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Post by Triple_sSs on Apr 14, 2017 20:01:10 GMT -5
Reminder that there's a live Q&A with the new cast about to start right now on Facebook, so check your timelines.
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Post by onenil on Apr 14, 2017 21:15:56 GMT -5
I, too, would mostly agree with the mixed-to-positive review. However, there is one big thorn in it for me: I hate, hate, HATE the new Gypsy!
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Post by BoB3K on Apr 15, 2017 0:12:24 GMT -5
RE: bad puppetry -- I know it sounds like a nitpick, but then again, it is half of the 3 main characters. I don't think it will bother me too much from a viewing / enjoyment angle. But it will bother me from an analytical / critical angle, as in -- Really? You did something a 'new', 'better' way that's like, I dunno, 10 times more complicated as well as, I'm sure, more expensive, and it turns out to be more than a little not as good as the old, easier way?! What the hell?! That sounds like some pure 'poopie my stupid bosses and/or coworkers at my ComHugeCo job' do that always infuriates me.
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Post by Scizor-Mothra on Apr 15, 2017 10:22:10 GMT -5
Yeah Crow's dead eyes are bugging me too. But it's Trace's fault for spoiling us by making his eyes the most expressive part of his body in the first place. Even Bill could use them to a small degree after an episode or two. They don't even TRY 90% of the time. They just sit there... Sad about the eyes, but he does seem like a pretty difficult puppet to control. I guess it's a give and take. Also, and I know this is a minor detail, but what do his eyes look like in the Return? I like the sort of neon yellow Crow adopted in the SciFi era, and I really hope that stuck.
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Post by Shane on Apr 15, 2017 13:36:23 GMT -5
The first show started sucking after jailbait left in the first season. Didn't care for the stoner in red, or that dumbass that replaced him. The show started getting good again when they brought in that babe Pearl.
I like the yellow doofus. He reminds me of jailbait. Redheaded Pearl isn't hot enough. TV's Max is more bangable.
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Post by mrmeadows on Apr 15, 2017 14:27:12 GMT -5
Generally, I'm quite enjoying the new season. If I may gripe about one thing that bums me out about the overly-scripted quality of the riffs, it's that I miss when the guys used to simply just *laugh* at something goofy on screen. It made things feel organic, like the guys really were watching the movie for the first time along with us. Here, EVERYTHING gets a riff. Sure, they are often funny riffs, but just a natural chuckle (no accompanying riff!) at a particularly silly moment now and then would be welcome.
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Post by fathermushroom on Apr 15, 2017 19:58:32 GMT -5
I haven't spent any time reading everyone's else two bits, but I have to say I think they TOTALLY NAILED IT. It really has the same vibe as the original, making concessions for the fact that it's really so many years later, with different actors and voices. I think the overall feel of the show is just what it should be.
I wish them loads of success. I'm totally diggin' it! And what a rush to start that first episode, an episode that, for the first time in how many years, I have NEVER seen before! Fun fun fun.
I will also add that I think Patton Oswalt is just right.
I say, relax and enjoy the ride. Peace!
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Post by Mantis on Apr 16, 2017 11:21:40 GMT -5
It's hard for any reboot to capture the same magic of the original. The jokes are pretty good. Jonah is okay but he lacks the natural funninous of Mike. Crow is okay but it's hard to get used to the new voices. But the biggest issue is the rigid puppetry and lack of expression on Crow. In the original there was a lot more movement in the theater. You'd see Crow open his mouth in shock or Mike reach up or point. I do enjoy seeing Servo hover around and interact. But overall it's like watching cardboard silhouettes.
Overall if you are a fan of the original this. version will always be an okay but second rate replacement. Glad it's here but wish the originals characters had returned.
However if you never saw the original then you are far more likely to enjoy this and it will be the original. To you.
I'm just glad there's still Rifftrax where the magic is still somewhat there.
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Hugo
Nanite
Help me! Find me! In Berlin. 1948. Find me!
Posts: 45
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Post by Hugo on Apr 16, 2017 21:09:57 GMT -5
I'm on the third new episode now. My list of pros and cons...
PROS
-Great movie selections so far. -Great writing for the host segments and riffing. -Jonah and Tom are solid. -Kinga and Max are solid. -Love the technical upgrades to the bots, even the Gypsy theater drop-ins and flying Servo. -The voices are fine, though it took about three episodes to get used to them. -All the actors are very talented and funny. -The new special effects are neat. -The bumpers are interesting and hilarious. -The SOL set is less cheesy than before but looks slick. -Love the color scheme of Moon 13 set. -Love the inventions. -Love the impromptu songs.
CONS
-Crow's mouth syncing is still rough, but I think that will improve as the puppeteer gets better over time. -The purpose of the Mad's experiment seems lost as the focus of the show tends more and more toward the movie riffing. Where is the pain? Perhaps they haven't watched a bad enough movie yet this season to really complain? -I REALLY miss not seeing Jonah ease into his situation and develop a relationship with the bots. Again, sacrificing character development for riffing sequences. -The pace of the riffing is maybe a little to fast, but then they're writing for the ADD generation now.
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Post by Grape on Apr 17, 2017 8:31:14 GMT -5
Oh, dear. Apart from some good lines during the films (both films were terrible, so excellent choice), I'm really struggling to like it. Kinga and Max have all the threat of wet lettuce and the bone heads/skeleton crew are just awful.
