Release Date: October 9th, 2011
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Wait a second, this script is terrible!" – Kevin as Ernest Borgnine
This is a sad, low-budget Brandon Lee action flick with delusions of comedy. The real humor though comes not from the movie but from our riffers. The quipping is a goof-fest and seriously perks up whenever Ernest Borgnine enters a scene. The guys have some fun with the title (what is a laser mission anyway?) the theme song and the confuse-o-vision action scenes -- the remedial Spanish and, well, this whole dumb movie is one long riff just waiting to happen. The material is primarily light and fun – Kevin gets off 2 silly lines that exemplify this: When he gives the answer to what Rice said before he died, and the retort about playing Helter Skelter with your feet.
Release Date: November 16th, 2010
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Run! M. Night's making his cameo back there!" - Kevin
A film with a lot of explaining in it, which prompts our riffers to say, "sounds good, too bad they didn’t show that", and that sums up the problem with the film in a nutshell. (Still, while bad, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen - and the "Happening" remains Night's most laughably crappy film).
Riffwise – okay folks, this is where y'all get to call me a curmudgeon because sadly, as much as I enjoyed the previous M. Night trax, this one tilts on the weak side of things - it often felt like a halfhearted effort, what with all the stock jokes they toss in there. Instead of engaging the film with pinpoint darts, they give us filler in the manner of lazy callbacks, and cheap and predictable gay, trans, fart and poop jokes -"YAWN".
To be fair, there were goodies (as when it's pointed out that BP is using witchcraft to clean up the ocean - or when one character's destiny involves sacrificing her life for a goldfish), hey, it's not like I don't appreciate the laughs when I get 'em. Unfortunately, this release is weighed down by an abundance of m'eh.
Release Date: January 28, 2009
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Yeah the Teeners really love football shaped plants..." - Bill
Rifftrax does another do-over from the Legend era with results running a little less successful than the do-over for Reefer Madness. There are too many moments where my laughter was non-existent, but there are also a few quick observational quips that kept it afloat. The film itself annoys me. Bill says it best when he calls it "half-baked shtick" and it's that kind of humor that makes this movie a difficult one to sit through. "Does everyone in this film have a "who's on first" routine?" cries Kevin, and it certainly seems like that's Corman's comedic recipe.
Overall this was a middle area riffing, with one disappointment. No one noticed that Digger Smolken from MST3Ks "The Undead" and Mr. Mushnik were one in the same? (or if they did then it's too bad that we didn't get a callback riff).
Release Date: November 21, 2006
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy
"Hobbits are essentially teenagers with huge feet" – Mike
The group at MST3K was astronomically good at teasing films with narration (Monster A-Go Go, Creeping Terror, Attack USA) and that tradition is alive and well with Rifftrax. The first 7 minutes where Mike and Kevin smart off to the voice-over, is drop-dead uproarious. This was the perfect way to start off what would be a long and winding road.
Fellowship is lengthy and there are moments where it defeats the duo (That first half-hour drags, with what amounts to endless scenes where Hobbits converse ad naseum on the Ring) But overall the two do well with their subject. The observational humor and quick-witted punch line-like responses to the dialog are a joy. I dig this style of riffwork. It’s similar to what they did on "The Painted Hills" – Since the film isn't the worst or cheesiest (like a Manos, or Crossroads), they can't go into "attack" mode, so the jokes are mostly comprised of clever voice-overs -"I said big one, not the obscene one", quips Kevin when a couple of Hobbits steal a firework
There are also some great pop culture references. Mike gets in a brilliant Robin Williams imitation and his "Fellowship Starting Line-up" -Magneto, Baby Face... was a gas. While Murphy uses Myspace, TVs "Lost" and the football flick "Rudy" for laughs. The Hobbits make for wonderful targets of humor -Frodo flunked Canoeing-, and we even are given a great Mothra imitation. Mike and Kevin seem to be having a blast poking fun at a movie they both like - and "fun" describes this project as a whole.
Release Date: May 23, 2008
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"That's it boy's, kick him right in the precious!" – Kevin
I know it’s hailed as a classic, but for me, this film was a chore to sit through. I just couldn't take all the slow-motion and heavy, overwrought dialog ("Free verse is tiring" – Mike). It took me 3 days to get through it and I felt the sting of every labored, slow-moving minute. It wasn't until the end when the movie actually started to move that I was able to just sit back and enjoy the riffing without pause.
