As always, we ask folks in the western half of the country to avert their eyes until after their time-delayed show, and for folks in the eastern half to go easy on the spoilers, or at least wait till after 11 p.m. eastern, when the westcoasters will be safely in the theater. And if you’re planning to see the repeat showing next week, well, just skip this thread altogether until then, I guess.
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RiffTrax Live: Your Thoughts?An open thread for your thoughts on tonight’s show.
81 Replies to “RiffTrax Live: Your Thoughts?”Commenting at Satellite News
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Much better movie for them than Godzilla. Plenty of bizarre things to riff on. I had a blast!
The AMC in Hamilton, NJ was only about a third full this time, but it was a much better show overall than Godzilla. The biggest improvement for me was the sound mix. I never once lost track of the riffers in the walls of noise that define blockbuster movies. At about 90 minutes, Anaconda was a much better choice for riffing, making the overall show just the right length in my opinion. Great job, guys.
Plus, I got to hear my Kickstarter song, “Where the Hell Are You”, twice! Thanks again, Kevin!
Oh, for fun.
Agreed, a good rebound. A 90 minute feature is key. It certainly helps that this movie is fun, as opposed to Emmerich’s irredeemable slog.
The AMC in Clifton, NJ was roughly 2/3 to 3/4 full. Yes, much better than “Godzilla”. I thought Bill would have a stroke during that sequence with the reversed waterfall!
One riff that I was hoping would be in there was during the panther strangulation scene: “No, they just announced my movie!”
Definitely better than Godzilla. The short was great–even making call-backs to Bill being terrified of jumping dogs in the “Overcoming Fear” short. And the movie had almost too much stuff to mine for comedy. Plus, Jennifer Lawrence!
Hollywood 16 in Amarillo, TX was around 1/3 full. The lowest turn out I’ve seen here, I’m guessing that it being the night right next to Halloween most people didn’t want to go out twice in a row.
The show itself was a blast. The guys were really on in their riffing tonight and Anaconda provided really good material for them to work on. The two shorts were quick and funny so overall a great show. Looking forward to Dec 4th!
I’m always a little nervous to see how these shows will work out, and the first few minutes always feel a bit hectic. I felt like the guys were rolling with the punches quite well though, ad-libbing some good stuff to begin with. The Lawrence/Lopez flub is classic Bill, so much so that you might think there was some planning involved. The short, while appropriate, was a little too short and there were a few too many blank spots. The NatGeo preview was a perfect segue, though.
As for the movie, I had never seen Anaconda before, but I knew that it was perfect for riffing. It’s silly, stupid, and even puzzling at times, but never really irritating like Godzilla can be. The jokes came fast and furious, and there were many more hits than misses. There were a few more “stingers” than usual, jokes that cut to the quick regarding someone’s career or personal life, but that wasn’t a big distraction. It was a great show overall.
That song was freaking hilarious! I’d buy that for download.
So, what was the joke that won the contest?
The show was nearly full in Burlington, MA. The hits were really strong and I agree with the others who say that 90 minutes is a good length for a show. And I’m fairly sure that the Jon Voight wink near the end of the movie will be in my nightmares tonight….thanks guys.
I thought the short was hilarious, but I really like all of their short riffs.
To paraphrase our famous football coach in New England, “On to Santa Claus”!
THE #1 annoying thing about tonight’s show was the audio for bill, kevin and mike. It was way way WAY up. Blasting! All through the show. Every time they spoke, it was like it scored a 12 on the 1-10 volume meter! This was in the Milford, Ct. theater. I wanted to go ask an usher to see if they could do something about it but I just sat there in frustration. Everyone else sat there too without getting up so apparently it didn’t bother them. Or, they suffered through it like me. As for the show: the songs during the pre-show trivia I didn’t like. The Rifftrax theme I didn’t like. I DID like the Halloween short. Not so much the next short. I agree with everyone so far that thought Anaconda was a good movie for them and they did a good job. Mike, was it Mike?, does a great Owen Wilson impression. Looking forward to something more my speed with Santa Claus in December.
