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RiffTrax Live: What Did You Think?Well, the big surprise, I guess, was the appearance by our pal Rupert Munch, the guy who is making the “Manos” sequel, as Torgo, and his music video at the end.
My theater was about 3/4 full and they seemed to really enjoy it. The shorts really warmed folks up nicely. Norman and his catchphrase will immediately enter the lexicon. There were a couple of points, where I heard, in my head, the MST3K riff, but for the most part I completely forgot about them. I really appreciated the moments where they just let the movie be the movie, and didn’t feel the need to say anything. What did you think? UPDATE: Chris Griffy of Examiner.com liked it. 173 Replies to “RiffTrax Live: What Did You Think?”Commenting at Satellite News
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first rifftrax live for me and the Concord Mills AMC was 90% full, which suprised me until I remembered “these guys are awesome”. Hadn’t seen Manos in a year. With Mike and Kevin having already done it once, I was more interested in seeing Bill make it his own with his riffs and he did not dissapoint.
I realized something as well, seeing all those people in theaters and having this live riff across the nation. Kevin’s talk (way back when filming MST3k: THe Movie) about doing a movie in theaters a year has come true. Not in the form or format he thought it would, but with Manos and upcoming Birdemic, we are getting a MST style movie in movie theaters. Kevin got his wish as did we all. See, good things do come to those who wait. Patience, Norman.
White Trash Twilight was my personal highlight, I love how committed him and mike got in that bit and watching Kevin cracking while it was going on was worth the price of admission. Torgo really plays better on the big screen and with nothing cut out I am more confused as to what all was going on than when they did it in Season 4, but I enjoyed it a lot better than I did season 4’s treatment.
Welcome Back, Norman- is more than likely the most searched thing on google today and trending as we speak. WHat the hell kind of Welcome Back Kotter message were they going for? No matter how bad your life seems kids, you could be Norman? An anti- suicide short? The Hell!?!?!?
Cynlinders was just fantastic and Kevin stole it at the end with the kite robot freaking out. It was like having Servo back for a moment as that was pure Tommy coming through Kev’s mighty voice
The Prune Commercial was that perfect blend of creepy, nauseating, and downright train wrecky in that I couldn’t look away. Ugh!
And Manos actually made me want to watch Manos again, go RIFFTRAX!! HEre’s to BIRDEMIC IN OCTOBER!!
The theater in Olathe, KS was about 90% full, and totally into it. Which was a big change from Jack the Giant Killer (75% full, but only a few of us really laughing).
I think Welcome Back Norman was trying to tell you to NOT leave your car at the airport. Get someone to drop you off & pick you up, instead. Or better, don’t fly. Life is a black pit. Trying to crawl out of it will only lead to pain & suffering.
Or maybe it was just ‘keep your parking ticket handy’.
Well, you know: “Manos” . . .
I’ve attended all of the live RiffTrax events except for “Reefer Madness,” and am pleased to say that this was my favorite. All the kinks of previous shows seem to have been ironed out and for the most part, everything flowed really well. Two bizarre, hilarious shorts, a few quick asides, and then into the movie — everything was nicely streamlined.
The pizza bit was cute, and conjured up some nostalgia for the MST3K version without going overboard. (Though when the Master showed up, the skit kinda petered out.)
My one gripe is with that “Take It Easy” music video. Like the Christmas Shorts-travaganza live event, this one ended with something uncomfortably unfunny and ultimately gross. In our theater, people shuffled in their seats, enduring four verses of that one-joke song. It might’ve been bearable if not for the “Manos II” scenes at the end, especially that last unsettling shot of a creepy zombie woman. That was jarring and frankly an unpleasant way to cap off such a genial evening. And like the Christmas shorts Kevin-makes-everyone-barf video, it left the audience a little stunned and confused, so we left the theater with this “Huh?” feeling instead of back-slapping and chuckles and high fives.
Still, all in all, a terrific live event, and one I can’t wait to purchase on DVD.
Went to the Regal Kansas City 18 showing at Ameristar Casino. Most I’ve EVER laughed in a theater. More than MST3K The Movie. And not because I had smoked a joint either. Pretty much from the time “When a Man Loves a Shark” started for the second time during the trivia (When more people started filing into the theater)…all the way till the last riff. Not so much the song or the trivia by themselves…but together they were almost TOO funny.
