TVSquad

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums at Rifftrax are taking Christmas down a notch in a nationwide event next month, and you can win a trip to sunny San Diego to watch in person.

Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett will team up again with partner and live event specialist Fathom to bring a collection of old-school Christmas shorts to theaters across the country in a live big screen broadcast.

Somehow, those little bite-sized Snickers and Milky Ways you got as Halloween Trick or Treat candy always seemed to taste better than the bigger ones you can snag in any store.

That's kind of the effect you get from watching a new pair of laugh-out-loud Shorts DVDs from Rifftrax -- Wide World of Shorts and Shorts-Tacular Shorts-Stravaganza.

The commentary of Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy can usually make any movie funny. But, the riffs you buy off their website for major feature films can sometimes come with a cost.

For example, the problem with buying the riffs for Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is you then have to sit there and watch Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. That's a razor's edge trade-off for a few laughs.

Rifftrax, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 descendant written and performed by Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, is taking its show live to the nation's movie theaters on August 20.

In a move sure to draw desperate MST3K fans from out of their parents' basements (this reporter among them -- though my folks' old house only has a washer/dryer downstairs), Fathom Events will present the Rifftrax trio live in theaters via vid-cast up on the big screen.

They'll take on Ed Wood's classically inept Plan 9 from Outer Space, a movie they've wrestled with on DVD and in past live shows.

It's sad that we don't have Mystery Science Theater 3000 anymore, but it's great that we have two spinoffs/reunions to entertain us. Joel, Trace, Frank, Mary Jo, and J. Elvis have Cinematic Titanic, and Mike, Bill, and Kevin have Rifftrax. I'll leave it to you to discuss which one you like the best. I'm partial to Rifftrax. And if you've never heard what the guys do, tonight might be a good time to check it out.

At 9pm ET (6pm PT), there will be a live, free Rifftrax performed by the guys for everyone to see and hear on their computer. Probably the very same computer you're reading this one, unless you're at work. And if you're at work you shouldn't be spending all of your time on a TV site. Get back to work.

What they'll be riffing is Self-Conscious Guy, a short film from 1951 I'm assuming is about a guy who is self-conscious. I've never heard of it, but the shorts that MST3K used to do were some of the funniest stuff they did, so this should be good. I'm going to watch this instead of Grissom leaving CSI.

Fa la la!

We told you last month about the new 20th anniversary DVD set for Mystery Science Theater 3000 that is going to be released later this year. The gang announced the details and the release date for the set yesterday at Comic-Con.

The 4 DVD set from Shout! Factory will be released on October 28 and will include four never-before-released movies: Laserblast, First Space on Venus, Werewolf, and Future War. Along with the movies will be tons of new interviews with everyone ever involved in the show, a documentary about the history of MST3K, footage of the Comic-Con Reunion panel, lobby cards, and even a collectible Crow T. Robot figurine! The set will come in a special 20th anniversary tin box (see pic above).

I have to give an initial shout out to Fantabulizer for reminding me that, despite the end of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or, as I call it, "the greatest show ever"), Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett are still riffing away on bad movies as The Film Crew.

The three men are back in form riffing on wacky B movies, though this time they're not channeling through plastic puppets. Instead, their riffing is done like any ol' DVD audio commentary for movies that don't have commentaries, but should. You can go to their site now and vote for which of four movies you'd like to see them skewer first. Also, check out a trailer here. Sure, it's not quite the same as being back on the Satellite of Love, but it put this long-time fan back in his high school days where he began to amass his collection of VHS copies of MST3k taped from his parents' gigantic satellite dish.

[via Satellite News]