If you're not familiar with
Rifftrax, the story goes something like this: after
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or
MST3K if you're "steet") was canceled, Mike Nelson walked the Earth (yes, much like Caine from
Kung Fu) for a number of years, trying his hand at various endeavours to determine what he ought to do with the rest of his life. Orange-picking didn't pan out (probably because Iowa isn't exactly rife with orange groves) and an unfortunate encounter with the business end of a Holstein led Mr. Nelson to believe that agribusiness was not his True Calling.
Fast forward to a few yesterdays ago when—like a boomerang thrown by...oh, let's say John Henry—Mr. Nelson decided that he might be able to wring a few more pennies out of the hilarious-yet-strangely-unbooming Making Fun of Movies industry. Absent a television network (I'm led to believe that there is a restraining order in play), the obvious delivery vector for such humority is these here Intertubes, and so Mr. Nelson and some of his cohorts launched Rifftrax, a website wherein anyone wishing to revisit the
MST3K halcyon days can fork over honest-to-Geithner American dollars in exchange for an audio commentary track to their favorite movie.
After the money has changed (virtual) hands, the purchaser need only insert a DVD of the aforementioned favorite movie (sold separately), turn the volume down, and play the Rifftrax audio file. (Optional: Make your own
MST3K-style silhouette from cardboard or construction paper and tape it to the bottom of your television.)
Or so goes the theory. I haven't actually purchased any of these Rifftrax, and I'm curious to know whether anyone here has. Three bucks seems like a reasonable price to pay to hear Mike Nelson and friends rip (or riff, if you must) on
The Phantom Menace.
Anyone? Anyone?
