Well, I have “laugh stomach” and that’s always a good sign.
First of all, BIG NEWS at the beginning of the show, a Christmas RiffTrax Live Dec. 5, featuring, get this, “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”! Can there BE a THIRD set of jokes to be made about this movie? The RiffTrax guys clearly think so, and I applaud what strikes me as a pretty bold choice.
As for the show itself, they got things rolling with the Norman short and people were already primed by the time they started the movie. As I like to do, I recently watched the previous “three riffers” edition and I would guess that about 80 percent of the jokes were new, and there were more overall. I thought they did a great job.
My theater near Scranton was about a third to a quarter full but they seemed to be enjoying it.
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Fabulous show! I totally whooped at the Bruce Campbell riff. Wow and that one riff was so horrifyingly filthy! I LOVED IT! I didn’t think I’d hear a riff that could top my own about Santa birthing a baby brother for that one kid in Santa Claus.
I thought it was kind of lacking this time. Not sure what it was, but there just weren’t as many gut-bustingly hilarious riffs as in previous shows. Maybe because the movie itself isn’t bad? I can’t pinpoint what was off for me, but my friend agreed that it was the least funny one so far. I think the Christmas show will be far better.
The theater where I saw it, Cinemark Egyptian in MD, was not as full as for Starship Troopers. That show sold out in two theaters, but there was a healthy sized crowd and mostly full theater for Night Of The Living Dead. Overall I thought it was a good show and the people I went with seemed to enjoy it. For me it wasn’t among their absolute best live shows so far, but a solid show nonetheless.
AMC Eden Prairie 18 representin’!
Not the sold-out crowd of Starship Troopers, but a good turnout nonetheless. The riffs weren’t quite as wall-to-wall, and maybe not quite as many fall-out-of-your-seat-laughing moments, but still very enjoyable.
Kind of surprised by the announcement of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Sure, it’s a classic, but this will be the third (!) iteration. Is there any more comedy to be mined from this rock?
This was easily the funniest Mike’s been for a LONG time. Bill tends to get the best bits usually (I think it’s because he’s making up for lost time since he was on so few MST3K episodes) but Mike just kept knocking them out of the park. Especially “Rut? Rombies?!” near the end.
Good-sized crowd at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ. I got there early enough to see the transmission test, when they ran a segment from the live “Starship Troopers” show (specifically, the disastrous invasion of the bug planet). Afterwards, the title cards were very funny, as usual. One question: during some of the Fathom logos, I could hear background noise. Did someone leave a mic open in the main theater?
The new Norman short was a welcome surprise, with the promise of another one coming soon. I’m starting to wonder if they’ll come up with a Norman full-length feature, like they did for Mr. Bean. As for the main feature, I’ve never heard the first three-riffer version, so I can’t compare. It was better than Mike’s Legend Films commentary, though. I think the biggest laugh may have been when Debbie kills her mother and Bill quips, “The logical conclusion to the Honey Boo Boo saga.”
A couple of notes: first, the sound mix seemed a bit off, as we couldn’t hear the main audience reactions unless they laughed really hard. Second, I’m a little surprised they didn’t throw in a “Shaun of the Dead” or “Omega Man” joke; for example, when young President Obama outlines his plan to gas up the truck, I’d have expected someone to riff, “Now how’s that for a slice of fried gold!” Or a random shout of, “Neeeeeviiiiille!”
Still, all in all, a good production. As for a third go-round for “SCCtM”, good luck to the guys. They’ve got a tough job.
60% full here in Flint, MI at Rave Cinemas. No, Michael Moore was not in attendance. Rifftrax was the main attraction tonight, as the rest of the multiplex was more abandoned than an empty GM factory here.
Good to see the guys keeping the assembly line of riffs going. Crowd laughed early and often, yet, there were many upset at young President Obama’s fate.
This was the most packed show yet here in Portland Maine! And it was a good one!
