Riff With Me

Have you ever heard of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (affectionately shortened to MST3K)? It began years ago and basically the story is that this man is trapped on a spaceship with just a couple of robots for companions and is forced to watch "the worst movies ever made", which he and the robots mock and "riff"throughout. The premise is stupid, and we usually skip all the spaceship scenes, preferring instead to get to the good stuff-- the mockery of B-Movies, which is usually amusing and often laugh-out-loud hilarious. The two main stars are Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson. Episodes included such films as: "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" and my kids' favorite, "Eegah! Most of them are pretty funny.

More recently, Murphy and Nelson (and another guy, Bill Corbett) have branched out, creating Rifftrax, wherein they make fun of older films and contemporary movies, from your favorite Star Wars six to "Jurassic Park" to "Captain America". With these modern films, instead of being able to just watch the movie with their dialogue overlaid like on MST3K, instead, you pay a nominal fee and download an MP3 track of their dialogue and watch the movie on a DVD which you have to provide. We have quite a few of these. Our favorites are "Thor" and one of the "Lord of the Rings" movies. My sons will roll their eyes that I couldn't remember which, but my brain just can't keep everything there. :)

It reminds me of how sometimes when I was a kid, my dad would turn down the sound on a movie and we would all join in making fun of it-- silly comments or fakey dialogue for the actors. It was always fun!

We have a separate speaker which we place on top of our surround sound receiver, with someone's ipod plugged into it, ready to play the MP3 Rifftrax for the film, then Murphy and Nelson tell you on the track how to sync up the film to their dialogue track. It's relatively simple to do, provided you have a way to hook up an ipod or your computer to a speaker to play the MP3.

If you've never heard of MST3K or Rifftrax, but enjoy making fun of bad movies, or good movies with bad moments, or just good movies... you will probably get a kick out of Rifftrax. A word of caution to my high-standard readers: they are not all young-family friendly. Nelson and Murphy don't cuss much beyond the "Bible" swears, but they do sometimes make comments that are naughty in nature. My sons generally roll their eyes or on a second viewing will talk loudly over the top of such dialogue, and we do what we can to edit these moments. I do with they wouldn't make those kinds of jokes, but comedy being what it is, Rifftrax are relatively fairly clean.

Recently we watched "Thor" for the second time with Rifftrax, and it was even funnier than the first time. There were moments that I laughed until I cried. I really do recommend you go look for a movie you already own or can borrow from your library and spend the $4 or so for a Rifftrax. One good starter is "Jurassic Park", as it features the dependably funny Weird Al Yankovic as a guest riffer, and the DVD is widely available. Have fun!

Playing Movie-Catch-Up

Last night we finally got around to watching "Moneyball". Brad Pitt's incredibly attractive aging notwithstanding, this is a very good movie. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was generally well reviewed, and, of course, it was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. That doesn't always equal movies I like, but in this case, I thought it was worth a look. Pitt's performance is solid-- charming, witty, passionate, and authentic. And, yes, still hunky at 48 years old. He reminds me a lot of Robert Redford, and I really think he has matured as an actor and is easily one of the better actors working in movies today.

Jonah Hill was perfectly cast, as well. I haven't watched him in anything, so I didn't have any expectations or preconceptions, and I really enjoyed him. The rest of the cast was great, the directing was tight and the story enjoyable even for a non-baseball fanatic like myself. It's definitely worth your time.

Tonight we had a double feature, catching up on movies we missed last year that are now out on Blu-Ray. First up was "Tower Heist" featuring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick and others. I wanted to like this movie-- who doesn't enjoy a fun caper movie where the little guy gets the evil, rich jerk? And I keep wanting so badly to see a film with Stiller that has something new, something different from what we've seen, or if he can only do the one schtick, at least a fresh face on the schtick. Not so much here. In this film, he seems to be basically channeling his museum security guard character from "Night at the Museum"-- it wasn't unpleasant, but felt like I'd seen it all before.

Murphy seemed to be trying to return to his "Beverly Hills Cop" persona, but the angry-black-man bit just isn't funny. The sexual humor wasn't funny, the yelling and cussing was overplayed and obnoxious, and he just wasn't funny. I wanted SO much more from him, especially.

And then there was Broderick. Matthew Broderick has been trying for a while now to reignite his film career, and while I sympathize (I thought Ferris Bueller was adorable!!), he seems to be just missing the mark. His performance in "Heist" wasn't bad, it was just a bit bland. And who the heck did his makeup??!! Terrible! Just awful. I realize movie stars feel like the rest of us about aging, only moreso, but I don't think a bad makeup job is going to help.

This movie was a dud, not worth the money they spent making it, for sure... and not a family movie...

The second movie tonight was "The Big Year" starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. This was pretty good, but my husband thinks that was mostly because we watched it so soon after "Tower Heist", but I thought it was pleasant and entertaining. And mercifully clean, except for a few cusses. The story was about the three of them trying to accomplish a birding record for spotting the most birds in one year and the way their obsessive hobbies affect the other aspects of their lives. It was a light, gentle movie, with sweet, genuine characters and believable sub-stories. I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it. It's a refreshing change from the usual shoot-em-up movies we watch around here.

Best comedy routines...

 I love stand up comedians.  I have a hard time with those who "work blue" or whatever it's called, using foul language and sexual themes for their jokes.  I prefer those whose routines are more observational, like these guys:

Henry Cho
Henry is a full-blooded Korean man who grew up in Nashville, Tennessee.  He even has a southern accent.  He is hilarious and almost completely little-kid-friendly clean.

The dang blogger-youtube connection won't post my favorite bit about his really stupid friend, JB Stewart, but it's the one I really wanted to share, so you'll have to forgive me and click the link.

Brian Regan
If you haven't ever heard Brian's stuff, you are absolutely missing out. He recently released a new album available for download here.  His routines are amazing.  And clean.  He has so many great bits that I had a hard time choosing one to insert here.  This scene is among my favorites:

When my family takes road trips, we like to take comedy CDs with us to listen to.  We enjoy Bill Cosby, especially his older stuff.  You can't go wrong with some great, classic Cosby, right?  Funny, relatable, real, and family-friendly.

Another comic that I like a lot is Steven Wright.  Good stuff.  He's the one who is completely deadpan, dry and looks like he may be half asleep...

We also love a lot of Weird Al Yankovic's music.  Some of his parodies are amazing, but I prefer his original stuff, myself.  Like this: (I actually prefer my own imagination to the animated video... it's much funnier just to listen...)