Wow, is he a relative of the evil monkey from “Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders”?
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Coming Soon from RiffTrax…“Inception” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” Or so says the pooping monkey.
63 Replies to “Coming Soon from RiffTrax…”Commenting at Satellite News
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They really need to call their little Show/Company “We make fun of high selling DVD’s, even if they are good”.
There is NO reason why “Inception” should get this treatment.
I have lost all respect for these three guys. If you need money, get REAL jobs.
At least the Cinematic Titanic crew still make fun of horrible films.
Rock and Roll martian.
To be fair Rifftrax has done riffs for Casablanca, Star Wars, and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, films which some would say don’t deserve it either. I noticed that they really haven’t done any more classic films at the Casablanca level, but if the riff writing is top notch, go for it. Personally I think they should riff It’s A Wonderful Life, Gone With The Wind, or The Wizard Of Oz, but that’s just me.
I don’t think that top selling DVDs should be a measuring stick either. After all The Dark Knight made about 40 quadrillion dollars and sold a ton of discs but it was also a depressing, over-hyped sequel in which Batman was almost a supporting character in his own movie. Lots of people acclaimed it, packed the theaters, and it sold a lot of discs; does that make it a great film for all and did it deserve Rifftrax?
I think that doing riffs for something like Road House, Over The Top, Star Trek V, and Top Gun are warranted, but I think the real challenge is to go after the more acclaimed ones for the challenge of it. In other words Plan 9 From Outer Space or Robot Monster lend themselves to mockery at any level, but try to take a poke at Citizen Kane or Double Indemnity or Vertigo or The Godfather and you’re definitely going to have to work harder at your craft to make the writing top notch and the riffing sharp.
Holy crap, calm down Lame Cash! Yeesh, the great thing about all the talented people that worked on MST3K, CT and Rifftrax is that they make any movie (or short) hilarious and fun even it’s an incredibly dull painfest like say…Monster A-Go-Go or a critically acclaimed blockbuster like Inception. I personally haven’t seen it yet but I do own the blu-ray so I can’t wait to experience both the original and then the riffed.
I always said these guys could make the best movies of all time friggin funny, and that’s without them talking crap about the quality of the film and being mean-spirited. Adding dialogue and observations does not mean they are belittling or trashing the film and everyone who worked on it. And if so? Who cares? It’s funny!!
So bring on Passion of the Christ or the Godfather Rifftrax for all I care! Ya know, I’m one of the millions of people who loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and had a blast with their Rifftrax of them because it made it funny as hell and at the same time I can still enjoy the movies. And really? You lost ALL respect for these guys?? They’re just doing what they do best. Making movies funny.
So yea…Hikeeba!!
Yeah, see they have to make fun of fairly decent movies because their model relies on the availability of the DVDs. We’re all tripping over copies of Inception. Even when they did The Room (which DID deserve the treatment) it was like extra homework tracking a disc down. And like I’ve had to explain to friends and family, just because you make fun of something doesn’t mean you don’t like it or it isn’t good. Just that there’s an opportunity for humor there.
On another note, am I the only one wondering what’s the deal with this video announcements? I’ve watched these last two and while I don’t hate them, I’m really just wishing they’d tweet the news they have to share.
Yeah, what Chris latcher said.
Lamo, I don’t think they are quivering at the thought of you “losing all respect” for them.
You don’t seem to understand the concept of having a vehicle that sets up humor. It doesnt have to be a bad movie, it an be any movie, tv show or whatever.
And one man’s poison is another man’s meat. Turkey meat that is.
(“Bad” and “Good” movie is a subjective thing. What you may call good, rambo calls hell).
Sorry Chris, I dont know where the B went. I typed it but it went away.
Yes, for me, Rifftrax is just a bit too far removed from the “spirtit” of MST3K. Personally, I’m not at all impressed with the current fixation and indeed the lack of imagination and creativity of today’s endless “remakes” “reboots” and overindulgance of CGI in films today. And as Joel put it, “the right people will get it.” And for me, the spirit of MST3K has always been the “discovery” of those gems of “mundane” or “tedious” or unintentional hilarity of ineptitude. Granted, I was a huge fan of Ed Wood before I got into MST3K, but if not for MST3k I probably would not have ever been exposed to the works of Coleman Francis, Bert I Gordon or ever been at all predisposed to sit through the likes of films like Mano’s, The Creeping Terror or even Boggy Creek 2! For me it is that experience of feeling like you’ve discovered something THAT NO ONE else gets that helps make it irresistable. That to me is a very important ingredient of what makes MST3K so exceptional. IT IS like The Beatles…if you even remove Ringo from the equation…it just wouldnt be The Beatles! And again, for me, there does come a point when the film DOES come to mean as much sometimes as the Brains who are presenting their version of these films. And really, I would have absolutely NO INTEREST at all in watching Spiderman 3 again…even with a riff track! So, again, Rifftrax as with MST3k, with find the people who will “get it”…but it just aint me.