Very loud show! I’m thankful I had a pair of earplugs with me (I was still able to hear perfectly clearly with them in).
Perfect movie for them. I actually wish it had gone on longer–it was so loony that it never over-stayed its welcome. Couldn’t Jon Voight have come back one more time after losing his eye to the snake? Maybe they were leaving room for a sequel? eh…
And for the record, I too would rather have a cap in my ass than a fish up my ****.
AMC 18 in Eden Prairie, MN checking in!
I’d guess half full or less. No one really huge laugh line, but consistently funny riffing throughout. The audio was way too loud, but I improvised a pair of earplugs from napkins and got the volume just perfect. All in all, a great evening’s entertainment!
Great show! The Lennox 24 in Columbus, OH, was only about 1/4 to 1/3 full, but I blame that on my city’s ridiculous insistence on having Beggar’s Night (trick-or-treating) on just about any night other than Halloween. This year it was held tonight, so I’m sure lots of people were busy with their kids doing that. Hopefully they’ll get to catch the Tuesday re-broadcast because it was a good time. The shorts at the beginning are always a nice warm-up and I agree with everyone who’s already said the shorter length and goofiness of the feature make it perfect Rifftrax fodder. Finally the sound balance was right, and both the movie and the riffers were clear and loud enough. Strangely, during the pre-show slides, we could hear the audience in the Carolina theater laughing at the jokes, but during the show we almost never heard them laughing. It did make it a little strange, like the riffs were falling flat, though I’m sure they weren’t. Kind of missed the momentum of the crowd, but it was still a lot of fun!
I missed Godzilla, so I was excited to see Anaconda tonight. We really enjoyed the show!
The audience was smaller than the last live event I attended, but it sounds like some people weren’t thrilled with Godzilla. My only complaint from the show was when Kevin spoiled the scariness of the dog in the introduction of Halloween Party.
So many great moments! Some of my favorites: the Jimmy “J.J.” Walker riff, and at the guys for calling me out for laughing; Owen Wilson’s last bit of bubbled dialogue; and “Got my lunch monkey!”
I too had not seen Anaconda before, but WOW! Could they have picked a better movie to riff? This movie is not good, but it would be far from unwatchable on its own due to how silly it is. And the riffs showed them at the top of their game too. All in all, this was a blast and probably the best Rifftrax Live experience so far.
“Hello, Jennifer Lopez.” “Hello, fake Jennifer Lopez.” Such a funny riff because for the first 20 minutes or so I could not figure out which one was the real Lopez. She’s been out of the spotlight so long I’ve kind of forgotten what she looks like.
Can someone please explain to me WHY Jon Voight was evil? I could not figure out a motive for his character at all.
P.S. I was thinking during the show how much this movie is on a Twister level of cheesiness, and now I really want to see them take on Twister. If any of the Rifftrax guys are reading, consider that my vote for a live show next year.
I went to see it at the AMC Orange Park 24, just outside of Jacksonville. Which was a problem, because they weren’t showing it there. :( They were supposed to show it there, and I’d bought an advance ticket to see it there, but apparently their projector crapped out and they had to cancel the show. They offered me a refund, which I accepted, and the chance to see another movie for free that night, which I turned down. The only movie I wanted to see was Rifftrax Anaconda. Fortunately, there was another theatre showing it about 10 miles away, so I got in my car and drove as fast as I could (legally) to get there. Once I got to the Regal Cinema at the Avenues and got settled in, I’d missed the short. Guess I’ll have to go to the repeat showing to catch that.
However, I got there in time to see the Total Riff Off preview, which was awesome. Can’t wait to see that when the full length version is shown on Nat Geo! And the movie was a great choice, much better than Godzilla. The length was perfect, and there were plenty of openings for riffs. Yes, the volume was up high, but I didn’t think it was much louder than pretty much every other movie these days. It didn’t bother me, but I had earplugs I could have used if it had. I’m not sure how full the theatre was, since I got there after the lights went down, but it seemed relatively full to me. I wonder how many people came from the AMC OP 24 to get there.
