Release Date: June 26th, 2013
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"I'm trading in my Ambien for Blinka therapy" – Bill
This cheap Italian cheese stars Anita Ekberg as a model, Countess, and potential vampire Queen. Poor, poor Anita - oh to see her in such a state. At least I'll always have La Dolce Vita to remember her by. For the most part, the riffing here is blah, riddled with juvenile sex jokes and limp jibes that land with an audible thud. Is it a complete horror? No, popping up in this fallow land is a couple of cute references (Count Floyd, Jack Torrance), a line about brief marriages being the happiest, and quips on "the ignorant"... but these high marks are few and far between.
Release Date: June 22, 2007
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy
”Why it’s as if an invisible hottie has deployed a force field” – Mike
Fantastic Four is a hopelessly hacked-up comic book movie (many scenes that would have smoothed out the narrative and developed character, were left on the cutting room floor) and it would seem tailor-made for a great riffing. It isn’t, as this is merely good and rarely achieves outright hilarity.
Much of the riffing is uninspired; a lot of it consists of flat callbacks to the dialog that overstates the obvious. The guys obsess on The Thing and Mr. Fantastic’s genitalia, and fall back on name-calling in regards to Johnny Storm: As a douchbag, tool, or other insults in that vein. (The reliance on these simple slams, reminds me of a segment in MST3K’s “Castle of Fu Manchu”, in which Dr. F and Frank attempt to riff on the film as well. Their lame comments are of the, “Look at those shoes, what stupid... uh shoes”, variety) While insults can be funny when done right, most of the ones heard in F4 are just basic grade school put downs, and relying so heavily on them reeks of either desperation or laziness.
When they put a little thought behind their words, they prove that they still have the magic touch. One nice example with the Torch is when Mike dumps the insults for a moment and stretches that clever noggin with a quip germane to Johnny’s powers... “Now I can protest the Viet Nam war again and again!” Another funny bit zips into the comic book world when Ben’s wife drops her wedding band… ”It’s over, I’m already dating the Green Lantern”. And I like the observational line about Doom’s humanitarian award looking like an iron Satan mask. So yes, like most trax there is some good stuff (Was that a Prince of Space callback with the “Bullets are useless against me” bit?) but it’s the exception, not the rule and for me, dropping the ball on this golden opportunity is a disappointment. Fair to bellow average Trax.
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"You need to relax or I swear to God I will visit you with galaxies of pain little man!" – Bill as Sue Storm to Mr. Fantastic
The crew’s second stab at the Fantastic Four is on par with the first one.... well, maybe it’s a tad better but only by a hair. As with the first, the Terrific Trio does the “Johnny as Douche bag” and “Fanboys slobbering over Jessica Alba” bit (both fall flat). Mocking the F4s powers and our riffers coming up with strangely named superheroes were better met but as a rule, none of this made me howl. Oh and guys, please drop the Horatio Sanz fat jokes. It was worth a whisper of a smile the first time you used it, but it never was that funny and it has now become a desperate and tired joke.
While there were many lows (The Alba vs Biel running gag – the recent sexual innuendo trend ”She can Joint Chief my staff...”) as with most Trax, there are peaks. I enjoyed the material that zoned in on the Silver Surfer, his wife, etc. Mike shoots off a clever line about Kathy Bates and Kevin gets in a cute quip about a giant praying Mantis. And while I didn’t mind this movie that much, it is greatly flawed and I loved how Mike’s comments would sometimes mirror my own concerns with the flick's logic (Johnny’s powers in the final fight) and its habit of slipping in comedic interludes during dramatic sequences.
#23 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: August 6, 2009
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Nobody here is undercover or hell-bent for revenge, right?" - Mike
I hate this franchise; I hate the smarmy acting and I hate the script's swaggering self-important hip vibe it shovels up in loads. I fart in this movie's general direction and nothing makes me happier than to hear Mike, Kevin and Bill do the same. The trio is relentless and I love them all the more for that, it's irreverent and a bit subversive (even a murder doesn't dampen their enthusiastic riffing)
The 'trax is a solid one, rife with one big laugh after another -"This looks like the Jim Jarmusch version of Speed Racer" - Kevin. Bill takes a shot at Vin that referenced the Pacifier that had me doubled over and Mr. Nelson makes a classic observation using the real deal, Steve McQueen to drive home a point. It’s a good mix of funny put-downs, clever references, and just general silliness... "Who can shift gears the fastest and the most furiously?" - Bill. There's a nice running gag on misheard dialog too.
