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Rifftrax Live: What did you think?An open thread for thoughts on tonight’s RiffTrax Live.
30 Replies to “Rifftrax Live: What did you think?”Commenting at Satellite News
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Ive seen all the live shows.. this was one of the best since “the room”. I can not wait for Krull..
Very funny stuff. Using the uncut version made the plot ever so slightly more coherent, but the movie was still lousy. Great riffing, funny solution to the love scene problem, and I’m amazed they thought up even more Dave Ryder nicknames. Liked the short, and I just knew they’d use that one callback.
I considered “Manos” an “untouchable” MST3K episode and I was blown away with the result when Rifftrax re-riffed it. Honestly, choosing a favorite between MST3K and Rifftrax “Manos” can be VERY difficult. I was hoping that same tough decision would be forced up me with the re-riffing of “Space Mutiny”. Unfortunately, my decision remains easy. While still very enjoyable, I thought there were too many dead-air moments just BEGGING for a riff and too many repeated riffs (asking Calgan if he used the restaurant app instead of the old riff that asked if he had a reservation comes to mind). That being said, I LOVED that they continued suggesting alternate names for Dave. I do like that they showed more of the movie, but something about the sex scene was strange. They left the scene in, but the only riffing during that scene was about how they censored the scene, not the scene itself. Therefore, why leave in the scene at all?
All in all, a decent effort. It was GREAT to see “Space Mutiny” on the big screen.
A thought just occurred to me. Because “Manos” was such a bad core movie, might we have NEEDED two riffings for it to be fully “redeemed”? “Space Mutiny” has straight up heroes and villains and is a charming sort of goofy nonsense while “Manos” is actually sort of morbid and is only charming because of its ineptitude. Did MST3K fully extract all of the fun “Space Mutiny” had to offer the first time? Hmm…
Yeah, as much as I tried to enjoy this second go-round, the silences made it too easy to remember the riffs they weren’t making. Still fun, but so much more they could’ve done.
Nice that they finally acknowledged BSG, if only once. Could it be fear that too many jokes about it might provoke a lawsuit? IDR if our episode discussion cleared up the legal situation on the stock footage.
Although it’d surely be way too dark for live riffers to touch on a real life fatal choking accident, the toy collector in me half expected that reference when Calgon was talking about the damage caused by the missile pods (Yes, I know Rifftrax ain’t Robot Chicken).
This was the first re-riff that left me wishing they’d leave in the full closing credits for another take on ‘Edge of a Dream’, so Kevin’s parody at the end couldn’t have been a better surprise! All’s well that ends well.
And mad props to whoever made those RC Enforcers with Tom and Crow at the wheel! Now that’s the sort of thing I’d actually buy if Funko did a proper MSToyline. Just imagine if the new show could work out some merchandising rights with Corman and riffed, say, Death Race 2000…brings to mind a weekend thread that might warrant reopening…
Point is, despite how little theatrical Rifftrax we’re getting this year, I left the theater with renewed optimism for THE FUTUUUUUUUUUUURE! Now bring on Overdrawn!
My theater was mostly full and everyone seemed to laugh a lot. I thought it was solid, but not quite as amazing as the MST3K version. Part of that might have been from the six dozen laser gun shootouts, but I’ve also seen the original so many times they probably wouldn’t have been able to top it.
I can’t wait for Krull!
Theater was about half full like usual. This was the first time I took my son to a show, I figure the cheesy laser gun fights and splosions would be able to hold his 8 year old attention and I was right so that was so awesome.
But what is it about Fathom Events and their sound issues? First the sound was completely off, then when 5 people told them about it they fixed it but all the sound was in the very front speakers. I was gonna tell them again but by that time the show started and honestly the volume was comfortably high enough for us to hear clearly in the back so i said screw it. It’s really a bummer though. I think the enjoyment for everybody was a bit more subdued cuz you could hear every little sound people were making. So it kind of seemed people weren’t all that into it. I didn’t care, I laughed as loud as I always do.
I’d say probably half of the RT Live shows I’ve seen have had audio issues. Santa Claus had all the sound coming out of the right side speakers, then they fixed it but then it was blaringly loud and hurt my ears. Miami Connection had audible pops that you could set your watch on and I think it was Godzilla that the levels were off so you could hardly hear the riffs over the action. There’s probably only a few that haven’t had any issues at all. I’ve come to expect having to tell an employee something’s wrong every time.
I can understand stuff happening when these shows were first starting out but they’ve been doing this for a while now, you’d think they’d have them figured out. Or at last it not to be so common. Also it’s not just my theater. I saw them in Arizona originally at a couple different theaters, then I moved to St. Louis and it’s the same at the few I frequent here.
Anyhoo, don’t mean to complain so much it’s just frustrating that these shows are the most fun I have in the theater every year but man it would be so much better if they weren’t so iffy with the quality.
Just thought I’d share. Sorry so long. My son can’t wait for Krull and that makes me so damn proud. ????
