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Movie Summary  Short: Here Comes The Circus:  Try as it may to be cheerful, this film cannot hide the tarry black heart of the circus; that dreary, continuously self-referential gaudy show-biz pimp, that sucker of weak souls. Heavily focusing on those demonic minions of false mirth, the clowns, we are forced to see the things they do to themselves, the things they do to each other. Hold tightly to all that is dear, the circus has come to town.  Movie: The Day The Earth Froze:  Beautiful and exceptionally well-produced Aleksandr Ptushko film of an ancient Russo-Finnish legend manages to remain utterly goofy throughout. The rugged log surfer Lemmankinan (Jon Powers) falls head over heels for pixie-voiced laundry nymph Annakie. Meanwhile, a witch kidnaps Annakie and holds her hostage. Her objective? She wants Annakie's brother to build her a sampo. And what is a sampo? The film is pretty damn vague on this point, but we know it makes gold and salt, and probably pfeffernuss. It's not easy to do anything in this mythic land. Annakie's brother and Lemmankinan have to build a whole boat out of a tree. Then they have to plow a field full of snakes. Man. Lemmankinan returns, having lost the sampo which destroyed the village's fortune somehow; and though he is a loser, the town celebrates. The wedding of Lemmankinan and Annakie is planned, but along comes old witcheepoo again and steals the sun, hence "The Day The Earth Froze." And it goes on from there, and eventually we learn that an army of Finns armed with autoharps somehow can overcome the unknown dark forces of the universe. — Kevin Murphy Host Segments  Prologue:  Joel tries hard to get a nice picture of the family! Notice Gypsy's smart compact.  Invention:  The Mads introduce the fetid Unhappy Meal; Joel invents the martial arts snack food line Snaction.  Segment 2:  Crow and Servo dream up a gripping clown act while Joel pretends to type.  Segment 3:  Joel, Tom, and Crow try to figure out what a sampo is.  Segment 4:  The incomparable Gypsy in her one-woman show Gypsy Rose Me!  Segment 5:  Tom and Crow, those nuts, they impersonate the hovering gas bags in today's movie.  Stinger:  "Who vil tek cyr uf oos nou?" Reflections How I love this film. the first in a genre that had been a rich lode for us: the Finnish saga, the first in the MST Russo-Finnish troika. As a director, Ptushko seems alternately a genius and a crazy person, but that could be something in translation. I'm betting that by Soviet standards a hell of a lot of money went into this film, as evidenced by some stunning photography and special effects. And as goofy as it is, I'm betting that in the end it still outclasses and outperforms Waterworld. This show teamed the skills of two of our best—voice of Gypsy Jim Mallon and scripter Mary Jo Pehl—in a one-woman show that's actually touching, while remaining goofy. Special kudos to Jim for doing a womany job, and Mary Jo for her deep and abiding knowledge of one-woman shows. — Kevin Murphy