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UPDATE: What’d You Think?

An open thread for your comments on tonight’s RiffTrax Live show. My quick overview: They pulled it off, and did it with style.

Update: Just a few thoughts:
I pretty much have the MST3K version of SCCTM memorized, having seen it probably more than any than any other episode. So I didn’t need to review it before seeing this. I DID, however, rewatch the Cinematic Titanic version (and I have to say that, on this viewing I didn’t like it quite as much as last time; though it’s very funny, I miss the live audience that makes the later shows so much fun). So I was ready to take note of any place where they borrowed riffs, and I think I can say for certain that they didn’t. But, in several places they DID do new riffs that were based on the same observation about the movie that previous riffers have noted. (Example: In the MST3K version, they observed that the Torg theme music was “the ‘Jeopardy’ theme in a minor key.” Last night they called it “Alex Trebek’s funeral music” and actually sang about four bars of how it would sound. Same observation, different variant of a joke, and, frankly, a funnier one.) But, frankly, on the third go-round, that’s almost unavoidable. Some of this movie’s crushing stupidity HAS to be mentioned, even if others have mentioned it before, using different words.

A few of the commenters have openly compared it to the MST3K version, and seem offended somehow that certain riffs from that version were missing, because they simply HAVE to be there. That, of course, is the inevitable downside of redoing a movie. It was the same when they redid “Manos.” For some of us, a certain moment of the movie will just cry out for somebody to say the riff that was done at the moment, and if you let that mindset take hold, then you are just going to be continuously disappointed for the entire show. I admit there were a few spots where I heard the MST3K riff in my head, but after a few minutes I let go of that and really just let myself laugh, which I did, a lot.

For the commenters asking about Bill: What happened was he flubbed a couple of lines. In one case, it was a REALLY long riff, maybe too long, because I think he just ran out of breath before he got to the end. Later, still stinging from that goof, he flubbed another line and, in his shame, dropped to his hands and knees and tried to slink off the stage, before being pulled back by Mike and Kevin. We love ya, Bill.

One bit I particularly liked was that SOMEBODY finally made the connection between the names Torg and Torgo. Of course, Manos came after SCCTM for MST3K, but I was amazed CT didn’t do it. (And by the way, in “Robot Holocaust” there’s an evil character named “Tork.” Somebody should do a linguistics paper on why that phoneme has such connotations of evil for script writers.) Yes, it was a big ol’ pander (which is maybe why CT avoided it). but I like those. I also liked the “Mr. B” callback during the short, which was really unavoidable.

One completely new observation I have to admit I had never noticed before, despite seeing this movie umpteen times, was the whole “C’mon, Betty! Wait, Betty!” thing. It set up a great running gag.

Oh, and can I just say that, seeing this on the big screen for the first time, WOW this is one weird mama-jama of a movie?

Fave riff from the short: “And…release the kraken.”
Fave riff from the movie: “Have a holly jolly ass-whoopin’!”

82 Replies to “UPDATE: What’d You Think?”

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  1. Dane says:

    At the AMC in Eden Prairie, MN (the motherland). Great show, hope they do another one next Febuly.

       4 likes

  2. JohnnyRyde says:

    Really great show. Riffing was solid.

    Maybe it’s because I’ve seen it so many times now, but I really, really hate SCCTM. Every sound, every image just irritates me. So painful.

       1 likes

  3. Candy Lion says:

    I laughed harder all throughout STARSHIP TROOPERS, but tonight was a lot of fun. The short was quite a find–truly wack-a-doo! It may give me nightmares…

       3 likes

  4. trickymutha says:

    About 90 strong here in Flint, MI. Amazed at tacky attention to detail in film itself- never realized how bad it really was until I saw it on the big screen. Lovely! The new riffs were great, a couple of laugh out loud moments I can’t even remember. Like spending a pleasant evening with old friends, laugh, love and feel real good. Thanks guys for a great time.

       4 likes

  5. Steve K says:

    It was good.

    One viewing isn’t enough for a good comparison, so I may revisit this opinion once they release it on VOD, but I think the CT version is still my favorite.

    However, I have to give special credit for the RiffTrax crew for making the one reference which has been stuck in my head every time I’ve watched any version since 1999 (obviously too late for MST to use it but CT has no excuse in my book.) Know what it is? If so, please don’t spoil it for the West Coasters.

       0 likes

  6. Sean says:

    I was there in Nashville. Treacherous getting up there in the pouring rain, but we made it just as the doors were opening, so we didn’t have to stand on the sidewalk long. There were two sets of Crow and Servo puppets – one Crow was a reindeer with a light-up red nose. The show itself was great. I was a bit concerned in the beginning because the trivia they show in the beginning was a bit glitchy, and the video feed seemed a bit wonky, but once Mike, Kevin and Bill paraded onstage, it was like all the technical flaws magically dissolved and they conquered the Martians AND Santa Claus!

    At the end of the show, when they proceeded to replay that godawful theme song, you may have heard someone shout “NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

    … Yes, that was me. And I’m not proud of it. My apologies.

    Looking forward to the next show!

       4 likes

  7. Ptomreeves says:

    Theater was almost full in New Brunswick, Nj. Thought they did a great job. Bill flubbed a few line but It was Probably funnier than what was originally written. Enjoyed how they kept reminding the characters that they were kidnapped.

       2 likes

  8. Gryphon says:

    I saw it in Huntsville, Alabama. Theater was maybe 60% full. Decent crowd on a rainy Thursday but much less packed than the last several RiffTrax shows here.

    I thought the show was as good as could be. The SCCM riffs were great but the short was the real sell here. Snoopy pulled off the impossible task of making Mr. B Natural seem calm and lethargic and the lion’s one line will likely pop up in later RiffTrax live shows.

       2 likes

  9. Mike Pipper says:

    I didn’t get to go, did they say when the next one is?

       0 likes

  10. DCD says:

    Bill? Honey? You okay?

    Wait, never mind, just sifted through the digital goodies pack. Poor son of, they Clockwork Oranged him.

    Bad rain in Atlanta but the feed kicked in fine while the slides were still playing. Short’s amazing, movie is the same dreary looney tune with the comedic timing of a fan belt. Couple of the gags a little familiar but I appreciate that rather than offering alternate takes in some openings they just let their idiocy stand, which also got some good laughs. Did that a lot in the short, too, at the beginning. Picking up on VOD eventually of course but knowing I have two more viewings of this turkey before the big day and 3 a year from now on…Am I hated, guys?

       1 likes

  11. big61al says:

    I too was at the Huntsville show. I thought the riffing was great. The short was just plain weird. Fun times!

       0 likes

  12. Speedy says:

    Loved the holiday music by Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm. This Christmas, Grandma cooked the dog.

       2 likes

  13. marcusvermilion says:

    Clifton, NJ AMC was jam packed in the raised seats but had a bunch of empties on the floor rows. Good crowd. That short! Um, Mr. B. Natural tells a Christmas tale involving Cheryl Lynn “Rainbeaux” Smith with a bad German accent :dazed: Yeah, that’s it! Oh, here’s a lesson: Lay off the Life Savers while watching the show! I nearly choked on a Wint-O-Green Lifesaver after that “Diabetus” riff! BTW, I don’t find anything wrong with Bill having a thing for Momar. After all, Paul Chaplin liked Jimmy’s lush mom from “I Accuse My Parents”!

       1 likes

  14. Joseph Nebus says:

    Somewhere around three-fifths of a full house at the Celebration Cinema in Lansing, Michigan, as I made it out. I half-hoped that there’d be a Norman At Christmas short but knew that was a long shot. The short they did have was great, though, and I’m delighted they had a Christmas short with some oddball fairy tale character behind it. There’s something inherently wonderful and weird in fairy tale characters from outside the usual rut since they get such oddball specialties like, well, Queen of the Snowflakes that Look Like Bees.

