On MST3K and All Things Related

[John]

The last Mystery Science Theater 3000 thread died a long time ago, largely because of an absence of new stuff to talk about. But no more! Starting a year or two ago and slowly but surely increasing from there, almost the entire cast of MST3K from every point in its syndicated run have now started various new projects, and it seems the world of MST is about to reach a fever pitch it hasn't seen since the show itself was last on air. Let's break it down for ya:

[B]Rifftrax (Rifftrax.com):[/B] Presumably the start of this new riffing revival, Rifftrax is the project created by former MST host Mike Nelson, and involves him once again riffing along with movies. Only this time, several things are different. One of the main reasons MST3K was eventually forced off the air despite its rabid fanbase was the cost of buying the TV rights to every movie they wanted to put on the show, even if they were old and long-forgotten. Mike remedies this situation in this project by actually recording the riff track (hence, Rifftrax) on an mp3 file and making that available for sale. Then, using your mp3 playing method of choice, you sync the Rifftrax up with the movie manually (not as hard as it sounds), which you rent or own by yourself (fortunately, Rifftrax are cheap, so it's not a big drain on your wallet to pay for both that and the movie).

Of course, it was quickly discovered that one man riffing on a movie by himself isn't nearly as fun as multiple people interacting with each other and playing off each others' riffs. So special guest riffers, mostly from the MST cast, were eventually appearing in pretty much every Rifftrax; the most prevalent guest riffer is no doubt Kevin Murphy, the genius behind Tom Servo. And as it turns out, these riffing sessions are at least as good as the original MST, if not better. While MST still holds a lot of nostalgia, along with characters that just won't ever be beaten, Riffrax's clever mocking of movies that are actually recent and popular and fresh pop-culture riffs that are delightfully more current than the MST fare, put both series about neck and neck. (Oh, also, Neil Patrick Harris guest-riffed on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. :) )

[B]The Film Crew (filmcrewonline.com):[/B] Although The Film Crew have apparently been around since at least mid-2005, I don't credit them as the source of the riffing revival because they didn't actually start doing any riffing until mid-2007. Before that, the crew, comprised of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett (voice of Crow), had apparently been a less tightly-organized group that would host or introduce various TV and DVD movies (such as stuff from the Three Stooges) on channels like AMC, Sundance, and Starz. This time around, though, they're back to riffing the almost-classic way: they've come back with a new fictional setting, host segments, and more old movies. I haven't yet seen any Film Crew movies, but you can buy their DVDs from the website. I may just ask for some for Christmas. :)

[B]Unnamed animated series:[/B] You heard me right. Within the past week, a brand-new MST3K animated show, which will be hosted online, was announced. The show will feature only the bots this time around, however, and I got the impression it wouldn't be based around riffing movies. Needless to say, my interest in this is piqued, but I'm also pretty doubtful: the show is being created by longtime MST producer and writer Jim Mallon and Paul Chaplin, but none of the actual cast will be coming back to do voices (although Jim did do the voice of Gypsy, whenever she happened to appear onscreen). Nothing has yet been said of the voices of any of the characters except Crow, who will be voiced by Chaplin. This will all go down on November 5th, when the domain name mst3k.com will be bestowed upon Jim and Paul by the Satellite News, the long-standing hub of all MST-related fanaticism on the internet. They in turn will fall back on the domain mst3kinfo.com, and will go from being called the official site of MST3K to the official fansite. The series is, for the record, being published under the resurrected name of Best Brains, Inc.

[B]Cinematic Titanic (cinematictitanic.com):[/B] If the animated series does indeed turn out to be a dud, then we will soon have yet a third riff-fest coming at us to make up for it: Cinematic Titanic. This one is [I]really[/I] going to fill in all the gaps that MSTies everywhere have been longing for even in the midst of Rifftrax and the Film Crew, in terms of two things: the cast, and the silhouettes.

First and foremost, the cast. Finally answering his instinctive call to record himself making fun of terrible movies for the first time since he left MST is series creator and original host [I][B]Joel Hodgson[/B][/I]. I personally have no preference between Joel and Mike, but this is huge. Even better, this time he's got not two but [I]four[/I] previous MST stars helping him on what appears to be a regular basis: Mary Jo Pehl (writer and later actress for Pearl Forrester), Trace Beaulieu, Frank Coniff (actor for TV's Frank), and--returning for the first time since the primordial, legendary local-access days of MST--J. Elvis Weinstein (actor for Dr. Laurence Ernhardt). That's right, five classic riffers on one movie at one time. It's going to be a freaking cluster**** of hilarious.

