April 29th, 2008

Now Available from Rifftrax: “I Am Legend”

Whoa, this one snuck up on me. I must have missed the announcement that they were working on this one. It’s available now! You can order the DVD here.

Here’s a sample:


April 29th, 2008

Mike Hits the Brew

Hugh at Deep Ape has noted that Mike Nelson will appear at The Stone Brewery in Escondido, Calif., twice this summer as part of the places “late night movie” series. On June 11 they’ll be running the movie “300″ along with the Rifftrax commentary and on Aug. 27, they be running “The Matrix Reloaded” along with its commentary track. More here.


April 28th, 2008

Trace and Kevin Provide Voices for Movie

We’ve received word from the co-writer/co-director of a comedy feature called “Hamlet A.D.D.” which is currently in post-production. He tells us: “There’s a scene where we needed voices for two male robots, so we immediately thought of Tom Servo & Crow T. Robot. They both agreed, so we recorded Trace in L.A. last summer and Kevin in Minneapolis earlier this month. We’re huge MST3K fans, so working with them was a major honor. We hope to have the film done by this fall in time for the film festival season. It’s a feature-length comedy based on Hamlet. It has a definite B-movie tone, which fits great with the MST3K bots.”
By the way, trekkers might be interested to know that Majel Barrett Roddenberry provided the voice for a female robot.
For more info…


April 27th, 2008

Dallas Film Fest Report–UPDATE

Pegasus News offers a report.

And here’s another report (warning: page contains images that might be NSFW).

Our buddy Dave (who previously reported to us from the CT appearance in Minneapolis) journeyed to Dallas this weekend for the Dallas Film Festival, and provided this report:

The “MST at 20″ forum began with a presentation of clips taking us through the whole series, pretty much chronologically. The clips ran for about 25 minutes, and then Joel, Trace, Frank, Mary Jo and Josh walked onto the stage onto directors chairs. Unfortunately, Kevin took ill and was unable to attend.
The host then spent the next 30-40 minutes asking questions, going over familiar ground for most MSTies. During this entire Q and A segment, they were each riffing and mocking each others responses in the manner we are accustomed to, and it was very entertaining. Joel recounted leaving Los Angeles to return to Minneapolis, having a “monster movie show” idea in his mind. They said the four Gamera films in the KTMA library helped them greatly in cementing the idea and format for the show.
Trace discussed the motion picture, and the frustration of being told to have more broad, accessible riffs for the film, producing a product he personally felt was inferior to the TV show.
Mary Jo recounted the start of the Sci-Fi Channel years, and talked a bit about the sometimes disheartening remarks seen on online discussing her character.
Frank, in response to a question about fame, said he is only recognized in public occasionally, and then, usually very respectfully/politely by fans. He said it’s especially gratifying when he’s out to dinner with friends, is recognized, and then hears his friends say, “You’re famous? I didn’t know that!”
The audience Q&A portion followed, and went on for roughly 35-45 minutes. There were many questions we’ve heard many times before, but some relatively new and of interest. My party of four estimated that approximately 60% of the audience questions were “good,” with 40% relatively predictable or in some cases, “groan-worthy.”
Asked if CT will use more “adult” humor, Joel joked about “Skinematic Titanic” but said each of them has their own type of humor, and that they will continue to do things along those lines.
Asked if there are movies that are too “good” or “bad” to use for MST/CT, Frank said that many films they’ve screened since The Oozing Skull were actually worse than that, which was a bit surprising to him, given how bad “Oozing Skull” was.
Asked about filming of the Giant Gila Monster replacement segment, Joel never really answered the question, and instead went off onto a tangent with some backstage information. He said he had contacted Jim Mallon last summer to see if they might want to do something together for the 20th anniversary of MST3K. Joel said Jim mostly talked about the Flash animation and how he wanted to do shorts online using the bots. Joel said he was more interested in riffing on movies, and in the end the two couldn’t come to an agreement. This was the point at which he came up with the idea for Cinematic Titanic.
At the end of the forum, we all filed out of the theater and got back in line to return into the same theater with different tickets, to grab general admission seating.
When the show began, the CT cast came out on stage and sat down in chairs (no scaffolding) in front of the screen, with lighted easels holding their scripts. The film turned out to be the Roger Corman 1959 epic “The Wasp Woman.” (”The Wasp Woman” will be one of the three films that Cinematic Titanic will be filming in May for eventual release.)
In this fan’s opinion, the riffing was dead-on target. The live audience reactions were extremely positive, and the general consensus was the show was even funnier than “The Oozing Skull.”
The cast then went outside to sit at a table to meet the fans in line for autographs and comments. The only merchandise sold at their table was the Oozing Skull pre-autographed DVD cover and the 8×10 CT Cast silhouette photo.

Thanks to Dave for his report!


April 26th, 2008

Weekend Discussion Thread: Favorite Season Seven Segments

Well, we only have a six-episode season here (seven if you count the Turkey Day version of 701 and, as you’ll see, I do), so I am limiting you to lists of five. I’m cruel that way.

