About the Rifftrax movie choices, and related stuff.

[Conor]

Lots of information to digest here, lots of good suggestions...not too much hysterical shrieking.  I appreciate the well thought out responses, and was away from the forum for too long to address them specifically.  But in general:

-Regarding "availability" - Pretty much the ideal is that someone can reach over and grab it off their shelf.  Is it in your house already?  Great.  If the movie you're suggesting is "available" in terms of it being on amazon or netflix, but if you stopped ten people on the road, nine would never have heard of the movie, there's a strong chance people wouldn't want to watch the riff.

-Regarding wacky pricing schemes, etc.  Not really my area of expertise, but it seems confusing.  If someone came to the site, and D-War was priced at ten dollars, My first instinct would be to wonder who had come back from the dead to guest riff on it.  When I learned, (don't know how I'd find this out), that it was priced higher because less people wanted to see it, I would be very confused.  That's just my opinion.

-It's important to maintain perspective regarding opinions.  If RiffTrax is the one thing in your day that doesn't go cater exactly to your specific whims, you've probably got a good thing going.

-The variety of material provided by the regularly released Shorts, as Bill noted, has been overlooked, and is a great example of varied content and listening to suggestions.  As was getting Weird Al to guest riff.

-Like I said in another thread, we have some things coming that will hopefully provide opportunities to touch on some more obscure subject matter.  More on that in a few weeks.

-Also, the potential provided by On Demand video could really help serve up some more obscure stuff.  The great success of the Film Crew dvds as well as Cinematic Titanic, prove that you can toss out a movie that nobodys ever heard of as long as the riffing is provided in a neat package with it.  Hopefully it's something we can explore with more features in the future.

Hm...What else...Thanks for watching and being passionate about what we do.  It's a really fun and unique method of entertainment.  I'm thankful you guys like what we do so I get to keep continuing to do it.  So, thanks.

I'll check back in if you have any more questions.

[MrTorso]

Can you ever give us a top ten list of the best selling RT? Don't need actual sales figures or anything like that but it would satisfy a lot of curiosity for a lot of people.  Speaking from a retail point of view (18 years of experience) when your average customer sees a "popular" or "best-seller" list they are more prone to buy. They usually operate on the "if this is selling so well, it must be good" mentality.

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

 

[Compound]

(Regarding the Departed)

I think it'd be fun, though it's kind of on the long side.  I'd like to do a best picture winner at some point in time.  Do you think a lot of people own it?  Nobody really seems to talk about it any more.

Ah Finally found where Conor asked this.

According to the numbers that I've seen, The Departed was the ninth best selling disc last year, selling 7.5 million copies. It sold about 700,000 copies more than #10, Spiderman 3. Just an FYI.

That's a fair point.  But now the next question from a business standpoint is: how many of those people who bought 7.5 million copies of The Departed will be in the Rifftrax target demo.  I suspect a higher percentage of Spiderman 3 owners hit the Rifftrax sweet spot.

Well, personally I don't think it'd be a good trax. I'm just saying that availability shouldn't be a concern for it.

[Dim of the Yard]

Really, never heard of it.  Then again, I don't watch television.*  With that cast, I must admit, I have no desire to hear about it.



*"Television" being defined as 'advertisements interrupted briefly by programming.'

I do insist that you check it out, from one non-TV-viewer to the next.  It's at least worth the quick checking-out.  It's probably one of my favorite films to come out in the past ten years.

[GregMcduck]

What do you do for a living, Greg?  Or if you're still in school, what do you plan to do?

Hmm, not sure if this is leading to internet teasing or if you're generally interested, but

the technical answer is I'm a Wal-Mart employee. The ultimate goal, however, is filmmaker.

[MontyServo]

Thanks Conor for providing some insight on this suddenly hot topic of discussion.

I'm looking forward to the future Rifftrax.  I hope there will be a way to find the right balance between the hot new releases and older cult favorites.  

P.S.  Please do Billy Jack, High School Musical, Airport 1975, and 10,000 B.C.!  (Hey, I got a good shot at one of those requests!)  

[BEERxTaco]

I haven't thrown in my two cents yet, so here goes...

I haven't been real thrilled with the releases lately, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like them if I bought them. I probably would. I just have a lot of other things going on in my life and I tend to be more selective about what riffs I choose to spend the time and money upon to re-author. I will say that if Billy Jack were to be the next release, I would definitely make time for it, as I would lots of other older films.

Being almost 50 years old may have something to do with it. I don't see too many of the current Hollywood offerings anymore unless it's something that really appeals to me, so most of the newer riffs I have no clue about. The 70s and 80s don't seem that old to me, those were my best years from a "having fun" perspective (well at least from a "having fun being young and foolish" perspective lol). Lately I've been spending most of my free time getting caught up on Battlestar Galactica and The Office, lol...

I understand the problem of obscurity when it comes to movie selections. And probably the Cinematic Titanic model is better equipped to handle the real far out stuff. But as has been pointed out, there are plenty of 70s & 80s (and 90s) blockbusters that would make fine riffs. Think of the big films of the day... ET (as Gammer suggested), The Omen, The Exorcist, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, etc etc... I think plenty of people would be on board for that kind of stuff. Just to toss in every once in a while anyway. I don't have the time to see every one that comes out anyway...

Just my opinion... I still check things out here regularly, I just don't necessarily get hyped up for the next release when it's yet another one I've never seen. Keep up the great work guys!

[Dim of the Yard]

Really, never heard of it.  Then again, I don't watch television.*  With that cast, I must admit, I have no desire to hear about it.



