The rallying of MsTies

[Roz]

conoratrifftrax said:

rozruss said:

I am not a big fan of Rifftrax, and any excitement I had about that quickly dissipated.

How come?

For me, it can get too caustic, too coarse. Mike, Kevin and Bill can just go from funny to unnecessarily harsh quick.

Also, I agree with something Joel said recently about having story and characters:

"...I knew it wouldn't work if you were just making fun or happened to be sarcastic. You had to have some reason -- like "The Prisoner" -- where you are forced to watch the movie. Because otherwise, why don't you leave if you don't like it?"

Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with not having a strong premise, but it makes it feel more fun, to me, and I don't feel like I'm just listening to voices tearing down a movie. (And yet "The Film Crew" just didn't work for me, either.) What Joel keeps calling "gentle riffing," is totally up my street.

Maybe that makes no sense. It's just my idea of humor in the world of movie riffing.

[conoratrifftrax]

vanhagar3000 said:

conoratrifftrax said:

I'd recommend trying out RiffTrax before you decide that it is "too difficult". You will most likely not encounter any "skips" or other "synching" problems while watching the movie.

Send me your email address at conor AT rifftrax DOT com and I will send you a certificate to try one RiffTrax movie for free. The "synching issue" is quite trivial, and I am sure that you have one of the close to fifty movies that we have riffed lying around your place.

Not a single one of the fifty (more contemporary) movies. I've spent all my money on MST. I'll take you up on your free certificate, and give it a try. Thank you for that!

Just let me know what movie you would like to try and the riffing will be all yours.

-Conor @ RiffTrax

(As a completely partial party, I would recommend the Star Wars Holliday Special. It doesn't come out til Monday but it's pretty damn funny.)

[conoratrifftrax]

vanhagar3000 said:

conoratrifftrax said:

I'd recommend trying out RiffTrax before you decide that it is "too difficult". You will most likely not encounter any "skips" or other "synching" problems while watching the movie.

Send me your email address at conor AT rifftrax DOT com and I will send you a certificate to try one RiffTrax movie for free. The "synching issue" is quite trivial, and I am sure that you have one of the close to fifty movies that we have riffed lying around your place.

Not a single one of the fifty (more contemporary) movies. I've spent all my money on MST. I'll take you up on your free certificate, and give it a try. Thank you for that!

Sweet. I can recommend several movies that are vastly improved with riffing. Point Break, Eragon, Crossroads, The Star Wars Holiday Special, Daredevil, Battlefield Earth, Predator, Star Trek V, Glitter, The Wicker Man, etc.

Thank me later for the laughs, and feel free to email if you have any issues/questions

[e-mail]

[blueskieseyes]

rozruss said:

conoratrifftrax said:

How come?

For me, it can get too caustic, too coarse. Mike, Kevin and Bill can just go from funny to unnecessarily harsh quick.

Also, I agree with something Joel said recently about having story and characters:

"...I knew it wouldn't work if you were just making fun or happened to be sarcastic. You had to have some reason -- like "The Prisoner" -- where you are forced to watch the movie. Because otherwise, why don't you leave if you don't like it?"

Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with not having a strong premise, but it makes it feel more fun, to me, and I don't feel like I'm just listening to voices tearing down a movie. (And yet "The Film Crew" just didn't work for me, either.) What Joel keeps calling "gentle riffing," is totally up my street.

Maybe that makes no sense. It's just my idea of humor in the world of movie riffing.

I have to agree with you. The sense of gentle (but sometimes biting) fun and whimsy so evident in seasons 1-7 dwindled as the show moved into seasons 8-10. That harshness that you referenced was definitely in play by then. Even the on-screen language deteriorated after season 7, which is an issue when one's child --, i.e. the next generation of fans/purchasers -- is watching with you.

I can't comment on Rifftrax, because the only samples of that body of work I've seen were viewed at YouTube. Same with TFC. I haven't been tempted to purchase either product. That is not a criticism, btw.

I am quite willing to purchase CT sight unseen because I trust its merry band of crafters to approach it with what I hope is still their tendency towards "gentle riffing."

Gently riffing a film called "Brain of Blood"! Yah, baby! ;D

[pslowner]

I think with all the future Rhino release, the future Rifftrax release and the future CT releases, there should be something for all but the most sour-puss among us.

Between Rhino and Cheepnis, I have all the MST3Ks, I have all the rifftrax commentaries, the film crew and I cannot wait for the CT dvds.

Yes, I am a slave to their fine ladies and gentelmen.

[BathTub]

rozruss said:

["...I knew it wouldn't work if you were just making fun or happened to be sarcastic. You had to have some reason -- like "The Prisoner" -- where you are forced to watch the movie. Because otherwise, why don't you leave if you don't like it?"

lol, the scenario is Money. Someone (Us for CT) is willing to pay them to make the funny. It's always been that way MST3K, TFC, RiffTrax, AFV, and now CT. Trace says as much in the interview posted recently in the main forum.

