RiffTrax

My sister pointed out RiffTrax to me, which is pretty appropriate since she is the one who first introduced me to the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3k), which I love(d). RiffTrax is a make-fun-of commentary that you play along with a movie. It is done by Mike Nelson who did a lot of the writing (and even some of the hosting) for MST3k. Basically, you pay a couple bucks and you get an MP3 that is the length of the movie + a few minutes of instructions. After you pay your couple bucks you download the MP3 and the watch the DVD — listening to both the DVDs audio and the MP3 audio at the same time. I played the audio on my iPod and used my FM transmitter to transmit the audio to a radio so both my wife and I could enjoy the commentary.

It works surprisingly well. We had some minor sync problems, but, those were probably all my fault. I won’t go into any specifics, but, I think if you follow the instructions you shouldn’t have any real problems. People might complain about the RiffTrax selection — currently one movie, Road House — yes, the cheesy classic starring Patty McSwayze, but, MST3k didn’t do the big movies, it did cheesy movies, so, it is really a perfect choice. I remember all of us watching MST3k and wishing they could do more modern movies and this was, in my opinion, a good cheesy, modern-ish choice. Sure, it would have been fun to have Tom Servo, Crow, and the rest of the gang in there piping in, but, we had a great time. If you’re feeling up for something fun and different, can sit through Road House with a bunch of extra laughs, and can find a DVD of Road House (the hardest part of the whole thing) I would definitely recommend it.

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