*"Television" being defined as 'advertisements interrupted briefly by programming.'

I do insist that you check it out, from one non-TV-viewer to the next.  It's at least worth the quick checking-out.  It's probably one of my favorite films to come out in the past ten years.

It looks like a drama though...I generally don't like drama.  And I kinda hate jack nicholson.  Does it have aliens/lasers/magic swords in it?

No, but it does have Rolling Stones music in it.  And guns.  And a psychiatrist.  Who might have lasers in her eyes, but that's an unexplored plot point.

[bettertomorrowamy]

It is good.

[Raven]

-The variety of material provided by the regularly released Shorts, as Bill noted, has been overlooked, and is a great example of varied content and listening to suggestions. 

I do love the shorts and I'm not trying to overlook them.  But a 10 minute clip isn't the same as a full length movie.  If you try to make an evening out of the new rifftrax release, which is what me and my fiance do, the evening is over before it begins.   I haven't even shown her any of the shorts yet because I was waiting to make a full length dvd of them (which I finally can). The DRM-free news from last week was great by the way.    

Maybe the only answer to the slightly older titles being riffed will be the new Fan Riffing section.  The Rifftrax shorts and Cinematic Titanic/ICWXP are all public domain or easily licensible titles.  Rifftrax has better sales doing the brand new Hollywood stuff.  If the amateurs put out decent stuff for the slightly older titles, (and lets face it, by the time these get finished the DVDs of even new releases will be cheaper) maybe that's the best way to see a Red Dawn or Dune get riffed.  None of the fan riffs are going to be expensive, provided they charge anything at all and if someone really wants an obscure or older movie get riffed then odds are they have the movie already.  Just a thought.


To Conor, Torgos and Bill.  Thanks for addressing our concerns, even if the answers aren't what we all were hoping for.  

[MrTorso]

Really, never heard of it.  Then again, I don't watch television.*  With that cast, I must admit, I have no desire to hear about it.



*"Television" being defined as 'advertisements interrupted briefly by programming.'

I do insist that you check it out, from one non-TV-viewer to the next.  It's at least worth the quick checking-out.  It's probably one of my favorite films to come out in the past ten years.

It looks like a drama though...I generally don't like drama.  And I kinda hate jack nicholson.  Does it have aliens/lasers/magic swords in it?

No, but it does have Rolling Stones music in it.  And guns.  And a psychiatrist.  Who might have lasers in her eyes, but that's an unexplored plot point.

Okay, I'll add it to my queue.

The original was better. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/ Also, pay no mind to the complete asshat cover for the region 1 release. The woman in the skimpy outfit is not in the flick. You can thank the idiot Weinsteins for that piece of bullshit marketing.

[BEERxTaco]

A couple of lists provided for no real reason... certainly not suggesting these would all make good riffs, but one of them did...

Top Grossing Films of the 70s

Go here: http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/#YearIndex

and click on the various years from say 1968-1979 to see the details. For that matter you can check out the 80s here too...

Top Grossing Films of the 80s:

1980
The Empire Strikes Back, $141 million
9 to 5, $59 million
Stir Crazy, $58 million
Airplane!, $40 million
Any Which Way You Can, $40 million

1981
Raiders of the Lost Ark, $115 million
Superman II, $65 million
On Golden Pond, $61 million
Arthur, $42 million
Stripes, $40 million

1982
E.T. - The Extraterrestrial, $228 million
Tootsie, $96 million
Rocky III, $66 million
An Officer and a Gentleman, $55 million
Porky's, $54 million

1983
Return of the Jedi, $168 million
Terms of Endearment, $50 million
Wargames, $38 million
Superman III, $37 million

1984
Ghostbusters, $130 million
Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom, $109 million
Beverly Hills Cop, $108 million
Gremlins, $79 million
The Karate Kid, $43 million

1985
Back to the Future, $104 million
Rambo: First Blood Part II, $78 million
Rocky IV, $76 million
The Color Purple, $47 million
Out Of Africa, $43 million

1986
Top Gun, $79 million
"Crocodile" Dundee, $70 million
Platoon, $69 million
The Karate Kid Part II, $58 million
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, $56 million

1987
Three Men and A Baby, $81 million
Beverly Hill Cop II, $80 million
Fatal Attraction, $70 million
Good Morning, Vietnam, $58 million
The Untouchables, $36 million

1988
Rain Man, $86 million
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, $81 million
Coming to America, $65 million
"Crocodile" Dundee II, $57 million
Twins, $57 million

1989
Batman, $150 million
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, $115 million
Lethal Weapon 2, $79 million
Back to the Future, II, $72 million
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, $72 million

[Pak-Man]

Love the Shorts (Heck, love the 'trax new and old) but there's a wonderful zone between public domain and hot off the shelf that I also have a craving for. :^)

Of course that's just my little personal realm of desire. I'm also not under the delusional opinion that "Well if I think it's a good idea, everyone must think it's a good idea, and since I buy Rifftrax and frequent the forums, I have every right to try to pigeonhole the crew of Rifftrax into making financially horrible decisions. How dare they try to do things to keep the company running!"

I'm also hearing, here, that the new releases are meeting the demands of the current Rifftrax structure, but that there will be changes to the structure in the future. I don't think they've said never yet, and I don't think they ever will.. At least until we drive them to bankruptcy. :^)

[GregMcduck]

I just want to re-ask a question that's been asked several times before but I don't think has been addressed.

At this point in the game, is the Suggest-A-Trax forum worth having?