Books by Sampo!

 

 

Support Us

Satellite News is not financially supported by Best Brains or any other entity. It is a labor of love, paid for out of our own pockets. If you value this site, we would be delighted if you showed it by making an occasional donation of any amount. Thanks.

Sampo & Erhardt

Sci-Fi Archives


Visit our archives of the MST3K pages previously hosted by the Sci-Fi Channel's SCIFI.COM.

Social Media


Reminder: “RiffTrax Live” Encore Showing Set for Thursday, Oct. 8

If you missed the RiffTrax Live “Plan 9 from Outer Space” event last month, there will be another showing Thursday, Oct. 8, at many of the same movie theaters. Tickets are now on sale.
More info here.

65 Replies to “Reminder: “RiffTrax Live” Encore Showing Set for Thursday, Oct. 8”

Commenting at Satellite News

We are determined to encourage thoughtful discussion, so please be respectful to others. We also provide an "Ignore" button () to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our Commenting Guidelines page for more details, including how to report offensive and spam commenting.

  1. Luke says:

    Yeah, and I’m sure the theater here will find a way to screw that up, too!

       0 likes

  2. losingmydignity says:

    I’m not too happy about it being the color version. Yuck. Was the first showing the color version?

       0 likes

  3. Beautiful Mind says:

    I sure wish I could go again! There’s no way I’d get a sitter for it though. Ah well, I’ll get the next one!

       0 likes

  4. Bot Snak says:

    I’ll be going again, fo sho!

       0 likes

  5. Erhardt says:

    losingmydignity,

    Yes, it was the colorized version. Regardless of your personal opinion on colorization (I’ll withhold mine) I have to say that the Legend print looked fabulous on the big screen.

       0 likes

  6. PD says:

    It looked great. Color had no effect on how awesome it was.

       0 likes

  7. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    I despise colorization of black and white films in almost any form (though I could see it as useful in restoring something that was originally in color), but with something like this I concede that it’s not that big of a deal. I mean who cares if the film is colorized when you are intentionally watching it to hear people talk over it anyway? The only real problem with this colorized Plan 9 being used for the riffed version is that a couple of their riffs feel a little like cheats, specifically the ones about the many “day for night” shots. When I heard them making fun of the obvious daytime shots that are supposed to be set at night I laughed, but I also thought to myself “yeah, but you’re the ones who intentionally colored the sky to look all bright blue and daylight looking”. Those shots are still very obviously day for night shots in the original b/w, but not quite as shockingly so as the are in the newer colorized version. A more serious colorization effort would probably have made them a deeper purple or blue or something else more night-like if they really wanted to make the film look as good as possible in color. But obviously this colorization effort was more about playing up the films many infamous flaws than it was about actually making the film look as good as possible. Day for night is actually a very common technique, even in today’s films, and though it definitely was badly executed in Plan 9 the use of the technique itself was not really a huge mistake as it appears to be in their distorted colorized version. So doing a riff based more on a choice made by the people altering the film rather than the original film maker doesn’t seem all that fair to me. But the other 99.99% of the movie is awesome, colorized or not.

       0 likes

  8. Daveo says:

    “I’m not too happy about it being the color version. Yuck. Was the first showing the color version?”

    The first showing was color.This will simply be a recording of that performance replayed.
    The sad truth is that without colorization many great(and bad) films will be lost to current and future generations.I have a friend who’s wife Will.Not.Watch.ANYTHING in B&W.Even something great like Young Frankenstein.I don’t claim to understand it,but there it is,and it’s shockingly common.Legend films at least does it right,putting the restored B&W film and colorized in all their packages.And if the colorized version helps finance the restoration of the B&W version I’m all for it.I guess too that a case could be made that if cost had not been a factor,virtually all films would have originally been shot in color,just as they are today.So in a twisted sort of way it could be said that colorization removes the limitations imposed on the producers purely due to the economics of the time.That said,I’d never want to see Dr.Strangelove or Citizen Kane in color.I guess the good news is that as long as we are in our homes,nothing has to be in color if we prefer it that way.A few presses of remote buttons takes care of it.

