Mike, why do you make fun of good movies?

[DarthChimay]

I can't speak for Mike, but I know Bill has been involved in riffs for movies he claims to like:

http://blog.rifftrax.com/2008/01/27/confess-your-bad-taste-ii-the-most-controversial-rifftrax-post-ever/

[mrbasehart]

Mike liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy and he does has a fondness for Road House, from what I've heard.

[Thrifty]

Because movies with large egos deserve to be taken down a notch, doesn't matter how much they rake in at the box office. Making fun of something doesn't mean that you don't like it, by the way. I believe that Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the best movies ever made, and the rifftrax for that is hilarious!

And, really, Rifftrax is not MST3K. If you approach it with that expectation you'll be disappointed every time, guarenteed.

"Me too" post.

Riffing in MST3K was about making fun of cheesy, cheap movies.
Riffing in Rifftrax is about taking the wind out of the sails of pompous modern movies. 

Besides of which, a "good" movie is relative.  I thought Fellowship of the Ring sucked, but thought that the Star Wars prequels weren't that bad.

[Scorpy]

Because even the "best" are ripe for parody. 

Case in point: "I drink your milkshake.  I DRINK IT UP!!" 

[Zandrax]

Bottom line, anything is riffable with the right content. I'm excited to see a real Rifftrax take on the original Star Wars, and I'm right up there in stupid knowledge with the dorks that have "DarthBoba" as their callsigns on MMORPGs...

Is riffing a movie really much different than doing parody knockoffs? Look at what Robot Chicken did with Star Wars stuff.

Granted there is a certain satisfaction with doing "bad" movies (like they say, some movies have it coming) but just because you're cracking jokes doesn't make it somehow disrespectful or insensitive.

[gammer]

I like to view each RiffTrax as a "package".
Does the movie being riffed, along with the RiffTrax audio, make an overall good RiffTrax "package"?
Movies like 'The Happening' fall into the Excellent RiffTrax package for me. Because lets face it, the movie is better/funnier with RiffTrax.
Movies like 'Dark Knight' _are_ riffable, but to me, they are not necessarily better with rifftrax...just different.

Of course this is all subjective...but I like to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

[Heisanevilgenius]

I think the Matrix riff is one of the funniest I've heard, and I really do like the movie.

[SJP]

Just read Bill's thingie there about the movies: to be honest, I like Fifth Element, too.  It is extremely silly ("We don't want an in-ci-dent!")  but there's something about it I like.

Heck, the iRiffs I plan to do are ALL movies I like, in some form or another.  But making fun of movies is as much performance as anything else.  Heck, the more you like a movie, and the better you savage it, that's pretty good acting right there.

I mentioned on a separate forum about something similar: somebody had been wondering when Van Helsing was to be released on Blu-Ray.  Almost immediately hordes of people descended upon the thread with comments like, "Hopefully never.  That movie blew chunks all over my cat," and so on.  I like Van Helsing, and I defended the original poster, but I also realize that about half the people out there who saw it differ.  It really is a very divisive movie, even more so than a lot of 'good' movies might be.  I also admit I am not a fan of the Godfather, but then, one of the reasons I don't is I don't much care for gangster movies in general.  I don't watch a lot of Westerns either, but I liked the Quick and the Dead, which many would not be quick to put in the top ten best westerns of all-time.  Decent, maybe, with those Sam Raimi camera angles, but not the best western.  But, along with Tombstone, they are the only ones of the genre that keep me in my seat (speaking of which, how many westerns have been riffed on?  Other than The Gunslinger, I mean).  I think the only gangster movie I ever really liked, but don't watch much, was Miller's Crossing.

I think some nostalgia can play into opinion, as well.  I know there's an iRiff out there for The Last Unicorn, which is a movie I saw as a kid and really liked.  I still like it now.  It has an excellent script.  I don't know if I could watch it riffed.  I constantly riff on movies and TV shows I watch with friends, and that one I couldn't when I saw it not too long ago (and yes, I am a dude, so go ahead and laugh).  So I understand not wanting to watch a movie that one enjoyed with a funny commentary; it can be tough to see somebody make fun of something you really like.  But one's treasure is another's garbage.  It's just important to keep in mind that no one can change your mind but yourself; if you liked it, you did.  But don't let somebody else's distaste or good-natured ribbing make your opinion feel like it's worthless.

