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Post by conoratrifftrax on Nov 1, 2008 14:14:34 GMT -5
"But we do have to keep this operation running, and at present the bigger titles -- and the NEWER titles -- sell way, way better than anything more obscure. This is true about certain movie genres, too. And I don't mean a small difference, but 80% less revenue." The "Flavor of the moment" Rifftrax offered at the same time its megaselling movie is released on DVD sell a lot more than those that aren't. Color me surprised, which I imagine would be greenish color. Rifftrax has gone from doing the movies you want to doing the movies that you know will sell. I can extrapolate further; It also gone from "you" singular to "you" plural. Also, Writers go uncredited on each Rifftrax sold and that's a strange phenomenon for artist self-enterprises. I am surprised that credits weren't added to the text files with each download. Or where they? I haven't downloaded one since September. I don't know what's more depressing: The idea of the Rifftrax {or Nelson, Murphy and Corbett at least} sellout or the fact that the sellout was for so little. There. That was more of a contribution than just "Why are Rifftrax so disposable?" On the other hand, it's also the answer to it. We've been called "sellouts" before, so I've learned to shrug it off. I'm not sure what mission statement or goal that we set for ourselves initially and then deviated so grossly from that would constitute a 'sellout', but then again, I'm not sure what your idealized vision of RiffTrax would be. I'm sorry we don't live up to it. But your notion that there is something sinister about not crediting writers is hogwash. I'm not sure what you were getting at, but I've got a nice credit here: www.rifftrax.com/riffers/crew/conor-lastowkaMost standard RiffTrax are written by just the four of us, but Bill is always gracious with credit to contributing writers. I was able to find these two right away: forum.rifftrax.com/index.php?topic=10672.msg312753#msg312753forum.rifftrax.com/index.php?topic=10846.msg319936#msg319936You're exactly right about 'you' being plural, and as I've emphasized earlier, you can't make everyone happy. But your implication that our comedy is worth less because it doesn't follow an arbitrary criteria that you set for it is somewhat baffling.
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Post by conoratrifftrax on Nov 1, 2008 14:23:24 GMT -5
I really don't think that riffing only on older films is some type of lofty, artistic goal that is compromised by shifting primarily to newer films Hygiene, I wish I'd read that before my last reply. Is selling out not riffing bad movies? Old movies? Old bad movies? Again, I can only say that we're sorry we haven't done what you want us to do. There are many people who feel differently than you do. We don't look at movies and think "Glitter?! That would only make us a stack of money twenty feet high! I demand a stack a hundred feet high! Bring in Iron Man!" But if you'll look back at what Bill said, 80% less people are interested in buying Glitter, you just have to think about what makes sense and will allow you to keep your movie riffing venture going.
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Post by dangfish on Nov 1, 2008 15:54:49 GMT -5
" Rifftrax has gone from doing the movies you want to doing the movies that you know will sell. . Not doing the movies that who wants? Not doing the movies that you want or rexdart wants or all the other diehard mst fans on this board want? Possibly, yes, but this 'only do old movies' argument is really starting to get old and boring. The point Conor keeps making that everyone seems to be ignoring is that they are giving people exactly what they want. If the new movie trax are selling 80% better than obviously these are the kind of films that people want to see riffed. Just because these people are not diehard MST fans that post on forums like this means their opinions don't count? Or they don't count as much as the people on this forum? That's a rather high-minded attitude. This whole 'they should only do old movies' stance reminds me of our parents who would always say 'music isn't what it used to be.' Now my generation are the parents and they're saying the same darn thing about current music. I love the whole movie riffing phenomenon. It's become my favorite kind of comedy and I for one am glad that it seems to be evolving and changing with the times like music and films and all pop culture. I loved MST too but the fact that the art of movie riffing seems to have a life beyond cheesy old films and robots and satellites only makes me happy and anxiously waiting in anticipation of what is on the horizon.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Nov 1, 2008 17:57:33 GMT -5
Mike, Bill, Kevin etc.... hold your heads high. You're in good company, they once called Dylan a "sell out" too.
"They'll stone you when you're trying to make a buck They'll stone you and then they'll say good luck But I would not feel so all alone Everybody must get stoned"
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Post by Skyroniter on Nov 2, 2008 9:43:02 GMT -5
I love Rifftrax just as they are. Keep making them and I'll keep buying them.
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Post by braindeadzombie on Nov 2, 2008 10:23:14 GMT -5
Hygiene, I wish I'd read that before my last reply. Is selling out not riffing bad movies? Old movies? Old bad movies? And I'm posting my reply here as it seems to fit here."Selling out": My definition is when any artistic enterprise places following the audience above leading the audience. Of course, you could say "Whoever said we were making art?" I do understand the difficulties here; Viewers need the DVD in order to view the Rifftrax but I get a "Do they really want to riff this movie" feeling sometimes when I see the new titles. How about some distance so you can get a perspective first? Does it have to be "Now, now, now"? As I understand it, Rifftrax was started because Mike Nelson wanted to Riff on certain movies and this was the only way he could do it. It's gone beyond that and now the focus seems to be moving as many Rifftrax as possible. "Who says that they're making a profit?" Your words, correct? This is what made me write my previous post; Not the confrontational nature as I don't care about that but rather the idea that it's all about the money in the end. You make it sound like it should be about the money rather than the comedy. And about the credits: You do realize that it would take very little effort to put Rifftrax credits in the info file, right? I know who writes and works on the CT DVDs and the anomonous nature of Rifftrax seems very secretive to me. I have to make an effort to find out who does what? That doesn't sound right to me.