“I WAS Helen Cooper”
By the way, for those of you who watched the contest bit — I’m not the other white meat. I’m the original :devil:
AMC in Clifton, NJ was mostly filled. Didn’t look sold out like the “Starship Troopers” show. Great show though! The biggest laugh from me, and the majority of the audience, came from the riff based on “The Shinning” (1980). “Barbara isn’t here Mrs. Torrence.” The other one was the “beating off zombies” riff. Hmmm……..They could have done a “SEIZE THE BONE!!!!” callback with that one!
Eden Prairie AMC in MN (the motherland)
Large crowd and excellent show. Far better than SS imho.
Great stuff at Cinemark Tinseltown in Rochester, NY. There was a couple who brought the full-size Crow and Servo puppets, the theatre gave them a good-sized round of applause.
The show was hilarious – having not seen NOTLD before, I had no idea there were so many dead spots.
I hope there are plans to keep the shows going through the spring – perhaps another Shorts-stravaganza?
Saw it in Batavia, IL – almost sold out. A big cheer in the crowd when they referenced our city as the place where they clone the newsmen – a shout out to near by FermiLab! I agree with the above probably their weakest one yet but we had a good time and look forward to the December show.
Great show! Point Cinema in Madison WI normally fills a full theater room. This time, they had it showing in two rooms!
The Barrywoods 24 in the KCMO area was about 75 percent full. Glad I got to the theater half hour before the show started. Wide range of ages, from twenty somethings to a couple that looked to be in maybe their sixties. Still puzzled by the Norman shorts. Had watched the movie a few weeks ago unriffed. The boys did a great job of make this heap interesting. The sound of the audience- which I noticed had a guy with a Gizmonics shirt on (maybe it was a whole outfit), Crow and Servo replicas- dropped off unless there was loud laughter or groaning. Other then that, the show was great. I did notice a couple times the syncing was slightly off, plus I didnt care for the shots of the grave stones while the movie was playing. Will probably skip the Santa movie just like I skipped the Starship Troopers movie.
Boston: Packed theater at the Regal near Fenway. I never stop loving these shows. Fantastic as always!
I was there in Nashville. Great show. Met some nice people in line. We sat together, and then the people next to us had life-size replicas of Crow and Tom Servo! I’d never seen one of those puppets up close before! We took pictures and everything! And Crow’s eyes kept staring at me, and I was all freaked out and stupidly wondering, “Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
Then afterwards, we all stood in the freezing cold for autographs and pictures, only for them to hustle outside saying they didn’t have time because they had a flight to catch. They gave us all a round of high-fives for our trouble. Mike came around last, and his hand hit mine so hard I accidentally bumped the forehead of the nice girl in front of me. We became good friends. Thanks, Rifftrax! See you in December!
It would have been cool enough just seeing NOTLD on a big screen. But this was the best of their NOTLD riffs. I won’t think twice about picking up the dvd. The riffing was very lively for such a somber movie. The Norman short was okay, I guess.
“If the deer head starts shouting DEAD BY DAWN, you know you’re Bruce Campbell.”
“I’m Helen Cooper!”
“Go to hell, audience!”
“I love you, new prettier mom!”
“I’m the black guy in a horror movie, for Christ’s sake!”
“I like candy.”
I saw the event at the Regal Bowie Stadium 14. It was about 3/4 filled (with a lot of people making sure to show up for the “trivia” portion).
Personally, while there were some good jokes spread throughout (with this thread helping me remember of them), and I’m definitely getting used to the Norman shorts (UUUGGGHHH!!!), this wasn’t one of the better shows in terms of the main feature. Not sure if it’s due to me watching NOTLD for the first time or if it’s because the film itself does feel somewhat tedious in between the scenes with the zombies. It just didn’t feel as exciting and memorable as some of the previous Rifftrax Live events (i.e. the Xmas 2009 show, Jack the Giant Killer).
Having known about the Santa Claus Conquers the Martians Rifftrax show since yesterday (Fandango.com had it listed when I ordered a ticket for tonight’s show), I definitely can’t wait to see the Rifftrax take on it (am I wondering how many shorts will be appearing in that event).
Small crowd in Danville, VA, maybe 25-30 people. Good riffing, but not much stood out in the movie. Norman short was good. I was surprised in a good way to learn about Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, totally looking forward to it.
Fave riff: Young President Obama.
