A few thoughts, such as seals:
* My theater in the Scranton area was a less full than for the Manos showing. Maybe about half full this time.
* To answer the question, I and a few other people chuckled at the golfer joke.
* My rough unscientific guess is about 30 percent of the Birdemic riffs were new.
* Fave riff from the short: “Time to soap up the ol’ junk again…”
* I still don’t get the point of these movies. Where they a prelude to some sort of motivational talk?
* Gotta get me a shoulder squirrel.
* Only one short. Is this the first time for that? It reflects that fact that the movie is, among many other awful things that it is, much too long. I’ve talked before about this phenomenon: there is a point — I find that it is somewhere around the 70-75 minute mark, were casual fans start to feel like, “well, that’s enough of that,” whereas hardcore fans are happy to continue. This movie starts to get really really crazy right about that point, so people just blasted through it for the most part, but a second short would have made for too long a night.
* There were a LOT of moments where the riffers had to hold for (or talk over) people laughing at the actual movie. I think, having probably seen it a dozen or more times, they’d sort of forgotten how riotously unintentionally funny the movie is the first time you see it. A really good example was the times that some character would successfully hit one of the birds and they would drop–bloop!–out of the sky like the wire holding them up had been cut. That happened many, many times and the audience in Nashville–and in my theater–laughed just as hard each time, something I’m not sure the riffers were expecting. “Good!”
* Bill takes the prize for the biggest flub (“play with my PCP”) but he ad-libbed like a pro and of course Mike and Kevin had his back.
* Fave riff: “Yeah I’m gonna be late, I’m stuck behind some knob who doesn’t know how to walk.”
UPDATE: Chris Griffy of Examiner.com has a review.
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Let’s hope the next live screening involves meeting Norman’s family. The horror, the horror!
I absolutely loved the fact that they had another Norman short (“uuuugggghhhhhhhh…”). Quite a few reused riffs on Birdemic, but all of which were still good, and being Live made them fresh, and all the new ones were quite hilarious. Amazing to see the blurry animated .gif mess on the big screen!
I hope we finally get the true facts on is corn a grass!
When they made the Han in carbonite crack I was literally thinking they were going to make a Jabba reference on the mom. Great minds think alike. Insane minds think alike & at the same time.
DAM BARK BEATLES KNOCKED OUT OUR SIGNAL AT THE THEATER WE WERE AT ! MISSED MOST OF ” NORMAN ” , BUT SAW THE MOVIE! HANING OUT WITH THE FAMILY NOW ! LOVED IT! WHEN ARE THEY COMING TO MY TOWN TO BROADCAST?
“Ugh, your air-humping is giving me air-herpes”.
Just got back from hangin’ out, hangin’ out, hangin’ out with my MSTies. AMC 24 in Hamilton, NJ was probably a bit less than half full tonight. But it was a lively crowd. Had some trouble hearing the riffers at times over the movie’s insipid background music, but other than that minor quibble, had a good time overall.
GREAT DRIVERS ED MOVIE ! NOT ENOUGH PARKING AND SLOWLY ENTERING TRAFFIC MOVIES OUT THERE !
I loved the parts where the film was so bad that the guys just let it go unriffed. Especially the “I’ve got some fish”/”I’ve got some seaweed”/”…good…” exchange.
Norman comes off a little better in this short. In the last one, he was a moron who didn’t see his briefcase when it was six inches in front of him. All of the crap happened TO him this time.
CEREBRO! I had to explain that one do the folks around me why Keven seemed so sad. I always like the new riffs of the live shows. I agree with Doug when the live shows are funniest when they say nothing and just let the badness slap you in the face.
Another great Live show. I was watching the old Live DVD’s and miss the between shorts business like songs and such.
Can’t wait for the DVD’s to come out.
There were around 100 here in Flint, MI. The movie, awful- half looked shot with a blackberry circa 2007 through cheese cloth. Delivered a lot of laughs. Solid entertainment for 12.50.
OK, just got in after some exciting car parking in my driveway! I saw this in the Clifton, NJ AMC complex and it was great! The theater was about 3/4 full as most of us sat in the middle and upper rows. Only one short before the movie: Another “Aaaaaaaaaaghhhhhh!” Norman film! Poor guy has his first class reservation at a hotel relocated to a “Room 13X” c/o of a taxidermist convention. Really! Think bad plumbing and traffic noise! Yes, I agree with the RiffTrax crew that we didn’t need to see the guy IN THE SHOWER!!!
