Servo, working with funds provided by a grant from
Crow, produces fearless art that does not hold back in its relentless attack on
Crow. Crow attends Servo's gala show opening and remarks that it all seems kind
of negative. "Oh I suppose you'd like me to paint dogs playing poker," says
Servo; Crow is enthusiastic and provides another grant.
Segment One:
The SOL is pulled untold light years at an impossible speed
toward an unknown planet. There they meet the "Observers," three guys who have
evolved beyond language and brains who talk a lot and carry their brains in pans.
Pearl and Bobo are there, of course. Pearl: "Hi, Nelson - what do you think of
these characters - pretty evolved, huh?" The Observers simply wish to observe
Pearl's ongoing experiment.
Segment Two:
A thin condescending observer appears in the SOL, to observe.
He's pretty annoying. "I am certain," he says of Mike from a distance of an
inch, "that we shall find him to be an animated piece of refuse, or feces..."
Mike and the 'Bots get fed up, hit the Observer with a clown hammer, put him in a
bag, and send him back to the planet.
Segment Three:
The Observers, displaying a skill remarkably like a trait found
on planets in certain episodes of Star Trek, are able to create whatever Mike
is thinking, only they get it wrong. Their first manifestation is Finnegan, the
Starfleet Academy upperclassman who tormented Kirk so. Finnegan leaps, laughs,
and pummels Mike, while an Irish tune gaily plays. Mike tries to think of
Adrienne but mistakenly thinks of the Emperor Hadrian (who pummels him) before
finally settling on Ms. Barbeau (who pummels him).
Segment Four:
Crow produces a Civil War documentary, at once elaborate and
hastily thrown together. Reminded that Ken Burns has already made the ultimate
Civil War documentary, he's resolute: "Oh, but was it about the Civil War?" It's
an instant classic, combining Crow's huge ambition with his innate inability to
really work at anything. "The Civil War was a war that took place during a
certain period in our nation's history. When, exactly? No one can say..."
Segment Five:
An excited Servo, mimicking the movie, demands that Mike hold
his head by some hastily-assembled hair so that he can terrify and mind-control
Crow. Unfortunately, Mike knocks Servo's head against the desk and sends it
flying, leaving him holding only the sad wig. Crow's not frightened.
On the Observer's planet, Pearl and Bobo prepare to retire for the night.
There is only one bed; Bobo quickly realizes his horrible mistake in presuming to
settle in ahead of Pearl. Under her withering stare, he straightens the
blankets, fluffs the pillow, leaves a mint, and heads outside to sleep on the
ground.
populate most of our movies, and
if ever there were an exception this is not it. Of course you've got your
obviously stupid people, like the great lunk Mike whose mind is first controlled
by the dead Englishman, yet there's a straightforward honesty to his stupidity
that is refreshing in comparison to the more aggressive variety displayed by his
boss, the dry and greedy Flavia. Every character in this movie, each in his
own special way, is stupid, including the evil Englishman (the guy who couldn't
die who dies) and the dim fellows who originally cursed and buried him.