Oh and from the trivia portion; A Native American dressed as Johnny Depp.
Was probably about half-way full at the theater in Layton, UT. Aside from some dry spots here and there, I think this was a pretty great riff! I hadn’t seen NooLD before this but it wasn’t that bad of a movie, but that didn’t stop them from doing a good riffing on it. Great show overall.
Also, that “Zombie Tom Servo” I saw during the end credits gave me a good laugh.
Sometimes there’s raisins. :D
Brilliant show!
Almost full (but cold) theater in South Burlington, VT. I think it was a little slow during the endless boarding stuff up scenes, but it picked up a lot. Loved the carpentry call back from Kevin: “Reverse carpentry! This is some next-level stuff.” Some of my favorite riffs were with the Coopers: “Mr. Cooper, won’t you hang with us?” “I’m Helen Cooper.” I loved all the rage sounds they made for Mr. Cooper. I also agree Mike had some killer riffs tonight!! Sweaty too-small t-shirt guy: “Why you always got a smile for me?” Girlfriend: “Dianetics!”
I am really interested to see Santa Claus vs the Martians, 3rd riffing version. Can’t wait!
Excellent show, and a step above and beyond the already-solid previous NOTLD riff. I brought a couple of Rifftrax virgins to see the show with me; needless to say, they loved it and have been converted to the riff-ness. Our theater was packed in Savannah, GA.
Sadly, a solid 5 minutes cut out at the beginning of the main feature, and staff had to turn it back on once they realized there was silence and a blank screen. Sucks that we missed a solid 5 minutes of riffing, but that’s what the VOD is for, right?
Sometimes there are raisins. Certainly not their best live show, but much better than the old DVD version. You’d think NotLD would be great for riffing, what with all the long breaks between dialogue, but something about slow, atmospheric horror doesn’t quite seem to gel with RiffTrax. (Carnival Of Souls has the same problem. I’d still like to see that one get the live treatment sometime though, if the fellas are up to challenge. Maybe next year?) Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, on the other hand, I believe to be a near-bottomless well of hilarity. That should be a side-splitter.
I was a bit surprised there weren’t more Obama riffs. I noticed the President’s strong resemblance to Ben back when he was first gaining national attention and I’m glad they pointed it out so I know I’m not the only one. I’m sure they don’t like to get political – and rightfully so – but man oh man, they even talk similarly. I sure wouldn’t have been able to resist making some kind of Affordable Zombie Care joke. They are truly strong Riffers indeed to resist the dark side of political humor.
And speaking of healthcare, for anyone at the showing in Paramus who might have been annoyed by the guy with the really deep, phlegmy cough… Sorry. I think I’m coming down with consumption. Fittingly, I think I now have a good idea how it feels to be the walking dead.
Oh, and that zombie Tom Servo? You win, sir or madam. Bravo.
I was there live in Nashville. As others have said, I didn’t think it was the best live show they’ve ever done. But, that being said, I still thought the show was really solid and a lot of fun. For me, the highlight was our ol’ buddy Norman! “Uhhhhhh…..”
Seemed to be an almost sold out show at the Lloyd Center 10 Cinemas in Portland, Oregon. Great crowd, the ladies behind me were having a laugh riot. Before the show I saw a guy with a jacket that had a MST logo back-patch. After the show, I saw a really old guy leaving; he had to be in his 70s. Awesome!
I really liked the show, the Norman short was great and the riffing of NOTLD seemed to come in waves; it’d be really funny, then die down a little, then get funny again, then die down, only to get really really funny. It was like a zombie!!
I love NOTLD, it’s one of my favorite horror movies and it’s a classic of the genre, so honestly, I was a bit worried I might not like this riff (I didn’t care for the Legend Films Mike solo track; never saw the other 3-riffers version). I thought they did a great job with the riffing, they pointed out some of the things I always noticed (like that non-boarded up window behind Ben!) and it didn’t really “ruin” the movie for me at all. In fact, seeing NOTLD on the big screen was awesome in itself!
The showing started early in our theater, I checked my phone and it started at 7:50, ten minutes early, literally right as we were grabbing our seats.