• “Stuffing vs. Potatoes”–701(TD)- NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST: Some, or perhaps many of you, haven’t seen this version of this episode (it was only shown twice). But for me it really is the one standout segment. Witty and silly at the same time
• Crow reads a trashy romance novel to a medicated Pearl–703- DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL: “I dreamed a gold man was reading to me from a dirty book.” Great stuff.
• Dr. F. leads a focus group–704- THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN: Brilliant, a chance for the Brains to express their frustration with the focus group process that contributed to making MST3K the Movie less than it could have been.
• With the SOL heading toward a black hole, Mike undergoes a terrifying but useful transformation!–706- LASERBLAST: All the segments in this final Comedy Central episode are great, but Mike’s bizarre unexplained ability to suddenly “be” somebody else is use to wonderful effect.
• The SOL reaches the edge of the universe and its inhabitants become beings of pure energy! Meanwhile, Dr. F. becomes unstuck in time, has a revelation and is reborn–706- LASERBLAST: Bittersweet and oh-so-funny.

Least fave: Crow wants Mike and Tom to sing “Hang down your head, Tom Dewey”–702- THE BRUTE MAN: These sketches where one character thinks something is funny, but it isn’t, were usually just not funny.


April 25th, 2008

Joel Interview

The Fort Worth, Tex., Star-Telegram interviews Joel.

Note–you may have to register, but it’s free.


April 25th, 2008

Blogger Interview

BTD Greg of Kulturblog, who seems to be under the mistaken impression that Kevin Murphy is part of Cinematic Titanic (though he tries to correct him in the interview), interviews the members of CT … and Kevin.


April 24th, 2008

Episode Guide: 417- Crash of the Moons (with short: “General Hospital”–Segment 3)

First shown: 11/28/92
Opening: Crow is selling true grit
Invention exchange: Sugary Deep 13 toothpaste, rock & wreck guitar
Host segment 1: Song: “The Gypsy Moons”
Host segment 2: John Banner-grams
Host segment 3: J&TB read through Crow’s latest screenplay: a space opera
End: Letter, John Banner visits on the Hexfield; then the SOL sends Deep 13 a Banner-gram
Stinger: “Boopie!”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (57 votes, average: 3.98 out of 5)
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• A lot of folks love this one. It has a lot going for it besides the aggressive geniality of John Banner. This is the most bearable of the three GH segments and its also the most fun of the Rocky Jones outings, so it’s basically watchable to start with. Combine that with pretty decent host segments and some strong riffing and you’ve got a winner.
• The 1992 Turkey Day marathon was over, but this was the third new episode in four days. MSTies had a wonderful weekend.
• I remember seeing ads in comic books when I was a kid trying to get me to sell Grit. But I’ve never seen it on news stands or anything. It’s still around. Is it a midwestern thing?
• Dr. F’s invention is extra evil this week. Conversely, Joel’s doesn’t look that well-put-together.
• Nice to see they called an unofficial moratorium on “Oh, is the great [name here] going to direct?” riff. Funny back in season two, but…
• I love Crow’s riff: “Orbit? What does that mean?” a reference to the painful explanation of what an orbit is in a previous Rocky Jones episode.
• My copy is from early in 1995. Annoying commercial: Estelle Harris and Jerry Stiller, cashing in on their roles from “Seinfeld,” screeching at each other in an AT&T ad. “I’m sicka da circles!”
• Callback: “Yew and yor dawtah aw doomt!” (Robot Holocaust)
• Great song, which unfortunately ends with a now-dated reference to Stacy Koon. Yow. Another dated reference: “Say the secret word and Bill Cosby rips off your show.” I’d totally forgotten Bill Cosby’s miserable attempt to revive “You Bet Your Life.”
• Firesign Theatre reference: “He’s not your son, Fred.”
• Dumb movie question: The space station doesn’t have any ability to propel itself? Not even some little thruster rockets? Seems like a design flaw.
• Occasionally you pick up a new word from these movies. I’d never heard of a “suzerain” before.
• Is it just me or is Cleolanta kinda hot? Headstrong and evil, sure, but still, rrowr.
• It just hit me this time why the symbol of Bavaro’s world is a lightning bolt–cause the planet has lightning a lot of the time. I never made the connection before.
• Satellite News’ Erhardt, dressed as Bavaro, introduced this episide in the 1993 Turkey Day bumpers.
• I like Tom Servo beak moving as he reads over Joel’s shoulder. Mike is so klandinto as John Banner! Hi, Bavaro.
• Fave riff: “Horowitz is visibly shaken…”


April 22nd, 2008

Now Available from Rifftrax…

…Cloverfield

 

Mike is joined once again by Kevin and Bill.

Order it here. See a free sample here. Buy the movie here.

That should cover it.


April 21st, 2008

Footage of Trace Working on “Triptosane”

Our buddy Michael DiCerto has posted some outtakes of Trace at work on his movie “Triptosane.”

Part 1:

Part 2: