Mothra: The Cleanest Boy In Town!

[mrsphyllistorgo]

So I just got back from Mothra and I do believe it did not disappoint!

As usual, I laughed all my eye makeup off and had to ride the bus home looking like a giggling panda, but I'm used to that.

The opening banter felt just a wee bit stilted at first, but the guys definitely caught the rhythm for "Soapy." Gotta say, I know that a lot of these old shorts come across as menacing or even downright molesty, but Soapy telling a young boy to lay down and close his eyes was in a class by itself.

As for Mothra itself, they did their usual great job distributing giggle lines with the well placed belly-laughs: "Tom Cruise and John Travolta are doing a play?" (everybody in my theater lost it.) Also enjoyed their various exasperated notations of the distinct LACK OF MOTHRA for a good two thirds of the film without over hammering it.

Very much looking forward to Carnival of Souls. What did you all think?



Ah, so now he knows what it's like to be a mildly attractive woman at a scifi convention!

[Crowfan]

This show was really funny. The theater I went to was totally packed(I think think it was the most people I've seen for a regular Rifftrax show except for "Starship Troopers") That short was so wrong on so many levels. I shudder to think that one day the guys will do a short that I saw in school.....

[starschwar]

My theater had reception issues, but they were resolved before the riffing on the short began. Soapy will haunt my nightmares for some time. I've seen a bunch of Toho movies, but had never gotten around to seeing the original Mothra. I was glad I didn't do so unriffed. Painful lack of Mothra, as was pointed out. Good riffing fodder, of course. I understand that this is the shortened American cut - does the Japanese version provide any more background as to why the fairies exist / are so small? It seemed like a big detail to gloss over. As was the whole nuclear testing angle. My gut tells me the original probably delved into that more. Their remarkably blue description of Mothra's cocoon had me in stitches. Those blatantly obvious Barbie doll and unzoomed bird shots were good fun.

[Torgo]

It doesn't seem to matter which theater I go to, but it seems like every time I go to an Edwards lately they have some sort of projection problem. Normally it's just the sound going out (which happened at The BFG, Star Trek Beyond, and the Fathom Events showing of Animal House last week), and I still haven't entirely forgiven them for their screwy showing of the Sharknado 2 live show last year. This time the show started in the middle and it took them ten minutes for them to actually do something about it and another ten to fix it. But at least we actually got to watch the whole show this time, unlike Sharknado 2.

At any rate, the short was the highlight of the show. Wildly funny stuff. Mothra as a film is absolutely wonderful, though I do love it when MST or any of its offspring dip their toes in diakaiju waters. Usually it's the monster scenes that win the day with the riffing format, but here whenever Mothra was onscreen the laughs seemed to die down (save for her hilarious first appearance out of the egg). The Shobijin fairies seemed to bring the best gags from Mike, Kevin, and Bill, as they're something that they don't often get in other giant monster movies (though they appeared very briefly in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster).

The show wasn't without it's blemishes. I've said it time and time again at every point the riffers point out that they're bored from a lack of a title monster or just a slower pace in general, they only succeed in making bored in turn, without laughing I might add. And since I've seen Mothra many times and haven't been bored once, I can only conclude that the commentary is boring me and not the movie. Pokes at the toy cars, cute plush monster puppets, and crumbling models are fair game and understandable, but jabs at an intentional creative choice that work for the film itself is poor form.

That said, I can now leave this life saying I have seen Mothra in a movie theater. Sure it was the Rifftrax version, but seeing these wonderful Ishiro Honda monster movies on the big screen in any format is a pleasure. Makes me wish that they might have Battle in Outer Space or The H-Man somewhere down the line. Those could be fun (especially the former). And I brought a few of my kaiju loving friends to their first Rifftrax experience and they absolutely loved it. So a great night overall.

[Triple_sSs]

I really wish I could've seen Mothra, but unfortunately I just started having to work evening shifts at my job, so I couldn't make the show and most likely can't make the rebroadcast. Poopie.

But oh well, glad to hear you guys had a great time!

[kmorgan]

I've been going to the Regal Commerce Cinema on Rt. 1 in East Brunswick, NJ and we've never had a problem beyond a volume issue once. Even better, they've been showing the RT shows in one of the upgraded theaters with recliners and extra leg room.

I saw the original Japanese "Mothra" at BlobFest a couple of years ago, so I knew what I was getting. It's really a pretty good movie, and the guys did a fine job riffing. As for "Soapy", was this short as creepy when it was made as it is now?

[Triple_sSs]

Pardon the late response, but I was able to attend the rebroadcast on Tuesday, and it was really good! Kaiju films make for great riffing material and Mothra was no exception.
Also I had already seen the "Soapy" short riffed by Incognito Cinema Warriors XP a while back. Rifftrax did good with it but I think I enjoyed ICWXP's take a little bit more.