Cinematic Titanic: Making B Movies Fun

Who hasn't gotten a chuckle out of a B movie, or an "A" movie, for that matter? Poor production values, dumb script, and POOR ACTING! The people of the comedy troupe CINEMATIC TITANIC have developed making fun of, or " riffing" these type of movies to an art form.

First formed under the Cinematic Titanic banner in late 2007 , the cast is made up of five of the major cast members of the huge fan favorite TV show -- " Mystery Science Theater 3000. The performers are : Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, Josh Weinstein, Frank Conniff , and Trace Bealieu.

The robots, Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, and Gypsy are gone, but they have maintained the use of the silhouettes as a homage to MST3K. There are even comedy skits during the course of the show. To me, the comedy bits are not as much fun as the inspired riffing they do on the movies. THAT has always been where their true strength lies.

The other three major cast members of MST3K , Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett formed their own group .Initially called the FILM CREW , they released four DVDs under that name. They are much better known under the name RiffTrax now!

Cinematic Titanic makes fun of such cinematic " luminaries " as : " Rattlers", " The Doll Squad", " Alien Factor" , and " Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks." They are fun shows, with brilliant humor. It is not uncommon for me to laugh all the way through a DVD of their shows. Some of the shows are prerecorded on a sound stage as they watch the movie and make their comments. But, it is in front of a live audience that Cinematic Titanic truly excels.

The live shows are vastly better than the taped shows. Being live in front of an audience seems to bring more energy and more of a tendency to ad lib. Trace has a great ad lib in the " Alien Factor " show, you can tell it is an ad lib due to the spontaneous and sustained laughter from both Joel Hodgson and Mary Jo Pehl. Also, in the live performances, you get to see and hear the audience 's reactions.

Seeing and hearing the AUDIENCE enjoying the show makes those of us watching the show while sitting at home feel a more enjoyable experience. And there is ALWAYS audience applause and uproarious laughter.

After honing their act for over a decade on Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the crew knows how to put on a phenomenal show. The very first DVD release The Oozing Skull is currently available on HULU ( as are a dozen others). One of the very best shows is the riff of the movie : East Meets Watts. The plot? A young man arrives from China looking for his long lost brother. Instead, he soon stumbles across some shady people that would rather see him dead. He crosses paths with Stud Brown , and the two of them team up to take on the bad guys. Yes... there's a surprise ending, but FORGET all of that! It is irrelevant in the face of the rapid pace riffing. Trouble On Tiki Island is another live performance that is highly recommended.

Sadly, when you have such a group of talented and creative people such as the Cinematic Titanic crew , they tend to want to do other things. Much like why John Cleese left the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. He wanted to do something completely different . The show " Fawlty Towers" was the end result of this decision. The folks at Cinematic Titanic are doing the same. Fans of the series were informed, via the Cinematic Titanic website , on February 16, 2013 that the series was being placed on an " indefinite hiatus ."

All five members live in five different cities , so getting together to perform was increasingly difficult ." The final tour began on September 23, 2013 with the final taping being done on December 30, 2013.

The DVD's are available online at the Cinematic Titanic store , or via Amazon.com, all are highly recommended!