As for the “main course” the RiffTrax guys were able to pull this off without getting mired in the wretchedness of the film! They also “warned” us about dialogue and sound suddenly dropping in and out during the film and it did! It also took a WHILE till we saw “Atari 2600 killer eagles” attacking people! Still Mike, Bill & Kevin were able to keep us laughing. MANY jokes about “dramatic parking”. In fact, this movie had more slow driving scenes than “Manos: The Hands of Fate”!
#6, best riff of the night. Man, that Kevin sure can sing. The movie was not an old one dug out of the dungeon. It is a modern, recent movie! But excrutiating. really excrutiating. The director did try to make a point though, about the environment.
About 75 people in the theatre in Atlanta. At the end, one could hear people singing the “hanging out with my family, gonna have a party” song.
I LOVED THE BOB WEIR TREE HUGGING HIPPY GUY ! I WOULD COMMENT MORE , BUT I JUST HEARD A MOUNTAIN LION AND I GOTTA GET BACK TO MY HOUSE! HOPE YOU GET BACK TO YOUR CARS! GOOD-BYE!IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU !
I realized after I had already bought tickets to one theater and was ready to go tonight that it was playing at a closer venue. D’oh! That other theater hadn’t had them in the past. I’ll know for next time. Wish they had shown a better short. I didn’t like the Norman thing.
Birdemic: Wow! Yes, it’s a worse movie than “Manos”. Impossible you say? Nope. I was cracking up at the first bird attack. What the hell was EXPLODING? Their crap? And did the maker of this thing actually think it would be interesting to show a guy driving (painfully slowly)? Then walking (barely)? Then working? And having a toy car hit his foot?
The acting was REALLY bad. The special bird effects worse. (Laughable). All and all an enjoyable evening. I had to get out a tissue because my eyes were watering because I was laughing so hard at the whole idea of it all, and the riffing, of course. I can’t get that song out of my head – “Hangin’ out, hangin’ out, hangin’ out, hangin’ out with my fam-ly…” Eeesh. Everyone in the theater cracked up when the two leads started “dancing”. (And were they the only two IN that place?)
Then that guy just happened to have those guns in his van. :eek: And those kids weren’t all that broken up about their parents being shredded by angry birds in front of them. (“We were gonna kill them anyway”).
All I can say is “Wow”. Can’t believe this thing was made. A stinking pile. :poop:
Oh, I gotta go – I hear a mountain lion. :x-p:
For a change, I saw this one at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ. I got there early enough to see the test footage from the “Manos” show. I was just in time for the “White Trash ‘Twilight'” routine. The pre-show title cards were funny, as always.
As for the short, I agree that Norman wasn’t as much of a dunce as in the other one. But he was certainly more klutzy than Inspector Clouseau.
As for the movie, I’d say it’s now official: “Birdemic” has surpassed “Manos” and “Plan 9” for the title of WORST MOVIE EVER MADE. Great riffing, though.
I really needed a good laugh tonight, considering that we’re supposed to get an absolute deluge in a few days.
Wow. Just wow. My throat’s hurt from laughing, and my palm’s hurt from hitting my forehead so many times…
One of my favorite bits is when the guy tried to “save” the people from the bus, and none of them wanted to go — apparently they had figured out that the birds attacked people who were outside.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go invest in some sowl pawuls…
Had a great time. The whole theater loved it. Every “solar panels” joke was a hit.
Did anyone else think the background music was too loud? I couldnt hear the riffs over the loud music. Plus the bird noises !! Yikes. Maybe it was my theater but a lot of what I heard tonight (including Kevin’s microphone) seemed way TOO LOUD !!!
This was my first Rifftrax Live, and I took my teenagers (17 and 14) along. We all loved it, and I think they were both shocked and terrorized by the innate badness of the movie. I believe the 14-year-old, who just got her learner’s permit, picked up some valuable tips on parking and entering traffic.
Truly, an outstanding evening of hangin’ out with my family.
