We are as live as live can be. We are livid.
Well, that was an exceedingly pleasant way to pass two hours. I've seen Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space before, but watching it with the Rifftrax guys -- MST3K alums Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett -- commenting on it live was a whole new experience for me (as I suspect it was for the thousands of other people viewing it at movie theaters across the nation). Broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, where the trio performed for a live audience, the show commenced with an industrial short from the '50s called Flying Stewardess (which gave them ample material to work with) before segueing to a couple of sci-fi/horror-related songs by Jonathan Coulton, whose fans in the Nashville audience mouthing along with the words were cause for much amusement here in Bloomington. Coulton also joined the "Rifftones" (featuring Mike Nelson on nose flute) for a song about the first eight plans the aliens used before forging ahead with the ninth (because the ninth time is always the charm).
"Here we go with the Citizen Kane of bad movies," quipped Mike as the movie started and it's hard to argue with him. While they may not have tackled it on Mystery Science Theater, they've given it plenty of attention since then. First there was the Legend Films release of the 2005 colorized version, which featured solo commentary from Nelson. Then Murphy and Corbett joined him for a group commentary that was made available through their website and, a couple months back, on DVD. And that formed the basis of tonight's live show, with the addition of some up-to-the-minute riffs about Paul Blart, waterboarding and Transformers 2 (not to mention several callbacks to Flying Stewardess). Now, I'm not complaining because I did have a great time, but should the team decide to do this again (and I see no reason why they shouldn't), I hope they go with something a little less shopworn next time.