They did do Memento and Dark Knight, so Inception seems like a natural to me. And now I have a reason to watch it! It’s funny, because RiffTrax forces me to watch movies I have no interest in, then when I do, I always have a good time with it. Hopefully, one day they’ll get around to Batman Begins, The Prestige and Insomnia, to round out all the Christopher Nolan entries. I’m also still waiting for Signs, The Village and Lady in the Water RiffTrax, to finish the M. Night collection. The beauty of doing a director’s entire catalog is there’s all sorts of room for callback riffs to the other movies.
And on a kind of unrelated note, I’m still waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 RiffTrax, as well.
But what RiffTrax do I want the most? Easy: BOONDOCK SAINTS
Man, a pretty dark turn there at the end with the guy holding a gun to his head.
I think a lot of things are funny, but a suicide joke out of nowhere at the end of something that should be a touch more lighthearted? I don’t know. That seems like a bit much to me.
In other news, I do like the pooping monkey…and when they make fun of their own name.
To “Lame Cash Grab”, Cinematic Titanic might make fun of bad movies, but Rifftrax is a funnier forum. Not that I don’t enjoy Cinematic Titanic, but I find myself laughing at Rifftrax in a way that reminds me of Mystery Science Theater 3000 even more so than I do during CT episodes. But comedy is all about timing, so I could be wrong in the opinion of another.
-Davey
I have to disagree about Inception, I thought it was a plate full of donkey sausage, and thus deserving of a savaging. If that’s allowed.
What I didn’t find at all amusing was the depiction of a despondent Rent-a-Center Ray Romano drinking and pointing a gun at his head. It’s disturbing and adds nothing to the bit. Graphic suicide jokes are wasted on the young.
At least Rifftrax still releases DVDs on a fairly steady basis. We are lucky if CT does a DVD a year anymore.
The reason I even clicked on ‘replies’ is to see who is the first to complain about the suicide ending.
I have to admit, It was a little harsh.
I love humor and I am able to laugh at mostly anything, and I chuckled a little at that, but with mixed feelings. The sight of one holding a gun to their head is just a very dark image.
Maybe it’s just the touchy-feely era of the past 20 years of forced social censorship which they euphemize as “political correctness”,
but I could have done without that ending.
It detracted from the overall humor. And without a doubt it stripped all the light-heartedness right out of the skit to end it on such a note.
Might I suggest to have maybe had him reading from a prop book which prominently had boldly printed on the cover something like “100 ways to off yourself by Jack Kevorkian”, rather than the harsh image of a gun to the head. I mean there were other less harsh ways to have presented that idea.
Well, the suicide ending has been used in comedy for a long time; the most famous example I can think of is “The Scarlet Pumpernickel” Daffy Duck cartoon from over 60 years ago.
I so need a pooping monkey to help with my decisions, I just don’t want one out of a Stephen King book.
@#8
For you, I recommend the Rifftrax shorts. I’m only interested in a small fraction of their movie selection – usually, if I don’t want to watch a movie, I don’t want to watch it even with Rifftrax – but the shorts are almost always fresh, off-the-wall, unexpected, and often more than a bit trippy. Excellent material and in the best traditions of MST3k.
I don’t think a lot of Mst’ers realize who the fan base of Rifftrax is. Over on their facebook and forum people were begging them to do Inception, and also Rifftrax hints that their more “quirky”
offerings don’t sell as well as the blockbuster types. I have teenage kids who have pronounced CT
“lame”; have no interest in Rifftrax shorts, but will watch a Rifftrax for a movie they like. I wonder what the average age of a Rifftrax fan is. Also, speaking of CT, why doesn’t anybody get on them? Geez, they’ve only riffed two new movies in almost 2 years.
I’m not saying suicide can’t be funny, nor am I suggesting that this was the first employment of suicide as a comedic theme. There was an MST episode where Pearl and Brain Guy fight over a rope and stool. That was lighthearted. And sure, we all laughed at Leonard Lawrence shooting himself in the head in Full Metal Jacket. But I would argue that a cartoon duck committing suicide doesn’t trigger an empathic response. You’ve just watched the duck survive countless acts of violence and emerge unscathed. You know that he’s going to straighten out his bill and move on.
I just thought the current approach was shockingly out of context. We were left with the searing image of a fellow human pointing a weapon at his temple. Where do I, uh, laugh? How is it funny to me? Mike?
But then, it’s just a show, I should really just relax.
I think the “suicide joke” could have worked just as well if they had left-out the image of the guy holding the gun to his head, instead simply ending the scene with him lifting the gun off the table. That would have left the door open: Was he actually talking about suicide, shooting someone else (like the Pooping Monkey) or going to rob a local grocery store? People could have rationalized what they saw in any way they felt most comfortable with.
Lame Cash Grab:
You do realize that the guys have spent the last several months watching The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, High School Musical, The Last Airbender, Twilight: Eclipse, Santa & The Ice Cream Bunny, and a bunch of bizarre shorts right? Can’t they take a break and riff something decent every once in a while? Keep in mind they have to watch these movies multiple times in order to write jokes for them.
I love when Rifftrax does good movies. I also love when they do not-good movies, like “Inception”.
You mean they are trying to make money as comedy writers and performers?!?! STONE THEM!!!
Yes, Rifftrax is not MST3K. They aren’t saying they are. If you don’t like their products whatever. They have the right to decide what they want to work on and we all have the right to buy it or not.
@ #21
You don’t like it, don’t buy it. It’s that simple. We don’t need your weird comparison between MST3K’s concept and Rifftrax. They are two separate entities. So, using your own words…”Lighten up!” And if you have the time to get on this forum and “rant” about how “Rifftrax is trying to make money”…(well no @#$% sherlock)..who is living the dream of a pathetic loser?
Man, I hate people who post just to start crap with fans. It’s old news but if Lame Cash is talking about the pathetic losers that are msties, why in the flying friggin hell is he/she on Satellite News. Douche. But anyways…I’m stoked for anything these guys decide for their next project. CT or Rifftrax!
@ Blatcher
Agreed. Nuff said.
Just a quick note that I am in complete agreement that the concept at least as far as the premise of MST3K was explained beautifully in #21. Dr. F and Dr. E and TV’s Frank did indeed inflict the worst films they could find (or get the rights for) on Joel, Mike, Tom, and Crow. Over the course of KTMA through Season 10, MST was unwavering in their commitment and held to the premise well.
Now the sticky point is that Rifftrax is not MST3K.
And I know the dead horse will be dug up to be beaten again with this statement: if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Best Brains, Rifftrax, Cinematic Titanic, Shout Factory, etc. are all involved doing things they love to do to be sure, but why not have it be a means of income too? If people want to buy it, then have it for sale.
And due to the variety of stuff that was not available 10 years ago that is available now what with new MST sets (old favorites), Rifftrax (new riffs for new movies), and Cinematic Titanic (live tours and meet and greets), by all means spread your dollars however you want or don’t want.
Should it really be a surprise that Rifftrax are going to do Inception,since they did other recent movies? No.Should Inception get the same treatment like the others? Yes.Because it’s bad? No.It was one of the best movies of last year and it wasn’t like the mindless claptrap Hollywood turns out all the time.Case closed.It was a movie you had to pay attention to.Rifftrax is saying that any movie is mockable,except for Schindler’s List,of course.Anyway,as far as the suicide joke at the end,maybe it would’ve been funnier if we saw the guy fire the gun and he missed and he kept missing.Also,it looks we’re getting 2 Shorts dvd this month,so that is something to celebrate,isn’t it?..I don’t have a preference when it comes to choosing CT or Rifftrax because both of them are part of the same “family tree”.I mean,it’s like choosing Joel or Mike.Give me a break! I have better things to do with my time.
Lame Cash, did you just bash Misties as being ‘pathetic losers’ a paragraph after telling them that they’re not being as faithful to the show as you are? That’s frigging awesome. :)
“So in reality, Rifftrax is all about the cash, not the concept of making fun of films that DESERVE to be made fun of.”
“DESERVE” to be mocked? Would you care to show me the glorious deserve-o-meter with which you objectively render such judgment, sir? I’m pretty damn sure that a lot of the writers and directors of those fims would emphatically *not* agree that their films “deserve” to be mocked. Who the hell are you to decide who lives and who dies?
Humor is *drumroll* SUBJECTIVE. It varies by demographic. There is non-total overlap in demographics between MST3k, Rifftrax, and CT. Difficult to grasp, I know – but I assure you that, indeed, not all people have identical tastes.
For example, I have no love whatsoever for “Inception” and would rather watch it riffed than unriffed. Go ahead. Prove my tastes wrong objectively. Oh wait, you can’t. You only have hearsay supplied to you by your own subjective tastes and values regarding what *you* think is worthy. Yeah, you can insult and dismiss those who disagree by questioning the sophistication of their tastes or the derivation of their values or any other untestable self-centered metric you want, but that only demonstrates your attitude toward other people, not your authority on film or humor or whatever.