I liked this live show better than the House on Haunted Hill riff they did a few years ago, which is still probably my least fave so far.
I will most definitely be at the SCCTM show in December. Watching that MST’d movie is a holiday tradition for me, so that will be a treat.
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THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT SHOW, RIFFTRAX!
The theater in Springfield, Oregon was about 80-90% full. The movie does get off to a slow start, but once Barbara gets in the house and Ben shows up, the riffing picked up really well. Not quite the home run Starship Troopers was, but an evening with Rifftrax is always time well spent. I’ll be back in December.
“Barbara’s not here, Mrs. Torrance.”
/me blinks …
I thought this was next Thursday? Aw, man.
@18 (Joseph Klemm): Santa Claus tops out at 81 minutes (or that’s what Wikipedia tells me), so I would assume that it’ll be a two-short show, like House on Haunted Hill (75m), Reefer Madness (68m) and Manos (74m).
The other live shows had features over 90m, so they typically stick with one short at that length.
Two sold-out shows in Gotham’s Regal Cinemas in Union Square. The ‘cabbie won’t take you to Brooklyn’ riff brought the house down hard (it happens to me and my co-workers all the time :laugh: ), but the first 30 or so minutes of the movie were kind-of slow and plodding. Even with Judith O’Dea’s borderline-catatonic portrayal of Barbra, the dead spots and the cricket foley (which I hadn’t noticed before), “NOTLD” didn’t seem like a crappy-enough movie to merit the riffing treatment. But things picked-up considerably when Karl Haldman, AKA the “Rob” Corddry lookalike, and the ‘tool’ guy (LOL! :-D) showed up. Guess the more characters on-screen the better for the riffers to bounce jokes around. The ending of “NOTLD” is just too freaking disturbing for any riffing to have kept dead silence from overcoming my (and I’m sure most) theater, and the guys were wise to just throw a couple of softballs and then turn tail and run. At least the Norman shorts continue to kill it at the start of most recent Rifftrax Live shows. :inlove:
Memorable-to-me riffs:
(redneck sheriff boasting of ‘beating up’ the ghouls to TV reporter) ‘I can’t believe you’re standing there telling me that!’ (gigantic laughter)
‘Barbra, let’s step outside for a moment.’ (cocks shotgun)
‘I made a black friend!’ (POW!)
‘Dear daughter, as I lay dying besides you, remember… I loved this basement.’
‘It’s kind-of messed up they made him ride on the back.’
‘Mr. Cooper, won’t you hang out with us?’
‘No, that guy shot me, I’m so ashamed!’
Ben: I boarded all the windows; Mike: ‘Please ignore the window right behind me’
Not really looking forward to a third riffing treatment of “SCCTM” (how much blood is left to be squeezed from this cinematic rock?) but I’ll be there Thursday night. Too much fun to be had for me to miss one of these.
‘
I saw it (first one of these I’ve been to) in Lafayette, IN. The auditorium was at least half-full, maybe more. I think everyone enjoyed it and I absolutely did. I have the dvd with Mike Nelson solo commentary so I did have a point of comparison, and having three riffers is always better than one. One of the people there was dressed as a zombie and he even zombie-shuffled into the theater rather than just walk. The best moments by sheer volume of laughter, were the ‘beat them off’ line, and the honey boo-boo joke. I anticipated two of the lines, I thought the cranky guy looked like Rob Corddry and within seconds they made that reference. I really want to see SCCTM in December but probably won’t be able to because work will be in its busy season. Anyone who hasn’t been to one of these, I strongly encourage you to go.
I laughed! I cried! I kissed two hours goodbye! Seriously, I had a good time. Loved seeing that Crow and Tom were in attendance, at least onscreen. And was that Michael Stipe’s head in the front row? ;)
DVD talk has a review up already.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61917/rifftrax-live-night-of-the-living-dead/
I agree with most of the comments said so far.
San Diego was as large, if not larger, than the Starship Troopers show.
Which surprised me as that one had a greater fan connection.
We arrived 40 minutes early and had trouble finding good seats. Those who came 20 before the show were in the first few rows.
What also surprised me was the large number of people who were not familiar with Rifftrax OR MST3K. People who came to the movie cold.
