Topic: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

It came up in another thread, and I'm curious - what are your top episodes, and why? Top five, top ten, whatever.

Normally I'd answer this question with things I'd say as Mr. DIF, to hopefully get off on the right foot with someone, but I'll answer preferentially for myself instead.

1. Twilight - I think we're really firing on all cylinders here. The energy is high, there's a lot of laughs, there's a lot of mockery, and a lot of fixin.' Plus knowledge of (and mockery, and fixin') the book.

2. Titanic - A big episode, but solid throughout, plus with a well-argued contrarian stance and a lot of history factoids. Plus comedy. Favorite line: "Don't they know we have lard?" - Trey

3. Surrogates - Hard to top the energy of this one, plus the comedy, and the fixin.' Just a fun ass episode.

4. 2012: Moby Dick - Is what it is - the ultimate director's commentary, for a movie from a much maligned studio, with all of the interesting behind-the-curtain fun of an Asylum exposé plus general BTS moviemaking stories to boot.

5. Terminator: Salvation - I think the second-hardest I've ever laughed on the show was at Dorkman's bit about the ILM artist who didn't find out until shoot day that they'd be using puppets. Lots of franchise-wide insight, and good fixin.'

6. Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back - A tie. These are both awesome listening. I think Star Wars is the more solid commentary, but TESB has more of a DIF feel to it, discussing previous drafts and subtlety. Both are funny. But...

7. Return of the Jedi - The hardest I've ever laughed in an episode. "This is your pilot speaking." My god. An otherwise pretty-damn-good episode, but there's about a minute and a half of solid gold toward the 90 minute mark.

8. Legion - I'm proud of us for this one. With a minimum of atheistic snark, four atheists basically rewrite a "God movie" and make it a thousand times more interesting, and more biblical. Plus funny.

9. Explorers - Simply because of our detective work in the last third of this two-thirds-of-a-movie.

10. Scott Pilgrim - I was so worried about this episode, because I thought I was the only one who wasn't a fan. By the end, we have several good reasons why - love it or hate it - it could, fundamentally, be a lot better.


When I introduce someone, I usually send them to Twilight. What about y'all?

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Constantine - the best example of "what is a perfect movie" commentary

Last edited by Fido (2012-01-21 15:10:32)

Jason doesn't teleport.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

This thread is actually gonna be helpful to me. I haven't watched that many episodes yet, so I'll follow your list.

Sébastien Fraud
Instagram |Facebook

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

oh yes, and Monsters Inc - the best "everyone was just radiating big love for a movie" commentary gets my recommendation too smile

Last edited by Fido (2012-01-21 15:11:04)

Jason doesn't teleport.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

I'll see, but I really want to watch the Twilight one. I can't begin to imagine the potential it has.

Last edited by Saniss (2012-01-21 14:31:51)

Sébastien Fraud
Instagram |Facebook

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

JAWS: Because it's already been tested and worked on at least one person.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD: Lots of solid analysis and breakdown of what's "wrong" and how to fix it.

THE BLOB: This one is all kinds of fun, not to mention educational since Trey worked on it.

TWILIGHT: What Teague said, but mostly because it's damn funny. "Dawson's Creek would have been so much better if Joey was a Vampire". (I want to visit the Alternate Universe where that's the show we got!)

SUNSHINE: A good, thoughtful examination, but mostly a recommendation for the "Going to the Mansion" glossary term and definition.

IRON MAN 2: I actually prefer this commentary over the track for the first film. This one just has way more worthwhile discussions relevant to screenwriting, visual effects and how it can all go wrong, very easily. And this is even after Ryan's excellent video review of the film.

WANTED: Much like the film itself, this track is just all kinds of wacky fun! Unlike the film, this track actually has something to say and has replay value.

KILL BILL VOL. 1 & 2 (TIE): I know this is kind of cheating, but I think they should really be consumed back-to-back as one big, educational track. I also like the value of it not being a complete love fest. There are a lot of fair and balanced opposing view points.

