Released: June 3, 2008
Riffers: Mary Jo Pehl and Bill Corbett
"Mary Jo? What about his MEN!?" - Bill
Bill Corbett and Mary Jo make a great pair, MJ always sounds like she's tickled by the inane stuff she sees on screen and Bill is upbeat and sarcastic. The 2 play off one another well and have a gas tweaking Texas, mocking the mumbling, the silly names, conspiracy theories (Hitler fixed the Oscars), and Scully's Catholicism.
The opening sequences where the kids stumble upon an underground cave are the strongest. I got a kick out of the firefighter -"Captain Fire, every kid's favorite superhero" - MJ - squealing about "My Men!" and Mary Jo's line, "Mm, they really capture the lush beauty of North Texas".
The riffing tails off as it goes but the work on X-Files is solid overall, and a special guest stops by to drop off a riff for an added dash of spice. The funny is out there and well worth a listen.
Release Date: September 22, 2006
Riffers: Mike Nelson & Bill Corbett
It isn't the strongest Rifftrax of the (early) offerings. There are a lot of gaps and I’d speculate it's the most sparsely quipped of the bunch thus far. Bill might surprise with how subdued he sounds as this isn’t him doing the angry Crow of lore. He never the less is darn funny and gets in some of the best lines. When a bald fighter is introduced as “Your Savior”, Bill states that he always imagined Jesus having more hair. He also got me laughing with jokes about his dentist and by doing an appropriately placed Harvey Fierstein imitation.
What didn’t work were the rare moments when they attack the movie. Implying that doing this film (generally held in high regard and a box office smash) somehow diminished Patrick Stewart's standing as an actor, isn't funny because it doesn’t ring true. Mocking the unreal reality falls flat as well. It's a comic book and the fantastic is all par for the course. Lastly, the Cerebro/Magneto exchanges are about as inspired as Letterman's Oprah/Uma joke at the Oscars. (though they do return to it more successfully in later releases)
Despite these hiccups, when Mike and Bill concentrated on irony or making literal observations (as with the Jesus line), the two proved even a good film can be riffed with success. And there's also something special when your movie opens a scene with the words... “In the not too distant future."
Release Date: November 12, 2008
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
“We have a demon or an imp! Repeat, a demon or an imp!” – Bill as Secret Service agent tracking Nightcrawler.
The riffing opens real strong at the White House: Mike comments on a portrait (“JFK’s ashamed of him”) and later, as Nightcrawler “Bamfs” like crazy he suggests that, “This power would be handy at Packer games” (Ha, Ha. I always enjoy a good poke at the Packers, being a long time fan and all). After this volley, I found the work lost some of its special power.
On the bad, there’s the usual proliferation of blue humor and a few weak gay jokes - but the main problem might be that 2+ hours requires too much effort, I was just plumb worn out at an hour or so and at the 94-minute mark all laughter had died in me and I had to shut it down.
Upon my return the next day, refreshed, I was able to dig on the ‘trax again and what I noticed in the 2nd half is that they engage the subject matter quite nicely. Wolverine gets waylaid a lot, they also have Rogue (or as Bill calls her, “Power Sucking Girl!”) offering Magneto a prostate exam and the Nightcrawler stuff is generally fun ("Now do the Fuhrer" he says after Mystique imitates his German accent). They of course revisit the Cerebro/Magneto line, this time out it's funny to hear Bill's frustration when Mike and Kev get the names mixed up (Magneto is Cerebro in Mike’s world). Sometimes they tease too hard (hey, I love this stuff) but that comes with the territory.
My suggestion if you find you’re interesting waning, break this one into two parts (now if only Jack Perkin’s had shown up for MST Hour-like host segments). Doing that made it far more enjoyable. It leans too heavily on the juvenile to be a complete success but overall I liked it.
Release Date: June 21st, 2011
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"For the last time, I don’t want a damn cracker!" – Bill, as Angel unfurls his wings
An excess of wang and masturbation riffs (mostly in the first half-hour) and unfunny gay jokes (again!) keep this from classic status -- and that's too bad because much of this is a blast. Overall X-3s not a real cerebr--al joke fest. It's light and silly. It teases the clichéd dialog and, more successfully, the mutants and their powers. In addition to the quote at the top of this review, Kevin's line about Jean looking for more bald paraplegics to explode had me in stitches. I laughed at the references to Gilligan and Willy Wonka, I howled at the Dylan debate and the car seat line directed at Kitty (Ellen Page). The riffing on the final battle was especially strong and steady. So despite the flaws, the frequent highs kept it afloat.
Release Date: September 6, 2006
Riffer: Mike Nelson
"His acting conveys his sleepiness"
Triple X is a high-octane action thriller, which stars the lumpy Vin Diesel, the sexy Asia Argento, and the melty Samuel L. Jackson. The movie’s one of the better ones from the Rifftrax selections - in that I could watch it without having that aching desire to hang myself intruding every minute or so (as with Road House and Cocktail).
Unfortunately, it also is the weakest of the bunch in terms of laughs. That’s not to say that I didn't get a big kick out of Mike's work, I did. It just wasn’t one of his most relentlessly hysterical. What I liked about “xXx” was how I was able to relate to Mike's sentiments on the film. He’s a family man in the same age bracket as I, and like Mike, I also found Vin's Xander to be an idiot punk (especially in those early scenes), the music of Rammstein baffling and I would eagerly enjoy backhanding Bill Maher too! Mr. Nelson, we are on the same wavelength.
The best bits were the simplest. Mocking Diesel’s manner of acting (the use of the sound, Duuuuh has never been funnier) and I liked how Mike would tease the overdone explosions, by speculating on the exploded objects containing all manner of odd combustible. So you can see how even a minor Rifftrax effort can still give major laughs.
Release Date: May 30th, 2014
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Zindy, the fugitive of the pants." – Mike
Zindy, tells the story of a flute-playing lad who lives in the swamp with his grandfather, sleeps naked with a monkey, and has a Captain Ahab-style obsession with a puma. Sounds like a jewel, and it starts off red-hot. The boy and simian pal are great of course, but Granddad's even better... the old coot's a hoot. (The hugging scene had me in stitches). Unfortunately, the laughs tail off as it goes and when Gramps kicks the bucket, the movie and the riffing go south. Nothing much happens in this flick, and the riffers sound at a loss as to how to tackle the monotony. (Mike's lengthy song about the landscape during Zindy's walk through town reeks of desperation and filler). The piece perks up a bit when a lost girl wanders into camp, but the damage had been done. While Zindy has some hilarious highs, it also sinks like quicksand in spots.
Release Date: June 27th, 2014
Riffers: Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy & Bill Corbett
"Domino films: And you thought our Pizza's were bad." - Kevin
The movie is about witchery and curses, slavery, torrid affairs, and bad dancing in a sugar cane plantation – and, it didn't do a whole lot for me. Many of the jokes were just plain stupid. Still, you throw enough quips at a flick and a few are going to stick. There’s a funny reference to the movie “The Help“, a line about someone leaving their turn signal on as a drum plays (to name two). But it misses more than it hits and the movie's a chore.