       0 likes

  9. DrChadFeelgood says:

    Uhhh…..yeah. Just repeat to yourself, “It’s just a film, I should really just relax.”

    Back to the show.

    If you didn’t get a chance to see it the first time, don’t pass this up. I had seen Plan 9 before, I had heard/seen Rifftrax’s take on the film and, of course, I’ve been a huge fan of MST3K for years and years – but this was a one-of-a-kind experience. There were times during the film when it was prractically impossible to hear what was going on because people were still howling from the previous riff (including my wife, who could NOT stop laughing after the Milk Man Twins tossed that corpse up into the air off of their stretcher).

    I’m wondering, however, if they’ll change up the short from “Flying Stewardress” to something newly riffed.

    Either way, I’m going again. Colorization be damned. I’m not going for the film.

       0 likes

  10. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    @Daveo #8 It’s not at all true that all films would have been made in color except that it was too expensive. Color wasn’t even an option for a long time simply because the technology didn’t exist, or just wasn’t that good. Then by the 40’s or 50’s when it was better and more affordable it did often boil down to a matter of cost, but there were also hundreds of films made by the major studios during that time that probably could have been made in color had the director wanted to do it. But many directors used black and white as an artistic choice as much as a financial one, so to colorize those films is to go against what the original film maker wanted. Hitchcock for example had made many films in color earlier, but still chose to film Psycho in black and white because that is how he wanted the film to look. So unless the original film maker is somehow involved in the process of colorization so that it looks as they would have wanted it to look had they originally made the film in color (as is apparently the case with Legend’s colorized version of Forbidden Zone) then I won’t accept any colorization, no matter how good it looks. And I personally have never seen an example of colorization that wasn’t painfully obvious, and still very artificial looking anyway. What Legend Films is doing is indeed far better than the horrible stuff done during the original 1980’s colorization fad lead by Ted Turner, but it still doesn’t anything like real, natural color at all.

    As for someone like your friends wife who won’t watch anything in black and white, well I personally don’t have the time of day for anyone like that, just as I don’t have the time of day for people who won’t watch things just because they are subtitled. That’s all narrow mindedness and laziness as far as I’m concerned. If someone wants to impose those kinds of limitations on themselves then it’s their loss if they choose to miss out on a great film. I would never support cheapening a film through colorization or dubbing just so someone like that would even consider giving it a chance.

       0 likes

  11. morsheid says:

    This is a worse derailment than Saint Michel de Maurienne’s.

       0 likes

  12. FordPrefect says:

    @Cronkite Moonshot #10

    “Hitchcock for example had made many films in color earlier, but still chose to film Psycho in black and white because that is how he wanted the film to look.”

    There were a few reasons for this, but the main reason Alfred Hitchcock shot the movie in black and white was because the studio had no confidence in the project and denied him his usual budget. He was determined to make it anyway, but since he was financing it himself he wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible (under $1 million). Making it in black and white was one successful cost cutting technique. He also used the crew from his TV series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” to save time and money. That said, you could make the argument that if he had made the film today he would have made the film in color. Color films can be made just as cheaply today. I’m not saying Psycho needs to be in color, I’m just pointing out there were other factors involved in his decision beyond aesthetic ones.

    Hitchcock also wondered if so many bad, inexpensively made black and white “B” movies did so well at the box office, what would happen if a really good, inexpensively made, black and white movie was made.

    Interestingly, several viewers vividly (and specifically) recalled the “red” blood as it swirled down the shower drain. Although feature films were produced in color at the time, newsreels were still shown in black and white. It might have seemed more real to viewers at the time who were used to seeing the news in black and white.

    “I would never support cheapening a film through colorization or dubbing just so someone like that would even consider giving it a chance.”

