Rifftrax: Live! Christmas Short-Stravaganza! - San Diego 2009 Blu-ray

I attended the live production in Escondido with friends and it was a delight. Mike, Kevin, & Bill briefly chatted us up while we waited in line, which was really cool.

The show, unlike other Fathom live broadcasts ("Plan 9 From Outer Space", House on Haunted Hill" & "Reefer Madness"), consisted solely of shorts. As this was a Christmas themed show, they managed to scrounge up some odd little yule tide gems. Whether it was the night-terrors inducing "Christmas Dream" or the creepy and uncomfortable "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer". No, I'm not talking about the beloved Christmas staple, the Rankin-Bass claymation classic, but the Max Fleischer cartoon, made in 1948. Trust me, it's bizarre and the guys lampoon it's creepiness.

another short gives us the insecure musings of a small tree called, "Christmas Rhapsody". "A visit to Santa's Workshop", has that cheap, hokey 1960's patina that makes you laugh just watching it. Mike, Kevin & Bill's quips only make you laugh harder. The similiarly titled, "Santa's Toyshop", offers us unfunny pratfalls, a demonic-looking Mr. Sandman, a top hat wearing spider, and a platoon of toy soldiers looking to kick some chapeu wearing archnid ass!

The last two shorts aren't really holiday related. There's the 1950's offering of Hollywood actors cavorting in and around a pool for charity. Though there are a few amusing riffs in this short (The name escapes me), it was my least favorite. The other was a bit of a treat, having the talented weird Al Yankovic join in the riffing of "Three Magic Words", a short extolling the virtues of Pork. This film features the neverending harmonizing of a singing trio, The Jesters, as they instruct the world's dumbest blonde on how to make a great pork dinner. The guys really seemed to enjoy riffing this swine story, and cracked several good lines.

Interspliced in between the shorts were a look at some funny tv ads for toys made in the 50's and 60's. Since I'm roughly the same age as the Rifftrax gang, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

If you are a fan of the MST3K and, in particular, a fan of their riffing of shorts then you'll love this DVD. Make it part of your Christmas tradition; sitting in your favorite chair stuffing generous amounts of bacon down your maw, while watching Santa express his deepest, sorted, filthy desires to a reindeer.

Other than that, I've watched this four times since purchasing this a little over a month ago and still laugh. Saw this in the theater and as goofy as everything is, it put me in the Christmas mood. The riffing being done in front of a live audience makes a big difference. There was a little bit at the end of the theatrical show that doesn't make it into this DVD -a 1 or 2 minute taped sequence where the guys spew pixelized vomit in their office -but outside of that and the funny pre-show movie trivia, you are getting the full show. As noted elsewhere, all the shorts are about Christmas except two -one about pork and another about swimming in Hollywood. I enjoyed the pork short but the swimming one didn't have the density of gags as the other shorts. That aside, this is a DVD I could watch again and again since many shorts or portions of each are hilariously riffed. The Christmas Dream is worth the price of admission along with the David Lynch Christmas short and the mutilation of the tree of no account in Christmas Rhapsody.

It also pays to be a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 to understand the audience reaction to Prince of Space.

Sincerely,

Big McLarge Huge

Buy Rifftrax: Live! Christmas Short-Stravaganza! - San Diego 2009 Blu-ray Now

This is a different kind of DVD. The MST guys are live. Weird Al makes a visit. If you are a MST fan, you will enjoy this DVD.

Read Best Reviews of Rifftrax: Live! Christmas Short-Stravaganza! - San Diego 2009 Blu-ray Here

The guys of Rifftrax are back, live and in living color with their sharp wits and clever lines ready to aim at some of the worst shorts based around the wonderful holiday of Christmas. Before and after each short the guys keep the live audience entertained with their banter.

"Christmas Toyshop"-Two kids are visited by a creepy sandman who helps them dream of christmas, and chatting with Santa who couldn't look more uninterested if he tried. Meanwhile their dad plays Santa and tries to set up the tree and the gifts, too bad he's a stumbling idiot. Oh and there's also a story that Santa tells the children in the form of a bunch of toys fighting a giant spider. The jokes are quite good here as the material is just the right kind of goofy for them.

"A Visit to Santa"-Ultra cheap one here where two children want to meet Santa so they write a letter to him, he reads it in his lazyboy in a basement (I kid you not). The kids are brought to Santa's shop by an elf and they see all the toys that are made. It is such a creepy, cheap and awful film that the guys use some of their best jokes in this one. So hilarious throughout.

"Christmas Rhapsody"-We see the littliest tree in a forest cut down and used as a christmas tree for a family. Thats about it folks, however the guys do get some good jokes off at this one.

"Three Magic Words"-Weird Al Yankovic joins the guys for this odd film about three guys who sing about the wonders of cooking, preparing and serving different dishes using pork. Its really odd and kinda creepy how the three guys keep popping up at odd times, but most of the jokes are funny even Weird Al fits in fine.

Mike and Bill present a gift to Kevin in the form of an old commercial about a battery operated dog named Gaylord. A few good jokes here, but its over before you know it.

"Twas The Night Before Christmas"-The classic rhyme is told as a family gets ready for bed to wake up Christmas morning, the dad sees Santa and his reindeer taking off to start delivering presents. Its well meaning but still pretty bad, thankfully the guys do a great job with this one.

Kevin and Mike present a gift to Bill, a commercial for some flight simulator called Jimmy Jet, which is very short, but the skit they do afterwards was funny.

"A Christmas Dream"-A girl gets some new gifts for christmas and casts her old doll to the side, but that night Santa comes in and makes the young girl dream the old doll coming to life. What follows is a series of creepy stuff the doll does to impress the girl enough so she won't get rid of it again. The guys do some great work here as they just seem stunned by the sheer madness of this short.

"Parade of Aquatic Champions"-Some footage of random people competiting in various swimming games, while a narrator talks about who they are. Its not a christmas short but it is quite funny as they always do well with these dull shorts.

Bill and Kevin present their gift to Mike which is the famous and very disturbing commercial for the toy named Ding-a-Ling. Oh the reactions alone are worth watching this.

"Rudolph: The Red Nosed Reindeer"-A 1940's cartoon retelling of the classic christmas tale of the world's most famous reindeer. The problem with this one is the images and suggestive material was horrifying on its own. Thankfully the guys rip on just about everything here and the funniest line of the night comes when Kevin reacts to something Santa says to Rudolph which causes the theater to explode in laughter for about 30 seconds straight.

This is a fun dvd which shows the guys at some of their high points as they have fun with some of the worst Christmas films ever.

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This 90-ish minute collection of Christmas-related shorts (plus a couple of non-Christmas efforts for good measure) is easily the best release from the Rifftrax crew yet. These guys really seem to hit their stride with short films. The highlights are "A Visit to Santa's Workshop", featuring two kids who speak incoherently and a Santa that sounds like a wise guy (the Rifftrax crew suggest that it was made by David Lynch), and a Rudolph cartoon that turns inexplicably suggestive to the point that the audience is just screaming laughter and the riffers miss some lines. These shorts would have you on the floor laughing even without the riffing.

There's also three old commercials for toys that will leave you going "Wow. Just...wow."

Plus, Weird Al Yankovic guest riffs one of the shorts.

My two negatives for this release...There are times where it's hard to understand what the riffers are saying...Kevin in particular...because of the echoing sound of the live performance. And it would have been nice if they included the shorts as standalone extra features.

Still...this will be the funniest Christmas show you own. A must for your Christmas collection.

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