Me? I gotta go with “Citizen Kane.” Stilted dialog, scenery chewing…um, sleds. It’s got it all!
What’s your pick?
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Weekend Discussion Thread: Other ‘Good’ Movies RiffTrax Should RiffRiffTrax’s “The Wizard of Oz” riff is out (and I thought it was hilarious). They previously did “Caasablanca” and several other movies considred “good.” What other movies considered “good” do you think might work for riffing?
121 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Other ‘Good’ Movies RiffTrax Should Riff”Commenting at Satellite News
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You know what’s just begging for the Rifftrax treatment? Trick Or Treat, starring Skippy from Family Ties. I’m surprised this hasn’t been a VOD yet. I already riffed it, so I know RT would love this one!http://accesstucson.org/programming/program/68640/
I dare them to do ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’.
#39…you say Serenity should be mocked? Why, Joss Whedon should not be mocked…aside from The Avengers, of course.
That being said: http://eric261.tripod.com/mst3kserenity/mst3kserenity.html
How about mocking a Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie, like Pillow Talk? Bridget or Janet Varney would like to carve into that rom-com territory, I’ll bet
Other ideas: Apocalypse Now, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Shakespeare In Love (only because nearly everyone thinks it should have been Best Picture), or maybe It’s A Wonderful Life
Define “good” movies.
TERMINATOR II: JUDGMENT DAY and THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (1986) would make for some hilarious riffings.
Anyone who disagrees hasn’t stopped to think about it.
#53, actually I meant to say Shakespeare In Love should be mocked because people think it should not have been Best Picture. Also, Forrest Gump should be riffed on for the same reason
My problem with Rifftrax doing classic movies is that a lot of their riffs just aren’t clever, but crude, bathroom humor. Or fat jokes.
Mike & co are just as good as doing the actual riffs, but the writing is much worse. Classic movies deserve top notch writing, and I don’t think Rifftrax has that. It’s good enough for bad movies, but that’s it.
And with that said, let me suggest The Exorcist.
I would like to see, Its a wonderful LIfe- as a christmas riff. Its an excellent movie but has enough hokey-stuff and jimmy stewart accents that make it ripe for the riffing.
I echo blade runner and 2001. Metropolis would be a challange. It would be more of a dubbing (in the style of mxc) than a riffing. There are crappy PD prints of the movie- THey could release a VOD that way. I think if they sold it as a riff/dub upfront it could work. :-D
I was trying to think of a movie that it would upset me to find out that Rifftrax riffed, and couldn’t. They do what they do well, and just because a movie is good (or great) doesn’t mean you can’t make jokes about it and be funny. Rosebud, Henri, with mustard, if you get my drift.
So my choice would be any of the Coen brothers movies, with Oh Brother Where Art Though at the top of the list.
Speaking of the “Sinbad” movies they could riff either “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” or “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger”. Each film has an actor who was the Doctor in “Doctor Who” during the show’s original run. Tom Baker (Doctor#4) was in “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” while Patrick Troughton (Doctor #2) was in “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger”. I’m sure Bill would love that! Oh, “Golden Voyage” also has a scantily clad Caroline Munro (I still would have LOVED to have seen “Starcrash” riffed on MST3K!) while our old buddy John Philip Law played the title character. There would also be plenty of “Dr. Quinn” riffs as Jane Seymour was the leading actress in “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger”. And I’m sure the claymation monsters would be good riffing material.
Myrna Loy and William Powell, The Thin Man Movies
Goldfinger or all of the James Bond Movies with Sean Connery
The Philadelphia Story with James Stewart, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant
North By Northwest or Psycho would be great !
I like the suggestion of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I really like the movie, but I could see it being good riffing fodder.
Another thing in favor of Blade Runner is the presence of the actor who plays Mistretta in Mitchell (or is it Gallano?).
Given Kevin’s great voice, I’ve always wanted them to do a musical (ignoring the High School Musical riff), so The Sound of Music could be a great choice.
But I’m sure the PC Mafia wouldn’t like it… Because of PCness.
I am glad that others feel about Gone With The Wind as I do. The length shouldn’t be a problem. They could use that to their advantage and riff on the length, begging to have it end.
While not typically considered “good” films, why not do more disaster movies from the 70’s? The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, Earthquake, the Airport series: all would be good with many and varied casts that would make the the writing great!
Most of your “CinemaScope” that Hollywood came up with to challenge TV dominance.
Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, The Robe all heavy overacting and drama that would make riffing a welcome addition.
As for another classic, I would love to see them take on “Portrait of Dorian Grey.”
All of Kubrick’s classics would be great. Dr. Strangelove and 2001 would be great examples.