    I’m guessing you wouldn’t make much money in the entertainment industry if you were planning to intentionally limit your audience. Legend/Fathom used the color version in the live show for the same reason Universal/Gramercy used a color movie for the MST3K feature film. Average movie-goers (the ones who prefer things in color and in their native tongue) won’t sit through a black and white film. Heck, it’s hard enough to convince them to see a film that’s old and “bad”. I suppose they could have tried to make the day for night shots look a little darker in the color version, but would it have really made a difference in the long run? I doubt most people would have walked away thinking that the film would have been “saved” if Legend had made it darker.

    Personally, I could watch it either way. I’d be just as happy watching the black and white version, but I’m not going to begrudge them for wanting to be as successful as possible. I know people who either ONLY want to see films in color or ONLY want to see old films in black and white, so I’m glad Legend provides both on their DVDs.

       0 likes

  13. DrChadFeelgood says:

    What part of “Stay on Topic” don’t you understand?

       0 likes

  14. Dave3k says:

    This is excellent! I was on vacation in a small town with no theater showing it anywhere close. Now I’ve got one just down the road. Woohoo!

       0 likes

  15. Fade away jerk handshake says:

    #7 Cronkite Moonshot: Your assertion that the “night-days” riffs were made obvious by the colorization is factually incorrect. Go back & watch the B&W version and it is just as obvious with the unaltered version.

       0 likes

  16. Captain Cab says:

    Too hard for me to go see it when it’s not shown on a Friday or the weekend.

       0 likes

  17. Frank Conniff says:

    I have no problem with Legend colorizing “Plan 9,” but I don’t agree with the overall argument some people make in defense of colorization in general that “the films would have been made in color if they had had the budget and/or technology at the time.” This to me is a moot point. The fact is these movies were made in B&W and that means that cinematographers, lighting designers and other craftsman spent hours adjusting lights and cameras to achieve certain effects, often to realize an artistic vision of the director. Whether these films might have been made in color under different circumstances is completely beside the point. When you digitally colorize a film like “Casablanca” you are taking a huge crap on the work of dedicated professionals. It is not cool! Not cool, man!

       0 likes

  18. RockyJones says:

    #16 Captain Cab:
    Agreed…Since I’d have to take a night off work and drive about 75-100 miles to participate in the event. It seems to me that they’d get a much larger crowd to show up if it were planned for a Friday or Saturday night.

       0 likes

  19. M "Particles Of Sunlight!" Sipher says:

    Seems to me they’d have a much harder time convincing theaters to give up a screen on Friday or Saturday night at 8pm.

       0 likes

  20. losingmydignity says:

    Whoa, this is the first time I’ve looked back on this thread since it became a discussion of colorizing film. I guess I started a firestorm (well, not that…maybe a fireplacestorm?) and didn’t mean to.
    Anyway I reserve my argument for the disuse of colorization for another place and will just say I can’t wait to get a ticket! I’m sure it’s going to be a fun show!

       0 likes

  21. BSBrian says:

    Man, 0-for-2 here. Had to work late last time and out of town this time–keeping my fingers crossed for a 3rd!!

       0 likes

  22. Ralph C. says:

    I bought my ticket today & will be traveling over an hour to get to the closest theater, in Paramus, NJ. I live in NY State.

       0 likes

  23. John D says:

    Can someone tell me whether this would be appropriate for a 10 yr old? My son loves the old shows, but I’m reluctant to take him to a “live” event. Can someone who saw it earlier let me know about language and other age-appropriate concerns? Thanks.

       0 likes

  24. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    @FordPrefect #12

    Interesting notes on Psycho that I didn’t know, though I feel my overall point about black and white being an artistic choice as often as a financial one is still valid. There are many other examples of films shot in black and white by directors who would have had the clout and budget to use color if they had wanted to.