I was at the Regal West Town 8 in Knoxville, TN. Our theater looked more than 3/4 full. Since I saw Manos live in Nashville, I would have to rate this experience lower just because I got to see the riffers the whole time then. However, this show was still fantastic. There is something to be said about letting the ridiculousness just play out that worked beautifully. I think I was laughing more at the movie than I was at MKB. I would have liked them to do some more new riffs, but some of my favorite ones from the mp3 were used, so I wasn’t complaining. I was sad that some of my favorite ones didn’t get huge laughs, but I was laughing so who cares? A couple friends went me who have seen very little MST, and one of them said “this was the funniest @$%# I’ve ever seen” afterward. It felt good.
Also, does anyone remember the website for extras? I was rushing out because my friend had to go to work, and all I remember was that it started with a T.
The theater here in NYC (Regal Theater at Union Square) was completely sold out. So much so that sadly some people could not find seats and were forced to stand or leave. This was without a doubt their best live performance to date. Mostly in part due to excellent riffing and the movie making fun of itself.
Favorite Riff: Yeah, I am going to be late I am stuck behind some guy who can’t walk.
Kevin said that the special effects were mind-numbingly bad, and he was right! My brain was literally numb by the end of the movie. The whole ride home all I could think was, “How did a movie THAT bad EVER get made?!?!”
@sebulbajohnny: The movie’s audio is so wonky that they would’ve had to change the mic volume at every line of dialogue to keep up. I actually thought Bill’s mic was too quiet.
This was my third Rifftrax Live and I must say it was the best.I want to place my order now for the DVD. The short was good not great but good. Birdemic:Shock and Terror! my god the funniest riffing on the worst movie EVER! Now I just want to say solapanll. To say the star’s(and I use that term loosely)acting was wooden is an insult to wood…Sorry heard a mountain lion gotta go and get in my van loaded with my AK47 and a bunch of guns and ammo BYE NICE MEETING YOU!
Great show. I went to the Rave movie theater in Voorhees, NJ (I would say it was 2/3rds full) and had a blast. Obviously the glaring negative was how LOUD the MUSIC was. I could only barely make out the riffs during almost half the movie, so that was very disappointing. But the movie’s sheer inanity made me ultimately not care, because I laughed so hard at the movie and the riffing. The friends with me loved it just as much, so it was a success.
Psssst happyinmywork, the word was Treehugger.
Did the movie have different cuts and camera angles than the DVD? Some stuff seemed new in Birdemic? And I’m not talking about the riffs
Theater at Fenway seemed to be more or less full (the chief exception being the seats right in front of the screen), and we missed the test footage.
And, for those that wonder, I heard a couple of people laugh at the Walrus joke.
The audience was really into it, and we had no technical problems at our end (I assume that the Kevin off-mike issue was everywhere).
Just a few moments ago, I found out that “Birdemic II” either currently exists or soon will. Should I be worried right now?
It was glorious. Can I preorder the DVD now?
#21 james, there were TWO SOLD-OUT THEATERS (big one’s) showing at Union Square’s Regal Cinema. They even brought fold-out chairs for some people to sit; pretty soon Regal here in Gotham might have to get a third theater or additional locations will have to open to accomodate the overflow. It’s a great problem to have when you think about it. :smirk:
I hate to say it but the Normal short left me cold even though the guys managed to score a few laughs (‘Oh, curtain drape, you do like and understand me’ :timeout: ). When the first “Norman” short came before “Manos” (second after the one tonight, which is the prequel to the one we saw first, aw, forget it! :goaway: ) it was a breath of fresh air, but this time I think they oversold it and the short underdelivered. Lower the expectations next time guys, especially since this was the only short of the evening. I’m used to getting two shorts per live Rifftrax show plus extra goodies (cartoons, etc.) so the lack of a 2nd short left me a little peeved, especially since “Norman” wasn’t as fun as advertised.
