The Rifftrax Playoffs!

[MontyServo]

We can set polls to have a vote-per-person count as well as a time limit.

I think we could figure out a way to eliminate lots of the "problem movies" as has been discussed. The poll would definitely still need to be moderated. The best way to accomplish this, I think, is to have users submit a list of their top choices for movies to be riffed. Maybe, 5 a piece or so (or less?) to keep things somewhat concise. Then we can bring the master list to the people that need to see it, and we can eliminate any that are not doable based on criteria such as availability, mass appeal, bawdiness etc. The final list, maybe of around or near 10-15 movies, would then consist of all movies that are potential riffing candidates and the voting could then commence.

Let me know what you guys think, as I believe this would keep things somewhat orderly and prevent most problems that have been brought up. Discuss!

Aha!  I knew it would be possible to go in this direction!  5 picks may be too many, but 1 would be too few (there is bound to be lots of duplication).  How about each person submits 3 choices?  Then the powers that be can whittle the list down to 32 or 64 titles.  When you say the polls would have to be moderated, does that mean that you would open and close the polls?  And would you have two films voted on at a time in each poll, or something like 4 films with the top two advancing to the next round??  Also each poll will allow for us to debate the pros and cons of riffing each particular film.

I have to think about what films i would nominate.  Whatever happens, this will be a fun way to pass the time until the next Rifftrax!  By the way, when is that next Rifftrax coming??   

[Jeyl]

I think we're on to something with Ghost in the Shell. Not only does this film have the same problems that the Matrix had that made it so susceptible to being riffed (Taking itself too seriously, lots of techno mumbo jumbo), but there are a lot of scenes that are slow and dull that can provide lots of riffing time.

I would LOVE to see them riff it's sequal, innocence. That film is so bad I don't even label it as a film because nothing happens in it.

And besides, wouldn't it be awsome to have cover artwork that featured Mike and his gang in anime form?

And these titles aren't hard to find either. Manga just released an anniversary edition, and Dreamworks still has Innocence on their list.

[torgosPizza]

Um, so in other words, don't do these movies.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to worry about those movies being riffed, ever.

[Variety of Cells]

I think we're on to something with Ghost in the Shell. Not only does this film have the same problems that the Matrix had that made it so susceptible to being riffed (Taking itself too seriously, lots of techno mumbo jumbo), but there are a lot of scenes that are slow and dull that can provide lots of riffing time.

I would LOVE to see them riff it's sequal, innocence. That film is so bad I don't even label it as a film because nothing happens in it.

And besides, wouldn't it be awsome to have cover artwork that featured Mike and his gang in anime form?

And these titles aren't hard to find either. Manga just released an anniversary edition, and Dreamworks still has Innocence on their list.

Mike won't watch anime, I think it'll get scratched off once they present the list to Mike.


The Playoffs are starting to take a great shape though.  We'll have to sort out a bunch of rules for the polls, but first we need to start taking suggestions.  I feel three movies per person is a good amount.  Anyone want to take up the position of suggestion taker? 

[mrbakasan]

I agree that 3 movies is the number we should go with.

[BBQ Platypus]

I second the "three" motion...thus fulfilling my evil plan of TURNING THE NUMBER THREE INTO TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!  BWAH-HAH-HAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





(Note: That was a joke.  It doesn't mean I want the submission to only be two movies.  I want it to be three).

[mrbasehart]

Just so I'm clear: We'll each get to nominate three different films, which initially will be polled, and then placed into a head-to-head playoff of possibly 32 titles?

Sounds good to me.   

[torgosPizza]

I would say, hold off on "appointing" anyone officially at this point. Since it's the weekend and it looks like I'm the only one moderating at the moment, we will need to convene on our end and sort things out to make it as smooth as possible - if it were to even happen. Again I'm not sure on the official word on anything since this was a fanmade idea, and a great one at that. But of course there are people we need to clear it with (including the Riffmaster himself). Once we have the go-ahead, we will let you know the system we have devised to make everything easy and clear from the get-go.

it is definitely a great idea and something I would fully support. However let's not get ahead of ourselves - give us until at least end of the day Monday to figure something out for you guys, and get the final word out to you all.

