Mike solo - yawn

[torgosPizza]

Sorry Mike but the three that I've seen with you as a solo riffer are just dull.

Are Kevin and Tom just unavailable that day?

Welcome to 3 years ago, and who the hell is Tom?

[D.B. Barnes]

Sorry Mike but the three that I've seen with you as a solo riffer are just dull.

Are Kevin and Tom just unavailable that day?

Welcome to 3 years ago, and who the hell is Tom?

Tom Corbett, silly!

[Doctor Who?]

Sorry Mike but the three that I've seen with you as a solo riffer are just dull.

Are Kevin and Tom just unavailable that day?

Welcome to 3 years ago, and who the hell is Tom?

Maybe he is related to Cow and Art.

[Edward J Grug III]

http://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,16545.msg499840.html#msg499840

This Tom's been getting a lot of buzz lately.

[Nunyerbiz]

The only Mike solo effort I can recall being underwhelmed with was Fifth Element... and maybe Predator, which has lots of great moments but in general the movie didn't really lend itself to the treatment... That said, Roadhouse, Cocktail, Crossroads, Point Break, Over the Top... all very, very solid releases.

[RoninFox]

Just saw Crossroads for the second time last night and laughed quite a bit, and Over the Top is a great one to revisit now and then.

[ShadowDog]

I'm sure the solo riffs are awesome (Mike couldn't do suck if he tried to) but I have to have at least one other person in the booth.  The chemistry and give and take add so much to the experience.  So I'm really glad the solo riffs are a thing of the past.

[betamax]

the movie choices are fantastic and the writting is ok. i just can't get into the mike solo riffs.

when he's with bill, kevin or a guest, it feels conversational, some buddies mocking out a movie. when it's mike solo, it's a man talking to himself...

[Nunyerbiz]

I never really felt that way about the solo riffs... that it's just a man talking to himself... of course, I can't deny that is precisely what it is... but it was never the vibe I got. I suppose I look at the solo riffs more in line with the MST3K vibe. The guys had some conversational elements there, but the focus was pretty much always on the movie... riffing on what was presented on screen. I think that's what the Mike solo riffs capture very well, without anybody else to prattle on with... it's just the movies and the jokes. I think it works very well in almost every one he's done.

That's not to say I don't like the multi-riffer booths... but because I think the source movies don't always offer up opportunities for riffs directed at the movie... and they certainly can't allow dead air with so many mics turned on... so something has to give. Sometimes the guys natural chemistry makes these situations a breeze... but there are other times where they sorta have to shoehorn in the conversation pieces... and I think those times they feel like what they are... filler until the movie gives them something to mock. Sometimes it's very funny and sometimes I'd just wish for a few seconds of dead air to decompress.

I guess both setups have their merit... and there is no denying the chemistry between the guys... but I always find the pure "watch movie, riff movie" focus of the solo efforts refreshing.

[deadking13]

it's better when there are at least two people so that there can be banter and jokes you couldn't really do solo.  but they are still funny.  my favourite solo riff is The Fifth Element.

[ShadowDog]

I never really felt that way about the solo riffs... that it's just a man talking to himself... of course, I can't deny that is precisely what it is... but it was never the vibe I got. I suppose I look at the solo riffs more in line with the MST3K vibe. The guys had some conversational elements there, but the focus was pretty much always on the movie... riffing on what was presented on screen. I think that's what the Mike solo riffs capture very well, without anybody else to prattle on with... it's just the movies and the jokes. I think it works very well in almost every one he's done.

You bring up an interesting point.  I think their ability to edit the movie for time to fit in the 90 minutes really helped them here.  Since they had to cut it down anyway, they could cut out the parts that didn't set up their jokes as well.  With Rifftrax you can't cut anything out, you have to have it all, so I think early on Mike and Co decided to go with the banter when there was a section with nothing else available.

[NRRork]

when he's with bill, kevin or a guest, it feels conversational, some buddies mocking out a movie. when it's mike solo, it's a man talking to himself...

Actually, that's really ironic because it's widely known that those three guys absolutely hate each other in real life. It goes back to the MST3K days. Kevin wanted to play a new head villain when they moved to MST3k, instead of being a lackey for the Pearl character. Mike started making really weird demands for content in the show. And Bill pretty much just hates everyone except his cats.

They're real pros to be able to still work together so well.

Oh, and back to the original thread: Yeah, Mike's solo riffs are very funny, but they DO lack that friends-on-a-couch sort of feeling. In fact, they should go ahead and stick a couch in the studio.

[FordPrefect]

I'm sure he did them by himself for economical reasons. Kevin and Bill live in a different state than Mike and the Rifftrax crew. It's not like this website started out with unlimited funds at it's disposal. I thought they were enjoyable, but Mike hasn't done a solo riff since 2007. In fact, Rifftrax with at least two people have been the norm for quite a while now. The only people who do solo riffs these days are Matthew J. Elliott and certain iRiffers.

[deadking13]

when he's with bill, kevin or a guest, it feels conversational, some buddies mocking out a movie. when it's mike solo, it's a man talking to himself...

Actually, that's really ironic because it's widely known that those three guys absolutely hate each other in real life. It goes back to the MST3K days. Kevin wanted to play a new head villain when they moved to MST3k, instead of being a lackey for the Pearl character. Mike started making really weird demands for content in the show. And Bill pretty much just hates everyone except his cats.

They're real pros to be able to still work together so well.

wtf are you talking about?

[MightyJack]

In addition to Roadhouse and Crossroads mentioned in the thread, I was also very fond of Mike's solo effort on Heroes

When officers ask Parkman how he knew where the child of the dead parents was hiding - Mike responds.. "His orphan sense was tingling". 

Cold, but hilarious