    Also if you read my other posts you’d see that I really had no problem with Legend using the colorized version in this live performance since it is kind of silly to worry about something like colorization when you are going to see a movie specifically to hear people talk over it. That the bit you quoted from me was taken quite out of context in your reply. I was talking specifically about the other poster’s friend who won’t watch black and white films at all, and other such people, like those who refuse to watch subtitled films. As I said I won’t waste my time dealing with such narrow minded fools, and I refuse to support altering films via things like colorization or subtitling in order to satisfy such people. If they can’t appreciate the film as it was intended to be then they will just have to miss out on it. I personally could give a damn about how well that would serve me in a business that I am not involved in, nor plan on being part of. Why is it that you’d see hypothetical success in a business I have no part in as something I should consider at all when expressing my views on artistic appreciation and integrity? Sure colorization isn’t as big of a deal when watching something like this Rifftrax Plan 9 showing, because we aren’t really watching the film for it for it’s artistic merits (though given a choice I personally would watch the original black and white version 100% of the time), but in general colorization of films is a ridiculous idea that goes against the very idea of film as an art form. I can’t imagine it appealing to anyone who genuinely appreciates film, or who could claim to have any respect for film makers as artists. After all we don’t go up and airbrush bright new colors on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel just because we think it looks neat, and we assume Michelangelo would have used those new colors if he had had access to modern paints and pigments.

       0 likes

  25. Finnias Jones says:

    RE. John D @ 23
    I saw it first time around and there was no profanity that I can recall. There were some “racy” comments/double entendres that would likely go right over the head of a 10 year old. No bluer material than a classic MST3K episode, which is just what this feels like.

    And re. colorization: Works just fine for this film, in this setting. Makes Plan 9 more bearable on a big screen. The only problem I had was when the guy’s face turns green for a moment during his freak-out and then the Riffers comment that he’s “Hulking out.” It seemed forced and unnecessary.

       0 likes

  26. mst3ktemple says:

    I’m going becuase I enjoyed myself the first time and I like supporting the efforts of the RiffTrax gang. Colorization isn’t too important to me when I’m busy laughing at the riffs.

       0 likes

  27. I'm not a medium, I'm a petite says:

    A. on-topic: If you missed the first one live you should try to make the re-cast. I’m not saying anything that anybody doesn’t already know, it was very good. Color and all.

    B. off-topic: I’ve heard the complaints about colorization for years ( I am old ), and I guess as long as the viewer has options it’s probably not the worst thing in the world. It does not reflect the film-makers vision of course, but neither does showing movies on relatively tiny TV screens, broken up by commercials, watched in the kitchen while the filling the dishwasher, well or poorly dubbed or with subtitles, watched in 20 minutes chunks over the course of week, in the back of a minivan. And where were the artistic complaints when color movies were shown on B&W televisions ?

    Since they ONLY ever seemed to complain about colorization and not the other perhaps even more gross mutliations that films have been subject too, I had to assume that the complainers were full of crap.

    C. back on topic. Re John D @ 23. There may have been one occurence of s***. Some adult ‘implications’. Nothing a 10 year old can’t handle. This would have PG 13 had it been MPAA rated (IMHO).

       0 likes

  28. klisch says:

    I might go and see it a second time, but now I know when to get up and take a bathroom break or visit the concession stand, when that singer (forgot his name) does his act.

       0 likes

  29. Rob(ot rollcall) says:

    I wanted to take my 7 year old son the first time but wasnt sure about what kind of language(Slavic? French? lol) might be used during a LIVE riffing session. I was also worried about being the only people in the theater who brought their kid, we’ve all been to THAT party so you can see why we ended up not taking him with us. Of course we get there, see other people with kids and overall hear nothing too objectionable said so I regret not bringing him. Now we have a chance for a ‘redo’ so if we go again he’s coming with us, no doubt about it. :)

       0 likes

  30. Chicagoshirl says:

    John D, I’m a mom, and totally agree with Finnias. No reason not to take a 10-year-old, if he enjoyed the shows. Just be sure he knows it’s the guys who did the bots’ voices up on stage; he’s not going to be seeing Tom and Crow, in case that might make a difference for him.

       0 likes

  31. The Toblerone Effect says:

    If some theater in NH would actually take a chance and show it, I’d make time. Otherwise, forget it.