Kansas City, MO theater comfortably full (more so than Jack and the Giant Killer) but they didn’t turn on the pre-show! What a drag. That said, I really enjoyed the shorts and it’s great to have a glimpse of the riffers from time to time (couldn’t they do that for the VOD titles?). Like many I was anticipating some of the old riffs as Manos began but after a few minutes it all fell into place. For a while, I was more of a fan of the Cinematic Titanic movies but in the past few months with the almost weekly VOD titles, I think RiffTrax is pulling ahead. The more you riff, the better you riff. Oh, and rot in hell Cinemark Palace for not bothering to turn on the pre-show while we all sat there like idiots.
Well i’m glad I didnt go to Cinemark and drove all the way out to Ameristar. ;)
Anyways…I gotta say. I felt really bad for Torgo in a couple of scenes. I always thought people made too much out of the John Reynolds addiction rumors coupled with the way he looks in some scenes. But in this print it was very clear to me that he was nodding out in a couple of scenes and NOT acting. Was Hal Warren paying him in bags of heroin? Sheesh, that man needed help ASAP.
Wait, did Mike not attempt even ONE Torgo impression the entire time? I figured that was a given.
Theater in Cincinnati was about 3/4 full and the energy was out of this world. I geeked out (obviously) when the camera panned over the crowd to the stage at the Belcort and my memories from being there in the 4th row at the Plan 9 from Outer Space show in 2009 washed over me. I longed to be there for Manos but at least I was seeing it here at home. Much like everyone else the white trash Twilight segment had me crying! Already gearing up for the not to distant future, Oct 2012 A.D.!!!!
Googling Welcome Back Norman, one site describes it as his “second misadventure,” so maybe Rifftrax will give us more of Norman’s despair in the future. And, as I think someone else mentioned, it apparently started as a short shown on Showtime, for some reason.
Kalamazoo 10 in Michigan was about 2/3 full as well. Great to see these live shows gaining momentum! What a fantastic time. They really have these down to a science now.
I was at the Thornton Place Regal Cinemas at Northgate in Seattle. Theater 4 was filled to capacity and a great time was had by all. I am looking forward to seeing Birdemic in October.
@Creeping Terror #83: Too bad about the turnout in Provo. We went to the Orem showing at the University Mall and it was about 3/4 full here. Great crowd too!
That was an amazing show! The Lynnwood, WA theatre was the most full I’ve ever seen it, almost a sellout. My wife, who graciously puts up with my Riffadiction, figured that the Welcome Back, Norman short was from a cab company, which makes a lot of sense, which is good since the short didn’t! Excellent riffs on Manos…that Twilight White Trash had me laughing so hard, they better put it out on DVD, so can hear the riffs I missed! Birdemic, here we come!
I spent the night in my house because I don’t live in the glorious US of A, watching Yongary: Monster from the Deep. But I’m glad to hear that the show was great. A shame that there was no Mike as Torgo.
Roseville, MN. Sold out show. Great crowd. I was worried there would be loud/annoying MST reciters as others had to endure, but the crowd was awesome. I’d give out my favorite lines, but they’d just be reiterating what everyone else has already listed.
One big question though… I missed the Catherine the Great joke. The audience roared with laughter and I thought “oh shoot, what did I miss?” Can someone please restate the joke/context? I need to know what I missed!
Thanks,
SBV
PS Might need to make a trip to Nashville in October!
My theater was in Lowell, MA. Really awesome job they did. :) I love Torogo’s music video with “Take It Easy”. XD
Superbobvila: paraphrasing a bit…as the kid was cutting out the (well-endowed) paper horse, Mike says “now cut out a paper Catherine the Great to place under the horse.”
75% full in Emeryville, CA. The audience was rowdy & overly-geeky during the “trivia”, and I was concerned that we’d be treated to an abundance of amateur riffers. Fortunately that wasn’t the case, and it was awesome and uproarious and wonderful. My girlfriend’s first Rifftrax exposure and she wants to come back for more.
The Norman saga appears to be a trilogy. And according to the Phoenix Learning Group, the original is considered a “comedy classic.” Norman’s catchphrase, all together now: *sigh* *groooooooaaaaaaaaannnnnnn*
http://www.phoenixlearninggroup.com/Search/?q=norman&cx=009361085565890867831:joxumxwkfvo&cof=FORID:11
@118: Oh god. Please bring back Norman for Birdemic!
Description of Norman Gives a Speech:
Norman’s back. And this time he’s got a deadline to keep! Anyone who’s ever had to prepare and deliver a major presentation in a short period of time will find this an identifiable and entertaining guide for what not to do! With effortless ability, Norman Krasner turns common misfortune into near-disaster.
It’s like they’re presenting him as Mr. Bean!
Wow, the “Welcome Home, Norman” short on that website is much more (ridiculously) expensive than the first two. I wonder if that had anything to do with our little event last night. Hmm.
Enjoyed it enough that I’m glad I went.