Erik

[Variety of Cells]

Oh?  So we have official sponsorship now?  Cool.  I apologize, I was still under the impression that we were expected to run this independently and wanted to get it rolling. 

[SaucyRossy]

Man I cant believe I missed the beginnings of this thread. It's a great idea really. As a fan of sports and the especially college basketball this could be so much fun.
Frankly I think the best way to do it is to split them into genres like you have all done, aim for each genre to have a equal amount of movies.
Start the playoffs by having the genre movies go against each other then each have a winner that goes to the final four...it looks like we have Action, Scifi, Horror and Other.

That gives us a great balance imo.

So the winner of Action goes agains the Winner of Horror and the winner of Scifi goes against Other.

Pretty simple really. I am really looking forward to this. Should be great.

[torgosPizza]

Oh?  So we have official sponsorship now?  Cool.  I apologize, I was still under the impression that we were expected to run this independently and wanted to get it rolling. 

I'm not sure how much official it really is.. but just keep in mind that it is up to our discretion which movies make it. So, at some point, there will need to be at least SOME level of moderation from us. I think the general nuts and bolts will be done by you guys, and we might peek in to throw you guys off (which is what we do best).

But like I said the end result will have to get filtered through to us anyways; which means our presence will be required during at least some stages of the process. "Official sponsorship," not really. More like "We'll make sure it goes the way we want it to smoothly and fairly!"

[kodiakthejuggler]

The first bit of narrowing down should be movies that are hard to find.

Just take a look at the list of movies in the Rifftrax catalog. I don't believe any of them could seriously be considered "hard to find". Most of them were big box-office money makers, as well as very popular movies. But movies like Krull, Last Dragon, Masters of the Universe and Zardoz are not something you can just waltz in to your local Best Buy and find on the shelves.


After removing the harder to find titles, we could then start breaking up the list into genres, and starting the voting process on each based on it's type.

I think that would make this process easier.

[MontyServo]

The first bit of narrowing down should be movies that are hard to find.

Just take a look at the list of movies in the Rifftrax catalog. I don't believe any of them could seriously be considered "hard to find". Most of them were big box-office money makers, as well as very popular movies. But movies like Krull, Last Dragon, Masters of the Universe and Zardoz are not something you can just waltz in to your local Best Buy and find on the shelves.


After removing the harder to find titles, we could then start breaking up the list into genres, and starting the voting process on each based on it's type.

I think that would make this process easier.

All 4 of the movies you mentioned are currently in stock at Amazon for around $10 each.  And I couldn't find Crossroads at any of the retail stores I usually shop at either.  So I eventually just rented it, but could have just as easily bought it off of Amazon.

If anything, the four movies you listed may be eliminated by the Rifftrax staff just because they would be a bit too obscure and wouldn't sell as well as a more mainstream movie.

If the whole Rifftrax sponsored thing doesn't pan out, then I like the idea of doing a super tourney divided up into genres.  How about 8 genres with 32 movies each?  That would be 8 different tourneys with the 8 winners advancing to an 8 film final tourney, with the winner being chosen as the 2006 Roundtable Most Wanted Rifftrax!  Actually it might be hard coming up with 8 genres.  So maybe 4 genres with 64 films each, then when we reach the top 16 in each genre then we mix all those films up into an overall top 64 tourney.

[JonnyFrag]

In the spirit of the 'three wishes' idea here are my 3 (already hopefully pre-whittled for availability, tone and leaving out the obvious like LOTR, Batman and Robin...stuff EVERYONE wants to see etc...)

Armageddon
Red Dawn
X Files Movie


Pie in the Sky wish? Dawn of the Dead (original especially!)

[BBQ Platypus]

In the spirit of the 'three wishes' idea here are my 3 (already hopefully pre-whittled for availability, tone and leaving out the obvious like LOTR, Batman and Robin...stuff EVERYONE wants to see etc...)

Armageddon
Red Dawn
X Files Movie


Pie in the Sky wish? Dawn of the Dead (original especially!)

Same here.  (Damn.  I hate not having anything original to say).