       0 likes

  32. me says:

    does anybody know if you can just buy a ticket at the theater’s box office the night of the show of MUST the ticket be bought online beforehand? thanks

       0 likes

  33. me says:

    “or” MUST I meant

       0 likes

  34. PD says:

    My theater is gone.

    D:

       0 likes

  35. klisch says:

    #32 You can buy the ticket at the movie theater.

       0 likes

  36. Revenge_Creature says:

    :cry: Sadly, the theater I went to isn’t showing the encore…so instead of a 40 minute drive, I’d have to make an hour and a half one, and it’s not that it isn’t worth it, cause it is, but I don’t think I’ll make it. I got the short, and I know you can get ‘Plan 9’ with their riffs, but not the same ones from the show, and that’s stinky. Ah well…Maybe something will change and they’ll pick it up!
    I hope, I hope, I hope!

       0 likes

  37. me says:

    thanks Klisch! :mrgreen:

       0 likes

  38. BSBrian says:

    —I’m not a medium, I’m a petite—“Since they ONLY ever seemed to complain about colorization and not the other perhaps even more gross mutliations that films have been subject too, I had to assume that the complainers were full of crap.”—Bravo, my friend!

       0 likes

  39. beth says:

    I found a theater near me! Bought the ticket, I’ll be in Morgantown, WV, on October 8th! woo-hoo!

       0 likes

  40. Pingback: | AKRIM ONLINE
  41. big61al says:

    I loved the first showing…with some very minor exceptions the color effect only enhanced the film….Ed Wood would be proud!

       0 likes

  42. tormented says:

    Rifftrax, please put this on DVD if possible. I’ll be all on it like stink on a monkey, just like I am w/ all your DVD’s.

       0 likes

  43. Graboidz says:

    tormented – The Rifftrax 3 riffer version of “Plan 9” has been available for quite a while now.

    I missed the live performance because I was in Myrtle Beach at the time. I REALLY want to see this….but today is my wedding anniversary, and my wife HATES MST3K, CT & Rifftrax?!?!? Not sure what I’m going to do yet.

       0 likes

  44. Graboidz says:

    I knew the was a reason I married her :grin: We are goin’ baby!! I cannot wait!

       0 likes

  45. Harry says:

    Missed it the first time around, but going tonight!

       0 likes

  46. Zap Rowsdower says:

    damn I found out as soon as I got to work, but had no one to watch my daughter, sucks. I was suprised they were playing in Huntsville Al. at Hollywood 18…maybe next time

       0 likes

  47. Daveo says:

    Only 8 or 10 people in the theater in Birmingham. :sad: Hope that doesn’t reduce the likelihood of more live shows.I went the first time and it was very full.

    Here’s hoping CT tries it too!

       0 likes

  48. mjdeviant says:

    Saw it. probably 20 people here in Columbus, at one of the the 3 theaters showing it. I really enjoyed it and I wish I would have caught it live the first time, for that extra coolness.

       0 likes

  49. Daveo says:

    So I guess those who hate colorization are just as outraged by pan-and scan versions,movies “edited for time”on TV,interrupted every six minutes for commercials,non wide screen content streeeched to fill the screen,and,as they have done with the “High def”broadcasts of Seinfeld,lopped the top and bottom off to make it widescreen?Funny I never hear any impassioned argument or Congressional testimony about that.The fact is colorization doesn’t change a film.I creates a second version that,yes,is rarely preferable(TO ME).Someone else will like it,and film making is a for-profit activity.
    In the end,look down your nose and call people names who won’t watch B&W.It’s their choice,and as such nobody else’s business.
    By the way-“Dedicated artists??”Maybe a handful of films a year.95% are just Product produced by committees with the help of focus groups and surveys,and it shows.

       0 likes

  50. Tarpo says:

    About 25 people at the Livonia Michigan showing. Was so great to see it live. I was ok with the color version. I’ve always felt that I can watch bad movies in color a little easier when they are being riffed. Maybe its just me.

       0 likes

Comments are closed.