Went to the Denver Pavilion 15 – I’d say about 50% full when it started with a surprising amount of people coming in after “Manos” had already started. If I make it to “Birdemic” though I’m going to have to find another theater. Same douchebag and his friend who showed up at “Jack the Giant Killer” shouting his own “jokes” was there…only this time he was shouting the riffs from the MST3k version.
The shorts they chose for this I’m guessing were (as one person has said) because “At Your Fingertips” connects with “Hands of Fate” and the “Norman” short was a guy traveling and having car issues as the family was in the movie when they weren’t tripping over their own feet. That having been said, this is the first live show without a downloadable short in the “Goodies” – seemingly they would choose the one that they thought had the least chance of selling individually to give away. There were some good laughs between the two of these but I don’t think either were much to brag about. The two of them put together aren’t worth a “Magical Disappearing Money”.
Cool to see not only the whole movie (as far as I know no DVD available yet that has those opening shots of El Paso and some versions start right at Debbie complaining that she’s hungry.) but to see it on the big screen where it REALLY hits you how freaking incompetent the whole thing is was kind of a treat for us lovers of bad movies. In fact, I kept noticing things at the edges suddenly being pulled out of frame – one looked like a checkered flag – at the start of some scenes that I’ve never seen before. Have to get out my MST3K copy and see if they were in that edit, too.
Some of the silences during the movie cried out, “There’s nothing left to say.” When they went for the more modern references (ex: Toddlers and Tiaras) it worked. But no feeling of “See, the line I had back at Best Brains that got voted down DID work better here after all”
Other than that:
– The Prune commercial being so grainy when they put it up full screen for us….I thought, “Ah, it’s an old multi-generation copy they probably got off of YouTube”. But then they show the Nashville theater and the picture they had was very sharp. WTF?
– If the stars of your show are going to stand under the logo center stage at the beginning and at the end of your show, TURN ON THE FREAKING LIGHTS!
– If you’re going to have actors in costume doing a skit for your show, STOP STEPPING ON THEIR LINES, MIKE!
– If you’re going to luck into a cameo appearance by Tom Reynolds today giving his best “Master” stare into the camera, why put it at the very end of the show credits when most of the people have already left the theater?
I’m going to spend the rest of my MSTie time on earth saying that this live show was superior to the original Manos riffing, if only to tease the hardcore MSTies who built the original into an untouchable classic.
My favorite riff was, “80s mom. 50s mom.” Something about the haircuts sold the riff. The Norman short was the highlight of the show, though. I hope they find more. Got to see who else he pats his crotch in front of. (That kind of gag seemed to be the theme of the night, by the way.)
It was interesting seeing the movie on the big screen. I could see every moth, and Warren really did find the worst places to film. I was also a little shocked by the violence against the first wife. It seemed pretty violent, even if they just smeared the left side of her face with red makeup.
I’m going to buy Manos 2 when it comes out. Heck, I own a DVD of Hobgoblins 2.
Yeah, there were a couple of times when I had the MST riff in my head, mostly towards the beginning of the movie and then of course when “DO SOMETHING! GOD!” usually shows up. Once the guys got going, though, it was easy for me to put the rest out of my mind. I laughed harder than I did at the MST episode, but that’s probably more a consequence of having seen it so many times as well as not getting some of the now-obscure references.
I’ll be honest, when they said they were welcoming back an old friend, my heart skipped a beat. I thought they were going to show “Hired!”. The prunes fell a little flat for me, but the other two shorts were fantastic and the guys were in top form and I think the astounding lack of action in both made them a perfect warm-up for “Manos”.
was about 75% full at the canton Cinemas in canton Mi, (FYI to other detroiters their price is $10.50) the fullest for any rifftrax live event i have seen there (when compared to house on haunted hill, reefer madness and jack the giant killer) Crowd is always generally well behaved at this theater, but even more so this time, no one muttering lines- not even really annoying laugh at everything types. I blurted out a hearty “solr poer” during the birdemic slide but the lights were up.
I didn’t realize how awful manos really is, first time seeing it uncut. the mst3k edit of the movie is actually much more coherent. Still a great rifftrax, and i Enjoyed it- I wish the print was a little cleaner… but eh- no worries. shorts were great, and that prune guy- CREEPY ! ;)
Last night was great. I agree that the shorts almost stole the whole show. The prune juice commercial, and all the shorts for that matter, really help to smack sense into anyone still nostalgic for the 70s.
I found myself constantly recalling the classic riffs from the MST episode. I even hoped they would sing along with the Row Row Row Your Boad scene, complete with dog-voice.
