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Monday, March 19, 2018

Shapes We Live With (Rifftrax Shorts)


Rifftrax Year:  2016
Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

Just when you thought the Drawing for Beginners films were the most rudimentary shorts that Rifftrax would ever tackle, here comes Shapes We Live With.  This daring and sophisticated film teaches us veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry...sloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwllllllllyy the shapes of spheres, cylinders, cones, and cubes and repeats endlessly how to tell them apart.

I realize this short was intended for children, but I have to conclude it was for very young ones.  This short is repetitive and spacious, to let it sink in the differences between these four shapes.  I will never forget the difference again, I'll tell you that.  Because now it's burned in my memory.

Because of how spacious this short is, there are plenty of open opportunities for riffing.  Mike, Kevin, and Bill are more than able to fill in the long gaps of nothing in this short, often pointing out how it talks down to the viewer and how repetitive the lesson is.  But if there is one thing that can be said about this short it's that maybe there is too little dialogue.  We have grand portions where even the riffers don't seem to have anything to say because there is nothing happening, and we're given gaps of nothing in return.

However, the material here is quite funny, and strong enough to recommend fully.  At this shorts worst you'll just sigh as you'll be learning things you already know...repeatedly.  But the laughs will make it all worthwhile.

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