Musical Mondays Week 24 Reefer Madness

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I just bought the RiffTrax streaming video for the original movie. Supposedly this one is better than the live one they did. Will watch it tonight and/or tomorrow.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I just bought the RiffTrax streaming video for the original movie. Supposedly this one is better than the live one they did. Will watch it tonight and/or tomorrow.

I don't remember specifics because it's been so long, but I do remember really enjoying the Rifftrax version of the original. Rifftrax is good times, so I hope you enjoy it as well!

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

I don't remember specifics because it's been so long, but I do remember really enjoying the Rifftrax version of the original. Rifftrax is good times, so I hope you enjoy it as well!

 

I love the Rifftrax version. I think I have the non-live one...

 

I love the Mary Jo and Bridget ones they’ve been doing lately. If you haven’t already, you should check them out.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I love the Rifftrax version. I think I have the non-live one...

 

I love the Mary Jo and Bridget ones they’ve been doing lately. If you haven’t already, you should check them out.

I haven't seen any Rifftrax at all. I was originally put off by having to own the movie they were riffing and then they would comment alongside. Now that they release the movie with their commentary I have a better shot. Amazon Prime Video has some titles available for free streaming or for rental/purchase. I have Night of the Living Dead in my queue to watch this weekend.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I haven't seen any Rifftrax at all. I was originally put off by having to own the movie they were riffing and then they would comment alongside. Now that they release the movie with their commentary I have a better shot. Amazon Prime Video has some titles available for free streaming or for rental/purchase. I have Night of the Living Dead in my queue to watch this weekend.

 

It depends what type of movie it is. If they are riffing a blockbuster (which, sadly, they do less and less of these days) then, yes you have to own the movie. But if it's some B Movie from 20 years ago, they do it as VOD.

 

Although, it is worth it sometimes to buy a movie you otherwise wouldn't to listen to the riffs. It's the only reason I own the entire Twilight saga.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I'm so happy medical research has advanced so we no longer allow brain-destroying "knock-knock jokes". CTE is no laughing matter!

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Some more notes before we move on. I have been watching the movie and listened to the stage soundtrack recently.

• I realized the lecturer/narrator from the stage show not only plays the warden but is the voice of the radio announcer as well. That matches the stage show. Funny how much I've heard his voice and didn't put two-and-two together until now.
  
• The stage show doesn't have Jimmy make a magical escape as far as I can tell. The trial ends, Jimmy is found guilty and immediately sentenced. Jesus reappears and Jimmy makes a plea bargain attempt. Jesus rejects this ("You didn't 'Listen to Jesus, Jimmy'") and sends Jimmy to Hell. (This is interesting since it sounds like Robert Torti played both the judge and Jesus. That must be quite the quick change.)
  
• The soundtrack has an interesting cut number called "We Know Best". Sung by Jimmy's parents it talks about he's still a teenager so he shouldn't think for himself and just do whatever they say. I understand why it was cut but it probably planted the seed for expanding the "trust the government" narrative to the extremes the movie did.
  
• The lecturer seems to appear as Moloch even in the stage soundtrack so I am curious how many roles the lecturer plays and how many were added/changed for Alan Cumming. I think Alan fits in pretty well despite knowing it's obviously him each time. I can't imagine the stage soundtrack lecturer acting that out on stage.
  
• I'm curious to see a stage production. I don't imagine it's in wide production but there are lots of videos on YouTube. Not sure if it would be appropriate for a high school but the protagonists are supposed to be high school students.
  

