willcail wrote:
The whole point of the SF Marathon is to see movies that doesn't have a home video release yet.
The above quote got me to thinking about the strange beast that we call the Marathon experience, whether it be Horror, Sci-Fi, Schlock Around the Clock or even, so help me, a trailer-thon.
The thing that struck me is that, for me at least, that quote couldn't be more off-the-target. I've never cared whether or not the films at the marathon were ones that I could get on home video or not. It's always been entirely irrelevant to me. Because watching a movie at home is not the same as watching it in a theatre. The sense of importance is different, the sense of it being a "thing" is different. I watch a movie at home, I'm also thinking about petting my dog. I'll stand up in the middle of the film to go get something from the kitchen or to use the restroom. I'll check my e-mail, browse Facebook, whatever.
Seeing a movie in a theatre is an experience. The movie isn't something that happens to be on while I do other stuff - it's the reason I'm there in the first place. It has my whole attention, and I agonize over getting up to grab something from the concession stand or to hit the restroom, and worry about what I'm going to miss. Then there are the trailers, which weirdo that I am, I've always enjoyed.
The marathon is even more of a special event than seeing a regular film in the theatre. The marathon has all of the same elements, but adds in the community. There's a sense of excitement in the air at the start of the marathon that isn't there for any but the most anticipated films. There's the experience of the host organisms, the contests, the give-aways. As the night goes on, there's a sense of solidarity - the idea that you're exhausted and really should just go home, but that you've made it through 18 hours of movies now, some good, some mind-rendingly terrible, and that the people around you have had the same shared experience, and if they can stick it out, so can you. Sure, you can marathon watch movies at home off Netflix or by popping discs into your Blu-ray player, but that shared groupthink isn't there.
I'll be honest. The films that are being shown are often an afterthought for me. When it's time for the marathon, I already know I'll be there. My preference for the 'thon is to have a mix of films I've seen before and ones I've never seen. The ones I've never seen may be ones I've always wanted to but have never gotten around to, they may be ones I've chosen to avoid and am now willing to say "Bring it on", or they may be films I've never heard of - which can be a mixed bag. For every "Serbian Film" or "Automatons", I've managed to encounter an "Ils", a "Let the Right One In", a "The Last Push" a "Enthrain" or "Troll Hunter".
The films I've seen before, I've usually either never seen in a theatre, or they're like long-lost friends rediscovered. The only time in recent memory that we've had a film that I had seen recently in the theatre that then came to the 'thon was "Star Trek", and that was enough of a crowd pleaser that I still had fun with it.
This long-winded diatribe all gets back to - I don't know why, exactly, I come to the marathons. But I know that it isn't simply to see films I can't watch at home. I'm sure that I could recreate the line-up of many past marathons by using Blu-rays, DVDs, VHS tapes, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. But it wouldn't be the same experience by far.