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Post by Mighty Jack on Aug 20, 2022 15:46:34 GMT -5
I do think they are lobbing more softballs this season (my complaint with Demon Squad) - they go right to edge - and can throw in a more grown-up riff (Emily's dark but funny, "Sounds like my marriage" in another piece), but also will let opportunities for that pass them by. I wonder if it's this 'family friendly' mindset that's causing that or if it just modern sensibilities in general. While I've laughed at some of that in the past, I have to admit, even this old codger was slightly embarrassed by the male gaze stuff in "Pipeline to the Clouds".
I was in tune with the work they did on Batwoman, the comic book riffs, etc, were getting a lot of laughs out of me, so I wasn't really thinking of missed opportunities with it. But yeah, while I don't want them to go full out Rifftrax, a little more bite wouldn't hurt. Atlantis had more bite, and for me, is still top of the pops.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Aug 20, 2022 17:58:45 GMT -5
Agree to disagree on Demon Squad. That episode is wildly funny and I felt they utilized that movie to full effect to the point where I've rewatched it several times since it came out. Meanwhile it felt like they coasted on Batwoman and didn't really tap any potential that it offered leaving me wondering why they even bothered to use the movie at all. This one I have very little interest in revisiting, because it's just a very nothing episode. Beyond Atlantis is still Emily's best, definitely agree on that.
Keeping it family friendly is something I don't mind, and I don't even want them to go full Spider Island on it. It just gets to the point where it feels like there is a feast on a platter and nobody is biting.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Aug 20, 2022 19:08:35 GMT -5
One thing I point out on my page but don't make a huge deal of that is probably worth keeping in mind is that I literally got out of RiffTrax Live hours before I watched the episode. I won't say this affected my mood, but I was really exhausted when I hit play and I worked on my entry half asleep. Also while I was at the theater I took in screenings of Beast and Emily the Criminal (both of which are very good) and even found time to watch an episode of Doctor Who to keep me awake while editing*. Then I slept for six hours, rushed out of bed, and watched the livestream, so am I not in the right frame of mind? Maybe. But I watched episode twice and I pretty much thought the same thing both times. That is probably why I watched the aftershow only once though. *That Doctor Who thing is why I ham-fistedly shoved that GIF in there because all I could think of was that line during that segment. And I've been posting live reactions to a first time watch of Doctor Who on Twitter, of which an in-joke became me posting a bunch of GIFs of Jenna Coleman and marking them #ClaraGIF, so I thought it would be a fun topical Easter egg. It started when I was watching the spin-off Class and it sucked so hard that I was tweeting GIFs of Clara to distract myself and it just became a running joke because A) It's Twitter, who cares and B) Jenna Coleman makes the world a better place. And here's me continuing my obnoxiousness during the livestream: Am I only bringing this up to post Clara GIFs in this thread? We may never know. All I know is people wanting me to stop vs. me doing it anyway be like:  (#ClaraGIF) |
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Post by Mighty Jack on Aug 20, 2022 19:48:27 GMT -5
Agree to disagree on Demon Squad. That episode is wildly funny and I felt they utilized that movie to full effect to the point where I've rewatched it several times since it came out. Meanwhile it felt like they coasted on Batwoman and didn't really tap any potential that it offered leaving me wondering why they even bothered to use the movie at all. This one I have very little interest in revisiting, because it's just a very nothing episode. Beyond Atlantis is still Emily's best, definitely agree on that. Keeping it family friendly is something I don't mind, and I don't even want them to go full Spider Island on it. It just gets to the point where it feels like there is a feast on a platter and nobody is biting. Whether a person found it wildly funny or not is beside the point, they went pretty easy on Demon Squad, which is characteristic of the season overall. That doesn't mean these episodes can't be funny, but they are pulling punches. They didn't hit Squad any harder than they did Batwoman. |
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
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Post by Torgo on Aug 20, 2022 20:19:25 GMT -5
Agree to disagree on Demon Squad. That episode is wildly funny and I felt they utilized that movie to full effect to the point where I've rewatched it several times since it came out. Meanwhile it felt like they coasted on Batwoman and didn't really tap any potential that it offered leaving me wondering why they even bothered to use the movie at all. This one I have very little interest in revisiting, because it's just a very nothing episode. Beyond Atlantis is still Emily's best, definitely agree on that. Keeping it family friendly is something I don't mind, and I don't even want them to go full Spider Island on it. It just gets to the point where it feels like there is a feast on a platter and nobody is biting. Whether a person found it wildly funny or not is beside the point, they went pretty easy on Demon Squad, which is characteristic of the season overall. That doesn't mean these episodes can't be funny, but they are pulling punches. They didn't hit Squad any harder than they did Batwoman. I didn't see them going easy on Demon Squad myself, so I still disagree. It was more playful than it probably could have been, but they still hit very specific openings it was giving them, which is more than what they achieved with Batwoman. That's more my complaint in general here, as they took a movie that offers certain material and they just left it sitting there. With Demon Squad, they went after them. With Batwoman, they seemed to just skim through it and it just came off as a comfort blanket commentary rather than an experience that rings unique to this movie. Have they been doing it all year? I guess. I dunno. All I know is some efforts are working better than others, and Batwoman worked less than Demon Squad for me. |
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Post by Mighty Jack on Aug 21, 2022 2:47:37 GMT -5
Fair enough.
I mean, I thought they that with Mordrid, and I've come to really enjoy Mordrid, and the shorts... I'm getting laughs, the Penn short for one, but when I go watch a classic, like Cheating, I think, by comparison they're really not reaching up to that level of relentlessness, where they find the zone and they don't let up, they're on point start to finish.
That doesn't mean everything the old crew did was flawless, but season 13, it's just a little soft for me, like they found a comfortable area and it's fun, even clever (the Sartre riff), and I'm still laughing, but it's mostly safe. That's how I'd define the season so far - good, but safe and comfy. Maybe I'm just in need for an Eegah style riff, but those days are gone, and I have to accept that they aren't going to go down those rough and tumble paths again?
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Post by Diet Kolos on Sept 5, 2022 20:24:42 GMT -5
TorgoI saw your review for the newest episode on your website, and wanted to let you know that the copy of KTMA Sumuru they showed was my cleaned-up copy from my KTMA in HQ project from last year. Ivan emailed me last month about using them as needed. Check out the rest if you're interested, most of them are noticeably better quality than what's widely available. It IS troublesome they claim they have no master tapes, and does contradict previous releases. So who knows.
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