But buy, did the movie deliver the goods up until the masterful exposition device known as ‘old man in bridge’ kind-of grinds the movie to a halt. It picks steam after that, but before then it was an almost-perfect hour of literally nothing happening (except for some mighty good parking and merging with traffic), then too much happening (the ‘ancient gypsy curse that unleashes a birdemic if I sleep with an idiot’ :evilgrin: ) with absolutely not a competent actor or filmmaker in sight. I’ve never seen “Birdemic” before and my goodness, what a stinkin’ rottin’ corpse of a motion picture. Even “Manos” has better and more consistent sound (music covers the gaping sound levels not matching) than this Y2K movie in which traffic on the side of the road can be clearly seen/heard as the ‘birdemic’ attack goes on by the side of the road. The color sprites in the early 80’s videogame “Phoenix” were more believable and behaved more like attacking birds than the “CG” shown here. BTW, in a sea of jokes about everything that hit the mark, I love it when the jokes that they either screw up (Bill’s PSP-PCP mix-up) or would seem a perfect fit to the movie (the one “Angry Birds” joke Kevin made that the audience in Nashville openly groaned at) fall flat and they either make hay of it or just keep going.
While it didn’t reach the towering heights of hilarity of the best “Manos” or “Jack The Giant Killer” moments I found “Birdemic” to be more consistently funny throughout (helped no doubt by the total lack of anything happening for almost an hour). Loved the ‘But I said ‘X’/’Keep going’ actor/director riffs, they kept getting funnier and funnier as the bad dialogue and even worse acting delivering such lines kept getting fruitier. Favorite riff: ‘A mountain lion!’ :laugh:
To paraphrase a classic “MST3K” experiment about “Birdemic’s” creators: ‘They just didn’t care.’
The funniest movie riffing they’ve done live yet! Just hope they can fix the glitches where we lose the full-screen effect (and no those weren’t on purpose), like they had with the “What is Nothing?” short before Jack the Giant Killer.
#28: No. You should be terrified.
Good God, I never thought I’d say such blasphemy, but this steaming pile of cloaca-ejected crap made The Room look like Masterpiece Theater! I left the showing feeling a strange mix of queasiness from the truly terrible movie, a lilting high from the stellar riffing, and an inexplicable urge to visit a Hummer dealership, eat a Happy Meal, and then hang out wit’ my family.
Best riff I heard that should have been in the movie: “Yeah, well E.L.O. killed my friends, but you don’t see me whining about it!”
Attended the Milford, Ct., show. Pretty full. My mistake was sitting up close resulting in the riffers being too loud. My fault. Should have sat back more. But that small quibble aside….Norman didn’t do much for me. It was moderately funny. Do not need to see more of Norman. But Birdemic, really does rival Manos for worse movie of all time. Making it easy prey for the riffers, scoring consistently throughout. The lead actor-what a dolt! Nice eye candy leading lady of course. The most outrageous point of the night was when the 2nd girl had to take her toilet paper out to the tall grass for her BM. When asked where she is the Dolt replies: “She’s taking a S….” , and the riffers almost snapped their neck “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????” Oh that was toooo funny!!!!!!!!!! and totally unexpected! The closing shot of them standing there, seeminly forEVER, watching as the birds flew in place without advancing was a perfect conclusion to a perfectly…. incredibly…. how-was-this-ever-made ATTEMPT at movie making. Rifftrax pulls out a winner. Will be buying the dvd.
loved it….the guys knocked it out of the park…
Just hangin’ out, hangin’ out, hangin’ out wif mah family, havin’ ourselves a ball!
The birds are playing a zone defense!
Did I just miss the address when they showed it or are there no “digital goodies” this time as there have been at all the other live shows? I know for the Manos one they didn’t include the usual free short, but the behind the scenes video more than made up for it in my opinion (and I don’t mind buying the shorts at all since they’re cheap and also always great). I was hoping to see something else like that for Birdemic. The show was great though. The theater I was in was probably about half full, I’d say about average for all the other live shows at that theater, but there were so many people totally losing it, including myself. I think the audience reaction for this one was probably the best of any of them yet.
Not understanding the non-love of the Norman short, I thought it was amazing and was crying from laughing. Come on guys, who lathers up THAT much in the shower??
Great show, super funny, might be my favorite to date. Our theatre was less full than it was for Manos, but we are in the SF bay area and I am guessing some people that bought tix prior to finding out that the Giants would be in the world series may not have shown.
