I Dislike Your Favorite Team

The two guys who headlined Mystery Science Theater 3000 never worked together, but they have both realized that the new media lends itself to their talents. They have taken somewhat different tacks, but it seems to be working for both of them. It reminds me a bit of when Uncle Tupelo split into Son Volt and Wilco.

Mike Nelson jumped in sooner, and with the more innovative idea. Hence, he's Wilco, in this metaphor. Nelson and buddies have recorded mp3's, that can be downloaded, and played in time with DVD's that you rent. That keeps them from having to get the rights of recent awful movies. The number one thing holding Nelson's project back is the awful name--"RiffTrax". But it is still brilliant. And like I said, doing it the way they are doing it allows them to do recent movies. No scrounging for rights. Here they are, ripping 300.




Joel Hodgson, the creator of MST3K, has gone a different route. He's gone classic MST3K (hence, the Son Volt in this equation). Shadows on the screen of old school, classicly bad movies that no one has ever seen. He's having to deal with copyrights and shit like that. But he's brought a clearly classic cast of characters to help him. In time, both of these franchises should be hugely successful. Here's the trailer to Hodgson and Company's "Cinematic Titanic"





Mike Nelson's Rifftrax
Joel Hodgson's Cinematic Titanic