on Donkey Kong Bananza. I'm going to say this as humbly as I can and with absolute humility: This is the best 3D platformer I've ever played and it makes all other video games look like shit. I am obsessed with DK and Pauline and am angry that I'm not still playing it.

This is the first piece of #MST3K related news in a while. What's the takeaway? Joel has shared his stake in the series, which makes the series entirely company owned now. That company seems interested in continuing it though, which means MST will likely have a form of a future.

Yeah, give Star Trek to the director of The Final Frontier. That'll fix it.

Night Patrol ⭐️1/2 "In case you were wondering what Sinners would look like if it sucked."

I'm trying to vibe with #StarfleetAcademy. There are scenes where it's Space Cases: The Next Generation. Others where It's Community with Star Trek characters. And also the Academy building warps through space and the show is "We do regular Star Trek." I don't know what this show is supposed to be.

They really went to 11 on the Lara Croft vibes on our first Sophie Turner photo, so I appreciate that.

Star........Trek.......? With THESE gas prices?

Man, Kirsten got JACKED

Why yes, I would like some Monarch with my morning, thank you for the trailer

I'm a simple man

Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)

No monkeying around on this week's Cinema Playground Journal, as we take a look at Primate, Is This Thing On?, Greenland: Migration, Father Mother Sister Brother, and I Was a Stranger. mst3krifftrax.blogspot.com/2026/01/cine...

With High Treason, I think #RiffTrax broke the record for oldest film riffed across the primary riffing projects. I forget what the previous record holder was (Maniac?), but it was definitely early 30's. They've riffed older shorts (Steamboat Willie, A Trip to the Moon), but this is feature length.

Still watching MXC. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to tell the good episodes from the bad episodes is that if anyone episode doesn't feature Sinkers and Floaters or Log Drop, it's bad. If it features one, it's good. If it features both, it's the best episode ever.

Is This Thing On? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A very engaging look at how one deflects stress and trauma with humor. Will Arnett's dry delivery really enhances the experience, because he can deliver his dialogue in a hilarious way that includes undertones that he's trying to process just what is happening to him."

Greenland: Migration ⭐️⭐️ "I think the difference between the two might be that we were running from an easily understood event in the first film, while this sequel has the characters stumbling into barely understood scenarios that are lacking context."

Father Mother Sister Brother ⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This film is a trio of short films told through awkward family interactions. I don't know why I saw this movie. I just recently experienced all I needed of this at Christmas."