Secondly, the beloved method of silhouetting the stars onto the film will once again be reinstated, though this time they'll apparently be on some sort of bizarre scaffolding-like setup on either side of the screen, as you can see in the series logo on the website. I hope they don't have to stay standing for the whole movie!

According to the site, Cinematic Titanic's first movie will be released in time for Christmas, and before that they'll have their premier live in San Francisco in December. The showing itself will be open only to ILM/Lucasfilm employees, but the performance will be offered to the public "remotely and slightly after the fact".



So if you've read all that and you aren't pumped about the future of riffing yet, then I feel sorry for you. Now, discuss.

[Panda]

Wow, this thread was so packed full of information my brain is all a flutter. Needless to say I am a huge MST3K fan and have, in fact, been to Hopkins, Minnesota which was the highlight of that particular trip. I will definitely check out all these sites listed.

I am looking forward to the new work but still feel a little worried that the flair and fun of the originals will be lost. Classics like Manos: Hands of Fate and Pod People are going to be hard to top with todays movies.

Now, I must check out all the sites you listed John. Thanks again for the wonderful posting. Hearing some current MST3K news totally made my day. :catgirl:

[John]

Oh, come on guys. I'm certain that this type of thing could entertain more than just Panda and I, so get off yer ***** and post! If you think you've got nothing to say, at least visit the sites I listed, as all of them at least have short clips of what they're all about.

But back on topic, I just got around to watching the first episode of the new animated series, and I'm sad to say it sucks even more than I had anticipated. The voice acting, the characterizations, the animation, the jokes (or lack thereof)... all of it is just about as bad as you could possibly get, especially from professionals who're already selling t-shirts.

Oh, that's another thing, I had an awesome MST3K shirt on the top of my Christmas list that was being sold at the fansite, when my sister told me that the link was broken. I check it, and sure enough, they've taken down their store. I guess Jim Mallon is only allowing merch to go through the official site now, which wouldn't be so bad save that they're only selling new merch from the ****ty new series, not the classic stuff.

But, to end the update on a good note, [URL="http://starwars.com/community/news/rocks/f20071109/index.html"][COLOR=Gray]this[/COLOR][/URL] StarWars.com interview with Joel went up recently, and it's packed with great info about his personal history and the history of MST. Also, the first movie for Cinematic Titanic has been confirmed as the Sean Connery film [U]Zardoz[/U], to be released on or around December 10 (this following their live premier on Dec. 7). After seeing that costume he wears, I can't wait to hear what the riffers have in store for the movie.

[Shinmaru]

I can't believe I didn't see this topic before.

Anyway, I recently bought a bunch of Rifftrax and had a blast listening to them, although a couple were slightly disappointing. Here's a quick ranking, from best to worst:

- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Independence Day
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- Spider-Man
- The Matrix
- Raiders of the Lost Ark

The top four are all fantastic riffing experiences that would fit in well with any episode of MST3K. Mike and Kevin riffing on the ridiculous ethnic stereotypes in the Phantom Menace is incredible, as is "Rommel, you magnificent son of a *****, I read your book." Harry Potter is almost as good. As always, the Rifftrax crew are at their best when a) Someone has died or b) When they have a bunch of dorks and losers to destroy. The latter is full force in Harry Potter, haha.

Moving on, Attack of the Clones is fine, but it's not as good as I hoped it would be, considering the dubious quality of the movie. Chad Vader is also a horrible guest riffer - he barely says anything, and when he does speak, it's not at all funny. Spider-Man and The Matrix are also disappointing because while there's some funny stuff (the Bonesaw scenes in Spider-Man are great in particular), there was definitely the potential for more there.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the most disappointing of all, though, because it's not that good. There are some funny lines ("It's a Jew!" when one of the Nazis pulls out a gun being my favorite), but they're few and far between, which sucks because Mike, Kevin, and Bill are all here for that one. Oh well.