I always like to see as much of the riffers as I can, so I would have liked more cutaways to Mike, Kevin, and Bill, but there seemed to be a good number of them. I know not everyone feels that way, but it seemed to me like they struck a good balance on that.
I’m trying not to give away spoilers, but I’m REALLY glad they had the callback to the Demon Bat Guy. I saw an unriffed version of the film a few weeks ago to make sure I could make it through (I have a VERY low tolerance for violence), and as soon as I saw the British guy on the boat I thought of Mr. Demon Bat.
In short, if you missed this showing, I highly recommend catching the repeat on Tuesday. As usual, they did a great job. :)
I also understood that Jimmy “J.J.” Walker riff and I nodded my head and mumbled, “Yep, I’m an old geezer!”
It’s an 80s slasher movie with a 90s blockbuster budget and bad CGI effects. And the only scary thing was that wink. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?
AMC Va. Beach, maybe 70% full. Volume WAS pretty high, but I’ll take that over it being too low or bad normalization, which was no issue whatsoever (pretty impressive for a live show, honestly). Did not see napkin earplugs but that’s a truly ingenious move, up there with self-reassembling fish.
They did the typical stand-up shout out to the local crowd (Durham, NC) but didn’t really touch much on it being a nationwide simulcast… that combined with the pre-fabbed end credits disappointed me into thinking it was all pre-taped! Obviously not actually the case.
Solid riff overall, very cool change of pace from watching them at home. Didn’t succumb as some do to a weaker end strech. Sounds like maybe that was an issue with Godzilla? According to Wikipedia there is a documented case of a sweet Candiru gettin’ up a urethra, always good information to have. Song was an unexpected treat. BTW OP, just watched Day the Earth Froze Still and Sampo is now a household shorthand for any mention of flour, gold, salt, or failure.
AFFA(#14),I was at the Carolina Theatre in Durham tonight and we were all laughing. Torgo and the Master even showed up!(Yes, I had to explain to my grown, but MST3K novice, daughter just who in the hell those guys were supposed to be.)
Saw it tonight at the Regal Hollywood 14 in beautiful (it’s not beautiful) suburban (it’s not suburban) Topeka and had a blast. It was only about half full this time, maybe a little under half, which is the smallest crowd I’ve seen there. I don’t know if it was Godzilla fatigue or because it’s Halloween but I suspect the latter; the usual crowds we run into after the show weren’t out tonight, either.
The mix was really, really loud, to the point that the front right speakers were distorting, especially on Kevin. But this was the absolute best movie they could have riffed, it was fantastic. I thought a couple riffs about Ice Cube were a little questionable, but that was more a product of the film itself, I think — as the guys pointed out, this IS a film that thinks a black guy from LA would be freaked out at the thought of eating wild boar, as though no one in California eats pork.
My husband and I are huge Werner Herzog fans so the Werner riffs made us laugh a little too hard, to the point that people looked at us. Sorry, Topeka!
Poor dweeby Owen Wilson. It’s just common se*blub-blub-blub*
Fave riff was the Replacements’ “Gary’s Got a Boner” reference. I’m sure anyone from Minnesota appreciated that one. Bravo Kevin!