       0 likes

  15. dad1153 says:

    As usual, packed-to-sold-out twin theaters at NYC’s Union Square. I hate being the scrooge here since I laughed plenty and enjoyed both the short and the movie, but this was easily Rifftrax’s weakest show of the past couple of years. Remember how, in the short, they riff the fact the rag doll is made to look just different-enough from Raggedy Ann/Andy to avoid copyright infringement? Well, the problem riffing “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians” after the “MST3K” version is that both the Titans and Rifftrax gang have to step around the ‘Cha-cha-cha’ at the end of the theme song, the ‘You have got to be kidding me!’ when the polar bear appears, the ‘Spanish Inquisition’ riff when the martians enter Santa’s workshop, the ‘Died in Vietnam’ line when Santa’s face appears at the end, etc. with alternate jokes/riffs that just pale compared to the canonical (and still vastly superior) “MST3K” version. I need to rewatch this Rifftrax version alongside CT’s, but they’re both clearly threading water.

    That said, nothing like seeing the movie on a big screen (and the one at theater 4 in Union Square was HUGE!) to get absorbed in the just-plain awfulness of the movie and the way it sees and treats its intended audience as moronic brain-dead mouth breathers. Was anyone else just dying and waiting during the short for the callback to Mr. B Natural that didn’t come? I love it when the riffers, here or in CT, realize that silence is golden and letting the awful movie be it’s own joke works best. The first and last third of “SCCTM” were the weakest, and toward the end the ‘Santa/Lady Momar’ sexual innuendo jokes felt kind-of out of place but were the only thing regularly bringing in the big laughs. Mike’s riff that little Billy describing his sister as being eight ‘was all you need to know about her’ was priceless, a perfect summation of what a cipher character little Betty is. Dropo continues to be this movie’s nadir though, an empty hole of nothingness that is just thrown at the screen constantly.

    The middle-third of the film though, from when Chochem appears (‘Chinese restaurants full of Jews’) to when Santa arrives in Mars, was extremely well-paced and packed with some big laughs. The ‘Daniel Plainview’ martian jokes were thankfully kept to a minimum to maximize their impact, since Voldar is too good a bad movie character to reduce to one stereotype. Mike’s ‘the hell with them’ (the equivalent of “Starship Troopers'” ‘wedding vows’), Kevin’s ‘up yours!’ and the Alex Trebek funeral march brought the house down. And even though it got almost no laughs I loved Santa’s ‘So you’re the bad robot that makes all those awful TV shows’ line. Likewise, the ‘you used to hang around Fred Flintstone’ riff got almost no laughs but I loved it. And, of course, ‘Diabetes. :p

    Overall, even weak sauce live Rifftrax kicks lots of comedic ass. I got as much from “SCCTM” as I expected, and nothing beats laughing in a group at something we have laughed at in the privacy of our homes for almost 20 years now. Better luck next time with, hopefully, a better movie that hasn’t been mined for laughs three times already by roughly the same group of comedians.

       6 likes

  16. Smoothie of Great Power says:

    About half full in my regular theater tonight, which isn’t surprising as it’s been super cold and snowy here.

    I felt that the first act was a little slow (except for Chochum), but really started picking up with the “Lower landing legs!” moment.

    Two called riffs:
    “This pairing is still far more believable than any of the couples in Twilight.”
    “Oh God! I don’t even want to know what Droppo’s going to do with his finger!”

    And congrats to them on managing to only recycle three jokes from the other versions:

    In the CT version, Josh calls out the spoiler alert in the title.

    From the MST3K version:
    “Is this Alex Trebec’s funeral dirge?” is “Isn’t this the Jeopardy theme in a minor key?”
    “Invisible mistletoe! Mwawawawawa!” is “‘I LOVE you!’ ‘It’ll NEVER work!'”

       2 likes

  17. MSTJon says:

    In Westminster, CO. Theater that turned people away for Starship Troopers had maybe 40 people. No trivia until 7:00 when they displayed the DirecTV interface, trying to figure out what was going on. Then we got about seven slides of trivia before barreling into that terrible IGN trailer. I give the theater a D. They got the event (mostly) on the screen and little else.

    The short was fantastic. Personally, I think they could have hit the Mr. B angle a little harder, maybe show it at the next live show.