And to finish with a bit of irony, I would like to say that somehow my argument made the case that someone out there really liked Disaster Movie.  I apologize for whatever hell this might unleash upon the masses.

[Derrick Fish]

I'm pretty new to the boards, and this was the first topic that caught my attention since I've often found myself thinking about how much I love many of the films so wonderfully riffed hereabouts. One aspect of Rifftrax that makes riffing popular movies much more sensible, I would imagine, is that I HATED "The Happening". I don't own a copy of that film on DVD and I'd much rather listen to a Trax of something I DO own (or WANT to own) like "Halloween" , "Jurrasic Park" or "Iron Man" than actually go out any PAY for a horrible movie. Even a rental. Just my two cents.

[MrTorso]

I'm pretty new to the boards, and this was the first topic that caught my attention since I've often found myself thinking about how much I love many of the films so wonderfully riffed hereabouts. One aspect of Rifftrax that makes riffing popular movies much more sensible, I would imagine, is that I HATED "The Happening". I don't own a copy of that film on DVD and I'd much rather listen to a Trax of something I DO own (or WANT to own) like "Halloween" , "Jurrasic Park" or "Iron Man" than actually go out any PAY for a horrible movie. Even a rental. Just my two cents.

At the same time you are missing out on some classic trax.

[The Man in Black]

I could see them doing Dark Knight though.  I mean, in terms of DVD availabilty, it;d be an obvious choice for them.

True, but the 1966 Batman would be hilarious... I mean Shark repellent! Really!

I can totally see them riffing the Dark Night. I mean, am I the only one that notices Christian's voice goes about seven octaves lower when he's in the suit?

I noticed.  Apparently I'm the only one who thought "Dark Knight" was ridiculously cheesy.  The whole two face storyline was useless too.  Anything with Lucius was laughable...but there's another thread for that.  I was hoping they'd do a Rifftrax for it, actually.  It's a comic book movie.  It's supposed to be cheesy.  It's a *good* comic book movie, but does that make it a "good" movie?

I guess this goes to show you, what is a "good film?"  What is "good" to one may be absurd to another.

First off, I thought this commentary was funny as hell.

That said, I hate the comment you just made. A long, long time ago films, any program television, and hell  literature -all where thought to be "lesser art forms". Remember when the cowboy flick was considered kids stuff? Then Good, Bad, and the Ugly came out. Perceptions changed. Don't get me started on Sci-Fi.

This was a good movie damn it, a classic. to em this film was about as cheesy  as A Clockwork Orange. Never stereotype a genre or your going to miss out on a lot of good films, or just a lot of good stuff period.

That said is it a flawless film? Hell no, it takes itself way too seriously, and Bale sounds like Dr. Girlfriend when he goes into Batman mode. The Joker, while scary as hell, is hammy enough enough that I fear I'm going to suffer a coronary in a couple of weeks.  This film was ripe for a ripping. Luckily, a lot of films are going to be managed into executives to being Grim Dark like this film, but either the characters don't call for it or the director won't want to do it. 

[primalbird]

I wondered that as well,but after watching some of the films that Mike and the gang are riffing,well, these movies deserved it. Right now, every movie that has come out of Hollyweird,needs to be drop kicked back to earth.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

... I mean Shark repellent! Really!

That's real...since WWII....copper acetate..

Riffing on good films is very possible and worth it...as long as you have fun with it.  Casablanca, Jaws and Willie Wonka proved that.

And of course the stuff that's crap deserves it.

It's the riffing on a mediocre stuff like Next,  Nestor, Casino Royale or 300 (even though the blood spray stuff put that on the cusp) just seems like a waste.  As someone else mentioned, there's no feeling of putting a really bad film in it's place.  And no fun aspect because you're enjoying a good film all over again.