For the first time since I’ve attended these for the past few years the Union Square 14 theater in NYC wasn’t sold out (usually they pack two theaters to capacity). It was the first time I could actually hear the audience at the theater where they’re doing the live show from reacting to the jokes; in previous live shows the roaring and laughter from our own theater drowned out everything but the riffs. Oh well, a combination of bad timing (lots of pre-Halloween parties on Thursday) and “Godzilla” fatigue I presume. Shame, because this was one of their most enjoyable and consistently funny live shows to date. The opening short was sweet and, yes Kevin, the dad did look an awful lot like young Insp. Clouseau from the early “Pink Panther” flicks. When that dog started jumping over those kids I nearly lost it, so got damn ridiculous. The NatGeo preview was OK but I’m not thrilled to pay to see something I can watch for “free” on TV in a couple of months. Oh well, nice segueway (and callback fodder with the ‘ancient female scarecrow’ and ‘annoying NatGeo dude’ lines)
I’d never seen “Anaconda” before (heard about it though) and it was a treat, as with “Sharknado” earlier this year, to have riff masters guiding me through it the first time. The one joke that killed in our theater was the too-obvious ‘water is going up!’ pointing out, which if you’ve seen the movie already you know it’s coming but for noobs like me was a freaking scream. Haven’t laughed so hard in months. With so many recognizable names, cheesy effects and Jon Voight putting on a show (say what you want, but the man made a choice, stuck to it and walked away with the most memorable lines and screen presence) it was like shooting snakes in a barrel for the guys to just point out the obvious. Loved the whole Eric Stoltz ‘let’s get you out of this movie again, dear, let some real stars handle this’ lines, so obvious they either didn’t have Eric for most of the shoot or cut his part severely. Bill’s ‘Jennifer Lawrence’ flub was so funny it even made it to the closing credits montage. ‘No, John, don’t improvise, stick to the script!’ when Voight kissed Lopez was a riot. The whole ‘speaking of quick flashes, zip, PLOP! [audience gasps] I’m sorry!’ thing was both so dirty and full of mischief that I laughed myself silly. Ice Cube was OK, but here the jokes got to be so cliche and predictable (yes, a rapper in the jungle, har, har) they even made the low-hanging fruit that were the Owen Wilson jokes (‘they’re both imagining they’re making out with Wes Anderson’) seem like “Breakind Bad.”
My one major criticism of the live show was that they cut to the split-screen with the trio at the wrong moment during the climactic moment of the movie, when Voight is you-know-what and does the thing with the other thing (you know). That peak of crazy should have had the whole screen to itself, and instead we got a small portion. Oh, well, still a fine show and glad to see we’re back to old movies for the December show. I’m so over the newer, Kickstarter-driven Hollywood movies we’ve had the last couple of years. Old stuff like “Santa Claus,” please.
My wife and I had a great time. And although I haven’t experienced either, I too would prefer “a cap in the ass over a fish in the dick any day” too.
Even if it was a baseball cap.
That about says it for me. The Godzilla riiff was, of course, hilarious, but there came a point where the movie wore out its welcome, and the riffers were along for the ride. This was the ideal length, there was even time for a rioutous short. Plus the movie is soooo stuuuuuupid, instead of intentionally inane, which helps.
Oh, and in my theater I thought the audio level was great. Not too soft, not too loud.
The theater was about half full and people seemed to be enjoying it.
A few notes I jotted in the dark:
* “Where the Hell are you?” is terrific.
* The NatGeo preview looked promising.
* What, no avatar in the goodies of Shep the dog?
* I am definitely going as a lady scarecrow next year.
* MST3K callbacks: Boggy Creek, “I’m going to sink this bitch.” There was also a “The Room” callback.
* There were some great movie goof catches, including the world’s toughest fish and the backwards waterfall.
* Fave riffs: “ZZZZZZIP! FLOP!” Honorable mention: “There’s no good thing the rest of him could be doing.”
What if it was a baseball cap on the head of old timey baseball hall of famer Cap Anson?
Yowser.
Oh, man, this show was great. I’d remembered Anaconda being cheesy, of course, but in a fun, tongue-in-cheek sort of way, like Lake Placid or Deep Blue Sea. I did not remember it being this downright stupid and awful. And I didn’t remember that Owen Wilson was in it, either. It provided a perfect movie for the guys to tear apart. Bill got some downright doozies in this one, from mixing up J-Lo and JLaw, to the groan-inducing “Male flashes” line. It was great.
Don’t forget “Voight-keeba!”
The line of the night for me was Eric Stoltz’s reminder to pack bug spray to combat “McFlys.”
I was really surprised at the turnout at the Cinemark in Merriam, KS. Most of the shows have been nearly (if not completely) sold out, but the theater wasn’t even 1/4 full this time. Too bad for them, since this was by far the funniest Rifftrax Live this year!
I guess the motivation was greed. Since he had it in his head capturing a live giant anaconda was work millions (not sure how he planned to sedate, maintain sedation and transport it especially without fuel) he was just acting on that greed.