SLITHER: More fun than insightful, though it does have its fair share. I mostly like this one because it makes me laugh, for obvious reasons. smile

PAN'S LABYRINTH: Because it actually managed to legitimately and intellectually change my mind about a movie! I thought it was great, listened to this track, then did a complete 180 by the end! That's powerful stuff right there. On a related note, I think The Devil's Backbone is the much better execution of this kind of material.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

THE LOST WORLD: a really good example of you guys breaking down a sequel and why it doesn't work and asking if it could ever work.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Top 10...
10. Jurassic Park
9. Star Trek Wrath of KHAAAAAAAN!
8. Matrix 1
7. Star Wars 3
6. Independance Day.
5. Last Airbender.
4. Spiderman 3
3. Terminator: Salvation
2. Star Wars Episode 1
1. Star Wars Episode 2.

Looking at it now, I realize I loving listening to you guys go insane about crappy movies. Anyway those are my ten. As for the Intermission I couldn't tell you, I have only heard 3 (As of now)

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Jurassic Park.  It was full of cool scientific anecdotes and there was a great joke about birds wanting to be told they were pretty.  Before listening to that episode I liked the show because it was a bunch of cool movie commentaries.  Afterward I realized that I would listen to the four of them talk about anything (like with Top Gear).* 

*I feel like that there could have been a semicolon in there somewhere.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

The two movies that convinced me were Salvation and GB2.  You guys nailed the multi-leveled T:S failure beautifully.  And Mike's GB2 line in the Halp video. After he said that I was like, "these are my people."

Best overall commentary is Titanic. I've listened to it more than once.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Serenity worked for me.

"Life is about movies; anything else is a bonus!"- Me   cool

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Twilight.

By the pure happenstance that it was the newest review when I came across the site, Twilight was the first I listened to. I clicked on it expecting Down in Front to be a wannabe RiffTrax, but what I found was much more interesting than Rifftrax ever is. So I can vouch for your #1 Teague, it's worked on at least one regular listener.

That was all I came to post, but looking back over the archives...

Spider-Man 1 & 2
I loved these two movies and never has my opinion of a movie been changed so much by discussion.

Terminator: Salvation
It was great fun listening to Teague discover one of the best sci-fi franchises of all time, but Salvation was definitely the best commentary of the series. More to fix tends to result in a better commentary, I guess.

All Zack Snyder Commentaries
I don't necessarily understand DiF's love for this guy, but what's great about these commentaries is that you don't always seem to understand it either. So you pick the films apart until you come up with a pretty compelling case and aren't afraid to bash what deserves to be bashed. Educational and entertaining.

2001: A Space Odyssey
Great discussion all around, but Teague's revelation in understanding this movie is what makes it one of my favorite DiFs.

The Princess Bride
My favorite of the movies that DiF universally praises.

Transformers 1 & 2
So. Much. Fixing. Plus they're fun to make fun of, great commentaries on both counts.

The Fountain
My favorite film, and this commentary changed my interpretation of it. Probably not for everyone, but that definitely makes it one of my personal favorites.

Titanic
I don't even enjoy this film, but your unpacking of it was informative enough that I'd still rank it among my favorites.

Constantine
The same goes for this.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
I was incredibly surprised to find that someone else that liked this movie.

Pitch Black
Same goes for this. The "Vin Diesel is watching you" meme idea was hilarious, and I was particularly mind-blown to hear someone else who knew about and prefers the original "Vin Diesel Facts" meme over "Chuck Norris Facts".

Inception
Same goes for this, but replace "liked" with "was disappointed in", and you justify it far better than I could ever put into words.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Since I'm a relatively new convert to DiF I'm looking at this thread as more educational than me having much to share.

Though I should say that I was never going to watch Twilight and wanted to keep it that way, but...

I really enjoyed the SW/ESB/ROTJ commentaries and would recommend them to anyone. I even enjoyed the prequels which threw in a lot of "these could be much better if" along with the required "this is awful" comments.

Close Encounters was the first one I watched live with everyone and found that great fun too.

I have some catching up to do.