I previously commented (#18) that riffing good/great movies doesn’t thrill me. I’d like to clarify because that in no way means I “hate” Rifftrax or look down on anyone who’d love to see GWTW, Ben-Hur, etc. riffed. I just meant that I personally wouldn’t find it very funny. It’s like trying to show an MST3K’ed Western movie such as Gunslingers to my husband. He loves all Westerns and while he doesn’t hate MST3K, he doesn’t find the riffed Westerns funny.
Peace & comment on!
Surprised no one has mentioned CHARIOTS OF FIRE……overrated Oscar winner…Or how about DANCES WITH WOLVES???
I want “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Every year at Christmas time, I find myself desperately wishing that they would just do this one already. I host an annual Rifftrax/MST3K marathon party at Christmas time, and a bunch of people come over to watch the Christmas shorts and stuff like “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” but I SOOOOO wish I could end this party with a viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life”!!!!
I have no problem with anyone riffing on anything.
I think the problem might be that with the “good” movies is that everyone has seen them and you know what is going to happen next in the movie. So, a movie like “Manos” was funny because I had never seen it, so everything was a surprise.
I’m sure them riffing on “Oz” is funny, but I think it takes a bit of the edge off because I’ve seen the movie before.
How about Goldfinger. Then we’d get to hear the “Pull my Fiiiinnnngerrr…!” bit again but this time on the real thing! … oh wait… that wouldn’t be all that funny since the song is awesome in the movie. It would just be annoying.
/jerky mode again
The original Planet of the Apes.
Lawrence of Arabia. It’s epically shot and all that, but I don’t find it particularly interesting.
I don’t think The Godfather would be good for riffing. What do you say when Micheal Corleone shoots that cop in the throat? When Sonny gets massacred? I think the movie is too serious for riffing.
The Wizard of Oz is good riffing fodder because it’s goofy in addition to being a “classic”. It falls into the same category as the Russo-Finnish movies of MST3K.
here is what i would like:
Wings (1927)
Goodbye Mr Chips (any of them)
Napoleon (1927) and maybe a later one (Gance did a few versions)
Going My Way (1944)
The Bells of St. Mary (1945)
Any of the Road to.. movies.
more to come.
Casablanca is my all time favorite movie and I laughed while watching the Rifftrax treatment. But most of the time I choose to watch it un-riffed.
Holocaust 2000
an early left behind movie series
A Thief in the Night
A Distant Thunder
Image of the Beast
The Prodigal Planet
does anyone have a dvd with the rifftrax on it of Casablanca. would like to see it sometime.
@77:
This is probably not the site to ask for a DVD of a copy written film with copy written commentary.
Just sayin’.
I’m completely on board with Raptor here. Close Encounters Of The Third King would be a laff/riff riot… especially since, in retrospect, it really wasn’t that great a movie (though I thought so at the time.)
Also some classic Universal please: Frankenstein, Bride of, Dracula, The Wolfman.
A third for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Let’s add E.T. to that list too. Seriously, E.T. must have been the “red shirt” of his away team.
How many are the remaining films that are culturally significant enough to be so widely available? That’s kind of the snag, right there. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is what my mind keeps going back to. The protagonists are an evil but clownish Mexican bandit and a typical ghostly vaguely-motivated Clint Eastwood and the antagonist is a lovable leering Lee Van Cleef. The film consists of roughly an hour of pauses between lines of dialogue, about fifteen minutes of startling close-ups of ugly greasy faces and numerous amusing violations of the laws of reality and logic. That aside, I think it’s a brilliant piece of art and tons cooler than The Wizard of Oz.
Also, I’d like to hear some lyrics for Ennio Morricone’s legendary soundtrack, Rifftrax-style. TUSK!
Billy Jack. (not a great movie- but, my goodness, Bill as Crow would mention the film often)
I’ve even written to them to suggest the James Bond movies. They’re such solid cultural touchstones– I’ve heard it said that half the world’s population has seen a James Bond movie. They’re also kind of goofy and over the top.
Likewise the original ‘Planet Of The Apes’ flicks. They stand up as sci-fi, but they’re all too ripe for riffing and they have such a strong legacy that they could take the abuse and survive it with our fondness for them intact.
I think The Adventures of Robin Hood could be fun. And when they first announced their super-classic riff I thought it might be The Day the Earth Stood Still, so that too.
A game I always play when watching MST3K is waiting for the Wizard Of Oz reference, and The Beatles reference. They’re not always there, but they are there a lot of the time. It looks like the next natural choice would be any of The Beatles movies.
@59 There is a fan made MST3K of Starcrash over at archive.org.
It’s sad Ray Harryhausen has only been dead a few months, and this is the second time I’ve seen someone confuse his work with Will Vinton’s claymation. :(
@35 There were plenty of VCR’s in the ’70’s. Betamax came on the market in 1975, and VHS in 1977. One reason the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special has survived. Half the marketing spiel for VCR’s at the time was taping old movies in the dead of night.