Despite it taking me a while to get through it, there are big laughs to be had. The reference material they used was stunning in its brilliance. From Bill noting Frodo’s emo-like attitude and actions ("Man, your harder to travel with than that diving bell butterfly guy") to the scene where the King is prevented from killing a foe and Mike observes that when Spiderman let a bad guy go, it all worked out fine (so there obviously will be no repercussion’s here. LMAO). Hildalgo, Little Mermaid, and Steve Bartman/Cubs all provided ample laughs. As do scenes where they mock the script (Mike’s “Bloody Ink” poem) and skew the situations on screen (Bill saying, “He does need to work on his dismount” as a child falls exhausted from a horse).
I felt the riffing got even stronger down the stretch - or maybe it was because the movie stopped boring me to tears. Whatever the cause, I laughed like mad and finally got to enjoy this Trax in full. The biggest guffaw for me was during the emotional, slow death of an Elf. I don’t know if it was the incongruity of the statement in light of what was going on or the expression the character wore, but when Bill quips… "My God, I lived my whole life without making a single fudge stripe cookie” I about died. I laughed so hard I had to rewind the disc because I missed the riffs that came after. I know it’s an old joke, but it fit perfectly and Bill's delivery was spot on. So the movie taxed my precious patience to the breaking point, but I still found much to enjoy with the riffing.
Release Date: June 22, 2010
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Eat ghost, bitches!" - Bill
As with the previous entries in the Rings saga, this is a film that takes several years to complete – "Return of the King" simply refuses to end and I found it nigh impossible to get through the Rifftrax in one sitting, Comedy wise, King follows suit with the last flick, as each has its extreme highs and lows.
The riffing starts off nicely, then sinks with a few too many dumb quips (nipple hats? Eh, and you've already gone down that road during the "Goblet of Fire") and it roams along that path throughout –some beautiful roses nestled among a bed of thorns. The comedy works best when the guys lighten up the somber tone of the movie. Silly goodness includes Mike's Wayne Coyne impression, the Hobbits barbershop quartet, and upset Packer fans (still stinging over a loss to the Vikings). Or when Aragorn gives a rousing pre-battle speech to his outnumbered ‘men of the West'; to which Bill has a warrior ask... "I’m from back East, can I be excused?"
Release Date: March 30, 2007
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy
"You know, despite all the problems, the airline will still claim this as an on-time flight” – Kevin
Mike and Kevin are at their best when things are at their worst. Lost opens with a sad disaster - we see and hear people crying, screaming, bleeding; dead bodies strewn about... and all the while I'm laughing my ass off! The obvious jokes are mined. Gilligan's Island, as well as the roles we'd seen the actors in previously. But beyond this, the whole darn episode is simply good old-fashioned, silly, fun. The guy with the handful of pens, an enormously pregnant woman, and a gal who can't get the lyrics to a "Three Dog Night" tune figured out are just a few of the simple but sweet comedic moments. And it only gets better in the second part of the episode.
In this half, I was cheered by: The leering sequence, the "No, I found it" scene. Mike getting jazzed up over the DRAMATIC music and of course, the discovery that -Silent brooding wards off Pepsi drinking Polar bears". Though there are dry spells on both episodes, this was, for the most part, a goodie.
Christmas With Rifftrax: Magic Christmas Tree
Release Date: December 20th, 2011
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Look, I'm trying not to be creeped out but you keep making it difficult!" – Kevin as kid, to talking Tree, after it says something suggestive.
This time we celebrate Christmas at home (rather than live). As with last season’s event, there’s a funny gift exchange. Mike got a big laugh at one point, echoing a skit from MST3Ks "Soultaker". After this Bill shares bits of the Joe DiMaggio show" (Corbett's enthusiasm cracks me up). Next up a short, "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives", which leads us to the main event - a low budget horror about a grouchy magic tree, a bratty kid and a Halloween... witch?
It's fun to have Mike, Kevin, and Bill there as host, and while the opening bits had me chuckling - the riffing on the short was okay at best, and the feature took its time getting going. Once in a while, I'd get a guffaw out of it (as when the film Harold and Maude is referenced) but there are a few 'no longer funny' standbys (noting the incongruity of the title) and predictable fat jokes. Thankfully the work improves once the talking tree shows up. To sum it up: Christmas has a good start, a flabby midsection, and a strong finish.
Maniac
Release Date: November 25, 2009
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Hire the insane, for your next movie" – Mike
Baffling and bad – this chaotic slice of sick (made in 1934) starts off weird and ends up distressing. It’s difficult to give a proper synopsis because it’s such a scattershot mess. Though not their best work, Mike, Kevin, and Bill dispense some funny quips here and there. And yet this film -with its animal abuse and misogynistic bearing- is about the most unpleasant thing I've watched in a riff project since MST3Ks “Incredibly Strange Creatures”. It’s not that it is the most disturbing or graphic film, but tonally, as with Creatures, “Maniac” puts out an icky vibe. It’s the kind of movie that gives me a headache. It doesn’t happen to me a lot, but good jokes or not, this is one example where the movie murders my fun.
