The Oozing Skull

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I'll start with a minor pet peeve. I've always disliked it  when Joel interacts with the screen. And having the entire cast doing it at times was like someone dragging their nails down a chalkboard while rubbing a balloon while singing an Enya song offkey. But that's my particular hangup.

I always really liked these jokes in MST3K. It was one of the things I really missed when Mike took over the show. I'd laugh every time Joel would look over the side of a wall on screen or when Joel would adjust  the radio dial in Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Was it Joel or Mike who held up the cue cards during the military general's hilariously bad rant? I don't remember the episode, I just remember the joke.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

A good first outing in my opinion.  Watching it again will help.  I also struggled to identify who was who, but it was really cool to have that all-star crew together.  Not laugh-a-minute hilarity like The Unearthly, but I sure enjoyed it.

A second viewing is certainly required to get the full effect, there was just too much to figure out in the first viewing, between figuring out where everyone was and all the weird stuff happening in the movie...  I think that's where a short intro would have helped, so you didn't have to figure out where they were sitting.  Could still have been done in silhouette, just have each person wave and say something so we could place the voices to the silhouettes.  

Or maybe it is an age thing   the youngsters out there might be able to pick this stuff up faster....

[skenderberg]

I'll start with a minor pet peeve. I've always disliked it  when Joel interacts with the screen. And having the entire cast doing it at times was like someone dragging their nails down a chalkboard while rubbing a balloon while singing an Enya song offkey. But that's my particular hangup.

I always really liked these jokes in MST3K. It was one of the things I really missed when Mike took over the show. I'd laugh every time Joel would look over the side of a wall on screen or when Joel would adjust  the radio dial in Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Was it Joel or Mike who held up the cue cards during the military general's hilariously bad rant? I don't remember the episode, I just remember the joke.

That was Joel, way back in Episode 109 Project Moonbase.  Pretty much any in-theater prop gag would have been Joel, actually.  Mike's got a different style of humor.

[mule22]

In my opinion I felt like a  watched a comedy where you see the trailer and it looks hilarious, but then you watch the movie, and all the good jokes where already in the trailer. But, I can't wait for the next one. I'm sure these guys are probably still working out the chemistry.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Just throwing in my two cents here, I agree with most of you that it felt like a middle-of-the-road MST3K episode. There didn't seem to be a great deal of chemistry or interaction between the riffers.  But I can forgive all that, for most of the participants it was the first riff in a very long time!  I'm sure they're only going to get better. 

I don't think the film was the best choice they could have made.  It was just kind of dull and lifeless.  Plus, and I'm surprised that no one else here has mentioned this, all the graphic surgery scenes at the beginning really put me off.  I'm not squeamish and I've seen plenty of gore films but the surgery stuff was just unnecessarily nasty.  Sure, it was very fake looking but it was still gross.  If they're trying to bring in new casual fans, I don't think that's the way to do it.

I love the idea of freezing the film to do the skits, although the skits themselves needed work.  I wish something similar was possible with Rifftrax.  The theme music Josh came up with was great!  It was running through my head for the rest of the day.  Josh was very funny throughout, it's great to hear him again.  Oh yeah, and I totally agree that they need to have some kind of premise or at the very least a proper introduction.  A solid first effort overall.  I'm looking forward to what they come up with next.

[Pak-Man]

Enjoyed it immensely. It really feels like MST3K is back in the form of Cinematic Titanic. I loved the Pause-The-Movie trick for the host segments and I love that they're willing to play more with the old Shadow-Rama effects. There were some great jokes and the 5-person-riffing team allowed for some good interplay and allowed for the neat addition of group-riffs. Everyone applauding the hat staying on worked wonderfully, and it couldn't have been pulled off with a 3-man-team. And heck, the return of Joel is an event unto itself. It's the true second coming of MST3K.

It did make me realize something though: After a year and a half-ish of Rifftrax, I don't long for the return of MST3K anymore and I haven't for a long time. I still love it, and both MST3K and Cinematic Titanic will always have a place in my heart, but it felt like a step backwards to  see the old Shadow-Rama and the crummy old movie. Granted, it was a step back to a place I love and cherish and hold dear, but I'm REALLY looking forward to the next Rifftrax. I'll be glad to get a little of the old magic now and then, but now that I've gone 'trax, I don't know if I can go back. Not like before, anyway. The 2 projects are certainly 2 different beasts, and there's room in my heart for both, but I think if they announced today that Cinematic Titanic was dead, I wouldn't have the same kinda heartache I'd have if they announced the end of Rifftrax. This isn't to say that Rifftrax > MST3K/Cinematic Titanic by any stretch. It's different, and I think I've found something I enjoy more than MST3K.

