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Cinester Theater logo, created by Gary "Slasher" Wickering
'Cinester Theater is an online riffing troupe founded in 2008 by Keith Wilson and Shawn Collins, based out of Phoenix, AZ. A third riffer, Brooks Cox, was added to the cast in 2013. One of the more prolific iRiffing groups, they are best known for their riffs of the "Back to the Future" trilogy and the documentary "March of the Penguins".
History[]
Original Cinester Theater logo, designed by Keith Wilson.
Keith Wilson and Shawn Collins first met in high-school. Both longtime fans of "Mystery Science Theater 3000", they had a similar sense of humor and quickly became friends. When Rifftrax.com began accepting fan-made riffs, Keith approached Shawn with the idea of recording their own feature-length movie riffs. The troupe was expanded in 2013 with the addition of Brooks, a longtime friend of both Shawn and Keith.
Shawn, Keith, and Brooks play fictionalized versions of themselves, with Shawn taking the role of the more level-headed (though occasionally cruel) leader, Keith as an impulsive, easily distracted simpleton, and Brooks as a well-meaning, but often gullible, balance between Shawn and Keith. As the most recent addition to the group, Brooks has been met with suspicion and jealousy from Keith, who often belittles or dismisses him.
Poster for "Cinester Theater Presents: Willow", designed by Keith Wilson. From top to bottom: Brooks, Syncy, Keith, Shawn.
From the beginning, Cinester Theater has been joined by Syncy the Sync Goblin, a sarcastic and occasionally psychotic goblin that serves as the group's sync voice. Syncy remains perpetually locked in a cage due to his tendency to threaten grievous injury to Shawn, Keith, and Brooks, and often demonstrates a homicidal impatience with the films he is forced to watch, the regular mistreatment he endures at the hands of his captors, and with the human race in general. Syncy is voiced by Shawn.
Though most of their riffs are firmly in the science-fiction/fantasy/action vein, Cinester Theater has earned a reputation for tackling movies normally considered "unriffable", starting with their riff of "Back to the Future" in 2009, as well as their riff of the documentary "March of the Penguins" in 2010. They've also riffed several family films, including two Charlie Brown holiday specials, the stop-motion musical "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and most recently, the animated film "Frozen". They have also taken on more traditional MST3k fare, including B-movies like "Planet of Dinosaurs", and "Tormented".
In 2009, Cinester Theater collaborated with the iRiff troupe Hor-RIFF-ic Productions to riff the two-part
Syncy the Sync Goblin. Image created by Gary "Slasher" Wickering.
made-for-TV movie "Stephen King's IT". The current Cinester Theater logo, as well as the cartoon image of Syncy the Sync Goblin, were created by Hor-RIFF-ic's Gary "Slasher" Wickering for the promotional poster.
After 7 years (including a 2 year hiatus between 2011 and 2013), Cinester Theater has one of the largest collections of material among iRiff groups. As of August 2014, they have 24 releases available on Rifftrax.com, including 21 feature-length riffs. They also have a number of shorts, serials, film reviews, and additional content available exclusively on YouTube.
Outside of film-riffing, Shawn and Keith are active stand-up comedians in the Phoenix area, and are also writers/performers for the Phoenix sketch-comedy group Bully Mammoth.
Riffography[]
- The Never Ending Story (released 11/19/2008)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (released 12/12/2008)
- Back to the Future (released 1/11/2009)
- Resident Evil - Degeneration (released 2/05/2009)
- E.T. (released 3/08/2009)
- Stephen King's IT (Part One) - (released 4/04/2009)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (released 5/05/2009)
- Back to the Future, Part II - (released 6/16/2009)
- Planet of Dinosaurs (Cinester Theater) (released 6/27/2009)
- Star Trek Voyager: Phage - (released 08/03/2009)
- Total Recall - (released 09/12/2009)
- Robocop - (released 10/20/2009)
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - (released 10/28/2009)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas - (released 11/05/2009)
- Batman Returns - (released 4/08/2010)
- Back to the Future, Part III - (released 05/19/2010)
- March of the Penguins - (released 10/12/2010)
- Short Circuit - (released 12/17/2010)
- The Karate Kid (1984) - (released 03/10/2013)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - (released 06/12/2013)
- Forrest Gump - (released 09/19/2013)
- Willow - (released 1/06/2014)
- Child's Play - (released 2/11/2014)
- Frozen - (released 6/20/2014)
- RoboCop (2014)
- Pretty Woman
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
Cast[]
- Shawn Collins as "Shawn"
- Keith Wilson as "Keith"
- Brooks Cox as "Brooks"
- Shawn Collins as "Syncy the Sync Goblin"