I remember the first time I saw MST3K and I was instantly smitten but after watching the first two, I’m left totally indifferent. I`ll stick with it to the end and hope that it grows on me but I’m not holding my breath.
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Post by toddpcwv on Apr 17, 2017 12:03:28 GMT -5
Kickstarter participant, here. I'm 92% happy with the revival. My thots in no particular order: - Jonah - he's growing on me quickly.
- Tom & Crow - too often I have NO IDEA who's talking in the theater. The voices are so similar.
- Gypsy - the new voice is flat and uninteresting. Her riffs are DOA. Have they explained (in show) what she's bringing to the theater and picking back up at the end?
- Synthia - I know this is the same person. Is she a robot or a clone? They can't decide. Having Pearl's clone is a one-off joke that doesn't work, IMHO.
- MADS: Max is great.. no nitpick. Kinga... I dunno. I'll give Felicia Day a pass a dozen times a day - but she doesn't seem to be 'into' the role, yet.
- Experiement Exchange and other 'tween segments - these feel rushed/short and I'm hoping someone blows up their laser cutter/etcher.
- Theme song - Ditch the short, useless intro scene and skip straight to the song.
Ditch them having to act it out each time nonsense And stop having him interrupt the song with talking
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Post by Triple_sSs on Apr 18, 2017 1:43:25 GMT -5
So I'm up to episode 6 right now, and I'm still loving it! Really starting to settle in with the new cast, and I feel like the fast-paced riffing isn't as bad now, or I'm just started to get use it. One thing I find slightly distracting though is that in some segments, Crow's beak looks a little lop-sided when he talks for some reason, but that's just another minor quibble. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but even with all the little issues here and there I'm just happy my fave show is back on TV! Also my favorite episodes so far are Cry Wilderness and Avalanche. Starcrash was really fun too.
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Post by foreign object on Apr 18, 2017 5:13:52 GMT -5
The only analogy I can think of right now is, I LOVE the original MST3K, I like the reboot as a friend.
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Post by Who Let Servo Drive on Apr 18, 2017 9:30:34 GMT -5
I basically agree with the criticisms made by many here and in the individual episode discussions:
1) The personalities of the bots need to be fleshed out a bit more.
2) The riffs come too fast, and are at the same time too long, so the actors are forced to fly through them, sometimes making them hard to hear/understand.
3) Gypsy has been changed so much that she's now pointless -- she used to be a charming counterpart to the lazy and shiftless but very sharp bots, but now she's basically just one of them. She also was an outside-of-theater presence, but her intrusions now are very distracting and extremely unfunny. Most of the comic value of her came from her being an innocent, hardworking and not very bright robot.
4) Something needs to be done to differentiate Tom and Jonah's voices more.
5) Jonah needs more time to assert his personality, which he has a lot of, but you'd never know it from the host segments.
My sense is that the MST guys never really thought the audience cared much about the host segments. They actually said so at conventions, laughing about how much effort they put into them when people just wanted to get into the movie. But they were wrong -- the fans LOVE the host segments. We were glad they put so much effort into them, but that seems not to be the case anymore.
For instance, remember when the show was cancelled and there was a whole closing out sequence? Then when it went to SciFi, there was some time put into explaining the new setup, where the personalities of the characters went during the break, the whole thing. Nothing comparable to that happened in this latest reboot. I mean, basically no thought was put into the reboot at all. Why are Tom and Crow no longer at Mike's apartment in Wisconsin? Why are they suddenly at "Moon 13?"
We actually do care about the characters. We have to. If you are hanging out with people you like, people you think are funny, and they start wisecracking about a terrible movie on the tube, you'll probably laugh along and start reading the movie to filth as well. If total strangers start talking during a movie, making fun of it, they're just assholes.
I have high hopes for the long-term success of the reboot. They need to fine tune it a bit. The host segments need to be beefed up so it's not just one punchline piled on top of another. They need to calm down and take that lowkey Midwestern approach, gentle and quirky personality observation over run-on schtick. The same can be said of the riffing. Slow down. Keep the jokes short. The joke writing talent is there -- many of the riffs are hilarious -- but there are too many of them and they are too long.
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Post by starsteam on Apr 18, 2017 11:00:45 GMT -5
For those wondering where the films in this season came from (and to look back on for speculation on what films could be used in Season 12)
-Reptilicus, Time Travelers, Beast of Hollow Mountain, Land that Time Forgot, Yongary, and At the Earth's Core are all from MGM, and have had home video releases from Shout! Factory and Kino/Scorpion.
-Loves of Hercules may also be MGM, since it was released by Timeless Media Group (distributed by Shout! Factory) who generally license their material from MGM.
-Starcrash and Avalanche are both from New Horizons, and have had home video releases from Shout! Factory and Kino/Scorpion.
-Both of the Wizards of the Lost Kingdom movies may have been licensed from Roger Corman, which would be the same source as New Horizons, but I really do not know for sure. They were originally distributed by Concord, who's library did merge with New Horizons but I'm not sure if the Wizards films were a part of that.
-Cry Wilderness is from Visto International who licensed it to Vinegar Syndrome for DVD. Carnival Magic is from Film Chest who licensed it to Virgil Films for DVD. The Christmas that Almost Wasn't was released to DVD by Hen's Tooth Video but I do not know where they licensed it from. I imagine all of these films were specifically hand-picked by Joel and the crew. The MGM and New Horizons movies were probably suggested by Shout! Factory since they already had access to them.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a gander at the MGM and New Horizon movies released by Shout and Kino.
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