Still, my experience with Rifftrax so far has been far more positive than negative. It's fantastic seeing the boys back together. What Rifftrax have you listened to, John?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to check out Cinematic Titanic...

[John]

In no particular order, here are the ones I've seen:

-Over the Top
-300
-Star Wars Episode I
-Star Wars Episode II
-Star Wars Episode III
-LotR: FotR
-Reign of Fire
-The Matrix
-Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

My older sister and I just bought the Over the Top Rifftrax last night, but it got too late and I haven't had time to watch it yet.

300 was a magnificent spectacle of riffing, made all the better by the fact that that was my first time seeing the movie. Of course, any movie with characters that intense and macho is instant riff-bait ("BIG MCLARGEHUGE!" "PUNT SPEEDCHUNK!"), so it's to be expected.

I watched all the Star Wars ones consecutively in a few days, and I'm not sure which one I like best. To me, they all had some pretty decent riffing. And as a bonus, the running "I hate sand" gag was the first time I've seen an inter-movie callback since MST, so that was a nice thing to behold. (I do, however, agree that Chad Vader was a crappy guest riffer.)

I understand that your loathing for the FotR movie would dismay you from buying the Rifftrax, Shin, but I promise you it's well worth it whether you love the movie or hate it. 300 runs a decent second, but this is still my favorite one so far. That might be because it was the first Rifftrax I ever saw, but man, it's quality. I think I've rewatched this one about half a dozen times--at 3 hours, that's not too shabby--and every time it just gets more classic. Plus, with the sheer volume of movie there, you probably won't be able to soak in all the riffs in one viewing (it's amazing how many jokes you miss after one good one has you clenching your stomach for a full few minutes).

Reign of Fire kinda sucked. :/

I found the Matrix Rifftrax pretty satisfactory, and I'd say it probably comes in right after 300 for me. Maybe tied there with Willy Wonka. I still like the movie itself quite a bit, and when I watched the Rifftrax to it, it had been a long time since I had seen it. So in addition to the decent jokes, it just brought back a warm, semi-nostalgic feeling to me like I might get when I watch MST; that might be why I think highly of this one.

Ahhh, Willy Wonka. Let it be known that Neil Patrick Harris is a damn fine guest riffer, and he and Mike had some good discourse going throughout. I keep finding that the best movies for Rifftrax are actually the ones that are good rather than bad, though why that is, I don't know.

[Shinmaru]

Actually, I watched Fellowship of the Ring again maybe half a year ago (along with the other Lord of the Rings movies), and I actually liked it much more than expected lol. The fact that the movie is so long prevented me from buying the Rifftrax for it, but if it's as good as you say, then I'm buying it today. Most of the other Rifftrax I've held off on buying because I don't have the accompanying movies. (I have The Bourne Identity, but I didn't get that because I wasn't sure the crew could get anything too funny from the movie. Judging from the preview, I was right.)

Eh, about The Matrix, I guess I just wasn't feeling it. Harry Potter was just so hysterically funny that anything else probably would have been a disappointment. I'll definitely give it a rewatch and see how it holds up.

And yeah, I agree that there are a ton of great lines you end up missing the first time through. I watched Harry Potter again the other day, and there was some hilarious lines I missed the first time through (the funniest being Snape's "Shut up and kiss me" to Quirrell in the darkened hallway, haha).

[I, Colossus]

This topic suffers from a severe lack of Rowsdower!

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4L2lwQiAkA[/url]

[John]

[quote name='Frog Brigade']This topic suffers from a severe lack of Rowsdower!

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4L2lwQiAkA[/URL][/quote] I see your Rowsdower and raise you Mitchell.

[url]http://youtube.com/watch?v=JJDzZj4rG3s[/url]


So, anyone who's been paying attention knows that the first CT release has been out for a few weeks now. I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet, but I guarantee you I will. Also, I don't know what happened with the movie choice: in the StarWars.com interview, Joel seemed certain they were going to get [I]Zardoz[/I], but they ended up doing another movie, the original title of which escapes me (they had to retitle it for the CT release as [I]The Oozing Skull[/I] to differentiate it from the original movie). Needless to say, that disappointed me, but maybe it's for the best that I don't get to see Sean Connery in nothing but a red rubber band.