Josh Weinstein chats with Ken Plume

J. Elvis Weinstein just sat down for a chat with friend to all MSTies Ken Plume for what Josh describes as “a long, long time.” I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it is probably “entertaining,” possibly “incredible,” and most likely not “ghetto fly.” Give a listen here.

Cinematic Titanic update: Tour dates and new live DVD

Josh sent out an update on the current state of affairs at Cinematic Titanic Central today. In addition to dropping in a new tour stop in Massachusetts this April, he also announced a new DVD release. Like the previous DVD, this one is  comprised of live footage, this time of their assault on The Alien Factor. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two more live releases this year, since it’s a relatively easy way of releasing new, well-received content with minimal effort involved.

The DVD is set for release on February 23rd, which is… next Tuesday? Really? I hate the passage of time. As I said, the CT crew has also added an extra tour date. I’ve listed it below, along with what I believe is a complete list of their upcoming shows.

2/19 @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI — 1st show: War of the Insects, 2nd show: Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World

2/20 @ Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI – 1st show: sold out, 2nd show: Samson

4/15 @ The Calvin Theatre, Northampton, MA — Danger on Tiki Island (NEW DATE)

4/16 @ The McCarter Center, Princeton, NJ — Movie undecided; vote here!

4/17 @ The Nokia Theatre Times Square, New York City — Danger on Tiki Island

Wait, a New Jersey show? You’d think I’d be better at finding out about these things. I am not. Anyway, go see them live, if you can. As I’ve said before, it’ll be well worth the time, effort, and cash-moneys. It’s a fantastic experience.

Mike Nelson racing an RC car at Rifftrax HQ

Yep, you won’t find a more descriptive post title this side of the Internet, let me tell you what. I’m not really sure why posting this is at all relevant, but since when has being relevant ever been relevant? The Internet is for internetting!

(via TorgosPizza’s twitter)

Next on Rifftrax: Paranormal Activity

The next Rifftrax commentary, out today, is Paranormal Activity. In other words, it is something I will never watch, because I’m a huge pussy when it comes to horror films. As such, I have selected a header image to encourage happy thoughts and not evil ghost-demon-monster thoughts. You’re welcome.

You can pick up the DVD here… IF YOU DARE!

So, Comic-Con happened — and I got to go!

Well, Comic-Con 2009 is officially over, and what a great time it was! There’s something very special about seeing so many geeks in one place, and this year was no exception. The convention hall was filled to the brim with various nerd treasures, from comic books to elaborate figurines, and even Star Trek perfume!

But of course, the real draw for me  (and Deep Ape!) were the various Rifftrax events that were going on over the weekend. Click past the break to read about it!

Like video games? Like MST3K? You might like this

Gaming Today recently highlighted a video series from the excellent video gaming site The Escapist called Unskippable. In it, two guys watch video game trailers and cut-scenes and attempt to provide witty commentary over it. It’s essentially Rifftrax Presents for the gamer crowd. And judging from the few episodes I watched, it has the same hit-or-miss ratio as a Mike-, Bill-, or Kevin-less Rifftrax Presents episode.

Of course, that isn’t to say it’s bad. It’s just not amazing. The clip I embedded above has them taking on a trio of trailers. The first and third are actually pretty funny and reasonably smart. Definitely worth checking out, if your hunger for riffs is insatiable.

Rifftrax DVDs hit Amazon

Those aforementioned ten Rifftrax DVDs have been up for sale on Amazon. They’re quite affordable, at just under $10. If you feel like picking them up, please do so via this link. It would help feed the children — or more specifically, me — and I would appreciate it muchly. (Sorry for the short post. It’s hot and my back hurts and stuff.)

Oh hi, Deep Ape — I’m back!

Did I ever tell you guys (that is, if anyone is still reading) that I was going to be Internetless for a while? Well, I was, and now I’m back! Try not to get too excited! I managed to make it out to a Cinematic Titanic live show in Philly, so you can expect a recap over the next couple of days. I’m in the process of moving, so bear with me, but I hope to return to normal operations soon.

In the meantime, the guys from Rifftrax recently released a commentary for The Room, a movie that I (somehow) didn’t even know existed. It looks glorious, as you can see in the above preview clip. Enjoy!

New Rifftrax DVDs exist, by the way

While I’ve been off doing science and magic, the folks at Rifftrax have been wading deeper into the DVD pool, bringing their total number of Rifftrax-on-a-disc to nine — and soon to be ten. These are pretty self-explanatory, effectively playing out like The Film Crew DVDs, with Mike, Bill, and Kevin’s commentary already synced up with the video. Yeah, you know the drill. Here’s the full list:

• Carnival of Souls
• House on Haunted Hill
• Little Shop of Horrors
• Missile to the Moon (not the Fred Willard commentary)
• Night of the Living Dead
• Plan 9 from Outer Space
• Reefer Madness
• Rifftrax Shorts: The Best of, Vol. 1
• Swing Parade

All of the DVDs feature the newer commentaries with Bill and Kevin joining in, not Mike’s older, solo commentaries. And if you’re afraid of giving the Internet your money, these DVDs will be available at brick-and-mortar retailers on June 16th. Furthermore, there will also be a second volume of shorts coming soon, though they’re “not exactly sure when.” Here’s the tracklist, as it stands now:

• One Got Fat
• Lunchroom Manners
• Each Child is Different
• Why Doesn’t Cathy Eat Breakfast/Petaluma Chicken
• Act Your Age
• Harm Hides at Home
• Coffeehouse Rendezvous
• Are You Popular?
• Good Health Practices

Of course, those shorts can also be found in digital form here, if you want to pick-and-choose and save a few bucks. (No word on whether or not Vol. 2 will have any exclusive content.) But still! DVDs! For your DVD player of choice! Buy!