Went with my wife and nephew to Marcus Oakdale, MN. I’ve seen at least 10 live events there and there was only sound issues once, several years ago, in the last few minutes of the Santa Claus riff. The theater gave us a full refund even though we only missed like two minutes. I felt guilty getting my money back!
As for Space Mutiny, the MST version is easily in my top 10 favorite episodes. The one thing I never really understood though was why so many people think the many names of Dave Ryder is so funny. I know as part of the kickstarter one of the options was write your own name for Dave Ryder, so I’m sure that’s where most of those new ones came from. To me it’s essentially the same as turning a grocery list into a comedy routine. Mike and Conor viciously ragged on Ernest Cline for the 4 page list of references in Ready Player One. BTW The 372 pages we’ll never get back podcasts are pretty entertaining if you ever wanted a novel riffed.
As usual, the short was a highlight of the live show. I can’t believe they didn’t make any jokes about the dopey dad’s resemblance to Jeff Daniels. Anyone else get the creepy pedo vibe from magic man?
Kevin’s mumu was resplendent. I wonder how drenched the 18 hour bra was by the end of the show.
The hardest part of enjoying this new riff is just hearing the MST version jokes in my head— She’s presenting like a mandrill! She’s got an awesome package. This is supposed to be an ipecac, right? Oy! Finally Christmas comes for Santa, ho ho ho
That said, I still enjoyed the show. I find all of the rifftrax live events have lulls and crescendos of laughter, so I wasn’t too disappointed by some tepid stretches. Also, the movie itself is so damn goofy that it still laughable at times even without any riffs and even after 100 viewings.
About 2/3rds full at the Regal 14 in NYC (where they have moved the RT shows to a smaller theater). Funny, funny stuff, though as Johnny’s nonchalance said, there are some MST riffs that are so perfect and so classic, they were there in my head, too.
Odd thing, though — the entire movie was slightly off-ratio — instead of standard 4:3, which is how it is on the uncut DVD (yes, I liked it so much I bought Space Mutiny on its own), it was stretched slightly side to side, which gave the whole thing a slightly warped look. Was that true for everyone?
And yes, Kevin’s mumu WAS resplendent! Beez had previewed it a couple of days before on Facebook, where my wife saw it and showed it to me, and it did not disappoint! 20 years after the original MST episode, Kevin is now almost a dead ringer for Capt. Santa!
The short once again proved, like Zlateh did, that a classic story by a great writer can STILL be turned into a movie turd if you try hard enough! What a creepy, pointless little film – I loved it!
Finally: now I HAVE to see Reb Brown’s Captain America.
That has less to do with Fathom Events and more to do with local theaters. I’ve learned from experience that if they aren’t giving the show at least 90 percent of their attention, it’s very easy for things to go off the rails. They sometimes have the habit of giving the events a “set it and forget it” treatment, but if someone properly starts it and actually sticks around long enough to make sure the sound and picture are working properly, it’s usually fine. I’ve had to alert them about it at my local theater on many occasions though.
I really enjoyed the heck out of it. Like the other live reriffs of MST3K classics, the RiffTrax Live for SPACE MUTINY serves as a fun counterpoint to the original MST3K riff we hold so dear. Plus, since I have had no initiative up to this point in my life to watch the uncut unriffed SPACE MUTINY, I was delighted to see all the stuff in the movie I didn’t see on TV. It’s like seeing the deleted scenes from CASABLANCA, it’s really neat to see more of a movie you’ve inadvertently memorized by heart. And that CGI gorilla-gram…perfection. “Bill, why are his balloons shinier than anything in the natural world?”
Also, they scheduled RiffTrax Live in a theater that was still showing OCEAN’S 8 when I had arrived at the theater a half hour early, so thanks a lot for spoiling that ending for me, AMC Theaters! Who would’ve thought that Sandra Bullock was her character from GRAVITY all along and it turns out Danny Ocean had gone up into space under an astronaut alias with her to steal the necklace of a Neptunian mob boss–aww, DAMMIT, now I spoiled it for you guys too!
The Hawkeye slide during the pre-show initially had me confused, since the first one that came to mind was Alan Alda.
Loved the song about Soapy.
I think I may have read the story adapted in the short before, as some of the narration sounded kind of familiar.
I too am looking forward to Krull.
Enjoyed it immensely, very funny stuff. I don’t know if I can pick which one is better, but I do favor the MST3K version if only because it was a little more energetic, a little more disdainful of the movie, but there isn’t much of a difference in terms of laughs or enjoyment.
What the new riff did reveal was how the times have changed. In the MST3K version, they went to town on Lt. Lamont’s rather prominent “package” with like three jokes in 10 seconds. With Rifftrax, not even a mention which I figured would be the case given that it may come across a little more controversial today.
Otherwise, nice use of the hippo/gorilla.
I didn’t know until just the other day they play near me. Though my cousin says where he lives they “just don’t get it” and people he knew thought he was going to a show where you write jokes on your smartphone and then a text to speech says them on the screen. Yeah that would go over swell.
