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Dance Fever

July 1st, 2009

I have no idea what this is about, but I want to take dancing lessons from the dude on the right.

Filed under: Around the Web | 2 Comments »

Cinematic Titanic

May 31st, 2009

I’ve finally figured out why it is that I am obsessed with MST3K, Cinematic Titanic, Rifftrax and the Film Crew (did I forget any?). The answer: that’s the job I want. If it was my lot in life to make fun of bad movies and get paid for it, I could die happy. So, to recap, it is unrelenting, seething jealousy that is the main motivator of my love for all things that have to do with movie riffing.

It was crazy time in downtown Portland tonight. The Starlight Parade backed up traffic like mad everywhere (one of the many reasons I live where I do and can walk to these things), there was a soccer game at PGE Park (although I don’t imagine too many people went, as they were all at the parade), and some genuine paragons of humor performed two live movie-riffing shows right in the middle of it all. Cinematic Titanic came to P-Town for two live shows, and I got to see in person a fine group of people that I have genuinely admired for years from afar. I didn’t see Friday night’s East Meets Watts, but I did get there tonight for Danger on Tiki Island. The “danger” in the movie revolved mostly around homicidal trees and a garbage bag monster, but then I’m getting ahead of myself.

It really is a unique experience to be in a giant room full of MSTies watching a movie together. MST3K, and riffing in general, is something that you either immediately get and appreciate, or it’s something that you don’t get at all, and it probably perplexes you why people are talking over the movie. The crowd tonight was obviously in the former category. I imagine that most people watching movies are not paying that close attention to what’s happening on the screen; they’re too busy texting or whatever. But as Josh Weinstein said tonight, the people who like MST3K actually have attention spans. I hate to use the word “treat,” but it was a treat to be in a room full of people who noticed that the height-challenged waitstaff serving beverages to the not-so-intrepid heroes of the movie only filled the glasses about a quarter full. What, was there a beverage ration or something? When the Star Trek movie can have a major plot point revolve around something called Red Matter, but never actually explain what Red Matter is, it seems like perhaps a minor quibble to worry about the quantity of beverage being served to characters that we don’t really like in a movie that we all think is horrible. But that’s what movie riffing is all about, pointing out those kinds of little details that you might not notice at first blush, but when you have them pointed out to you, completely change your perception of what you’re watching.

I had a great seat in the first balcony of the Newmark with a completely unobstructed view, and was able to take some pics. They’re not great, as I have an older camera, but they might at least give you a sense of what it was like to be there.

It was really nice to see the cast in person, and Josh, Frank, Mary Jo, Trace and Joel are all funny, erudite people who are great at what they do. Josh showed that he can sing in any style of music and sound like any singer he wants to, and Joel fielded a question about Mike by deciding not to open a can of worms.

It is perhaps too much to ask that they come back to Portland sooner rather than later, but I genuinely hope that they do.

Filed under: Current Events, My Life | 1 Comment »

New Pics

May 29th, 2009

Got three new pics on my walk tonight. One, the side of the dream house giving you just a small sense of the view the back of the house has of the city. There are too many trees in the way, however. Walk down the street a spell, though, and it looks something like this. And three, today was such a clear day you could see all the way to Mount St. Helens.

Filed under: Around Portland | 1 Comment »