Apparently, the Edwards Marq*E Stadium 23 & IMAX in Houston, TX has no idea how to handle these Fathom Events as the show started at the same low volume level as the pre-show slides and Riffones music for five minutes. It took just as long for them to lower the lights. When it was over, the lights never came back up. I guess it wasn’t automated.
Other than that, it was great.
Went with two friends who had seen the MST version of Manos but didn’t have it almost completely memorized like I do. The theater in Center Valley, PA was pretty much full and everyone loved it. I liked the shorts a lot better than the re-riffing of Manos (not that the re-riff was bad, I just couldn’t separate it from the original in my head) but my friends were absolutely howling at it. The canister short was hilarious and Welcome Back Norman left everyone scratching their heads. What the hell was THAT about? Oh, and the prune juice commercial pretty much gagged everyone in the theater. Can’t wait for this on DVD and Birdemic in October!
@124: I honestly couldn’t believe that an MST3K edit made more sense than the original version.
And I was amazed that there was no Mike Torgo impressions. Kevin did, though.
@6: Showtime Shorts came from the cable premium channel of the same name. They were fillers between the R-rated movies.
I have one in my collection called “Gravity,” a take-off of a 50s instructional film! It stars Mitzi McCall and the little girl from “Airplane!” (“I like my coffee the way like my men….”). What a great short!
We had a half-filled theatre in St. Louis (we had storms in the area!), but everyone enjoyed “Manos 1.2”
San Diego was almost sold out (down to the first row) and oddly enough, the crowed was not a young hip a-go-go type crowd, but generally well over 35.
A few kids, coming with their families, the next generation of Mistiees, but for a Thursday night, it was an older audience.
Good energy, which, I am afraid to say, seemed higher than on stage.
It was a good show, I am not saying that. But it seemed a little more sedate than the other Live shows I have gone to.
The shorts were great and I’d love to know how much was paid to produce the “educational” short on “Cylinders.” It explains the 70s SO much.
Favorite line, when “Debbie” goes missing and dad goes to look for her; “Not exactly Liam Neeson in Taken, is it?”
Saw it at the Regal Sandhill in Columbia, SC. About 80% packed or so, everyone had a blast. “It’s a planetarium!” “Is it?” brought down the house, probably the biggest reaction of the night.
Favorite Joke Slide,
In the next Die Hard movie, Samuel Jackson must save Bruce Willis who is forced to wear a sandwich board
to Comic-con saying “I think Firefly is over rated.”
Got the biggest response.
Please oh please say there will be a DVD…
Anyone in Nashville actually SEE cameras recording this once in a lifetime MSTIE-MOMENT??
BuckDat” Bobo Briggs – Then we were just INCHES from each other and didn’t even know it! Spooky.
Okay, something has been bothering me about the Manos 2 footage they showed. One of the last things we saw was an older gentleman waving the Manos staff. Something about him got be believing that it was Tom Neyman, the original Master. IMDB says he would be 77 years old and that guy looked pretty close.
Can anyone illucidate?
millej89 says:
August 17, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Please oh please say there will be a DVD…
Anyone in Nashville actually SEE cameras recording this once in a lifetime MSTIE-MOMENT??
… You do realize we all saw this as part of a broadcast, right?
;-)
GizmonicTemp..It is him! And his daughter Jackie Neyman “Little Debbie” are in it in some capacity. Hal Warren’s boy is playing Michael and the original Sheriff’s son is playing the sheriff. Can’t wait to see it.
seanchristopher – Cool! Thanks! I feel kind of dumb that I’m not quite as informed about the sequel as I’d like to be, but you have made me less dumb! Well, more informed, but not less dumb.
Forgot to mention, Maggie (Diane Mahree) is the zombie looking old lady in the video also.
I forgot about the announcement of Birdemic as the next movie. As much as I love/hate Birdemic and enjoy Rifftrax’s take on it, I fear I’ll have to go to a different theater to watch it. This was my first Rifftrax Live since moving to the Houston area (I saw it at the Cinemark 18 in Webster, TX), and as stated in my previous comments, there were enough idiots in the crowd to make the 45-60 minute drive to another theater worth it. It was a big change from the respectful (if smaller) audiences at the Regal 10 in Brunswick, ME I’m used to. I’m worried that Birdemic’s “modern classic bad movie” cult status and popularity with Rifftrax fans will attract even more wannabe riffers than Manos did.
seanchristopher 137 – Thanks again! On a side note, I always thought Diane was a very attractive woman in Manos. I don’t recall the exact Manos 2 scene that showed her (mostly because my eyes were teared up from laughing so much) but it will be interesting to see how she’s aged.
