Rating: 
Summary: Not as funny as you might think.... here's why.
Review: The main problem with "Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese" is not the subject matter but the style. Nelson writes about movies (and television) in an attempt to catalog their more pompous extremes and send them up. The problem is that he often isn't that funny, and I think the problem is in his approach. He's trying to make fun of things that are either too obvious a target, or which don't really deserve the attack.Consider this: When Ebert wrote about movies he hated ("I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie", which I also reviewed), you sensed that his love of movies in general was genuine, and that he was focusing his anger on movies that were betrayals -- shoddily done, insulting to the intelligence, and so on. Nelson doesn't seem to be acting out of the same impulses -- he's just out to make fun of whatever crosses in front of his radar. Fine. But what comes out is often some rather limp-wristed satire of material that often simply doesn't deserve it. Too much of the humor is simply sophomoric and obvious -- good for a chuckle the first time around but dead on arrival after that. Good humor gets better every time you come back to it; think of how funny "Spinal Tap" is the tenth time as opposed to the first. Nelson's throwaway approach -- which is often used on equally disposable movies -- barely lasts through the first reading. Nelson skewers big, obvious targets: movies from comic books, the Baldwin brothers, "Baywatch", Keanu Reeves. Mike, I know you, and you're smarter than this. I wanted a really merciless chapter on Stanley Kubrick (who was brilliant but got so far ahead of himself later in his career), or a good slamming of pretentiously unwatchable junk like what clutters up most of Sundance. I guess he was aiming for a broad audience, and while that's fine, his insight comes off as *deliberately* numbskulled. There are some brilliant moments, though, like when he rips into the horrible "What Dreams May Come". But they're few and far between. Most of the time he tries, unsuccessfully, to lampoon the technologically-obsessed movie buff with lame jokes about DVD and home theater ("which you can afford if you've got about TEN ZILLION DOLLARS!"). A parallel came to me as I read this: Spike Jones and Stan Freberg. Both of them sent up popular music, but their approach and tone were wholly different. Jones loved popular music and wanted to use its pretenses for comedic effect; Freberg was more often than not simply contemptuous of the material he satirized (with a few brilliant exceptions: anyone remember his prune commercial?) But Freberg more often than not simply came across as insular and unfunny. I would like Nelson try something a little trickier and smarter for his next outing. Maybe he could write a script -- a satire of one of those John Hughes teen-angst comedies? A funny one, I hope.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheese at its finest!
Review: Witty, playful, and most-importantly funny, Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese is cheese at its finest. He reviews various films, celebrities, and TV Shows with the same hilairity he used in Mystery Science Theater 3000. I easily read this book in one sitting, and repeatedly found myself laughing out loud. I found his review of "The Saint" especially amusing. However, I have one question for Mr. Nelson: When is the SEQUEL coming out?
Rating:
Summary: Left me "Mystie"-eyed with laughter!
Review: Being a MST3K fan from way back, I was thrilled to see the very talented Mike Nelson didn't disappear when the show did. He provides entertaining reviews of films and "stars" even when the movies themselves are rather dull and boring. This is a great book for anyone who has ever felt "had" after shelling out their hard-earned cash to see a turkey (As I am still smarting after seeing the big budget "GODZILLA"). While I only disagree about his review of "FACE/OFF", I nevertheless found his comments very funny. This is one book I plan to re-read many times! I hope to hear much more from Mr. Nelson!
Rating:
Summary: Literally the funniest book I have ever read
Review: I am a longtime MSTie, and this book was absolutely hilarious. Nelson's style of writing is so breezy, I felt like he was in the same room with me (although that may have been the shrine to him I erected in the linen closet). I recommend this to any movie lover, and any fellow Upper Midwesterner; it is nice to see references to other parts of the country besides L.A. and NYC.
Rating:
Summary: Laughed out Loud
Review: For all of you who are MSTies and for those of you who are just sick of the lousy movies that Hollywood keeps cramming down our throats, this book is for you. Nelson points out the no-talent actors and over-blown and poorly produced movies that the American public is subjected to year after year. Best of all, he does it with the dry wit that his fans have come to expect. I laughed out loud throughout the book. It was great entertainment. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: I bought this book when Mike Nelson came to Pittsburgh. Trust me, he is as hilarious in person as he is on tv and in this book. He is very nice as well, and took the time to talk with me and my parents as he signed my book. Anyway, the book is hilarious. Nelson doesn't write like a stuffed movie critic, but as a normal person with a great sense of humor. His essays on bad movies, tv, and celebrity families are laugh-out-loud funny. We have to be quiet in my study halls at school, but it's very difficult to keep from giggling while reading this book. Definitely go get it.
Rating:
Summary: Ahhh, it's good to be home.
Review: I admit up front that I am a MSTie. This book is like an MST fix for junkies. The only real difference is that this time, Mike Nelson takes aim at the "big" Hollywood movies. I'll be renting a few of these gems. And viewing with proper precautions and protective eyewear, as advised. That said, you do not have to be a fan of Mystery Science Theater to appreciate the humor here. I think just about everyone has gone to see/rent a "blockbuster," only to walk away from it wondering why there were good reviews/word-of-mouth. This book is for you. The only quibble I have is that I wish each review was longer. (Subtext: Please write a sequel.) Other than that, the tone is the same dry, intelligent wit I've come to expect from Mike Nelson. Don't miss the author's photo at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: A lot of this material originally appeared as a column in "Home Theater" magazine, and it worked a lot better in that format. Reading all of the essays compiled in a book just makes it more evident how light the material is, and how often the same jokes and references are dragged out over and over again. All of the essays go off on completely irrelevant tangents about the cast and other movies they've been in, which again is funny the first couple of times you've read it but gets old quickly. The formula becomes obvious after reading a few of the essays... hook up the Internet Movie Database to a database of references to Tolkien, late-70's early-80's pop groups, and living in Wisconsin, and you've got the same effect. Granted, you don't pick up a book like this looking for insightful film criticism, especially when the source material is something like "Anaconda," but you'd expect at least SOME kind of insight. There's so much awfulness in movies like "Face/Off" and "Lost in Space" that's just begging for someone to make fun of it, and instead Nelson chooses to list references to USA movies or make weak jokes on writers' names.("The Saint" was based on books by a man named Leslie Charteris, and that sounds like a girl's name! It's fun!) Still, the book's cheap, and it's worth fifteen bucks just for the phrase "the Sharpei-faced Tommy Lee Jones." Just don't expect anything on the level of MST3K. Even the Sci-Fi channel years.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, movies I can really enjoy hating.
Review: The loss of MST3K on television was one of the greatest trajedies to hit the modern world since the day Pauly Shore showed up on the movie screen. Thankfully, I have such a bad memory that I can watch the re-runs over and over again and still not get most of the references. One of the things I always hoped for the show was that they'd be forced to watch some of the modern torment which is Hollywood; movies like "What Dreams May Come" and "Varsity Blues." Thankfully, Mike Nelson, star of the ill-fated show, has decided to attack that very subject now that he's back on the ground. In 288 pages, he viciously attacks (can you attack something any other way?) these movies, as well as thousands others (well, not thousands, but a lot). He even goes after t.v. shows and the Baldwin clan. If you want a book that will finally make you feel good about the bad movies in Hollywood, this is it. Have you ever left a big-budget Hollywood movie like Twister, and thought to yourself, I could have farted a better screenplay, only to have your friends tell you how great the movie was? Well, Mr. Nelson, finally makes you feel like you aren't alone. Thank you Mike! With the sales of the book doing as well as they are, you must really be happy knowing you have an infinite supply of material for "Movie Megacheesier."
Rating:
Summary: Not as funny as I'd hoped...
Review: As a long-time fan of MST3K, I looked forward to Mike Nelson's book from the moment I had heard he was working on it. I was sure the laughs would come long and hard. I was...really, kinda, sorta...disappointed. Not that it's not an amusing book. It is, it's just not as funny as I expected it to be. It certainly skewered the right films, and I appreciated Mike's admiration for Jackie Chan, but in all, it was merely amusing; it had none of the laughing so hard-I have tears coming rolling down my face-oh my side-damn, I think I've sprained my spleen- kind of laughs I had expected. Thankfully, for those kinds of laughs, I only have to go to another website. If you loved MST, I think you will enjoy Clevenger and Zollinger's take on the incredibly femmy action movies of the early 80's: MEGAFORCE and GYMKATA (a familiar title for msties everywhere<g>)
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