    The movie is what it is. I thought it started slow but after the first 15 minutes or so, it really took off. But as with every riffed version of SCCTM, I’m fidgety and ready to be done about half way through. For me personally, it may be unenjoyable no MATTER who riffs it. Some good laughs but not my favorite live event. Still, showing that Clean Comedians trailer before the show really makes you appreciate just how funny the guys really are.

    Funniest Riff: The first landing legs sequence. Still giggling.

       1 likes

  18. Trilaan says:

    The show was really great. I only wish the camera had been on the guys a couple times where something that was clearly funny happened.

       3 likes

  19. Doug says:

    I know they try not to put too many MST3K shout-outs in the live riffs, and they ones they had were great (especially the one involving Torg), but I kept waiting for someone to say “I’m huge!” when they showed Santa in the short. I also would’ve allowed the return of “Ed Sullivaaaan!” when Mrs. Claus realizes when she’s on TV, because Kevin’s timing on that in the original is PERFECT.

       0 likes

  20. Son of Bobo says:

    Lawrence, KS, not sure how many folks were there, but the back seemed rather full. Great disturbing short. The jack-in-the-box and the brownie are pure nightmare fuel. I agree that it seemed like a slow start, but it picked up big time and was lots of fun.
    I was surprised at the amount of political references, balanced though they may have been, it is unusual for this crew. Not complaining, just noting.
    Though I have seen the MST and CT versions many times, I never noticed Voldar watching what’s his name lower the landing legs so intently.
    Lots of fun, can’t wait til next years shows.

       4 likes

  21. Mibbitmaker says:

    There wasn’t a huge audience in Hadley, MA, compared to the heavily attended Manos (the only other live event I’d gone to, vs. seeing on Hulu). The audience there wasn’t generous with the laughs and applause, except a section at times. I got into the theater about 7:30 Eastern to see the trivia cards, with no technical glitches. They did start to repeat after a bit, but new (to me) ones got shown near the end of that part.

    I thought the show started a bit slow, but built up as the movie went on.On the short, “Snoopy” was like Mr. B Natural’s MORE spastic sister or something. Shortly after her name was revealed, I riffed under my breath, “I used to like ‘Peanuts’…”

    Nothing about the next live RiffTrax event, neither what nor when.

       0 likes

  22. Jason Babb says:

    Great show…Great time.. Saw it it Joliet, Il. Fans who can’t get enough should also try Incognito Cinema Warriors XP (icwxp.com).

       1 likes

  23. noplot says:

    About 80 percent full in Cedar Hills, outside of Portland, OR. Good crowd and a fun show; laughed out loud at several points. Those of us who are Sid Davis aficianados (don’t be ashamed to admit it) were delighted at the short, which combines Sid’s two key elements of filmmaking: a genuine desire to teach kids good lessons (as in his shorts like “Live and Learn”) and absolute rock-bottom budgets (supposedly many of his 1950s shorts cost around $1000 to make). I couldn’t place the accent on the Fairy Snow Queen either; something eastern European perhaps. My wife’s guessing German, but I heard some Scandinavian something-or-another in there. Maybe she, like most viewers, was just confused.

       1 likes

  24. Thetoxicone says:

    Sparse showing at the regal cinema in anchorage but the last day worth of freezing rain is most likely to blame

       0 likes

  25. hellokittee says:

    Kind of a weak turn out in our theater tonight (our best for any RT live event was probably Starship Troopers, I would estimate 75% full that night) but in all fairness it was in the low 40s out which is pretty damn cold for the San Francisco Bay Area (I know, we are weaklings).

    Enjoyed the new short, although honestly as poorly executed as it was, this is the type of film that would have made me cry as a kid. I mean, that’s pretty sad that the toys get to come to life only to be told “Sorry, some weird bad dancing fairy with a thick accent was just messing with you, going to take your souls back now!” I think I was just an overly sensitive kid (I also cried during “Immitation of Life” when I watched it with my mom as a kid)…

    As many times as I have seen SCCTM, I do think they added some fresh riffs and I enjoyed it overall. It was a bold move to choose it after both MST and CT did it, but it is kind of a classic for all of us at this point, so why not?

