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My apologies for taking so long to do a full recap. Work, travel, life, etc etc.
For me, this was a good schedule this year - with reservations. There were a number of very fine selections, along with 2 or 3 questionable ones which kind of drag the average down a bit. And, if there is such a thing as - too much of a good thing - this year exemplified that. We went nearly an hour over schedule and still had no time for real breaks, a longer Q & A with the DIMENSIONS folks or just to stretch your legs and chat with the folks in the theater. Just one fewer feature would have had a multiplying affect on enjoying the event.
On to the films.........
TRAILER REEL - Another victim of the too tight line-up is that we had to drop a 2nd trailer reel from our Ohio master - Bruce Bartoo. What trailers DID appear in the pre-show: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW,PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO,THE STAND,12 MONKEYS, THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL, no loud talking PSA & THE QUIET EARTH.
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - After our tribute to the Atomic Fireballs creator and the 'Never gets Old' DUCK DODGERS, on to our first film. RISE held up well on second viewing. Too much happens too quickly, and there are too many too convenient plot twists, but this is a smart re-boot even if it still doesn't hold a candle to the 1968 original. And, I re-iterate that anyone who hasn't seen the fine 2011 documentary PROJECT NIM should really do so. An obvious influence on this film.
BRAINSTORM - No film on the schedule did I look more forward to, no film frustrated me more. Parts of the movie hold up incredibly well as a thoughtful and exciting piece of hard SF, others parts are creaky. Douglas Trumbull is one of cinema's true visionaries, but a smooth Director he ain't. As in SILENT RUNNING, the ideas and visuals outstrip his ability to do them full justice. Still, BRAINSTORM has more solid ideas than 99% of SF films even attempt. The film is caught in odd catch 22 - it's technology has been both long since been surpassed (the mylar tape & laser show!), and, in other areas, not reached yet (true emotions and senses transmitted via VR). I also love that this is a film in love with Science, from the gadgets to the photos of Einstein to the self-sacrifice of the wonderful Louise Fletcher, this is a movie that celebrates the world of knowledge. And, damn, was Christopher Walken that off-the-wall even then!!?? Sadly, poor Natalie Wood looked very tired. My other quibble is that the sound was way too soft (a problem all the Mono films seemed to have) - I often strained to hear the dialogue.
WAR OF THE SATELLITES - A nice print for a better than expected Corman quickie. The audience seemed to have fun with it, not just at it.
ENDHIRAN - Or, should it be "ENDURE-AN"? A true highlight of the Marathon, even if it did tax one's patience at times. This is like a first film in a series AND it's sequel all in one. Again, the too loaded line-up didn't allow for the Intermission to be more than a 2 second card on screen - it really would have helped to have a 10 minute break, no? The loopy songs have a lot of energy even if you have to wonder about the subtitle translations - "Your stomach is like a baby's chair"?!! But, it doesn't hurt to have to stare at Aishwarya Rai for 3 hours. As a movie, it's only fair - but, this was an experience.
DIMENSIONS - A not bad Premiere. It's the kind of film you want to like better. The good intentions are there. A decently mounted low-budget period piece. But, the script was too slow in getting going, and once it gets there, you sorta just shrug. Earnest, but minor.
ATTACK THE BLOCK - Dinner break at Joshua Tree. Having seen this with Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish in person, it was the one to skip. Came back for the last reel or so, and it seemed to please the Marathoners.
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS - Glad this is an improved print from the one I saw several years ago. This film really holds up. I absolutely adore Charles Laughton's ripe performance and Kathleen Burke's Panther Woman creeps me out every time. Too bad a handful of yahoos took one look at the Black & White upon the screen and decided it was cool to start up a Mystery Science Theater 3K session - luckily, they were mostly shouted down. One of the few 30s Horror films that really gets to you after all these years (FREAKS is another).
SCANNERS - I have to admit I agree with Metaluna and others, that some of these early Cronenberg's don't hold up as well as you would like. Cronenberg has gone on to be one of our best filmmakers (A DANGEROUS METHOD is one of the better films of last year), but, his earliest films find him reaching for a maturity and style. Of course, all of the filmmakers who were influenced by him have dulled the shock value they once had as well (not to mention showing Cronenberg 3 straight years now at the 'Thon). SCANNERS still works as a whole, and there are a number of good ideas and Michael Ironside is terrific. Unfortunately, the lead, Stephen Lack, lives down to his surname and drags the film down with him at times. Ironside is so much more magnetic.
BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA - Ah, brevity is the soul of wit.
FRANKENSTEIN - Unfortunately, my utter adoration of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN has always put this '31 original in its shadow. But, I have to say, it quite impressed me this time around. Although I still don't agree, I won't be so quick next time when someone says they prefer this to the more rococo BRIDE. Stark, expressionistic and truly landmark, it is remarkable that 80+ years on, how it still holds up as the virtual blueprint for the horror genre, such as..........
RE-ANIMATOR - Sort of the naughty bad-boy FRANKENSTEIN, Stuart Gordon's still taboo-breaking schlocker was a lot of middle-of-the-night fun. I took especially sadistic glee in hearing a young woman seated behind me, grimace, "WHAT are we watching!!!?" Gleefully nasty.
COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE - A curious selection for this year's line-up, but not too bad even if it's 116 minute running time is too much for the uninitiated. Those who argue that some familiarity with the comics or the shorts isn't necessary are too familiar with them to know better. I never quite got into the storyline, but the vibe, music and visuals were mildly entertaining.
PAUL - As soon as I heard the one line synopsis of this last spring, I thought it would be a perfect fit for this crowd and lobbied for it. The audience did eat this up. It's hardly a great film -- there's a whole lotta lazy and messy scripting going on (a bit of foul cursing goes a long way, but, when you have even 69 yr. old Blythe Danner dropping F-Bombs it kinda delutes the impact) -- but, this was prime Marathon viewing. It should have been the closing film (and was on my original scheduling), but, we still had........
MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK - I had a lot of retro cheez fun last year with the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA pilot film. But, like the ill-fated THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! back to back experiment (which got worse when the sequel didn't show up and we instead got the same movie again!!), why piggy-back on what was, at best, lazy nostalgia?? Having said that, the print was nice (though not as outstanding as David K advertised), Lloyd Bridges & Lorne Greene were solid rivals and it's painless enough (Except for the 108 minute running time. Also, this had the same dull too soft sound problem as BRAINSTORM).
FOLKLORE - We've beaten these filmmakers pretty badly here. Sure, the film stinks. It doesn't....work...at...all. It does look like a bunch of folks got together at a Comic Con and said, "Hey, we got some costumes - let's make a movie!" Still, they got the movie made, there are some very very sporadic decent bits in it, and they obviously had their heart in it. Showing this at the very end did it no favors, but it never would have worked with this crowd. It's ineptitude makes any meaningful dissection superfluous, but a couple of points: 1. Couldn't they have at least tried and put a few crew members in the background of the main office set??!! It looked like what it was - an EMPTY building! 2. More to the point, we never are given any reason to believe than ANY of these 'Folklore' creatures are anything but delusional humans. The budget was tight, but geez at least try to convince us! If it had been flipped with DIMENSIONS, at least people could have had dinner, I suppose.
All in all, a pretty good time. Ed did a good job with the (too rushed) Trivia Contest, but the the other contests were....unmemorable. Ending with PAUL (as a number of people apparently did do!) would have left the crowd with a better feeling.
Darn, we have to wait an extra day this year for the next one!
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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas
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