Release Date: June 13th, 2013
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"What is that accent? Canadian Chekov?" – Kevin
With a title that you would expect a slam dunk, but the work on this track is lacking any real vigor. The movie is a not very fun, low-budget affair that somehow managed to wrangle a couple of award-winning actors in its cast (Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer). Chris Lemmon is the primary star; he aids the title character in thwarting a shady group's plan to orchestrate a war between the U.S. and Russia. As to the riffing - it settles in on the same targets: They make fun of the Firehead name and his similarity with a certain X-Man hero. And they hit Lemmon hard, and I thought that got to be a bit much (yeah I know he is not the actor his father was, but they act like he's on par with the solar panel guy from "Birdemic", and that's just not the case). Aside from a quip about Walter Matthau's daughter, these quips are not all that funny. I did receive a few chortles from them teasing a loud little girl, and I liked the 'Firehead as Arnold' impressions, "Get to the Chopp... plane!" But mostly the work is flat, repetitive, and not all that clever. C level - average trax
Release Date: December 8, 2006
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy
“He seems to be the idiot savant of self-incrimination” - Mike
I never knew that Harrison Ford was so funny. But in Mike and Kevin's hands, he's a treasure trove of laughter. The best part of this computer/robbery actioner are all the riffs inspired by the actor. His age, his haircut, the way he slips into past roles (Especially the one where he spouts, "Get off my plane!"). The way his head is full of change and how he always looks too darned exhausted to act... "I'll just sit here looking wrinkled and grumpy" - Mike. All of this is a gas; and I haven't mentioned Ford's wonderful, "Daily Affirmation"!
Aside from Harrison, we are gifted with a couple of cute Alan Arkin imitations and several Terminator jokes at Robert Patrick's expense. The two also take notice of all the foreshadowing early on. Also, Mike makes more personal confessions: About his boss at Taco Johns as well as how the movie ruined his long-planned "Flintstone" inspired screenplay. Funny stuff.
Release Date: April 11th, 2014
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"I see your point, but need I remind you that I'm Bruce 'bleeping' Lee!" - Kevin
I was and am a huge Bruce Lee fanatic, so I was excited to see what our riffers had in store for the master. It starts off a bit on the slow side, and they do throw out a few old gags that have lost their luster (the "that’s how he/she/I looked when I did 'such and such a thing.'" They also do the 'title repeat' bit during quiet scenes). Thankfully it gains momentum as it goes. The riffs were particularly strong during the scene when the Japanese students attack the Chinese School. It also finishes up with a bang... getting big laughs from that final fight. Which was indeed, "SeppuCOOL!" (Bill)
Bruce was known for broad emotional swings and big expressions, and of course, the signature cat-like howl (which I loved)-- the guys have fun with this, but they also note how freaking cool he was (like the way he’d punch a guy without looking at them). So overall I was happy with the effort.
Release Date: March 30th, 2012
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"This just became Quentin Tarantino's favorite film" – Kevin as guy hauls out a machine gun.
From the mind of Jerry Warren -the man who brought us Wild World of Batwoman- comes another bit of random images –like the ghostly head of John Carradine, who pops in every now and again to speak about ‘the power’. The film is more a slog than Batwoman and the riffing weaker -- it was a real slow starter, picked up a bit in its final half-hour. But all told I didn't have much fun with this one.
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Fun in Balloon Land
#8 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: October 30th, 2014
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"There have been parades in Skokie, Illinois that were less objectionable than this one." -
This offering is completely mad and non-stop hilarious. There's not much story here, it's not really a movie at all. It's comprised mostly of footage of a parade. And while that might seem tedious, MK&B keep it lively (with more than a little help from the narrator: who slurs her lines and uses the word "gay" to describe most everything). While a lot of the riffing has the guys teasing the inanity of it all (and that's a hoot). There are clever darts - the best referencing NFL owner Daniel Snyder and the NIN song, "Closer". Also, the name game at the end was inspired silliness, I was out of breath from laughing so hard. FiBL is 54 minutes of pure bliss!
Future Force
#9 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: July 27th, 2012
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"He must have his laser glove on 'broad side of a barn' setting" - Bill
This is another I've long wanted to see riffed on. It has David Carradine playing a crotch-punching cop, who keeps a mechanical robo-glove in the trunk of his car. Sounds fun - unfortunately, the movie spends more time on driving scenes than crotch punching. Which is not fun, unless you got Mike, Kevin, and Bill around. While the guys throw out the expected David Carradine death jokes, they do branch out - zero in on this stupid movie and rip all this silliness smartly. While the first 20 minutes were good ("My keyboards not old, it's just steampunk" – Kevin), the final 60 is inspired. They really nailed it down the stretch.
#22 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: October 11th, 2012
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"I wonder if this doohickey has a mini-bar?" – Mike as John Tucker, contemplating robo-glove
The sequel to Future Force does not disappoint and is equally as silly and hilarious. In Zone, we find our protagonist -John Tucker- settled into a state of wedded bliss, and reluctantly partnered with a young time traveler. The film attempts to mix some light comedy with its bloodshed, but the guys actually do a great job making good comedy out of bad. MK&B sound full of beans here, as if the overriding ineptitude of the movie tickled them to no end. Some of the riffs are snarky (ala the Carradine death quips)- but the delivery is quick and energetic, which helps turn this into one of their funner releases. As with Force, Zone is another winning trax – I laughed steady from start to hilarious finish (as when the guys ponder the idea of a special weapon that could be used to help our hero out of a jam at the end... but what could that weapon be?)
