Can’t wait! April 21st! Empire Strikes Back just came out.
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RiffTrax – Empire Strikes Back and Twilight
It has been far too long since I did an update on RiffTrax, so I’ll just note what they are up to. The next RiffTrax will be The Empire Strikes Back (awesome) and they are working on Twilight, but are reworking it so it will be extra special! Twilight RiffTrax is the film I am waiting for!
RiffTrax Trip Report – X2: X-Men United
Just when you thought it was safe to be a mutant, the X-Men return! The original X-Men RiffTrax was one of the first dozen or so, and was the first appearance of Bill Corbet in a RiffTrax, IIRC. He and Mike Nelson soloed that one, and both of them are back along with Kevin Murphy for the second movie in the mutant franchise. This time, questions are answered, schools are invaded, white houses are bamfed, people are frozen, and Magneto is still evil.
We continue the CEREBRO/MAGNETO jokes from Mike that filled the original RiffTrax, and add to them jokes about smurfs, naked blue chicks, Captain Picard, and a certain mutant actor’s musical career.
Particularly good riffs include a callback to the terrible The Happening, Lemon drink, inconsistencies in mutant powers, and body counts.
While not the best RiffTrax I have heard, it was pretty entertaining and I enjoyed it. The Riff was aided by the fact the movie is entertaining on its own, I can’t wait until the third installment of the trilogy, because that is the film in the franchise deserving a butt kicking. Stop by RiffTrax.com and pick up a copy of this Riff.
RiffTrax Trip Report – The Happening
So the RiffTrax for The Happening is out, and thus gave me a reason to finally see the M. Night Shyamalan movie about killer plants and Mark Wahlberg.
The Happening has the distinction of being a movie about plants who leak an airborne toxin to kill people, because people are a bunch of douchebags who pollute the planet, kill bees, and spend lots of the film staring vacantly into space. This film is unbelievably bad, and the longer it goes, the worse the movie gets. The only likeable characters all die, and instead we have to follow the complete bore Mark Wahlberg is playing as he wusses his way around the East Coast. Mark is joined by Zooey Deschanel, who cannot act at all and spends most of the film staring with wide eyes. Rather disturbing. The third person in the main group is the daughter of John Leguizamo’s character, played by Ashlyn Sanchez, who is a small girl and thus Shyamalan gives her odd camera angles to emphasize how this is extra traumatic to her, even though the movie is boring. The likable characters such as John Leguizamo, the Hot Dog guy, the Army guy, and the two kids who get shotgunned all manage to die quickly. Everyone who lives does the dumbest things over and over again, to the point where you want them to die, but the movie hates you and keeps them alive. Up yours, The Happening. The film is filled with incorrect science on evolution and plant communication, plus just says “we’ll never know because it was nature” as an answer to almost everything. Even though the film already answered the question like twenty times in the film. Look for Dante from Clerks showing up as a jeep driver who has a need for speed and not wearing seatbelts.
A film like that would be quite painful by itself, but luckily we have Mike, Kevin, and Bill to keep us company. Thank goodness for that! From opening references about What’s Happening and stretching Deschanel, to constant breaking into songs and riffing on the terrible camera angles, fun times for all. Go to hell, plants!
Remember to run from the wind, because the wind is evil. And plants are evil, but it is the wind you run from. The movie tries to have jumpscares with wind! This movie is terrible. But the RiffTrax is golden. Stop by RiffTrax.com and pick it up, you’ll be glad you did, once you get over the fact you have to watch The Happening.
Seriously, this movie is TERRIBLE!
RiffTrax Live trip report – Over the Top
Here is the RiffTrax Live report I promised. I went to the Memorial Day show at Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco. I and my girlfriend attended, where everyone was in the dark as to the subject of the movie we would be watching. As we sat at the tables waiting to order the two drinks we were required to order (stupid minimum drink rules!) they accidentally flashed the Over the Top title screen on the screen. Now the riffers already did Over the Top, except it was a Mike only affair. This time there were all three of them, and the jokes came faster and more furious. I never even finished the solo Mike RiffTrax, and now experiencing all three of them doing it I probably never will, as I’ll be disappointed by the slower previous effort. In all a good time was had, despite the extra bill from the drinks. Had I been able to go to San Rafael I would have, but we wouldn’t have been in town. Hopefully they will be back soon, and more riffing will be riffed!
Rifftrax Live – Trip Report
And now my report on seeing RiffTrax Live
Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, now known as the Film Crew, were set for two appearances in the SF Sketchfest, performing riffing live of an actual movie. I eagerly bought my ticket and prepared for a two hour drive up to San Rafael to catch the first performance on january 16th. The movie was TBA, and could be anything, from the black and white B-movies the Film Crew are preparing to release with commentary on DVD, to the movies trashed by Mike and the gang at rifftrax.com, to an entirely new movie. Arriving in time to get a good seat (and catch a glimpse of the trio before the show started, I was all set for hilarity.
And Hilarity came! After a brief skit in the beginning (where Kevin and Bill pretended to not know they were watching a film and had prepared other performances) the movie was revealed: Daredevil!!! Ben Affleck’s disasterpiece about the blind superhero. Unfortunately, the first attempt at starting the DVD resulted in it beginning in the middle of the film, but the boys recovered as the DVD guy restarted. Much hilarity ensued as Affleck became a favorite target of the riffers’ jokes. The movie, if you have seen it (and I unfortunately had) is a complete mess; with editing problems, terrible dialog, worse overacting, and total disregard for the laws of physics. Some of the best lines involved mentioning “little Ben” and speaking in a deep voice whenever the Kingpin was on screen. Also, there was a mention of Bettendorf, Iowa, and as a former Quad Citian (Rock Island) I enjoyed it very much. The best part was during a fight near some laundry lines outside, and Mike started doing a whole commercial in an announcer voice for Daredevil Brand Laundry Detergent, that kept going and going, putting the audience and the other two riffers in stitches.
After the show, there was a question and answer portion, which was informative. The audience was surprisingly more normal than one would expect for an event like this, with only two notable exceptions. They revealed that the DVD the fans have voted for the most at filmcrewonline.com was Hollywood After Dark, with Rue McClanahan stripping. Also, Kevin said one of the upcoming Rifftrax films almost killed him with how bad it was, and I can’t wait. The group said Battlefield Earth was overexposed, and wouldn’t get riffed on anytime soon, something I agree with, as it is hit as a target far too often to make it interesting at the moment. In addition, they will not be riffing Blood Hook, despite an annoying fan not being quiet about it (MST3Kers Kevin Murphy and Jim Mallon worked on it.)
After the show, the group signed autographs, so I got to meet the trio, albeit briefly, and got all their autographs (Mike and Kevin in the MST3K book, and Bill on the Volume 7 DVD set) which I will treasure always. In all, the experience was very enjoyable, and well worth the $25 ticket price, plus gas and driving time. A stop off in San Francisco to see my girlfriend was also an added bonus. The group performed again the next day in San Francisco proper, and as Mike has expressed that he is working on a tour of Rifftrax, they may soon be coming to an area near you, maybe with another movie or Daredevil itself.
Pictures will be added if I can get the cable for my cell phone to connect to the computer.