The Matrix
Release Date: October 25, 2006
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy
"The Matrix is a worn out barber chair. Kind of a let down I know” - Mike
Mike and Kevin slam the Matrix hard and if you’re a fan you might not enjoy hearing the duo proclaim this a stupid, stupid flick. But hey, it's all in fun and they do make some valid points while having a good time trying to figure out what exactly "The Matrix" is. Overall the riffing on this one is workman-like, solid; lots of laughs, though not their most relentlessly hysterical. They hammer away at the same points: Making funny Mormon quips aimed at the agents, various observations on the liquidy nature of the film and its visual style. Of course, the ever wooden Keanu is keelhauled as well.
This Trax also featured some riffing written by a fan, during a scene when Neo visits the Oracle. It’s some genuinely funny work and Trax should think about hiring a couple of home writers. Other treasures to be found include - Mike noticing that Johnny Cash, or Dieter, is on the attack (or at least someone dressed in black) - and his side-splitting imitation of Burgess Meredith's Mickey from Rocky. Kevin makes a funny reference to the comedy "Office Space", which made me howl with laughter, and Reeves band Dogstar is used for a chuckle or two as well.
Matrix Reloaded
#7 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
“Excuse me, my head plug’s itchy!” - Kevin
It's apparent from the start that the boys are in a playful mood. Silly ("No one wants a panic..." "Except for Joe, of Joe’s Panic Supplies" – Bill) and they often accompany another's quip with the sound of laughter. They are having a good time with this one and that mood is infectious, listening to this Trax made me feel good in kind.
The movie takes its well-deserved lumps (Bill has a nice rant about the premise flying away on a jet pack) and the mocking tone of the jokes acts as a nice juxtaposition to the film's self-importance (“A kid in a rented prom tux!” – Says Bill when Agent Smith shows up to confront Neo). The Agent Smith jokes are a riot overall, and the pop culture references are great… Sponge Bob, the Office Space bit, Nomi Malone (Ha, Ha, Ha!) David Cronenberg (his film "Crash") and as a Pixies fan I loved it when Kevin sang a little, "Where is my Mind".
Though the bloated film taxes my patience, this is a very light and fun entry in the Rifftrax series and the only real disappointments I experienced was that there was no Mod Squad joke (there’s a guy named Link/Linc), No Future War references (The lead in that film plays an agent here –He fights Morpheus atop the truck). Oh, and one other thing, if you don’t listen to the intro closely you won’t get all the references to bacon.
Matrix Revolutions
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"The only way to defeat the machines rests in the hands of... these... machines..." - Bill
A finale I cared so little about it took Rifftrax to get me to watch it. This bloated, pretentious malarkey was more than I could stand. Even with our mighty riffers holding my hand. Mike sums up my sentiments perfectly during a scene where a character tells Neo that "Karma is a word, like Love" and Nelson adds "...or Hogwash"
MK&B did a stunning job on Reloaded and while they don’t reach those uproarious levels, they do hit high marks often. My laughter took a dip midway but then it got back on track down the stretch (Though the unfunny "leaning on the poles" gag was grating) - all told it is about on par with what was done on the first Matrix film. Bill spotting Morgan Freeman in drag is an early example of something that got a big laugh out of me. Mike and Kevin’s tag team commentary on the ‘jumping on the ceiling’ scene was another. Callbacks to Moose Baby, Mike's impression of Rod Serling, and pretty much every quip that points out the ever-present nonsense found in this movie are a few examples of the treats to be had.
McBain
Release Date: January 25th, 2013
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"It's better than my last catchphrase, 'it's raining men'" - Kevin
First things first: Kevin and Mike each throw out an (unbleeped) F-Bomb -- GASP! They weren't just cussin' to cuss, it fit the scene. And while definitely odd to hear the word spring from their lips... it was funny. Second: I love that there is actually a movie titled "McBain", that's some kind of wonderful in itself (Now, if there had only been a character named Mendoza)
Christopher Walken stars as Bobby (yes that's his name) McBain, the leader of a rag-tag team of vets who lend their aid in a foreign revolution. The movie is loaded with stupid. From Walken shooting through the windshields of two aircraft (with no adverse effect to the plane he was in), to María Conchita Alonso looking rough and tumble in her freedom fighter sweat pants! Though the quipping doesn't reach Buffalo Rider or Twilight levels of great, it was steady. The guys tackle the flick nicely; there are cute references (loved mention of the Gorn Captain) and plenty of entertaining Walken impressions to go around.