We saw tonight’s BIRDEMIC at the AMC Columbia 14 in Columbia, MD. The theater was 2/3rds full. Great riffs and a great crowd. Lots of fun. My friend and I have seen every Rifftrax live show and they just keep getting better. Gone are a MC/host or musical guest and that’s fine by me. Rifftrax live shows are on a roll.
I could have done with more than one short but that’s just nit-picking. “Norman Checks In” was a fine choice because “Norman” at MANOS LIVE was hilarious.
I’ve watched the BIRDEMIC Rifftrax VOD three or four times and it never gets old. The live version with an audience was excellent!
Looking forward for the next live show.
This was my first Rifftrax live. Saw it in Topeka, the theater was about half full. Everyone loved it. There was one guy who laughed so hard at some jokes that when everyone else had stopped, he kept going and made us all start laughing again. The whole thing was terrific, I ended up going through a few Kleenex because I was having to wipe so many tears away. I’ve talked to friends on Twitter in other towns who also loved it.
This is the first place I’ve heard any complaints about tonight’s Norman short, so you’ll understand if I eye you all warily. It got a ton of laughs in the theater, especially the lathering and the maid. I started making funny noises at the curtain rod sex scene, that’s how hard I was laughing.
Also, I laughed at the walrus joke. I apologize for nothing.
Saw it in Fairfax, Virginia; probably about 75% full. Great fun; I’m one of the “lucky” ones who hadn’t seen Birdemic before, so it was quite the experience! It literally did not occur to me until this morning that the “dying while pooping” scene might actually have been the movie’s wooden attempt at humor; I’m not sure why that makes it worse, but it does.
Our hero reminds me of Nick from Time Chasers: that special blend of incompetence and creepiness that somehow attracts all the ladies. FACT: I was actually approached once by a guy who claimed to remember me from kindergarten(!). I was in college at the time. Yes, it was creepy, and no, I did not give him my card or make any attempt to stay in contact with him!!
As always, looking forward to the next one.
I was at the Willow Knolls 14 and it was 80-90% full. I thought it was hilarious and all of their jokes about Rod being such a dumbass were great. The jokes about the “Hangin’ Out with the Family” song were great, too. The Norman short was average.
BTW, the goodies are at Rifftrax.com/treehugger
And all this time I’ve been living a horrible lie – to me “Manos” was the worst film in human history. But no. Sadly we have a new worst ever and it’s name is “Birdemic”.
Uhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg………
I took my two kids 11 and 12 with me. My son just couldn’t get into the movie and was antsy the entire time. He is used to where something constantly happens which isn’t this this movie. My daughter, though, loved it. She was laughing so hard that she was choking and having trouble breathing. Her favorite riff was a throw away.
At the end when Rod opens the hatch “Its a fishing rod, hey my names Rod to”.
We saw the movie at the R/C theater in Reading Pa. We actually have two theaters out here showing it which may explain why we only had about twenty in our theater.
@41 The company CEO reminded me of the lackey from Time Chasers as well
Rifftrax this is getting old! First you only release VOD and now you have…PERFORMANCES IN THEATERS! How am I supposed to watch it! I don’t have a theater in my living room! My computer isn’t good enough to be a theater! WHERE IS MY DVD! WHERE!
UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!
Saw “Norman Checks In” with bonus full-length feature “Birdemic” at the Plymouth Meeting 12 in PA, theater was 3/4 full. My wife came along, so in effect I was “hanging out with the family”, though I did not have myself a party. Great show! I like how it felt episodic next to Manos, with Norman returning and a few Manos mentions during the show.
The lesson I learned is:
Bark beatles are bad.
Richard Basehardt is good.
Undoubtedly, the funniest Rifftrax Live so far–and the worst movie I’ve ever seen! Saw it in the Cinemark Theater in Monaca, PA, which was about half full. You could go to any new comedy at the theater and not hear half as much laughing from the audience.
I was pleased to see quite a few younger audience members this time. Maybe next time, they’ll bring their friends. A growing fanbase will help them to keep going.
@AnitaTheater #45
“Rifftrax this is getting old! First you only release VOD and now you have…PERFORMANCES IN THEATERS! How am I supposed to watch it! I don’t have a theater in my living room!”
Buy a ticket to go and see it in theaters? This is the 7th Rifftrax live performance.
For some damn reason the theater I usually see these at didn’t carry this one…jerks!!!