Now here’s my question: During the short they called back the “high school after high school” riff. I’m trying to remember where that came from. It was some MST short but I just don’t remember which one. Can anybody help me out?
That was in “The Home Economics Story”–and it was said about Iowa State.
Would a candiru be considered a dickweed?
DICKWEED!
My wife and I went last night, this was the first “Rifftrax Live” event we’ve ever been to! Awesome show! The theater was 80% full, I would say.
I’ve never seen Anaconda before, so I was actually sitting there at times saying aloud “Oh man, what happens next to these people?!?” to which my wife (who apparently has seen Anaconda 80 times) just laughed at me.
The volume was insanely too loud at first, during the shorts, though about 5 minutes into the movie, they turned down the volume – too low, I might add. If I can hear the quiet moments in my own theater’s audience, then it’s become too hard to hear the movie and the riffers on the screen. Thankfully, they finally adjusted the volume again (about 20 minutes later) and after that, it was JUST RIGHT.
So what everyone is saying is I should have see the live show instead of going to see John Carpenter’s Halloween?? Crap. Guess I’ll be catching the rebroadcast Tuesday
I’d seen the last 10-15 minutes of this movie on cable years ago (I’d flipped onto it just before the esophagus-cam shot), so this was my first time to see the whole thing, and add me to the chorus of saying this was the perfect length and perfect movie for live riffing.
Having seen all of the previous live riffs, I think there were more riffs that made you got “oooooh” than before. In addition to the previously mentioned “zip – flop” and “there’s nothing good the rest of him could be doing”, the “Grizzly Man” reference made me think “Whoah!” I don’t think they overdid it; there just seemed to be more of those types than before.
Favorite riff – after the dam was blown up (and yes, I did get the J.J. Walker reference; took me a second, just in time for my old geezer-dom to be confirmed) and the boat was covered with snakes, much to Ice Cube’s chagrin: “A black man complains about snakes on his mode of transportation – what will Hollywood think of next?”
Where can I find this song for download? What is the story behind it? Thanks.
I saw it at the Century Rio 24 in Albuquerque – the theater was about half full, based on the number of cars in the parking lot it was probably the most attended movie of the night among their 24 theaters. I agree with the others who said the volume was too loud at the beginning; about half way through, either I finally adjusted or they turned it down a little. Great movie to riff on, most of the riffs mentioned above were big hits in ABQ too. I always love to catch the editing flubs, and the waterfall and indestructible fish were fun, but the guys missed another one – Ice Cube left his incredibly expensive video camera in the first shack to help Jon Voight move something while Mateo gets eaten. No one apparently wonders where that camera went. The NatGeo preview looks great, with Demon Bat Guy aka Demon Snake Guy. Favorite riff was either The Room callback, or Jon Voight’s “Llllllladies!”
#39: Actually, if you listen really closely, they ADR’ed in a line about Ice Cube putting his video camera in the metal chest they were hauling from that ship… which means that they caught that error during the production but NOT the reverse waterfall. And come to think of it, do we even see that metal chest again?
#40 – yeah, what was up with that metal chest? Voight sez something like it’s “treasure,” but what was it meant to be? Snake catching equipment? A real puzzler.
Oh my God, thank you, Jon Voight, for being in this movie. Without you, it would be nothing. With you, it is sublime.
Let’s talk sexual politics for a minute – I interpret Kari Wuhrer’s character (you know, the hysterical girlfriend of Owen Wilson) as being in the movie because the producers worried that Jennifer Lopez wasn’t offering enough va-va-voom. Does that reflect late-1990s dismissal of Latina beauty? That her breasts aren’t big enough? Cuz that character offers nothing else for the movie except to add to the body count (although since she’s not offed by the snake, even THAT should be counted as a failure).
The riffers’ audio was WAY too loud. For God’s sake, they’ve had SO MANY TRIES to get the audio issues worked out. Can’t you guys get it right for once?
