Former Host and Writer of MST3K Launches RiffTrax

dougman writes "Today James Lileks mentioned his 'friend and all-around comic genius/good egg Michael J. Nelson' called, to tell him about his brilliant new project, RiffTrax. Here's the pitch: '...free-lance commentary tracks. Bottom line: Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary for big famous beloved movies like Titanic or The Matrix. The hitch: you have to provide the movie. It's genius: no worries about copyright. You buy the commentary tracks for $1.99, rent the movie or get it out of your collection, load the commentary on your iPod or burn it to a disk, then watch them together in true you-got-peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate bliss. ... The first movie is Roadhouse." Cool! I voted for The Matrix as the next one to be riffed." While I (and many others I know) preferred Joel, Mike was not without his share of funny moments too. Without Crow and Servo it just might not be the same, though.

Open Hangar Doors!!

[illuminatedwax]

Stay frosty, boys, we've got a flame war coming! Joel vs. Mike seen on radar, heading straight for us! Batten down the hatches, prepare all escape pods, brace for impact!

Re:Open Hangar Doors!!

[Flounder]

Jeez, Joel vs Mike flame wars are so mid-90's.

And for the multiple-tracked among us...

[Anonymous Coward]

it could get a trifle complicated if they put out a commentary to go with "The Wizard of Oz"...you know, playing the movie, the commentary AND "Dark Side of the Moon".

Re:Open Hangar Doors!!

[Tibor the Hun]

What if we have a Chuck Norris vs. Zap Rowsdower war instead?
Yeah, I know that all of you bitchass fanbois might think Norris is the bomb but,

Wait a sec, someone's knocking

Re:Open Hangar Doors!!

[ConceptJunkie]

My favorite is Joike, you know, the guy the sweater was made for.

Two Dollars?

[pete-classic]

He should do "Beter Off Dead" next, since he wants his two dollars.

-Peter

PS: Remeber kids, there is no "-1: I don't get it." moderation option.

Re:Open Hangar Doors!!

[Hao Wu]

Stay frosty, boys, we've got a flame war coming!

Nothing sadder than a bunch of Slashdotters competing to be "Alpha-dork".

Re:Open Hangar Doors!!

[Improv]

Give me rocket number nine! I want to watch!

Re:Spend your money!

[Twisted64]

Maybe some money will drag Joel in from whatever strange mountain cabin he's retreated to....

I hear his bosses didn't like him, so they... shot him... something something.

Re:Red-State Edition DVD Commentaries

[reverseengineer]

It works just as well for blue states- I love the McSweeney's commentary of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky on The Fellowship of the Ring. Some choice bits:

Zinn: And observe the map device here -- how the map is itself completely Gondor-centric. Rohan and Gondor are treated as though they are the literal center of Middle Earth. Obviously this is because they have men living there. What of places such as Anfalas and Forlindon or Near Harad? One never really hears anything about places like that. And this so-called map casually reveals other places -- the Lost Realm, the Northern Waste (lost to whom? wasted how? I ask) -- but tells us nothing about them. It is as though the people who live in these places are despicable, and unworthy of mention. Who is producing this tale? What is their agenda? What are their interests and how are those interests being served by this portrayal? Questions we need to ask repeatedly.

Zinn: You view the conflict as being primarily about pipe-weed, do you not?
Chomsky: Well, what we see here, in Hobbiton, farmers tilling crops. The thing to remember is that the crop they are tilling is, in fact, pipe-weed, an addictive drug transported and sold throughout Middle Earth for great profit.

Zinn: This is absolutely established in the books. Pipe-weed is something all the Hobbits abuse. Gandalf is smoking it constantly. You are correct when you point out that Middle Earth depends on pipe-weed in some crucial sense, but I think you may be overstating its importance. Clearly the war is not based only on the Shire's pipe-weed. Rohan and Gondor's unceasing hunger for war is a larger culprit, I would say.
Chomsky: But without the pipe-weed, Middle Earth would fall apart. Saruman is trying to break up Gandalf's pipe-weed ring. He's trying to divert it.
Zinn: Well, you know, it would be manifestly difficult to believe in magic rings unless everyone was high on pipe-weed. So it is in Gandalf's interest to keep Middle Earth hooked.

Zinn: After Gandalf falls, you get another view of the so-called terrorist Orcs. You know, the regrettable side of the Orcs does occasionally come out. The violence. It doesn't help their cause when these distinct, individual Orcs take it upon themselves to lash out at the inequality of the system. But notice that even these violent Orcs don't seem happy. They're not pleased with themselves. It's a violence borne of necessity.

Chomsky: Sure. They're trapped in a cycle of violence.