       3 likes

  26. Richard the Lion-footed says:

    Good show in San Diego with the theater 3/4 full. Quiet crowed, sort of low energy, but then again so was the show.
    It was good, but long periods of no riffing and I agree with the above comment that more of the guys on screen would have been better.

    The short was fun, but I was surprised that there was no Twilight Zone references as I am sure either this short inspired “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” or the other way around. The biggest audience laugh of the night was the “twilight” reference.

    No announcements about the next show, but I will be there.

       2 likes

  27. David Mello says:

    After seeing the two previous versions, the Rifftrax Live version was OK. Bill’s “interest” in Momar added a lot to the riffing, while Mike noticing Volmar looked a little too much like Daniel Plainview was a nice touch. I’ll likely revisit my other two versions sometime before Christmas.
    As for Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen, that was even more ridiculous, The FSQ was actually cute, but Snoopy, who made Mr. B Natural look like Clint Eastwood, was not. Let’s hope for a Riff-ier 2014

       2 likes

  28. Mr. B(ob) says:

    I went to the show at the Regal in Bowie, MD with a friend. The theater is never busy there for Rifftrax , but it has picked up a lot since the earlier days so there were enough people to keep it from feeling empty. Not the best Rifftrax Live, but it was a good show overall considering neither they nor Cinematic Titanic were ever going to top the brilliance of their first treatment of this film roughly twenty years ago. I thought the short and the riffing on it was great and the movie riffing took a while to get going, but once it did there were some great lines and more of them as the riffing got denser. I did notice some dead spots where I could hear the original MST3K version joke in my head during certain scenes and there was no joke at all as I guess if they couldn’t come up with a good line for those moments they avoided plagiarizing their own previous work by doing no joke at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the references to Mr. B Natural, Manos, and Gaylord. Some of the jokes in the second half of the movie were extremely funny. I’m glad I went to what was a very enjoyable show.

       1 likes

  29. MAX says:

    I was disappointed that there were no pre-event slides again and that the short was joined in progress. I’d think the technical glitches would be worked out by now, but every event I’ve attended has been marred by technical blunders. Rifftrax really needs to get their act together.

       0 likes

  30. Dirk Diggler says:

    AMC in Paramus, NJ was 90% full on a rainy night; I had to drive 60 miles from upstate NY to get there. At 46 I felt very old with all the 20somehtings in attendance;) The riff about NJ accents didn’t go over very well, but this NYer laughed out load! The biggest audience response was from the “Chinese restaurants full of Jews” riff. I think they should of squeezed in another short at the very end. But a good time was had!

       4 likes

  31. Joike1013 says:

    For me the Two and a Half men riff made it all worth it :)

       3 likes

  32. cityofvoltz says:

    Canton Cinema. Canton MI, maybe half full tops, way more folks for NOTLD and Starship Troopers. The extra wiggleroom is enjoyable though. All I can think of is that oversize jack in the box and his dumb- double-triple comments- pre-slides were good. sample footage from NOTLD 20 minutes before the slides was also good;) I definitely enjoyed the feature but for me the short took first prize

       0 likes

  33. Creeping-Death says:

    @ #5 Steve K: I couldn’t think of anything offhand.

    It was surprisingly empty this time, maybe 50-60% full, the last few had been about 90%+ full. I really enjoyed it and the short was thoroughly bizarre, with Santa hopped up on Quaaludes and Mr. B Natural lite.

       0 likes

  34. hortense says:

    First a question, what happened to Bill when he disappeared from the screen briefly?

    Really enjoyed the show; about 2/3 filled in Columbia, MD a few more than NOTLD. I really, really hate that movie though. It occurred to me that I must have never finished the MST version, because I don’t remember the ending or even the last half hour. Loved the short, riffs were good throughout, maybe a little bit funnier than NOTLD.

       0 likes

  35. 3/4 full theater in Plymouth Meeting, PA just outside Philly. Good show! Really enjoyed the short, and there were several new riffs that I enjoyed in the main feature. Seeing Tom and Crow in the audience at the end coupled with the Turkey Day events makes me want a MST3K reunion show baaaaaaad.