New Cinematic Titanic shows added to tour

The Cinematic Titanic crew has announced an additional five stops on their 2009 live tour. They’ll be doing their usual routine, this time with the as-yet-unreleased films East Meets Watts and Danger on Tiki Island (confirmed for, at least, the first two shows). Here are the dates:

• May 15-16 in Atlanta, Georgia, at The Woodruff Arts Center.
• May 22-23 in Phoenix, Arizona, at The Piper Theater at the Mesa Arts Center.
• May 29-30 in Portland, Oregon, at The Newmark Theater, inside Antoinette Hatfield Hall at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
• June 5-6 in Dallas, Texas, at The Lakewood Theatre.
• June 12-13 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at The Trocadero.

If any of those dates tickle your fancy, check out Satellite News’ post for ordering/pre-ordering information. The first two dates are already up for order and pre-order, respectively. I would also like to note that I live within 40 minutes of Philly, and June 13th is my birthday. Cue me hyperventilating and trying to figure out how to make this happen. Argh! Curse my lack of both funds and transportation!

Deep Ape review: Legacy of Blood

Every once in a while, a movie like Manos or The Incredibly Strange Creatures comes along, and it’s just so repulsive and completely unappealing that it leaves a thick, black layer of sin and shame on your soul that can take days, maybe even years, to shake off. Yet, even amidst all that sheer celluloid evil, you’ll still often find a Torgo or a Madison to brighten your spirits and remind you that every dark raincloud filled with urine has a silver lining.

Still, what happens when there isn’t a silver lining? When no matter how deeply and desperately you claw and scrape at the filth and grime, you just can’t find any redemptive quality, any soul worth saving? What happens when there is no sweet, smiling Torgo in that dark, dark sky? Well, you get Legacy of Blood. Click ahead to read my long-delayed (sorry!) review of Cinematic Titanic’s fourth DVD release.

Deep Ape is now on Twitter

Now that I’m back to posting semi-regularly, I’ve decided to finally finish setting up the Deep Ape Twitter account. So, if you want to be alerted when there are new posts, you’re one of the three people who still give a flip about the site and want to keep in touch, or you just want more MST3K / Rifftrax / Cinematic Titanic content on your Twitter dashboard, then go follow us (and by “us,” I mean “me”).

Mike Nelson’s bacon diet makes the local news

If you’ve been keeping up with Brain-related news — and hopefully you have, despite my prolonged, shameful absence — then you know that Michael J. Nelson has been eating nothing but bacon, for the entire month of February. Why? Because the internet kids love the dead-pig product, and Mike Nelson loves the internet kids.

Evidently, the stunt caught the attention of the local news, and San Diego’s NBC affiliate did a story on Mike’s pork-fest. It now seems that what, to the naked eye, would appear to be suicidal madness, is actually turning out to be kind of beneficial: Mike’s lost some weight, and his blood pressure’s even gone down.

So, assuming that Mike survives the month, what should the Rifftrax crew tackle next? Should March be Bill’s month of chicken? Or maybe Kevin should spend April supping on Slim Jims? Will Cinematic Titanic counter with a month of veggies?

Cinematic Titanic 2009 tour pre-order info for YOU

Just a quick heads-up that the Cinematic Titanic crew are kicking off their 2009 tour. This time, they’re going all over the U.S., even giving some of us East Coasters a taste of the Kool Aid. Pre-sale begins this Monday, the 19th, at 10am (the venue’s time) and the pre-order code is ‘MST3K’. Here’s the schedule:

• February 13th/14th, San Francisco – Marines Memorial Theatre [tickets]
• February 20th/21st, Boston – Somerville Theatre [tickets]
• February 27th/28th, Cleveland – Playhouse Sq., The Hanna Theatre [tickets]
• March 7th, Austin – The Paramount [tickets]
• March 13th/14th, Seattle – King Cat Theater [tickets]

Remember to use the code “MST3K” when pre-ordering. Josh says that they’ll be “performing a different movie each night in each city – titles TBA,” so if you’re psychotic and want to attend every performance, you will not be let down.

Josh Way has DVDs out, and you should buy them

Hardcore MSTie and Rifftrax contributor Josh Way is continuing his transition into the world of professional riffing, with the release of three actual, proper, real, professional-looking, feature-length DVDs. Last week, Josh released Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, Phantom From Space, and his take on Corman’s The Wasp Woman, part of his “Fun With Flicks” series. They’re $12.99 each and on Amazon.

Josh is a really good guy and he’s pretty darn funny, so I definitely recommend checking out his stuff and supporting him. You can sample his wares on his YouTube account. (And if you want to purchase his DVDs, I’d love you like a ho’ if you’d buy them via this link, or the above ones. Thank ye.)