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

The Abyss commentary was the one that converted me. Just all of Trey's behind the scenes stories are awesome on that.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Jaws was the 1st DiF commentary I listened to because it's my favorite movie, so I'd probably share that one with anyone that'd listen.  It's a great commentary too. 
Some recommendations would be based on the person I was receommending DiF to as well.  My nephew has become a bit of a cinephile so I just told him to go and listen, they've all got something to offer. 
Any of the films Trey worked on have been very informative and enthralling to me.  I push The Abyss commentary a lot.
Other favorites: SW/ESB/RotJ, Princess Bride, and the prequel trilogy commentaries (along with Lego Star Wars) are the best way to watch those films.
Most of the commentaries make me revist films I already love, like Ghostbusters, but haven't seen in a while; or they convince me to check out films I had avoided, like Constantine.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

I agree that Titanic and Twilight are the best to start with.

I really thought that the Twilight commentary was a great look at sexual fears and expectations that exist today.  The only thing that I thought was missing was you never talked about how Bella's options were limited to:

A guy who wants to eat her because her blood smells so good, but who will try not to, because he can not hear her thoughts, and that makes her interesting (really? Is that not kind of insulting to both of them?)

And a guy who really likes her, but if she pisses him off, will turn into a wolf, who will maim or kill her (Is this a commentary on domestic violence?)

It really upsets me that these are the choices that girls today seem to be faced with.  Where are the guys who respect her, and enjoy hanging out with her?


Where is Lloyd Dobler or Mark Hunter (Hard Harry)? Or even Jake Ryan? Or even Daniel Larusso. John Bender never wanted to hurt Claire, or turn her into him.

In terms of the Titanic commentary, Trey just killed it with all the stories he knew about what really happened. I have been repeating them to various family members ever since, and telling them to listen to the podcast!

I listened to the Silence of the Lambs first, and Starship Troopers second, and those got me hooked.

Last edited by Gibson (2012-01-29 11:51:30)

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Gibson wrote:

A guy who wants to eat her because her blood smells so good, but who will try not to, because he can not hear her thoughts, and that makes her interesting (really? Is that not kind of insulting to both of them?)

In all fairness you also just described the key relationship from the first few seasons of True Blood, and they managed to handle it sooooo much more interestingly than Twilight ever could. So that dynamic really isn't at the root of the problem.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

18

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

I personally love all the commentaries that criticise the film heavily (Star Wars prequels and Matrix sequels)

I have recommended DIF to a few friends and I have always told them to start with the Spider-man trilogy. I initially thought the films were not too bad. My opinion made a complete 180 once I heard the commentaries for them.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Maul2
You are right that Sookie liked Bill because she could not hear his thoughts. Sookie having her mind to herself means that she will act according to her own will.

Bella's mind being unreadable was attractive to Edward...because he really never cared what she thought.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

Gibson wrote:

It really upsets me that these are the choices that girls today seem to be faced with.  Where are the guys who respect her, and enjoy hanging out with her?

If we're talking about Bella specifically here, then you won't find those kinds of guys in Twilight for two simple but important reasons:

1. Bella is a miserable, selfish, uninteresting non-character. As Dorkman so eloquently stated in DiF's Twilight commentary, "If Edward did know what Bella was thinking, he wouldn't like her."

2. Stephenie Meyer seems to have a very immature, narrow-minded and dangerously sexist opinion of young men. You won't find smart, "respectful" men capable of deep, lengthy conversation in these stories because either Meyer herself doesn't believe they exist, or she doesn't have the capability and experience to write about them. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I assume and hope it's the latter.

Discussions and points like these abound in the Down In Front commentary for Twilight, which is why the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's one of my subjective favorites, and one of their objective best. smile

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: How do you introduce someone to DIF? (Favorite episodes.)

The Armageddon one is a favourite. smile

I also have fond memories of the Christmas Special where you exchanged the members of the commentary during the progress. Not a good one to *introduce* someone to it, of course, but I still like it a lot.... smile

/Z

Thumbs up Thumbs down