       3 likes

  36. Sitting Duck says:

    Virginia Center 20 in Glen Allen was about three-quarters full. Loved the reminder for everyone to switch off their cell phones.

    I think they overplayed the poor diction of the Snow Faerie Queen in their introduction. While there were a couple of points where it was difficult to make out what she was saying, for the most part I understood her.

    @ #15: There was a mention of Mr. B Natural near the beginning of the short.

    @ #29: Our theater started it just fine with a segment from the Night of the Living Dead live show. So it’s likely that the theater you’re at is screwing things up at their end.

       1 likes

  37. Zee says:

    This was probably the smallest audience I saw a Rifftrax Live with, but the weather was pretty crappy. I saw in in State College, PA. The crowd was really into it though. The insane short was the highpoint of the evening and everyone was laughing like crazy. There were some moments at the beginning on SCCTM where you could hear people whispering riffs from the MST3K version (“Get the hell out of my shop!”)

       3 likes

  38. Wes says:

    Sparse attendance at the Cinnemark Sam’s Town in freezing Las Vegas. The short had the house roaring. Not a big fan of SCCTM but it was a blast.

       1 likes

  39. Big Mclarge Huge says:

    Great showing at the Regal 16 in Egan Mn (the mother land)
    Sitting here on Friday morning, my reflection on the nights’ riff was Meh. The sex innuendo jokes were too many if you ask me. Seemed like this was a rush job and the boys only went after the low hanging fruit as far jokes are concerned.
    However… My reflections may be skewed do to the most annoying person I have ever met sitting behind me at the theatre. Sitting alone, this man-boy felt like it was his duty to talk back to the screen as if they could hear him. I get it, you’ve seen MST3k and want everyone know you “get” the jokes. Also, laughing at every single riff like it was the funniest thing ever gets old. For god’s sake man, you laughed yourself out of breath while choking on the popcorn you were shoveling into your pie-hole.
    Yes I’m casting stones even tough i’ve sinned, but this guy wrecked my night.

       2 likes

  40. KidFlash25 says:

    Cinemark Tinseltown 16 in Rochester, NY. At least 75% full.

    Having never seen the MST3k version (I know, I know), this was a riot. The movie was funny, but the real winner was the short. I whispered over to the buddy I was with once Snoopy got going: ‘huh, guess they actually did have cocaine in the 40s.’

    My friend and I were disappointed that there was no announcement of a Best Of rebroadcast next month.

    Oh, also. We sat in front of a group of people who didn’t appreciate the digs at Jingle All The Way in the slides. Look, you guys may have been kids when it came out 17 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it was actually, y’know, GOOD.

       2 likes

  41. schippers says:

    Like others have said, a slow start. Jokes from the Cinematic Titanic riff kept popping up in my head during the fairly long pauses early on.

    Other nit – the audience-pandering jokes, like the lame Twilight one (sorry, it wasn’t funny) and the Torgo joke.

    BUT, once we get to Chochem, it really picks up and had me laughing quite a few times. Jews in Chinese restaurants indeed.

       0 likes

  42. Big Daddy HG says:

    Charlotte, NC the theater was about 3/4 full with a very good crowd.

    Great show!! Fav riff “Come on kids the meth isn’t going to cook itself” LMFAO!!!

    Runner up from the short calling the Raggedy Ann rip off “Wendy’s mascot reject”

    Comedy gold all night long!!

       2 likes

  43. Mr. B(ob) says:

    @#29: That “glitch” is caused by your local theater failing to turn on the satellite feed in time for you to see the pre-show slides. It happened once at a theater where I am as well a few years ago in Bowie, MD. It has nothing to do with the people at Rifftrax. The rest of us mostly saw the show just fine.

    If this has happened to you multiple times then you might want to either talk to the theater management to ensure they turn the satellite feed on at least a half-hour before show time or try watching it at a different theater.