All my grousing about the audience aside, Manos was one of the smoothest live shows they’ve done. I’ve seen all of them except Jack the Giant Killer (haven’t gotten around to buying the DVD, either), and the performances have gotten tighter with every show. The first one (Plan 9) was easily the worst show overall, with the ill-prepared, humorless host and unnecessary filler from internet personalities Lowtax and Jonathan Coulton. The riffing was excellent, but the show suffered from excessive nerd/web culture pandering (I know that’s a big part of Rifftrax’s audience, but still) that distracted from the one thing we were all there for, the riffing. I’m glad they’ve dispensed with the guest riffers (I love Weird Al and Paul F. Tompkins, but they didn’t add anything to their respective appearances at the Christmas and House on Haunted Hill shows). (The worst show from a riff perspective was House on Haunted Hill, mostly because there was nothing memorable about it. Seriously, I forgot I was even there until I remembered the Tompkins appearance during one of the shorts.)
Unlike a lot of commenters here, I didn’t care for the sketch with the guys from Manos II. The writing was clunky, the execution was awkward, and all it served to do was promote Manos II and rehash a gag the Brains perfected back in 1992. But it was mercifully brief and all but forgotten once the movie started. I felt the same way about the video at the end, it didn’t get interesting until they started showing clips from Manos II during the last verse. I thought it was weird that a Plan 9 reference (the cop adjusting his hat with the barrel of his gun) was so prominently featured, though. I guess the filmmakers are going for a grab-bag of bad movie references vibe.
I missed a large chunk of the movie (from right after Torgo brought their bags in until the middle of the scene where the Master told Torgo he must die) thanks to a storm rolling over Louisville, KY and knocking out the satellite feed. The theater gave us raincheck tickets for seeing another movie later, but I am extremely disappointed I didn’t get to see the entire show! I really hope RiffTrax does a DVD release of this later or something.
My theater had 30 or so people. I didn’t miss thing in Cincinnati, Ohio. I wish they gave one short with the digital goodies downloads this time. I mean they have always before. Why stop now?
Just came across this completely by accident on Cracked.com:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20010_the-7-most-unintentionally-hilarious-movies-decade.html
Written by Mike, Kevin and Bill!
Florence, Kentucky was about half+ full. First Rifftrax event drew 8 people… then the next two dozen… and each time growing. Great mood too. People clapped after each short and feature.
Biggest laugh: “I miss Michael Vick.”
Biggest cheer: When Birdemic was announced. A lot of people had not heard about the next live event.
Sucks I missed it but I will be at Birdemic in October. Tried to get tickets for Nashville and was told they sold out in 1 hour. The Master will not be pleased!
watched in Rockaway NJ (LOVED THE NJ JOKE…) theater was over 3/4 full and full of great fans. it was great to see Mike,Kevin and Bill. We were loving the Jack the Giant Killer and were upset when they cut that off. The slides were good fortunatly.. Next time we’ll expect that.
It was hard to keep the MST3K riffs out of my head but the new ones were good too. Can’t wait to go back on 10/25
Really miss MST3K on tv – why can’t it rerun???
Later MSTie’s
AMC Barrett Commons in Kennesaw, Georgia almost full, very few empty seats. I wore a white scarf like Maggie, wondered that the Riffers didn’t mention the fact that Maggie had the scarf on in a scene and camera cuts, then she doesn’t have it on. That happened several times.
My husband wore his Torgo hat but one of our MST3K meetup group actually came dressed as Torgo, minus the big knees.
Riff about the cylinders when the kid made a totum pole, “That will go will your cardboard casino”. That was particularly funny as we’d just taken a picture of a totum pole outside a casino while in Washington state a few weeks ago.
I’ve never had a bad Rifftrax Live experience, and this continued there winning streak. Can’t wait for Birdemic! :-D
P.S. LOVED Texas Twilight!
#95: I was also at the Hollywood 14 in Topeka.
Riffing aside, am I the only one who didn’t find the Norman short particularly funny? When a character serves as the universe’s chew toy, I’m supposed to laugh at his predicaments, not feel sorry for him. Mr. Bean was funny because his humiliation and awkwardness were balanced out with his wacky, childish antics. Norman just looked like he needed a hug.
I just about lost it at the end of the second short, when the boy was flying his dorky robot-kite around. Not to mention the girl with the flashlight planetarium thingy: “I MADE YOU SOMETHING!”
All in all, it was a well-done show, and I’m glad Mike, Kevin and Bill didn’t fall back on any of the jokes from the MST3K version. Didn’t care for the stuff at the end, though–the “Take It Easy” parody fell flat when it started using too many of the original lyrics.