I dunno. Is anyone else getting that?

[Bairman]

I dunno. Is anyone else getting that?

I understand completely and couldn't have expressed it any better.  Spot on.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The 2 projects are certainly 2 different beasts, and there's room in my heart for both, but I think if they announced today that Cinematic Titanic was dead, I wouldn't have the same kinda heartache I'd have if they announced the end of Rifftrax. This isn't to say that Rifftrax > MST3K/Cinematic Titanic by any stretch. It's different, and I think I've found something I enjoy more than MST3K.

I have to agree at this point, I hope it gets better, there's a lot of potential there so I think it will improve.  My hope is they learn quickly what movies work best with their format, this movie was not a good choice.  Using ILM as their test audience may not have been the best choice either...

[shutterbun]

Rifftrax doesn't have an explanation on why they're riffing on movies beyond "these movies are here and they need to be riffed."  Does the fact that there are riffers visible on screen immediately mean we need one?

Rifftrax at least spends a few minutes at the beginning of each track to introduce everyone and set the tone of what's to come.  Often times during the riffing they will also speak directly to the listener.  This might not seem like a big deal, but speaking for myself, these elements go a long way toward creating a sense of comaradery with the riffers.  With Rifftrax, FC, and MST3K, we are watching *with* them, but with CT we are just watching them watch the movie, so it misses out on a lot of what makes riffed movies so much fun.

[Raven]

I hope sales go well enough to keep them going for quite a long time.  I don't think that it would really be sad if they stopped making them because we aren't used to them yet.  If you think about it, there is no gap on a tv channel that is going to be noticably gone.  With Rifftrax it seems like we always know what the next title on the way is, or at least when the next one is, so it seems more like tv show.  Rifftrax is constant, CT is sporatic.  I think they are definately seperate entities, but until we get used to CT as a constant, we won't have the attachment to it that we did with MST3k and now Rifftrax.  I'm not saying they have to have a new title availible every week but after they have 5 or 6 titles out I think as a whole we'll be really sad to see them go if they decide to hang it up.   

[Sheik Yerbouti]

All I know is, it's a damn good time to be a MST3K fan!  I think back to three or four years ago, I'd go onto Satellite News every once in awhile, read that maybe Mike had a new book or DVD commentary coming out in SIX MONTHS and think 'cool, can't wait for that!'.  Now we get something new almost every other week and we get itchy and whiny when we don't.  We are so spoiled!   

I think these new projects are the way to go and if MST3K did ever come back on television or DVD releases, I bet it would just polarize the fan base further.  You'd have a bunch of people saying 'the new show is awesome!' and others saying 'the new show sucks!'.  And god forbid, Jim Mallon says f-you to the whole lot of actors and writers and assembles an entirely NEW cast for a new MST3K show.  Just imagine what that would do to the fanbase.

Oh crap, I hope I didn't just give him an idea.

[bratpop]

Rifftrax is constant? *AHEM*

*looking at calendar*

Waiting!

[BEERxTaco]

...and CT is sporadic? They've only had one release! I don't think it's possible to do something once sporadically.

It IS a great time to be a MSTie... lots of great choices and I love them all. Why do we always have to color things based on our favorites? Some of these comments sound an awful lot like "I like this so I automatically don't like that".

Enjoy the ride folks, it won't last forever... just like MST3K.

[RVR II]

All I know is, it's a damn good time to be a MST3K fan! 

Yes sir it is!!

I'm looking forward to 'both' projects in the future.

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One thing that Cinematic Titanic did that I really like was it sort of "broke the rules" of riffing. I don't know how better to describe it than to state an example. To the short lab assistant: "3 feet yet?" to which he responds, "Not yet!". This is a very easy, but pretty funny style of joke to make, but I have noticed that RiffTrax likes to steer away from this, because it really does ruin the "This is painful. This is the first time we're watching this movie" charade the riffers try to put on.

Really, I think those jokes can be very funny, and I'm fine with them bending the rules a little bit to deliver the humor.