RiffTrax Live: Amityville - The Evil Escapes

[horseytown]

Much appreciated jimmy_breeze!

This one was excellent.

Man... I hate to join up with the users who have been bringing up the quality of the writing & humor as of late, but I don't agree at all that this one was excellent (no offense, MalakJoe).

This one was just awful. You can even hear the awkward silence in the audience after almost every quip. And almost every quip seems to be a rehash or a reference to another riffed movie/short or a tired repeat of an overused joke. The jokes outside those criteria are just bombing, one after the other. They're not clever and they don't have any of the witty, spontaneous feel of past riffs. Another thing that is really starting to grate on my nerves is how one of the guys delivers a joke and one of the other guys follows it up right away with some kind of comment that assigns a title to the joke or attempts to add a little garnish to it but just comes across like really awkward, forced small talk or something of the sort. It makes me uncomfortable to hear it over and over again.

Of course I'm a longtime fan of MST3K and Rifftrax, but I'm not trying to point that out to add weight to my comments. It's just that it is kind of a bummer that it's all so "clean and tidy" now and just seems tired. It's really odd, though, because some of the releases still have plenty of creativity and great riffing throughout much of the film, but then stuff like this one pops up and makes me wonder who is responsible (and should probably either quit or be let go). With so much material in their repertoire, though, I shouldn't be at all surprised that some of them are going to be bad. It's just weird that some are SO bad.

I agree with much of what you said (they really need to limit the fan-service with call-backs to older riffs), but didn't find this one particularly dreadful. However, I was going some menial tasks while it was on, so I cant say that I was really getting the full experience.

I don't expect much these days. I am just thankful of any time they can get through a riff without doing the Nick Nolte bit.

[SuspiriaTrumpsItFollowsCrap]

"I am just thankful of any time they can get through a riff without doing the Nick Nolte bit."

yeah, that's older than Methuselah now.

[napsterslawyer]

"I am just thankful of any time they can get through a riff without doing the Nick Nolte bit."

yeah, that's older than Methuselah now.

Amen to that. I fast forward those Nolte jokes.

[Asdfghjkl]

Have u ever seen the south park episode about member-berries? That’s all rifftrax is now, is member-berries. In one of the Harry Potter riffs, there’s a running gag about family guy, & how it’s just “things people remember!” That’s all rifftrax is now, just references to when they were actually funny; the fact that they called out family guy for that and then full-on made that their business model is funnier than any joke they've ever said. There’s a riff in this latest live show referencing Terminator, about how Skynet isn’t due to take over the world for a few years, and ppl were applauding. Why are you clapping?? Srsly?!? Because u were reminded that Terminator existed? Is that srsly the “joke”?? That’s fucking stupid.

Also, there was a post saying “fuck Connor”, & maybe that poster knows something I don’t, but it is absolutely true that one of those writers is very much not funny to the point of stupid & should just be fired or whatever, I’m sick of him muddying the waters of the mst3k legacy. It’s gotten to the point that now when I hear his part that I know now’s the time to walk away from the screen & go do the dishes or something, & I’ll come back in like 20 minutes or whenever his dumb part is over.

[horseytown]

Ironically, I don't remember the "memberberries" phrase, but I do remember one time many moons ago characterizing Dane Cook's stand-up act in precisely the same way as you are describing South Park doing for Family Guy.

Somehow I had never really heard any Dane Cook comedy when he was at his peak in the early 2000s, and decided to torrent his entire discography one day and give it a listen. I recall talking to a friend immediately afterwards and complaining that his act wasn't comprised of real jokes or any sort of comedic craftsmanship, it was all just "Remember ______? Remember ______?" consumer culture that Gen-Xers experienced.

Remember Speak 'n' Spell?
Remember Slip n Slide?
Remember Monopoly?
Remember Operation?
Remember Nestle Quik?
Remember Big Wheels?
Remember Kool-Aid?
Remember G.I. Joe?
Remember Transformers?

It's the laziest, hackiest form of comedy. You can absolutely reference and discuss any of those things, but you have to have something to say about them besides just mentioning them by name

"Remember when the Kool-Aid guy would break through the wall and say, "Oh yeaaaah!"?"

Yeah, I do. What of it?

The RiffTrax writers are definitely doing too much of this kind of humour, especially for such a cult/niche thing whose casual viewership is extremely limited. It's not Tarantino winking at the cinefiles by dropping the soundtrack from Kelly's Heroes into Inglorious Basterds, pretty much everyone in a live RiffTrax audience is going to get a "The Master wouldn't approve" joke.

There is a time for these (and they can be funny - like comparing someone to Mr. B Natural or referencing Coily's whistle will probably always get me) but saying "DEEP CUT" afterwards will always take the fun out of it for me.

[Maafly]

Thank you!

[Gingher]

So Conor is the Dane Cook of riffing? I can see that.

[hazzychan]

Have u ever seen the south park episode about member-berries? That’s all rifftrax is now, is member-berries. In one of the Harry Potter riffs, there’s a running gag about family guy, & how it’s just “things people remember!” That’s all rifftrax is now, just references to when they were actually funny; the fact that they called out family guy for that and then full-on made that their business model is funnier than any joke they've ever said. There’s a riff in this latest live show referencing Terminator, about how Skynet isn’t due to take over the world for a few years, and ppl were applauding. Why are you clapping?? Srsly?!? Because u were reminded that Terminator existed? Is that srsly the “joke”?? That’s fucking stupid.

Also, there was a post saying “fuck Connor”, & maybe that poster knows something I don’t, but it is absolutely true that one of those writers is very much not funny to the point of stupid & should just be fired or whatever, I’m sick of him muddying the waters of the mst3k legacy. It’s gotten to the point that now when I hear his part that I know now’s the time to walk away from the screen & go do the dishes or something, & I’ll come back in like 20 minutes or whenever his dumb part is over.

Awww, poor baby doesn't understand a joke so it's Rifftrax's fault. LOL

It's still amazing every time I take the time to read these fucking shitposts. All you people do here is pirate their material and then BITCH about not liking it. THEN STOP? This weird obsession you all have with crying about it yet still consuming it is just so weird and sad. When I stop liking a thing, I stop consuming it. It wouldn't make any sense to keep eating something that's gone rotten, so why are you idiots doing it?

Also, this is literally the only place I ever see anyone complain about Rifftrax, so please do know your garbage opinions ARE the minority, and no one gives a flying fuck what you think. <3

[SuspiriaTrumpsItFollowsCrap]

"memberberries" seem, in many ways, to be a South Park mockery of people whom can reference classic original material, with no ability to create material which will become classic original material "later". Unlike the pre-netflix MST3K crews.

e.g. "hipsters".

[NexusWraith]

Thank you so much.