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For the uninitiated... A contingent of tropers (mostly from across America) holds regular get-togethers over the Interwebs on this site called Synchtube
which lets individuals, such as ourselves, open and join in text-based chatrooms within typical web browsers (Firefox, Chrome, et. al.) that allow the chat participants to view YouTube videos in synchronization with everyone else present (without even needing to set up an account)... and we've decided to use said chatrooms to play cheeseball webvideos and feature-length movies found in the public domain which stretch all the way from letters B
to Z
, which everyone subsequently riffs on a la MST3K.
For over EIGHT years, everybody who gets involved mostly finds good enjoymentnote in calling out tropes that are recognized in the videos and stories and coming up with jokes to fling back at whatever's happening on the screen, many of which turn into various in-jokes and running gags (a Coven Glossary is kept and maintained for everyone's help and convenience HERE
) to repeat in the chat.
We're always looking for new ways to better coordinate and expand our activities and are more than happy to welcome newcomers interested in joining our gatherings.
Complete List of Past Features (and Their Respective Ratings)
Suggestions List for Future Features
Coven Glossary of In-Jokes, Memes, and Other Useful Terms to Know
Coven .gif Gallery
(Our favorite moving images composed in the simplest of digital formats)
Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 12th 2020 at 1:47:43 PM
Never thought I'd ever stumble upon an Eric Freeman movie clip that could be regarded nearly as much as anything in Silent Night Deadly Night, Part 2, but, damn, was THIS
fucking incredible (NOTE: If you weren't around to catch it in the chat last night, expect some nasty low-budget gore effects and disgusting noises). That shit's almost deserving to be as widely remembered as "Garbage Day!"
And I'll be keeping note on all those movies that have been suggested.
Anyway, up tonight we got Butch Patrick going on a magical adventure into a 2-Dimensional world in The Phantom Tollbooth.
I've actually seen a review of Dracula Sovereign of the Damned. Let's see... Ah, here it is.
Phantom Tollbooth tonight? Oh I'm definitely coming.
I saw The Phantom Tollbooth a few months back, when TCM was running a night of vintage animation.
It's actually really, really good. The animation is great - but then, it's Chuck Jones, the voice acting features people like Mel Blanc and Daws Butler... What is not to like?
"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."~Bisected8 ~Morgikit ~WillKeaton ~WilliamRadarStorm ~CompletelyNormalGuy ~AnimeBadger ~Lewattoo ~ColonelCathcart ~FingerPuppet ~Wuggles ~SpaceWolf ~Tre ~Inhopelessguy ~Peptobislawl
Okay, tonight it's the animated version of The Phantom Tollbooth, the classic US kids' book whose author wrote it in his spare time one day while he was bored when he was supposed to be working on a different book. The product of boredom then went on to become a classic.
Before the movie, we got our pre-show miscellany, which can't be summed up in a sentence because each video is different.
Join us at http://cytu.be/r/tropercoven
Well, two non-regulars, who are familiar with the book, joined us: CapedLuigisYoshi and zbse. Syrika, a fan of the book, returned.
It ultimately got ★★★. Barely, but got it. Fans of the book expressed their displeasure at some of the changes that had been made to the movie, but ultimately, the group enjoyed it. I'm not familiar enough to recognize most of the changes. But it was fun. It looked like Chuck Jones made some changes for the sake of adding things that would be fun to animate.
Knowless asked me to link to my fanart here... There's a full list here
, at the end. (The preceding text is probably not worth reading. :P )
The ones I'm particularly pleased with -
- (Older
) Milo
- The Whetherman
, Tock
, and Alec Bings
- Sergeant Shrift
- Lethargarians
- The Horrible Hopping Hindsight
- The Senses Taker
To the first, that's supposed to be a magnifying glass. :P
To the second, that's related to the text-that's-probably-not-worth-reading; basically, I noticed Milo can be seen as experiencing clinical depression (which someone else commented tonight about the film as well!) and decided to illustrate the Lands Beyond as if they were his Mental World. :) Whetherman reflects that idea more than some of the others.
ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
Always dug your drawings. Still got your "Badass Ensemble" sketch (circa 2010 AD)
framed on my wall... or saved on my computer hard drives. It exists in one of those states, I'm sure, but I can never keep track of which. Yeah, cool picture.
Anyway, tonight we got Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore in a "Romance [Movie] In The Youtube Age", which I'm absolutely sure in no way will be utterly dreadful to endure.
Her name is Lola... but everyone calls her LOL.
hay sorry i didnt say goodbye like a chill person yesterday, my internet was acting up
i dont know where to start secret movie club for cool pplI'm glad I was able to convince two newcomers to join our group, even if only for the day. I hope we can repeat that success in the future.
In the meantime, I seem to be the only one spreading the word. Do any of you know of other people who might be interested in what we're up to here? Do you hang around on other forums or threads on this site populated by people who might like to join us?
Prom and I were big on making notices in the Troper Updates thread before chats would begin for a long while. We definitely got a few people to find out and take interest in our activities from that, but overtime, it didn't seem to be getting us anywhere so I just stopped bothering.
The main thing that I'm always self-conscious about when bringing up the coven in other discussions is that, as the guy who also very clearly maintains this thread and OP, it might give the wrong impression to some first-time observers and appear like I'm merely trying to be at the center of attention and have everybody gather around me, which may turn off some people who may have initially been curious.
Perhaps that's totally unfounded and I shouldn't be that concerned. But I still think it looks a better when one sees somebody other than an OP'er bring up a thread topic elsewhere because that already suggests that there's more than one person out there with an interest in a particular activity and builds legitimacy for the active group as a whole.
Bonsai, what you've been doing already to spread word and create buzz has already brought us more positive hits in such a short time than I've spent in months and months posting in the Updates thread. For that much alone, you deserve a resounding round of applause, at the very least. Whatever it is you're doing, keep your foot on the gas and don't slow down.
And for what things are worth over in Yack Fest, there are several potential places to talk up time in the coven after our nights conclude, as well. What was the last movie you watched?
, Greatest quotes you've seen all day
, Things you didn't know until recently
, I could go on. If anyone has ever felt an urge to share anything you experience here with people who weren't there, there are plenty of paths available to take, and all of that can generate interest.
And lets not forget about our oft-neglected Silly Scene Showcase
spin-off thread over in Live-Action Film.
edited 22nd Jan '15 4:03:38 PM by SeanMurrayI

Other than Bruce Campbell... who?
War is God.