Finally, I enjoyed this one more than the slog that was Godzilla. It was not, like, packed with hilarious jokes, but there were enough good ones, and the movie was stupidly entertaining enough, to make it a good evening.
Our theater in San Mateo, CA (home of Rod and Natalie from Birdemic’s alma mater, San Mateo High School!) was probably the emptiest it has been for any of the shows recently, I would say my husband and I were among about 25 people maybe. Enjoyed the show, but my favorite this year is still Sharknado. I thought the short was hilarious and the movie was just dreadful (was the monkey that the snake spits out one of those sock monkeys?!?). I still prefer the older B movie types that they do for their VOD’s to movies like this or Godzilla or Starship Troopers, but I do get that maybe movies like this may bring in a bigger audience of newcomers to the Rifftrax concept.
I went to a theater in Henderson, NV — Sam’s Town — and the download was cut off soon after dynamiting the dam, so we got refund tickets. I’m going to use mine Tuesday, but in case it doesn’t work again, will this one be released on home video??
I agree with the chorus. A major upgrade over Godzilla, but then again, gazing into the sun would have been preferable to that studio driven snooze fest. In contrast, Anaconda is almost a perfect specimen of ’90s exploitation monster schlock; quick, sleazy, cheap, fast and cheekily self aware without being overly smug. Jon Voight’s insane performance alone is worth the price of admission, and the rubber snakes and wooden Ice Cube/J-Lo acting all make this a flick that would be enjoyable without the riffs.
In fact, I think the movie was so entertaining that the Riffers were often pressing too hard. It’s cool fellas, we all know how smart you are, we bought tickets. You can leave some space between jokes now and then, we’ll all live.
Movies like this and Starship Troopers, with so many familiar faces and big, dumb special effects sequences do work really well for the live format, as they provide huge, easily digestible laughs, though personally I think the easier targets make the overall creativity of the riffs dip a bit. Of course when a script is intentionally stupid, as with the constant fuel debates in Anaconda, then you have to attack it, and I think they did that very effectively.
Fave riff: “Let’s stick a Slim Jim in his trach hole and see what happens”.
The audio mix was ear shatteringly loud. Like heavy metal concert loud.
Crowd at the AMC Forum Sterling Heights was a bit smaller than average, though I think Halloween/the lousiness of Godzilla played a role.
Not likely. These big budget movies they have to license to date have not included home video rights. Since they have all (including this one) been Sony films I doubt this will be any different.
While it wasn’t my favorite, another fun night with the Riffers. It was great to see them all in good health and in such high spirits! And yes, there were some great lines.
What an incredibly stupid movie. I never knew snakes growled and screamed.
“Regurgitated Monkey” is the name of my next band.
I too want to buy this song! I hope it is made available on the website.
Agree with the comments about 90 minutes being a better movie length. I actually really liked the Godzilla riff but it did feel long.
Favorites from last night: “It’s common freakin’ *blrbrlb* seeense”, “Hey, the waterfall’s flowing up!”, and the Nick Nolte joke.
The crowd here in Manchester CT. was the smallest yet that I have been a part of. I doubt it was even 1/4 full. I hope it was just the impending Halloween parties that kept the crowd down and not a sign of waning interest in this area. The audio here was spot on perfect this time and I didn’t miss a single riff all night. I had a great time, as always and thought the guys did a fine job with the riffage. Somehow, it always seems to me that Bill gets the best lines and it happened once again with the Zzzzzzzip! Plop! bit. I really hope people catch the replay on Tuesday as this one is worth the effort.
State College, PA I’ve been a longtime MST3K fan. This was my first live Rifftrax. I’d guess the theater was 1/3 full. I thought it was great! The short was hilarious, I’ve always loved them. The movie riffs were great. You can’t go wrong with screaming snakes. I can hardly wait to see the next show Dec. 4!
Enjoyed the riffing last night very much, but the theater was almost empty. The short was amazingly dumb and the NatGeo excerpt was a perfect lead-in to “Anaconda.” I about choked on my soda with the “Zzzzzip! Flop!” riff. You can see how highbrow my sense of humor is.
Also loved the song “Where the Hell Are You”!