“That is like making fun of a beautiful woman by calling her ugly…when she isn’t. Pathetic.”
Hey, did you know that attraction is *also* subjective? I know, right? Totally shocking! But it is. It varies from person to person for reasons that can’t be articulated through strictly objective observations. And I’m glad you provided that insightful example, because it illustrates the real pattern in your mentality.
There is no single continuum of beauty agreed upon by all people everywhere, even if some broad agreement exists. And even within a single enterprise, like MST3k, broad agreement exists where precise standards do not. We don’t all like the same episodes, and we don’t all like specific episodes for the same reasons, because we’re different friggin’ people with different friggin’ life experiences. If we can’t all agree on the particulars for a single show, why in god’s name would you expect everyone else to unconditonally agree to *your* standards regarding several such projects, each with its own distinct approach? Do you really actually think that your opinion – in this or any other matter – is some sort of universally true standard by which all other people can legitimately be judged? Argue, cajole, reason through, elaborate, do whatever you want to explain why you think your position is preferable – that’s discourse. Just refrain from imposing yourself or dismissing others out of hand. We others hate that.
Man, this is just not that difficult a concept to grasp. But I guess the site was about due for another round of this “I get to dictate my opinion as an absolute” nonsense. Opinions are not absolutes. They’re subjective. And you can get called out for them. Deal with it.
Also, I think suicide jokes should be handled either delicately or absurdly over-the-top. Grim =/= funny for me or most other people.
Hey, all!
What a lively discussion we have going on here! I didn’t bring up the suicide thing to sound like a stick in the mud, but I agree with what most people have said about the suicide joke. That sort of joke can be done well, but this one just didn’t make sense to me.
Oh, and to clear up another point: I didn’t say that Rifftrax reminded me more of MST3K. What I did say is that I find myself laughing at Rifftrax in a way that reminds me of a MST3K episode. What that means is that I sometimes forget I’m watching something different. With CT, the difference is pretty obvious to me. Often times, with SO many people commenting, I feel like I hear a lot of mediocre jokes instead of the not so frequent, but well-placed side-splitters.
I don’t know. Not trying to start anything here because I do enjoy them both and I’m about the most hardcore Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan you can be without actually running this site, so I apologize in advance if I piss anyone off.
-Davey
The RiffTrax DVDs I’ve purchased so far are the two Shorts collections, Plan 9, and Maniac which I just received. I love Mike, Bill and Kevin and with the disks I’ve bought, I’ve decided that they skillfully picked shorts and movies that are incredibly funny – maybe even funnier unriffed. Plan 9, well, what can I say? Unriffed, it’s perfect. The shorts are as funny IMO as any that were riffed on MST (except Mr. B. Natural, of course) – just totally off the wall, “what were they thinking?” funny. And Maniac has to be seen to be believed. But in that case, IMHO, the guys just couldn’t keep up with the craziness. I want to keep watching them riff bad movies and shorts, especially ones as bad as these. I also love the Film Crew productions, BTW.
I want a Pooping Monkey (minus any actual poop).
Oh, great discussion! Amid the talk of Rifftrax, suicide, and most of all, pooping monkeys, perhaps it’s appropriate that we go a little….ape s**t. OK, obvious pun, I can hear the groans already.
Really, people?
As the great sage George Carlin said, “I believe you can joke about anything. It all depends on how you construct the joke. What the exaggeration is.” The joke isn’t “Connor contemplates suicide”, the joke is “Connor contemplates suicide over something patently ridiculous and impossible, IE: the unearned, inexplicable contempt he recieves from a patently ridiculous toy thing that one wonders why it even exists”. Why does it hate him so? Why was it made? What is the market for a pooping monkey toy? And why are they letting it control their lives?
Plus it’s an exaggeration of those dippy Pep Boys commercials where people are asking questions of the bobbleheads, which I’ve never liked. I keep wanting a BB gun and those smiling mugs down-range.
Do people get this upset when Tom makes a suicide joke in Mitchell, or when Crow does in Girl in Lover’s Lane, when Mike does in parts: the clonus horror, or when we get child endangerment and death jokes? MST had a lot of dark humor dealing in things that are bad when they actually happen.
I can’t wait for those new shorts collections. AND I second the Pooping Monkey (i want one too)
Lame Cash Grab’s first post will be allowed to stand.
His second post — which some folks here responded well to (I am proud of you all once again) — contained attacks on commenters (rather than arguing the issue). We don’t cotton to that ’round these parts. It has been unapproved.