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I watched the Rifftrax commentary on the original 1936 movie and it was OK. Had some good laughs (and one snort "WHAT?!?!?"). I'm glad they mentioned the obvious age of Ralph in that movie but it applies to this movie as well. Heck it applied for the stage show on top of that as John Kassir played Ralph in both recent versions. John Kassir was *drumroll* FORTY when he first played Ralph. Several weeks ago, on October 24th, he turned SIXTY! He wasn't even a former college boy when the musical first hit the boards.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I just wanted to thank Cinco for a great pick! I can't wait to find out what Kate has in store for us

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

I'm writing from my cellphone and thats when I have the worst typos and Its hard for me to attach photos... I'll do it as soon as I can as well as giving my opinion on Reefer Madness Cross My Heart and hope to cry ;-)

 

P.P.S.: Thank you for letting me hijack this thread for this post only I LOVE YOU GUYS

 

 

The Invitation/Ticket

 

My Plastic Spoon and a Toy Football

 

 

My frozen face from the cold (I was uber happy but the temperature was against me showing it) outside after the movie

 

 

 

As for the Reefer Madness musical there were some catchy tunes and Kristen Bell was the MVP IMHO (followed by a tie: Christine Lakin & Alan Cumming & Jesus) but the Anachronisms and some attempts at darker humor and jokes that didn't land made the movie so-so for me. Maybe an ALL dark version of this that is not so much a parody of the Reefer Madnes movie could work but the jokes and humor have to be on point and it can't be 50% campy and 50% dark IMO

 

And Neve Campbell was underused and I would of liked to see some more of her and her character (Maybe i the sequel? Reefer Madness 2: Electric Vapearoo)... I think she was on set for like a couple of hours MAX! (Meaning the runtime of the movie NAILED IT!)

 

But at the end it was all worth it for Kristen Bell

 

 

Thanks for the pick Cinco!!!

[SaraK 1980]

I was reading an interview with Kristen Bell and Reefer Madness came up! Apparently the people from it are the reason she went to LA. Without that, would we have The Good Place, my favorite show on tv? Thankfully we don't have to know the answer to that. Kristen Bell Gets Candid About Her Codependency — and The Good Place’s Effect on Her Moral Code

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My favorite thing you’ve ever done is the Reefer Madness movie-musical, and it brings me great sorrow that the subject matter will probably bar it from the network TV live-broadcast treatment.
That it so richly deserves, yeah. Maybe when weed becomes federally legal and we can all laugh about how seriously we took it, who knows! At least the people with the right sensibility can watch the one we did, and recognize how it’s all just funny and absurd, and see why we made it.

I just love those people so, so much. I have a very special relationship with that film, because I was doing it onstage in New York during 9/11. We were all together during the event, which bonds you to people, dare I say more, than being in a show with someone, when you’re spending 12 hours together every day for six months at a time.

When did you start the production back up again? It’s a pretty lighthearted show, I can’t imagine how it would’ve played in the days after a tragedy like that.
We were Off Broadway at Variety Arts on 14th and Third, a theater that’s now closed. It’s difficult to articulate, because there are still so many emotions surrounding this: being grateful for our lives, the pain of having witnessed trauma. The quarantine line was at 14th Street, so we were technically below that. We were in tech, with the plan to open on September 13, and I had slept at Christian Campbell’s house because he and his wife had an apartment around the corner. I was up in Washington Heights, a 45-minute train ride away, and they told me to sleep on their couch so that we could just go around the block in the morning and get a little more rest. He goes running in the morning, and the rest of us are woken up by Christian telling us there are construction workers screaming in the streets. We rushed outside and walked to the theater in time to watch the second tower fall from the street. We tried to donate blood, then we went to our producer Stephanie’s apartment and stayed there for the next 24 hours. We just waited to figure out what was happening. It was scary, and I’m still grateful that I had a safe group of people to be with. It’s one of those things you never forget.

We still ended up opening the show. We agreed that we didn’t know what people were going to want, but we had to keep our minds busy. We thought it might bring some people joy, and figure we ought to do the job we’d been paid to do. For about three weeks, we performed in a 500-seat theater to an audience of four people.

I kind of owe my career to those guys. Andy Fickman, who directed Reefer Madness, and Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, who wrote it, and Christian Campbell, who starred, were the ones who convinced me to move to Los Angeles. I was like, “I don’t know anyone there, I don’t know how to do this,” and they told me, “Then we will be your family when you come out here.” It was the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had, and I had to be told to give it to myself. I went out there and lived on Kevin Murphy’s couch for a couple months, who was the lyricist. I absolutely would not be where I am today without them.