Pearl of the Orient, now in 'balut-free' flavor!

[Thrashalla]

http://www.rifftrax.com/shorts/pearl-orient


Join the middle-aged drummer as this thrilling documentary follows his exploits during Rush's 2009 Asian tour.  Leaving in his wake several bottles of FiberCon, completely unnecessary drum kit pieces, and pulp 1950s Sci-Fi novels with highlighted passages marked "use for lyrics", the man....what's that?  Oh, this isn't Neil Peart of the Orient?  My mistake.

The makers of Pearl of the Orient set out to make a positive, uplifting piece about life in the heavily-bombed Philippine islands during the aftermath of World War II.  And, if you consider third world poverty, rat-smashing, and utterly joyless wedding ceremonies "uplifting", the filmmakers succeeded admirably!  The tourism dollars surely flowed like a debris-tainted waterfall into the island nation after the world saw delightful images of villagers breaking their backs all day to harvest a half-cup of rice. Think about that next time you feel the urge to post on facebook "Stupid supermarket out of whole wheat linguini so had to settle for regular.  FML!!!"  Yes, it's a nice reminder of how much we suck.

There's also a cockfight.  You should buy this.

Tag along with Mike, Kevin, Bill, and their newly-acquired Filipino wives for a trip to the Pearl of the Orient!


http://www.rifftrax.com/shorts/pearl-orient

[Action Batch]

Didn't realize how behind I was. I just spent 9.90USD on shorts. MMMMMmmmmmm Retail Therapy iz goot.

[Scrivener]

Hey, Ronin Fox Trax already did this one as an iRiff.  Not saying they're doing anything illegal -- the first rule of iRiffs is, there is no such thing as 'dibs' -- but the poaching still feels a trifle declasse (dang, where's the accent mark on this thing?).

I'll probably pick this up, but the guys will have to bring their "A" game to top Ronin.  Not that this is at all inconceivable.

(There, did I do well enough complimenting them both?)

[RoninFox]

Hey, Ronin Fox Trax already did this one as an iRiff.  Not saying they're doing anything illegal -- the first rule of iRiffs is, there is no such thing as 'dibs' -- but the poaching still feels a trifle declasse (dang, where's the accent mark on this thing?).

I'll probably pick this up, but the guys will have to bring their "A" game to top Ronin.  Not that this is at all inconceivable.

(There, did I do well enough complimenting them both?)

I'd say well done.

I knew it was only a matter of time before something I riffed or planned to riff was tackled by Rifftrax, pretty curious what they came up with.  Might have to run to the store to buy a refreshing drink of highest quality and check this out. 

[ShadowDog]

I buy all Mike and Co shorts (eventually, I pick them up when a new feature comes out) but having bought and listened to Ronin's last year, I have to say it was a strong outing for him.  I think I'll listen to Ronin's again right before listening to Mike and Co's version to compare them.

[RoninFox]

Hmm.  Just started watching, and this isn't the same short I riffed.  It's also about the Philippines, and it has the same title, but this actually seems to be an attempt to examine Filipino life and culture, as opposed to the short I riffed which was mostly about sugary drinks.

Don't let that stop anyone from checking out both of course.   

[RoninFox]

and once again I click modify on my iPhone only to slip and hit quote instead.  Oops

Anyway, loved the short, title confusion aside.

[Rattrap007]

hilarious bit with the cock fighting..

[Scrivener]

Okay, I saw the preview, and Ronin's right:  this Pearl of the Orient apparently has nothing to do with his Pearl of the Orient.  I might have postulated that both Ronin and Rifftrax used different parts of the same short, except Ronin would have recognized what he took out and Rifftrax kept in.

I'm left with a bizarre theory:  one company blatantly ripped off another company's Philippines travelogue short, going as far as attaching the exact same name, the same way Asylum Films (or whoever it is) gets their Transmorphers out on video just in time to catch people looking for Transformers.  The ripoff-ing company apparently doing so in order to indoctrinate viewers regarding a certain refreshing drink of highest quality.

It makes no sense ... except that every other possibility makes less sense.  What a world we live in.