I don’t know if they thought they were just going to see a horror classic, or they came because they were curious, but this was a first for a significant number of them, and not just “dates” of fans either. I was glad to see that as it means the fan base is expanding.
I disagree with those who said this was a less then stellar show. I thought Bill, Mike, and Kevin were firing on all cylinders. It did drag a bit toward the last third, but that is common in almost every production I have been to. A break in the film for a “host segment” might help avoid that.
The pre-show cards were good, but not up to the usual standards. None other than the Johnny Depp one that I would quote tomorrow morning. But it is always a pleasant and humorous way to warm the audience.
Odd that it was not the colorized version. I am not a big fan but legend Films has done a great job particularly on this title. Most B&W movies do better in the original format, but this one does just fine in color. Not sure why they chose not to use it.
Good laughs from “Bangs . . . .Bangs . . . . I mean your hairstyle. With that forehead . . .” and “Barbra, would you come back here a minute,” to “Rut? Rombies?!” I plan to buy this one if and when they offer it.
Nice “freebies” as well.
So my friend and I got to the Canton Cinema (michigan) say 7:10pm. Too early. They were running the starship troopers live riff with “sample content” along the bottom of the screen till just about 7:30- I saw from when the two guys have their fight (which leads to tatoos) thru where that reporter gets killed. It was a great bonus. I thought the normal short (short itself) was perhaps the weakest so far- still funny. Norbert! loved the updated NOTLD.
If anyone has the issue that detroit area theaters are too packed, the Canton cinema is 50-75% full at best- a lot of wiggle room. and REALLY comfy seats.
Well, they’re up to THREE theaters in Union Square in NYC! It won’t be long before they just close the place down for the night and put it on all the screens!
I laughed longer & harder than I did at Troopers, which was a very pleasant surprise. I don’t usually enjoy it when the Boys take on a classic, rather than a grade Z, movie, but NOTLD straddles the line between the two and they ran with it. I liked the opening “trivia” screens this time (Movie Mistakes! … Saw, Saw II, Saw III….), which I thought weren’t so hot for ST. It’s always funny how Mike, the religious conservative, always has the most pervy lines! Which he delivers with great relish, btw. I haven’t watched the “studio” 3 riffer version in a while but it did seem like they rewrote practically the whole thing, to much better effect.
I can’t believe they’re going back for another go at “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” I half expect Frank or Trace to come out onstage and beg them, for their own good, to just walk away.
To sum up, another great night of riffing madness. And we’re up to FOUR Norman shorts (including the b&w coming soon, which we got as a Kickstarter premium). How many of those things exist, anyway!?
Rell, Rye have to ro now. Rombies!
Great riffing as usual…70% of the theater was filled…had to sit next to one those guys who insists on making his own comments and sound effects…[sigh]…
Saw it at Cinemark In Manchester, CT in about a two thirds full theater. Overall, I thought Starship Troopers had way more laughs but, NOTLD is just so slow in the beginning that it took awhile for the good stuff to really kick in. The ongoing angry Mr. Cooper bit was hilarious as was the “I’m Helen Cooper” running gag. Biggest laughs here were Mikes “Rut , Rombies? “, Bills honey boo boo and the beating off Zombies lines. All in all, very good show and looking forward to December 5th!
AMC Hoffman in Alexandria, VA was pretty full. We walked in right as the Norman short was starting and the only open block of seats that was at all easy to get to was in the 2nd row. Thought it was funny, but not as hilarious as some of the others. It seems like these are getting more crowded, so I’m going to buy my tickets for the Dec. 5th show as soon as possible (I think they said they go on sale today).
I think that there are just 4 Norman shorts, that’s all that anyone’s ever been able to find, though there may be a fifth as “Krasner, Norman: Beloved Husband of Irma” may be the same as “Norman Krasner”, the one that came with the Kickstarter goodies.
My theater was at about 80-90% capacity, and slightly less than Starship Troopers. I thought it was very good and had a lot of good riffs in there.
Hollywood in Amarillo, Tx signing in here. It was pretty good size crowd tonight – about 80-85% full a bit less then Starship Troopers although I think that might have something to do with the fact that there is a lot of school functions going on this time of year so people are busy.