Sounds like they were expecting these, but were about twenty years too late:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvVu8RVOJJo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IS6QfHFec0
For the sex? It supposedly sells, y’know…
20 strong(again) in Flint,MI
A very entertaining show. Mike, Kevin and Bill never disappoint.
Incidentally:
“Kevin Murphy has said that for every film used [on Mystery Science Theater 3000], 10 to 20 were screened and rejected. For just over 200 episodes [counting KTMA’s “Season Zero”], the writing staff watched [a minimum of] over 2,000 films.”
Is there a list of those films? How can there not be a list of those films? There must be a list of those films. Somewhere…
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094517/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
I second this. I’m sure they don’t have a comprehensive list or even remember half of what they screened, but I’d still like to hear some of the titles.
I can think of four that they said they actually saw and didn’t use: “Child Bride” (outright rejected),”Charro” (unable to get rights), “Baffled!” (rights again) and “Moment by Moment” (rights again).
I wonder how many of them were just, you know, “mundane crime/drama” films like (among others) Teen-Age Crime Wave, High School Big Shot, Girl in Lovers Lane, and Racket Girls, which I consider among the best episodes. :-)
I suppose Child Bride counts as such a film too. I wonder how many requests one set of Brains or another would need to receive before they gave in and tackled it at last.
“It beat us down before, but now it’s OUR turn…to get beaten down again…”
I’d think that, what with MST3K’s long-established popularity (I mean, the public didn’t just demand its return but PAID for it), getting film rights might now be easier in many cases. But I dunno.
Maybe Kickstarter could collect contributions for a “buy the rights” fund…
Saw the first broadcast, then the re-broadcast last night, loved it twice. I decided to see it again because the first time I was with my lovely wife and my oldest son, and my wife is one of those (whispered) “What did they just say?”.. and then I miss three jokes afterwards. So a re-view was in order, alone.
“Yes, we *know* it’s the Battlestar Gallactica ship, you nerds!”
Gare
Aside from “Overblown Medved-mentioned famous flops of the 70’s” reputation aside, I don’t know why exactly they would have wanted “Moment by Moment” (an overcompensating Lily Tomlin romance written by her lesbian partner isn’t usually their taste), unless it was that they got all the John Travolta jokes out of their system with the safely public-domain “Boy in the Plastic Bubble” for RT.
We’ll probably see more “real” MGM/UA, Orion and Cannon Pictures both on RT and Netflix, now that those movies seem to have fallen into a sort of PD limbo on streaming (consider that the SciFi years only got two Golan/Globus films…), but now that MK&B are basically working in their own airtight vacuum, with no Netflix to order episodes, the RT half of the market’s all cash-over-the-barrelhead now:
They’ll charge viewers for the PD titles they can get, and Kick them for the royalty-rights titles they can’t.
Joel still thinks he has only a narrow window of recent widescreen small-label color direct-video movies that he “has” to use for Those New Binge-Streaming Kids With Their Netflix, but with RT, the rule of “If it’s on Amazon Prime, you’ll see it on Rifftrax!” will still probably apply.
On a side note, how did “dunno” become short for don’t know? It makes no sense lol
There was Golan Globus in the SciFi era? Which ones?
Oh, and Frank picked the movies on Comedy Central, so that literally has nothing to do with Rifftrax. Frank wanted Moment By Moment
Dunno’s been around for generations, but I’m petitioning a new bill to have anyone who writes “Prolly” to be shot on site by roaming death squads.
Okay, S5, smartyboots. (Cannon Pictures, of course, immediately reminded MK&T of Julie Andrews in “Shy People”, out of which we got the Femmy Movies Game segment in Alien From LA. Which is strange, since, y’know, I always associated Golan/Globus with Morgan Freeman’s Oscar nomination for “Street Smart”.)
And…yeah, okay, I could see Frank picking Moment. Mike, I could see picking Boy in the Plastic Bubble, but Frank and cheesy melodrama just seem to get along. :)
It’s just a representation of the sounds produced when you don’t clearly enunciate the T in “don’t”. The double-n sound left in “don – know” is easier to say, especially at any speed (like a native speaker would), and so the intruding consonant is often dropped or made very subtle.
Ok, that should be spelled donno instead. Done-O is how I read dunno, Daddy-O lmao DoneO Marx was always my fav Marx brother
But it’s not based on dropping more letters out of the normal written spelling, it’s transcribing the “uh” sound (like in your example of “done”, or even more undifferentiated depending on how clearly spoken) that gets introduced. Actually I have seen “donno” in print, but it’s unusual. (Google results for the two forms are on the order of about 40:1.)
I’m rather late but I’ll chime in. There were maybe seven or eight people there in total, I expected a few more. I thoroughly enjoyed this re-riffing despite some jokes being in the same vein as the originals. It’s clear that the scenes which were cut from the episode didn’t make much difference, plot-wise, if any. The gorilla visual obstacle was used for the wrong scene, IMHO.