I mean honestly, what percentage of the riffs are genuinely coloured by the set up? I certainly not saying those segments aren't funny or entertaining that's a seperate issue, but we all know why they are there.

It's going to be interesting to see what "The Prisoner" Scenario is for Captain Joel of "the Cinematic Titanic" and his crew is.

[BoB3K]

I liked The Film Crew (compare- I don't have an iterest for Rifftrax). I thought the premise was good and I thought that MK&B were a little less caustic than SciFi MST3K. But, if CT is a success, I don't think we'll see anymore (might not have anyway), because unlike RiffTrax, they really would be directly competing, what with the movie selections being from the same pool.

[Godo]

I had not posted here in about two years. I'm a little embarassed to say that it was the announcement of "The Bots are Back" that brought me back in.

Thankfully, Cinematic Titanic came along right afterwards to keep me here!

[Mod City]

I'm glad to see people showing up. We are all fans of the original show, after all, and we should be happy to be together.

I'm a fan of both outfits (guessing since I obviously haven't seen any CT), but I've been completely pleased with the performances of the Rifftrax crew. I actually enjoy the fact that they don't do movies from the old "B" genre, or whatever it is.

They're doing a smart thing keeping each idea unique to itself. Still, CT will have to earn my money. Rifftrax and that crew have kept my fire for riffing alive for many years. They've earned my patronage. If CT delivers, they'll have earned it, too.

[ern2150]

It's funny how multiple posters are bringing up that the SciFi era was "more caustic" for them, if only because that wasn't my impression at all.
I could be mistaking words / sentiments here, but S4 has some of the "darkest" material ever, to the extent that Joel specifically tells the bots to keep it light before several shorts.
And it seems like Mike, off camera, talks about his kids and family and keeping that environment "clean" for lack of a better term, and had played up the "midwestern wholesomeness" angle more than once while contrasting the show against South Park, for example.
Yeah, Bill's Crow was easily provoked, but so is Crow in general, and really the bots were always there to say the things it just wasn't polite for a human being to say.
And I think any "blue" material that surfaces in Rifftrax is due to the source material itself. Granted, they have a choice of what to watch.
Anyway, it was just weird that my feel for how SciFi / Rifftrax handled things is different than several folks here.

Regardless of all that, of course, I'm peeing my pants in anticipation of Cinematic Titanic

[RAD]

Seems like people are viewing these projects as competing camps. That's not the case, as far as I'm concerned. I LOVE Rifftrax (and have almost all of them. And these have actually been bought by me, not gratis copies). I can't wait to see the Star Wars Holiday Special.

[wilson]

ern2150 said:

It's funny how multiple posters are bringing up that the SciFi era was "more caustic" for them, if only because that wasn't my impression at all.
I could be mistaking words / sentiments here, but S4 has some of the "darkest" material ever, to the extent that Joel specifically tells the bots to keep it light before several shorts.
And it seems like Mike, off camera, talks about his kids and family and keeping that environment "clean" for lack of a better term, and had played up the "midwestern wholesomeness" angle more than once while contrasting the show against South Park, for example.
Yeah, Bill's Crow was easily provoked, but so is Crow in general, and really the bots were always there to say the things it just wasn't polite for a human being to say.
And I think any "blue" material that surfaces in Rifftrax is due to the source material itself. Granted, they have a choice of what to watch.
Anyway, it was just weird that my feel for how SciFi / Rifftrax handled things is different than several folks here.

Regardless of all that, of course, I'm peeing my pants in anticipation of Cinematic Titanic

Agreed .

It's not like each entity is made entirely of one shade of the spectrum ( RiffTrak blue / Joel-era happy pink / TFC too "yeller" to come back n' fight ) . . . each has it's own properties and balance within , and yet vary enough to have distinction.

[hopesfall]

I'm more excited about this than Rifftrax. Mainly because they're going to focus on old, obscure B movies. Those are my favorite. I can't stand the Hollywood crap that Rifftrax uses. The problem also lies in the jokes... I don't care about current celebrities and pop culture, nor do I know enough about it to get a good percentage of the jokes they use. And it just sounds unnatural. Like you know right away that it's been scripted. MST3K didn't have that problem, and I'm hoping Cinematic Titanic doesn't, either.

[Roz]

{/quote] Agreed .

It's not like each entity is made entirely of one shade of the spectrum ( RiffTrak blue / Joel-era happy pink / TFC too "yeller" to come back n' fight ) . . . each has it's own properties and balance within , and yet vary enough to have distinction.
[/quote]


Quite true! In my opinion, the mst3k from 1-7 just could find a balance. I didn't feel abused after watching, and it made me look forward to the next episode.

[BEERxTaco]

I gotta say, I enjoyed seasons K-7 the best... the sci-fi era wasn't necessarily "bad" IMO, just different (not that there's anything wrong with that) and I just happen to like the older style better. I'm hoping CT remains true to that feeling