The movie was pretty good. I agree that it wasn’t the best, just a bit too dull and slow for the guys to really rip it up. Agreed that it got better once we go the Coopers and the other people in the movie. Still though I love these live shows, I only wish they would do more.
SCCTM will be a great live show. With that one being such a screwball movie it will do much better live.
We went to the Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI. Smaller crowd than I expected, but they were really into the show and laughed throughout. The character Norman is from Michigan by the way, not that I’m proud to be from the same state as him. In Welcome Back Norman his car has Michigan plates and he is at the Detroit Metro Airport. The movie riffing was fun and my favorite lines have all been mentioned already. I wonder if they trimmed the very end of the movie on purpose to save the audience from seeing the heroes final image on the body pile.
Looking forward to SCCTM in December.
Had a full house in San Diego at the AMC 20. It was my first Rifftrax Live show as well as Norman short. Loved the riff about his life being one big BEFORE segment of an infomercial. Funny how someone mentioned Mr. Bean above because that’s exactly who I thought of while watching. The filmmakers obviously thought they had the next big comedy icon on their hands.
Movie riff that got that best reaction in my group was when the zombies were chowing down on some flesh and Kevin says “At least they’re not Instagram-ing their meals!”
Line from the actual movie that got a huge response was the classic “Yeah they’re dead. They’re all messed up”.
I enjoyed it. Most likely will watch the next one. Part of me wishes that if they’re going to re-riff a Christmas movie it would be the K.Gordan Murray “Santa Claus” just to get Bill’s reactions since he wasn’t on the MST crew yet when it was originally done. I know they’ve done the shorts that take place in that same world so to do the movie would be a nice addition.
Half to 3/4 Full Theater in Arlington, Texas. Good response to most of the riffs. I think the Honey Boo Boo gag at the end was the biggest crowd pleaser. My personal favorite was the Zaphod Beeblebrox gag that got very little response and had Kevin give a raised fist salute to the audience.
One thing that’s driving me crazy, though – what is the name of “The Kilt Song” that played before the show? I can’t find it on Rifftrax.com or anywhere else!
Another great show. I feel like this is the 2nd Golden Age for MSTies.
I have a review at http://bit.ly/16AyE4H. Naturally, I compare riffs from the DVD and Live show. I also argue the “Norman Krasner” short is scarier than being surrounded by zombies. I’ll probably go to the holiday show, as long as they find some new strange Christmas shorts.
The only good thing that happened to Norman was he didn’t slice his jugular while shaving.
Alpharetta, Georgia theater was well into the 75+% full but I found the show less than stellar. I’ve never liked NOTLD but thought they could make it work.
How slow was it? I actually fell asleep. During the movie. Ok, my day started at 5am but still…. I am such a wuss.
I had hoped they’d redo “Santa Claus” (Mexican film), but I’ll take what I can get.
@35 – I can’t believe they’re going back for another go at “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” I half expect Frank or Trace to come out onstage and beg them, for their own good, to just walk away.
And if they don’t, the fans will:
Just watching the CT Martians on Amazon Prime now, and while even JTMF&J make a brave show of it, there’s little left to mine anymore. (The “Hanukah, too?” jokes were funny after a while, but they seemed to be all Josh had.) There’s nothing to beat that first gut reaction in the original.
But seriously–I know it’s from the PD well to mine from, but Mike, quit doing Manos and riff your OWN danged movies. At least CT tries to stay away from the ex-MST fairground-hits act once in a while.
(Funniest updated line in the CT was Joel saying “I used to think it was hilarious that Pia Zadora was in this and…now I can’t remember why?” I expect no such aging awareness in Mike’s version.)
Actually they should either use the Magic Christmas Tree plus those shorts made by the people that inflicted “Santa Claus” on us, or Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (although that option may be too painful). If only there was “Norman’s Christmas Eve”. Then again, Mike could create a new way of seeing that movie. We’ll see.
By the way, can anyone tweet Trace of TV’s Frank and warn them on what’s about to happen? Maybe that will get them to the show