The Best Of RiffTrax Shorts, Volume Two (2009)
“The song was so bad it trimmed itself out of the footage!”
And finally, we come to another collection of lousy educational short films. The Best Of RiffTrax Shorts, Volume Two features nine more oddities from the vaults of le domaine publique. Whereas Volume One’s shorts tended to not be as “riffable” as one would hope for, the RiffTrax crew rips through these babies like Orson Welles at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"One Got Fat" (1963) is a horrific bicycle safety film featuring kids with scary papier-mâché monkey masks getting killed one by one (à la Ten Little Indians) on their way to a picnic in the park while Edward Everett Horton joyfully narrates the, er, “fun” (the disturbing short later wound up as the music video for a song by Boards Of Canada). If papier-mâché monkey masks weren’t enough to scare you, then how about a good old fashioned PUPPET SHOW? "Beginning Responsibility - Lunchroom Manners" (1960) begins with a classroom watching the rude antics of puppet Mr. Bungle. The show has a profound impact on young towhead Phil, who makes sure to be as anal as possible from there on in.
Next, get ready for the most depressing educational short EVER with "Elementary School Children, Part I: Each Child Is Different" (1953). Come and witness the personal tragedies of Miss Smith’s fifth grade class: there’s the dyslexic and withdrawn Robert; young Ruth, whose mother died and left her to raise her baby brother with a very depressed dad; Mark, who… um… yeah; Elizabeth, whose parents couldn’t care less about her (but nevertheless don‘t hesitate to take all of their frustrations out on her); and finally, the short kid whose father doesn’t like him nearly as much as his more macho big brother. The fun never stops! "Why Doesn’t Cathy Eat Breakfast?" (1972) is best-described as a dairy council propaganda film, wherein a disembodied voice follows a tween girl around from the moment she wakes up and bombards her with the same damn question. Unfortunately, nobody gets an answer out of the tight-lipped lass, leading to a “Stop Projector - Discuss Film” title card. Huh? Since "Cathy" is such a short flick, the folks at RiffTrax wisely “double-billed” it with an even odder companion propaganda piece, "Petaluma Chicken" (1932), which, contrary to the title, is all about making a giant omelet.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Snorticle! I too miss MST3K, and I hadn't realized RiffTrax had covered so many films. Nice work.
I downloaded their audio-only RiffTrax for The Matrix, and I've been sold ever since. Funny, funny stuff.
2 - Luigi Bastardo
Thanks, Phillip. I haven't heard the RiffTrax for The Matrix yet...I can't bring myself to watch that movie again. I did manage to check out their commentary for Twilight a few weeks ago and that movie most assuredly had it coming.
3 - Zack
They recently riffed the sparkly vampire movie Twilight... it's the best they've done thus far, I think.
4 - Luigi Bastardo
My significant other was rather obsessed with Twilight a while back (poor thing) so I jumped at that RiffTrax just to break the monotony if nothing else. The "Benny Hill" moment was wonderful.
5 - Corn Job
I also think that their treatment of the dreadful movie The Happening is extremely funny, and very well deserved. That movie is so incredibly awful that I was already laughing constantly when I originally watched it on it's own, and I knew right away that it would make for an excellent Rifftrax.