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Post by conoratrifftrax on Nov 2, 2008 13:02:26 GMT -5
Again, I'm sorry that somewhere along the line we made a decision that differed from the standards you had set for us. I can only further add that if your definition of "sellout" is the same for Metallica or The Simpsons as it is for RiffTrax, you probably need a bit of perspective concerning the scope of the operations. As the guy who puts together the readme files, it is nice to hear that someone actually looks at them. For 98% of RiffTrax, the credits remain the exact same, which we've gone to great lengths to keep top secret by placing it on the "meet the crew" section of our website: www.rifftrax.com/riffersPerhaps there is a better way to give credit to a contributing writer than Bill personally thanking them on the forum. I will see what people think.
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Post by BoB3K on Nov 3, 2008 12:32:04 GMT -5
I didn't know Conor was on this board until I saw his post on my thread, which is then in turn how I found this thread. Hi Conor. I think you're a really funny guy! I also think you should get more credit on the RiffTrax, but if you're okay with what you get then that's all that matters. At first, I was a lot disappointed that The Film Crew ended, and I was also disappointed in the movie selection of RiffTrax--I loved the few old, cheesy movies they did (I will repeat again that I LOVE Missle to the Moon, although that has as much to do with Fred Willards GREAT riffing with Mike as it did the Movie Selection.), but was less enamored with all the new releases. But, I've come to enjoy RiffTrax in a different way than I enjoy MST3K. I think most new movies and especially the Blockbusters, uh, suck. I know, big revelation. I don't ever see them in the theater, and I don't rush to get them on DVD. But, I still kind of want to see them--they are the pop-culture of this generation. So, what ends up happening, is that I watch them the first (and only) time riffed by RiffTrax. Then, I enjoy them. I just watched Fantanstic Four 2 riffed last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had no (NO!) plans to watch M. Night Crappo's new movie The Happening until I saw that it was riffed, now I'm watching it (riffed, of course) for sure. BTW, great thread. To cross-polinate, here's a thread I started about Cinematic Titanic that crosses into discussion of RiffTrax: The good and bad of CineTanic, ICWXP, & RiffTrax
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Post by krokodyle on Nov 3, 2008 13:25:20 GMT -5
I love Rifftrax just as they are. Keep making them and I'll keep buying them. Agreed. In regards to the original thread topic, I finally got around to watching the Crystal Skull/Rifftrax, and I happened to find it one of their best. Several laugh-out-loud moments. Thanks, guys.
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Post by quinnmartin on Nov 3, 2008 13:57:33 GMT -5
Hygiene, I wish I'd read that before my last reply. Is selling out not riffing bad movies? Old movies? Old bad movies? And I'm posting my reply here as it seems to fit here."Selling out": My definition is when any artistic enterprise places following the audience above leading the audience. Of course, you could say "Whoever said we were making art?" The problem is that no artist, unless they're very lucky, can make a living at their art without enganging in a certain level of "following the audience". MST3K was doing that from the day they signed up with the Comedy Channel. Except as a TV show, their "audience" was the network that paid them. MST3K didn't riff on any movie they wanted to, they only riffed on the ones that allowed them to stay in business. Which in their case was the movies that Comedy Channel would pay to license. Was that selling out?
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Post by RexDart on Nov 6, 2008 14:14:02 GMT -5
I just dont think some of the new movies really deserve it. Thats just IMHO. Obviously they believe they do, otherwise why would they do those movies. I guess i dont really enjoy watching the newer ones get riffed, cause it just doesnt feel right. I wish them luck and i still buy the shorts every now and then. I also loved the Hulk tv show riff. Also doing the new movies makes it more expensive to be able to keep up. At least thats my experience.
I guess i understand since its a business you cant just release something that no one would buy. I just enjoyed it more in the beginning cause it didnt seem to be about that. Also it was a little less predictable back then.
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Post by cannibal on Mar 24, 2009 0:43:08 GMT -5
I just read three pages hoping to find a review of the Crystal Skull RT. Has anyone actually watched it? I've never checked out RT before and was considering Crystal Skull as my first purchase. Thoughts?
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Mar 24, 2009 9:40:54 GMT -5
If you search the "just finished watching" thread for "crystal", you'll get ~5 results that are mixed to good reviews.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 25, 2009 2:37:34 GMT -5
Here my index to my Rifftrax reviews... Might Jack's Trax - For q ucik reference there are smilies for my fav eps, frowns to my least fav. At the top is a link to gammers reviews. And as CH said, a search will reveal mixed reviews on this one. I found it merely okay, but another member listed among his favs... so that should muddy up the waters. lol
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