Oz has been airing on TBS or TNT around the holidays for several years now. And Turner Classic Movies runs a lot of old flicks too. They also seem to run Casablanca nearly every month. ;)
@58 Oh brother were art thou- How could i forget! Post mst3k and before Rifftrax I wished they had done that movie! ITs so ripe for the riffing. “I’m the Prater Familias”
Put me in the group that says “none”. While I don’t think a film need be “bad” to be riffed (several movies on MST3K are quite good), but they must, then, be “cheesy”. Neither “Casablanca” nor “Oz” are cheesy. Therefore, no thanks.
And the trailer didn’t have one decent *joke* in it. Lot’s of snide comments, but *jokes*? None.
Preferably none. When someone riffs at a movie with halfway decent production it really comes across more like talking during the movie. Similarly when the comments are neither intelligent nor particularly creative. If i want to hear a bunch of goombas yacking away while a movie is showing I’ll go to the local muliplex in new york or new jersey.
I’m with Gary Bowden @68, choosing a film that won an Oscar/Oscars but, outside of a specific, isolated aspect that made it Oscar worthy (a great performance or something that resonated with audiences of the time), the film would be a good candidate for riffing. For me, that would include “Rocky”, “Ordinary People”, “On Golden Pond”, “Reversal of Fortune”, “Scent Of A Woman”, “Forrest Gump”, and “Cabaret”.
I would also like to see something where they bring in a trio of African-American comedians (Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Tim Hardaway?), and give them a film like “Glory”, “Colors”, or “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”, and see what they do with it. I am a white suburban guy who works at a high school in Detroit whose student body is 100% African-American, and some of the funniest stuff I hear comes from the black teens “riffing” on the entertainment efforts of other African-Americans.
Anyway, that’s it from me. On today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in my own, small way, I have a dream…that somehow, someway, Mystery Science Theater 3000 would return for one more full season of original episodes!
Oh wow! What was I thinkin’? In my first entry, I meant to say Kevin Hart, not Tim Hardaway! Don’t even ask, cause I have no reason why that came out!
You can love something and still riff it. Riffs can come from a place of love and respect (examples “Night of the Living Dead” and “The LOTR Trilogy”).
And for those who don’t like some of there “Harsher” riffs, I’d rather them be too harsh than play it safe out of reverence to classic. Just relax, laugh and roll with it!
That said, “The King and I” would make good riffing fodder, along with some previously mentioned.
On an unrelated note: Do more K. Gordon Murray Imports! “Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters!”
Here some “great” Directors I think they should take down a notch:
Martin Scorsese- Any of his DiCaprio pairings (I’m one of the few who despised “The Departed”)
Quentin Tarantino- IMO makes great PARTS of films, never a great WHOLE film.
Paul T. Anderson- Hated “The Master”, HATED!
Wes Anderson- STOP LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA!!!
Terrence Malick- One of several who give “arthouse” films a bad name IMO
David Lynch- “Mulholland Dr.” That is all!
I didn’t like The Master either. The movie is boring though, so it could use some strong riffing, like The Beast of Yucca Flats on MST3K.
this seemed to deteriorate into a “i hate this movie so skewer this one RT guys!” thread. :(
Like I said near the beginning, the favorite movies of everybody who thinks Oz is an acceptable movie to trash is the movie I’d like to see next. Name your favorite movie and I’ll give it a go right right here myself (actually, I was going to suggest that as a weekend discussion thread last weekend)
We could have made better comments, but the movie wasn’t very good!
-approximate quote from Castle Of Fu Manchu
@96 Actually they’ve already riffed a number of my favorite movies. I’ve enjoyed them all and continue to enjoy the original films, too. (My wife feels the same way about some of her favorite movies that they’ve riffed.)
So I think it’s kind of a “to each his own” kind of thing. I can see why someone would not want to see a riff on a favorite movie and I can respect that, but it’s definitely not a universally held point-of-view.
And while I can imagine a riff of a favorite movie being done in a way that was so mean-spirited I couldn’t enjoy it, that hasn’t been my experience of RiffTrax riffs on the “good” films they’ve done. Your mileage may vary – and that’s okay, too.
I agree that it’s a personal matter whether someone can tolerate the riffing of favorite movie. I get tears in my eyes every Christmas watching the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol, yet just thinking of what they could do with it makes me giggle.
Also, I think we all know by now that Rifftrax are harsher or more mean spirited or whatever you want to call it. I don’t know why anybody expects otherwise. Personally I find the more mean spirited riffs hilarious; probably comes from living with all males.
oh, just riff everything