Memento
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
“Now back to Total Recall” – Bill, as forgetful character watches TV
Memento is one of the better movies they've riffed on and that makes for a challenging ‘trax. Not for Mike, Bill, and Kevin but for the viewer. The convoluted story roped me in and I often found myself drifting away from the jokes and concentrating on the film.
A second viewing helped and even though this isn't one of their finest moments, it’s a decent trax. Bill delivers the most consistently funny lines, while Kevin earns the prize for his hilarious Columbus quip. The references were a lot of fun... a hidden Nina, Dr. Phil, the song Carrie Anne as well as Bruce McCullough (The 2nd one I've heard this week – Has someone been watching the “Kids in the Hall”?)
It was difficult to find a quote to post at the top of the page because most of the riffing plays off dialog from the movie. (Lenny: "I’m not a killer" – Kevin: "I’m a reincarnation initiator"). Of course, they draw plenty from the premise (Conversations with Jason Bourne and the pain in watching Adam Sandler flicks over and over again). The first half was good, the second was stronger. I laughed most during an expletive-laced argument between Lenny and Natalie, and Kevin digging on the soundtrack was both annoying and cute.
Mesa of Lost Women
Release Date: April 3rd, 2012
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Put him in with the teensy man who dresses like Marlon Brando" – Mike
This was a movie I thought was unriffable because it was all just discordant guitar playing and people who stand in the void... and stare. The movie gave me a headache, but for the most part, Mike, Kev, and Bill pull it off. They do well, making fun of the 'big nuthin' that is this movie - as well as knocking that terrible music, the taunting narrator, and the oddball characters (especially Dr. Masterson). At times the movie wears them down, but they always bounce back. Despite the pain, there are laughs aplenty.
Missile to the Moon
#1 in Mighty Jack's Top 50
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Fred Willard
“This is back when the Government used to come over to your house and give you some good natured ribbing” – Fred
I always wished that MST3K had covered a Richard Cunha movie. My first choice would have been his delightful “Frankenstein’s Daughter” - But I am nonetheless overjoyed to find Rifftrax covering Cunha’s “Cat Women on the Moon” remake, “Missile to the Moon”. Adding to the elation of the movie choice was having Mike riff with master comedian Fred Willard. This was an inspired pairing. Fred’s got impeccable comedic timing; he delivers a line in a smooth, low-key manner that is very natural and unaffected. I absolutely love Willard’s matter-of-fact phrasing. As when he notes a character lugging around a sack of oranges in order to beat a guy; as if it were the most normal, mundane event in the world.
What we end up with this Rifftrax is rather Joel Hodgson-like in tone. Using a classic 50s B-Movie, the laid-back riffing that leans on idiosyncratic behavior (Fred’s favorite sayings about Caves, etc), references from the way back machine (Everly Brothers, Vincent Price), and esoteric pop-culture Americana (Fluffernutter). There’s dark material, there’s even blue material but it still maintains a rather gentler and kinder feel overall and Willard conducts himself in a very droll, "just chilling with a B-movie" manner.
Missile itself is a gift; with its clearly defined delinquents (“Which is the shrewd one and which one is very smart?” – Fred), unconvincing, slow-moving menace (A giant spider and rock creatures - “You know, I think you have a better chance of being overtaken by an actual rock” - Fred) and a bevy of blue beauty contestants (The movie can be watched in B&W or colorized version and there is a joke or two where the ladies blue skin tone is mentioned)
I absolutely adored this rifftrax, I laughed till I turned blue. Mike was great and Fred’s style was so different from what we’ve heard on these ‘trax in the past and so damned hysterical that I pray we soon see the return of Mr. Willard (hopefully on more B-Movie cheese).
Mutant
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"The movie that dares to make suspense, boring" - Bill
This flick stars Wings Hauser (no relation to Doogie) who does battle against mutant... uh blue zombie, redneck things. Mike describes it as Dukes of Hazard fan fiction, and it's on the receiving end of some nice riffing early on. Making fun of the local color and the variable degrees of shirtlessness... and pantlessness was a hoot, as were the cute pop culture references (Say Anything) and I even liked the puns (ala Kevin's line about the Police). It does lose momentum about the halfway point (things like, repeating the lead actor's name and pointing out his sweat stains weren't cutting it), though there are still chuckles to be had now and again. And the scene where the teacher attempts to save young Billy was funny all on its own. I'd give the first half an A grade, the second part a C.
