iJust Finished Watching

[Invader_quirk]

Yeah, I knew they'd done a couple shorts for you guys; planning on getting them. I hope they haven't given it up.

I don't want to speak for them, but as I understand it there's a lot of moving going on. When that is all settled, I think they're going to get back to it. Don't quote me on that, though.

[SJP]

I was just about to say, "didn't want to speak for them..." I'm pretty sure I saw a post from them in the "LoC iRiffs" discussion.

[fireyf]

Just watched Filmroasters Laser Mission.  Very well done guys.  I wasn't sure what to expect since it is all improv but I was impressed.  These guys do some funny stuff off the cuff (rhyme not intended but appreciated).  Imrov riffing is not recommended for most but there are always exceptions.

[mikelesq]

Just watched Fiilmroasters' "Somewhere, Tomorrow."  Very well riffed.  I also had concerns about an all improv riff, but between all the riffers they did a great job covering the whole horrible, horrible movie.  Very, very funny.

If I had one suggestion, it  would be that they should consider ducking the audio.  Especially with improv, where you don't always know when the next line/musical cue is going to come in, it would have been easier to catch some of the lines if the audio had been ducked.  Again, only a minor quibble.  Highly recommended. 

[chinagreenelvis]

Just watched Fiilmroasters' "Somewhere, Tomorrow."  Very well riffed.  I also had concerns about an all improv riff, but between all the riffers they did a great job covering the whole horrible, horrible movie.  Very, very funny.

If I had one suggestion, it  would be that they should consider ducking the audio.  Especially with improv, where you don't always know when the next line/musical cue is going to come in, it would have been easier to catch some of the lines if the audio had been ducked.  Again, only a minor quibble.  Highly recommended.  

Hey, thanks! That's a good point and especially true for this one. I did something funny while we were recording it and the commentary track wound up fusing with the movie while we laid it down (the computer was recording internal audio somehow) so I was never able to go back and adjust the levels to make it stand out better from the film. Sometimes, even on the "uncut" stuff where we only do one pass on the riffing, I'll tweak the timing a bit in postt here and there to try to fit certain lines in between dialogue and wasn't able to do that either in this case. Live and learn!

[Riffman for Hire]

I watched the Cinester Theater iriff of Batman Returns.  These guys are really good.  Lots of funny jokes and the guy who did the Christopher Walken impression (not sure which one) did a fantastic job.  I definitely want to buy more of their riffs in the future.  Hopefully they'll also come out with some new ones eventually.

[Darth Geek]

I watched the Cinester Theater iriff of Batman Returns.  These guys are really good.  Lots of funny jokes and the guy who did the Christopher Walken impression (not sure which one) did a fantastic job.  I definitely want to buy more of their riffs in the future.  Hopefully they'll also come out with some new ones eventually.

They are great. I definitely recommend their March of the Penguins riff (sadly not on Netflix Instant anymore). Unfortunnately, due to their work schedules and life getting in the way, they are unlikely to be able to do any more.

[Asbestos Bill]

I've been watching a bunch of riffs in preparation for the top 25 iRiffs list (deadline tonight!).

Vox-o-Rox: Krull
This was an entertaining ride. The riffing was perhaps not as good as it could have been for the material, but it was more than enough to keep this kooky, bizarre, extremely 80s movie fun. I laughed several times, but I don't know how often it was at jokes and how often it was at the stupid things happening on screen. That's okay, though. This is one of those riffs that's just having fun with a bad movie so that's kind of how it goes.

There is one positive thing I will say about Krull, though. Despite being from the 80s, it has an orchestrated soundtrack. And it's actually decent, if a bit predictable. I'll take predictable fantasy adventure soundtracks to insipid synthesized sci-fi soundtrack any day (see Terminator).


FireRiffs: The Incredible Hulk
This was the second FireRiffs I've heard, and it was a vast improvement over Superman Returns, the track for which didn't have the strength to stay afloat over the sucking vacuum of bleak tedium that was the movie. But seriously, you'd have to actually be the Man of Steel to pull that off, so kudos for even trying (we're sure as hell not gonna touch it  ). BUT I DIGRESS. The Incredible Hulk is actually a pretty good movie, which makes it much easier to watch and riff. There were a bunch of clever lines (many of which I hear were penned by Ryan "Darth Geek" Downey, who I have and am currently working with, and I always endorse his work). Many of my favorite bits have already been mentioned here, but the "____ is/are for sissies" running joke was good. The hard water problem line got the biggest laugh.

There were however some lines that didn't really work at all...some because they just didn't quite make sense, and one that I can think of that was just a restating of the joke the movie was making (about what items from her purse they can and can't use). And there were some lines that were making fun of aspects that I didn't think were that dumb, so they didn't work. I think when you do that, you need to phrase it in a way that's funny even if the audience isn't thinking the same way you are about the movie. ...I hope that's what we've done, but I know there's always a point when you get so sick of the movie you just want to slap it around... Also, not to harp on the negatives, but while overall it did well for a solo riff, the dialog lines didn't work. I think Scott Zee is the only solo riffer I've seen do dialog with himself and have it work.


Ronin Fox: Batman
It's been a long time since I watched an RFT, and this was better than I remembered (the previous being Masters of the Universe). There were lots of clever lines, several chuckles, and a few laughs. The main problem was that the girl's voice (was it Erica?) was much softer. I had a very hard time making her lines out. And in the intro....I don't want to sound insulting, and in the actual track she is more energetic...but she sounded bored out of her mind or just apathetic and I wanted to slit my wrists. THANK GOD it picked up after the sync because I was seriously worried.


SAPP Trax: Terminator

Overall this was very enjoyable. I liked the play between the riffers, and it had good riff pacing. There were some problems, though, the main one being that the audio was too damn soft. I had to turn the movie down to about 10% my speakers up almost all the way (which is ridiculously loud on my desktop). I probably wouldn't have been able to get it right on my laptop or possibly even with headphones. And then of course I had to turn up the movie when there was soft dialog. Second, there were a lot of microphone noises—plosives and bumping—throughout. Ignoring this, the audio quality was actually pretty good. Lastly, and this is minor, but when you're doing a countdown to pause, have some rhythm or there's no point. It was something like "3....2...1.pause"

Favorite lines:
camera zoom on titles bit

Supermarket Sweep reference (we've been waiting for years for a place to reference that, now we don't have to.)

The bit about him getting a gun with a red laser sight when his vision is completely red

"It was like being born, I guess" But I don't know...I haven't been born yet

"Concierge."


The *hissss* ahhhhhh bit did not make sense with both of you doing it at once... and if you were doing a Family Guy reference, there just wasn't enough time to make it work at all anyway.

Great job, guys. Really good for a first effort.

[fireyf]

FireRiffs: The Incredible Hulk
This was the second FireRiffs I've heard, and it was a vast improvement over Superman Returns, the track for which didn't have the strength to stay afloat over the sucking vacuum of bleak tedium that was the movie. But seriously, you'd have to actually be the Man of Steel to pull that off, so kudos for even trying (we're sure as hell not gonna touch it  ). BUT I DIGRESS. The Incredible Hulk is actually a pretty good movie, which makes it much easier to watch and riff. There were a bunch of clever lines (many of which I hear were penned by Ryan "Darth Geek" Downey, who I have and am currently working with, and I always endorse his work). Many of my favorite bits have already been mentioned here, but the "____ is/are for sissies" running joke was good. The hard water problem line got the biggest laugh.

There were however some lines that didn't really work at all...some because they just didn't quite make sense, and one that I can think of that was just a restating of the joke the movie was making (about what items from her purse they can and can't use). And there were some lines that were making fun of aspects that I didn't think were that dumb, so they didn't work. I think when you do that, you need to phrase it in a way that's funny even if the audience isn't thinking the same way you are about the movie. ...I hope that's what we've done, but I know there's always a point when you get so sick of the movie you just want to slap it around... Also, not to harp on the negatives, but while overall it did well for a solo riff, the dialog lines didn't work. I think Scott Zee is the only solo riffer I've seen do dialog with himself and have it work.

Thanks for giving FireRiffs a second chance!  I'm certainly glad to hear I've improved over Superman Returns.  That was my first riff and good God it was a lot harder than I expected it to be.  I'm stubborn though and once I started I was determined to finish.  Lot's of time with no dialogue in that movie which was agony.
I hope overall this one was enjoyable.  Lesson for the future, don't try dialogue with myself, or at least learn how to make it work.  Live and learn.  Bummer cause I kind of liked the one at the motel, joking about the biological issues that I'd think would come with being the Hulk.  If you have a chance could you could please PM me a few of the lines you didn't think worked (the ones that didn't make much sense) just so I have an idea what to avoid in the future.  Maybe what works in my mind only works in my mind.  I'm always looking for constructive criticism since I'm working alone and don't have anyone to bounce my jokes off of.
Ronin Fox's Batman was good, I agree.  If you'd like another riff of it I also have done that movie.  Also, one of my personal favorites is Josh Kirby Time Warrior Planet of the Dino Knights.  It doesn't have a lot of sales and no one's really reviewed it, just rated.  It's a silly movie with the kid from Quest of the Delta Knights (which was all I needed to know to want to riff it).

While I'm here, I just watched Quiptracks Signs.  Yes I know, I'm a little late.  Fantastic riff.  I loved the dialogue between the aliens, especially when they were making fun of Graham's little attempt at feigning rage.  I have one burning question about that movie.  Why would aliens who are vulnerable to water try to invade a planet who's surface is 70% WATER?  Very enjoyable.

[Invader_quirk]

I'm glad you enjoyed Signs! It's one of my personal favorites.

I watched the same riffs with Asbestos Bill and don't have much more to add about them. We'd be happy to PM you a more detailed review, fireyf. It might be a little bit before we get to it, but we will. Frankly, I'm honored you want our critique. 

We tried to watch the Cinester Theater riff of Robocop today, but the version on Netflix instant turned out to be the unrated version and it got screwed up.  What we saw before giving up was good though.

Tonight we watched Ralph and Rick's The Bat. I enjoyed it quite a lot. It was a really fun time and didn't drag. The movie is so incredibly bad and the plot hinges upon every single character being absolutely brick stupid. Good riffs and a good target. Even after watching a crapload of riffs in a row, I was thoroughly entertained.

[Darth Geek]

We tried to watch the Cinester Theater riff of Robocop today, but the version on Netflix instant turned out to be the unrated version and it got screwed up.  What we saw before giving up was good though.

It should be the same cut as the Criterion DVD I have, and I only have issues with Murpy's death scene. After that I found it syncs up fine.

[Asbestos Bill]

We tried to watch the Cinester Theater riff of Robocop today, but the version on Netflix instant turned out to be the unrated version and it got screwed up.  What we saw before giving up was good though.

It should be the same cut as the Criterion DVD I have, and I only have issues with Murpy's death scene. After that I found it syncs up fine.

Well there was definitely also a problem with the Kenny Kenny death scene at least... And surely other people get blown apart in that movie...

Vox-o-Rox: Krull

FireRiffs: The Incredible Hulk

Ronin Fox: Batman

SAPP Trax: Terminator

Forgot to mention that ALL of these need leveling work to be loud enough during loud scenes and not as loud over soft scenes. This is somewhat the movies' respective faults, and some more than others (Terminator had some really soft dialog compared to the action scenes). I also know how hard it is to get right, but it needs to be attempted.

[RoninFox]

Ronin Fox: Batman
It's been a long time since I watched an RFT, and this was better than I remembered (the previous being Masters of the Universe). There were lots of clever lines, several chuckles, and a few laughs. The main problem was that the girl's voice (was it Erica?) was much softer. I had a very hard time making her lines out. And in the intro....I don't want to sound insulting, and in the actual track she is more energetic...but she sounded bored out of her mind or just apathetic and I wanted to slit my wrists. THANK GOD it picked up after the sync because I was seriously worried.

Thanks for the review, Batman was kind of a nightmare to get through thanks to technical problems, and at one point losing half the script in hard drive problems, but I was proud of the material we came up with.  The lack of enthusiasm from Vamperica was a character choice we made on the day, I'm willing to concede it was a bad choice.  As far as her being softer in the riff, I really wish I had the time to fix that.  I actually agonized over the sound for this riff for a long time, and never got it to the point I wanted it.  This was the only riff we recorded at our second apartment together, and the recording conditions were horrible.  Any time I tried to boost a quiet line it ended up horribly distorted.  It got to the point when we either had to release a flawed product, or wait indefinitely until we could record it all over again in better conditions.  By comparison, the recording we've done in our current apartment has been much easier to work with.  Not a great excuse, but hey, it's all I got right now.  Given time, I might try and fix some of the past riffs audio, but not for awhile.

[Asbestos Bill]

I finally watched the two Voyager episodes from disc 3 that I hadn't seen, from TreacheRiffs and Riffraff Theater. Both were highly enjoyable, as I've come to expect from them. My favorite line was from the RRT: "We're here! Fake beards! Get over it!"

[SJP]

Finished watching FilmRoasters' "The Dungeonmaster."  I believe I have to concur that this being an improv track is very impressive.  I think part of what makes an improv track work is when everyone actually seems to be enjoying what they're doing, and this is no exception...laughing at each other's jokes enhances the experience and not the other way around.

However, I'm not sure if it's a leveling problem or the jokes ran out of steam for a bit, but the scene with the giant monkey statue sounded like it went dead for a long time...long enough that I thought I accidentally paused the track.  A little bit later everything came back in, but even then there was a mic that was turned WAY too low compared to everyone else, where I thought it was supposed to be background noise for the movie.  It's a pretty big hole, but when it worked, it worked well.

Favorite line: "He's not a giant, he's magic...and a devil."