    I always get to the theater a bit earlier than show-time and I can tell you if I ever again see that the pre-show slides are not running when they should be I’d say something immediately. Fathom Events runs test material even before the pre-show slides start to ensure the feed is working from their end. If you’re not seeing that at your local theater they need to be spoken to immediately so that you don’t miss the show.

       5 likes

  44. CaveDweller says:

    I was in the front row in Nashville again. Being outside the theater for 4 hours in the cold and rain SUCKED!! But, it was worth it. Thank goodness for umbrellas! There were a lot of technical problems before the show started. It seemed as though they were having trouble getting the pre-show slides to work right. They did work, but there were glitches. Also, literally 5 minutes before the show started, the production crew were scrambling to change one of their monitors in front of them. The show itself was a laugh riot though. Again, I won’t go so far as to say it was the best live show ever, but it was still so much fun. It’s amazing that there are things about that movie I had never noticed, like Voldar staring at the other martian pulling the landing leg levers. The highlight of the show though for me, was Candy Lion!!! HA HA HA!!!!! It was a really fun night.

       3 likes

  45. ready4sumfootball says:

    I was in Conway, AR. It was a smaller crowd than usual, probably because of the weather concerns, but there were people there.

    We didn’t get to see the pre-show slides or anything. In fact it was past 7:00 CST and they hadn’t even turned the projector on. Eventually they turned it on with a bit of a delay going, so we didn’t miss anything from the actual show. But the picture was pretty badly stretched out through the show and they never fixed it. Not bad enough to ruin it, but it was still noticeable. So that was how it was here: unusual venue troubles.

    As for the riffing, it felt pretty workshop to me. Not as polished as the past two outings for this particular movie, but it worked. It may have something to do with the fact that we’ve already seen this movie twice before, and so my head was already full of riffs that I was missing. But it was a good time. SCCTM really is a perfect movie to do this with.

       1 likes

  46. Mnenoch says:

    About 40% full in Amarillo. I blame the cold weather and that we were supposed to get a lot of snow yesterday that didn’t end up coming.

    Anyways for the show it was pretty good. The short was all sorts of insane but it seems that they didn’t riff on it as nearly as much as they could have. SCCTM was pretty funny although I still think the original MST3K version is the best. I did like all the comments about the military stock footage and the fact they were kidnapped. Good stuff over all. I just wish they would do more of them!

       2 likes

  47. mst3ktemple says:

    Good, but not great sized crowd at Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI. Very enthusiastic though. Loved the short. Hard to believe someone thought that was a good idea to ever create. Excellent reiffing of the movie too. It was a little hard not to hear the MST version in my head though. I sincerely hope Bill is OK.

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  48. Kenneth Morgan says:

    Good-sized crowd at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ.

    I was the first one in the theater and saw the twenty-or-so minutes of the NOTLD show they used for test footage. The pre-show title cards were funny; I think the song that got the best reaction was “Grandma’s Christmas Dinner”.

    I wasn’t sure if they could get a third riffing out of SCCTM, but they did a good job. Probably the biggest laugh (other than the one for Bill’s blown line) was the one about the landing legs, and Voldar’s interest. As for the short, I just watched and kept saying, “Oh, my goodness.” That was just odd. And I really wonder if the filmmakers had ever heard of Mr. B, because Snoopy was just too close for it to be accidental.

    One more observation for movie buffs: Am I right that the control panel for Santa’s toy-making machine was previously used as the fault locator panel in the original “Fail-Safe”?

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  49. David Mello says:

    I wrote a review of last night’s Rifftrax Live. You can find it at…http://impalergeneral.blogspot.com/2013/12/rifftrax-vs-santa-final-chapter-please.html

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  50. Erik at RiffTrax says:

    @MAX (#29) “Rifftrax really needs to get their act together.”

    It’s not us, it’s you(r theater). The feed was going out fine to theaters all over the country, but yours messed things up. Your best bet is to contact your theater’s manager and let them know about your poor experience. You might also let Fathom Events know that this theater has repeatedly screwed up your showings. There is only so much we can do remotely; the show is only as good as the people at the theater who are running the projection system.

       10 likes

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