Phil attends the Rifftrax Live! Broadcast of STARSHIP TROOPERS at the Century 20 Oakridge-August 15, 2013

Hello again everybody! So this past Thursday night, my sister Stephanie and I attended the live RiffTrax broadcast of STARSHIP TROOPERS, a true sci-fi cult classic from the 1990's! So the both of us couldn't wait to see this show!

So if you don't know what a Rifftrax is, let me give you all a quick definition. Rifftrax "are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling (or riffing) films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax commentaries are sold online and delivered by digital download," according to the website Wikipedia. But all this is just a fancy way of saying, "it's funny as hell!" Now Nelson, Murphy, and Corbett do the occasional live shows from one venue that is broadcast to hundreds of theaters all across the country, courtesy of teaming up with NCM Fathom Events. The closest theater that was participating in the live broadcast was the Century 20 Theaters in Oakridge Mall. So all of us headed over there to catch this awesome cinematic event!

Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, & Michael J. Nelson

After making their introductions, the guys began riffing on the sci-fi classic STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997). The film stars Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico), Denise Richards (Carmen Ibanez), Dina Meyer (Dizzy Flores), Neil Patrick Harris (Carl Jenkins), Jake Busey (Ace Levy), and Michael Ironside (Jean Rasczak). The film's about the human race trying to survive from eradication from an invasion of giant, mutant insects. With the plot sounds like a AIP B-Movie flick from the 1950's, there's more going on here than meets the eye. Director Paul Verhoeven has helmed other classics such as ROBOCOP (1987), TOTAL RECALL (1990), and BASIC INSTINCT (1992), but with this film, Verhoeven satires on war, patriotism, propaganda, and perverted idealism of the Utopian American dream.

Of course, Mike, Bill, and Kevin made the impossible possible as they just tore through this Hollywood creation! With jokes like, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles" when the gigantic bugs come walking on screen, to taking shots at Jake Busey's big teeth and Denise Richards as "the worst Bond Girl ever!"

This was an awesome RiffTrax event! Now just in case you missed it, there will be an encore screening of the event on Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 7:30pm! To purchase RiffTrax downloads of audio commentaries, DVDs, and Blu-Rays, visit their website at www.rifftrax.com. To learn more about Mystery Science Theater 3000, visit their website at www.mst3k.com. To learn about upcoming Fathom Events coming to your town, visit their website at www.fathomevents.com.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!