He posted yet another ad hominem-filled post that the system caught before it could ever appear. It will not be approved.
To Lame Cash Grab: You are welcome to your opinion about the direction of post-MST3K projects. In this forum, attacks on other commenters and blanket statements about MSTies in general will not be tolerated.
Well, any movie with Leonardo DiCaprio deserves riffing. I still have painful memories of the Academy Awards with him being a major asskisser to Al Gore.
Christmas in January!
Heck to the yea!
Funny, I don’t recall ever seeing anyone post here under the screen-name “Lame Cash Grab” before. Gosh, it’s almost as if he (or she) was too spineless to make an inflammatory statement under his (or her) usual moniker. I believe there’s an internet term for that sort of anonymous, childish, universally despised behavior – “trolling.”
Congratulations, “Lame Cash Grab,” you are officially a troll. Now go off and make poorly spelled, bigoted comments on Youtube with the others of your ilk.
I have never seen, heard? Rifftrax, but I just finished watching Time Chasers for the 200th time. All I can add to this discussion is: “I like pie.”
Nerd Power! (fist raised)
Did the video make anybody else think of the original “Twilight Zone” episode “The Nick of Time”? That’s the one where William Shatner becomes obsessed with a little devil-head fortune-telling machine at a roadside diner. Well, that’s the first thing it made me think of.
As for riffing “Inception,” I’m fine with it even though I think Christopher Nolan is an excellent director. “Memento” is easily my favorite movie of the 21st century, and yet I really enjoyed the riff for it. In general, as long as they don’t overdo the “this movie is crap and I hate it” kind of jokes, I think the RiffTrax treatment can give a whole new life to any film – even one I love on its own merits!
Tip for responding to trolls. Don’t. If you do the trolls post is often removed, leaving your response moot. Hence, post 41.
Can’t wait for the Rifftrax of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Great movies, yet also great material to make fun of.
Shortstoberfest: Awesome title.
Order in the Shorts: God-awful title!
Well, I’m not excited about DVD collections of shorts because I buy each short as they release it. I understand that a lot of people wait for the DVDs, but I have no reason to go for the double-dip.
But when o when are they going to release a DVD of the live House on Haunted Hill!?? That was hysterical, much funnier than the studio version (which was very good).
And though I’m a big fan of the Harry Potter movies (pretty ridiculous admission for a 50+ year old man), the Riffs on these have been uniformly laugh-out-loud funny so I’ll definitely be checking that out.
to comment #1
Inception deserves to be trashed and even if it was as good as people say it is, so what? I love the Lord of the Rings films, most of the Star Wars films and even many of the Potter films (I hold Order of the Phoenix on a much higher level than Inception), but you don’t hear me whining when the guys decide to poke fun at these films. Even the best films have material ripe for comedy (Which time, if nothing else, will prove me right on Inception’s lack of “best film” quality). Inception doesn’t belong on some untouchable pedestal because it happens to be the “in” movie of the moment.
My belief is that Lame Cash Grab is actually Inception’s director Christopher Nolan. Mr. Nolan was obviously Googling his project’s name and found this site. Enraged he wrote his words hoping to dissuade people from listening to a comedic shellacking of his film.
So Lame Cash Grab… if Rifftrax only sticks to bad movies then they’re a bad copy. If they branch out into new fields then they’re not true to the original formula. Sort of no way to win, huh? And when is creative wring not considered a real job? Wow, I guess all the time I spent writing radio drama and my years at the Cincinnati Enquirer were a complete waste. Weird, since they paid me pretty good for my follies.
Rifftrax can do whatever they want. I personally am not a big fan of them doing blockbusters but that’s my opinion and I’m not going to begrudge them for it. McDonalds doesn’t cook their fries in beef fat anymore but I’m not going to go your route and slam them for changing their formula. I just don’t buy the fries now as it does taste the same to me. But I don’t scream at the cashier and throw rocks at the drive-thru window like you seem to be doing.
Is hurling stuff at the McDonald’s drive-thru window frowned upon? If so, I may need to reevaluate my life’s goals…
Excellent analogy, Dr Lombardi.
I can’t wait for Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix! The Rifftrax HP series is one of my favorites. I haven’t watched Inception but I will check it out with the Rifftrax for sure.
I think I am going to start collecting the shorts DVDs too. I have seen a few of them and often I enjoy them more than the movies. Reminds me of MST3K :)
Also, I have no problem with Rifftrax making fun of popular movies – as long as it makes me laugh after a hard week’s work, I say keep em coming! Besides, at least Rifftrax is steadily plugging along…I know CT is busy with live shows but it would be nice to see a new DVD release every once in awhile…