The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Someone has to start this thread.


Good marathon, but wow, the difference was really noticable from previous years. The lack of trailers really took away a tiny bit of the charm from the event. The new 2013 movie trailers were nice, and I'm glad they were there instead of nothing. I'll take more new trailers next year too. But I really hope we can bring a few classic trailers back in some form or another. They really made the marathon feel like more than just a collection of movies.

I'll type up a full review later, but I'll just point out that I was right when I surmised that a lot of this year's marathon goers had never seen 2001 before. It was pretty obvious based on their comments and laughter during the movie. Hopefully they'll appreciate what they were exposed to.

The surprise showing of La Nave De Los Monstrous was a good attempt, with a lot of funny bits, though the parts that dragged were a little tough to sit through thanks to the language barrier. The simple action and fight scenes of the movie were easy enough to understand though. I noticed a rather distinct lack of snarking over the final 20 or so minutes of the movie. Perhaps it would have been more entertaining if it had played first or second, when people may have been more snarky.

I liked Vanishing Waves. Was the alternative movie The Rocketeer? That's what it seemed like from the hints.

And boy, how about that Danger 5? Too bad everyone hated it, right?

A few thoughts, though I left after Vanishing Waves:

The lack of trailers definitely was felt in my opinion. Maybe if the event is held at a digital-only venue next year, invest in the series of DVDs/blu-rays called 42nd Street Forever. Certainly not all trailers on these discs are Sci-fi, but there are definitely some fun ones.

If held at the Drexel next year, something must be done about the food situation. Those hot dogs were mostly terrible, the one slice of cheese pizza that I had frankly should not have been sold it was so cold and dry. And when the pizzeria that they were using ran out of dough around 11:00 PM, why didn't they order from elsewhere? Are there no other pizza joints that deliver to the Drexel neighborhood? That screamed laziness and more than anything made me suspect the Drexel doesn't want us any longer. This part of the event was horrid. Either beef (no pun intended) up your food offerings or allow us to bring our own. This may actually prevent me from attending future events held at the Drexel because I have health issues that are exacerbated by this. Loved it when the Radio Cafe was open and you could get real food. And at least the Grandview allows the full menu from the pizza place they use.

I usually don't mind the snarky comments, in fact, I think they really add to the event; but, huge kudos to Bruce for shutting people up during 2001. They were not being in the slightest bit funny and only revealed their ignorance (it's called an overture people, look it up).

Likely time to retire the costume contest. This year was just... pitiful.

Now on to the films:

2001 - classic, one of the best films ever made. I can understand the concerns about the pacing, but I find it endlessly fascinating.

Danger 5 - cute the first episode, but wore out its welcome for me. Seems like a one-joke premise stretched far too long. It didn't help that the sound was pretty horrible and some dialog was difficult to understand.

Time of the Robots - at least Automotons shot new footage. A guy with Premiere Elements, some public domain DVDs and no talent does not a film make. If you're making a film that is entirely made of edits of other films, make sure your editing isn't clumsy. I hated this with a passion.

Safety Not Guaranteed - not debating the merits of it being shown at a sci-fi marathon, I really enjoyed this. Well acted and smartly written (though it seemed like some sub-plots may have suffered due to editing).

Inception - one of my favorites of recent years, I had actually planned to try to skip this to get some real food but ended up getting caught up into it all over again.

Ship of Monsters - come on guys, Bruce told you to shut up during 2001, why stay so quiet for this when Bruce was actually leading the snarking? Could've been fun if the crowd got more into it. Left and stood outside for about 30 minutes.

Vanishing Waves - started promisingly but ultimately ended up boring me silly. Passed out for about 20 min during this.

After being put to sleep by Vanishing Waves and feeling not so good from lack of decent food, I called it quits. This was hopefully just an off year, but based on Bruce's comments at the start, he wasn't too happy either. Maybe a change in venue is needed.

Overall, the lineup shaped up much better than I had feared. Space Milkshake, Doctor Cyclops, Upside Down and Safety Not Guaranteed were all much better than I had feared and Danger 5 was a nice absurd jolt of humor every so often. It's a shame the rest were cut for time. The "surprise" feature was UGH. Charging as much as they did for tickets, I was hoping for something big; a summer sneak premiere, Iron Man 3 or some big movie out right now, even an old Star Wars. As it turned out, tickets were DEFINITELY over-priced this year.

Yes, missing classic trailers or shorts kind of left the experience lacking. I have a few of the old shorts already converted to digital and I'll try to give as many to Bruce next year as he wants.

Yes, the offered-food situation was sucky but it normally is. The pizza place they use is way too expensive for as crappy it is. And, when it ran out at 11:00, the decision not to call any other pizza places was sheer laziness.

That said, I still had a lot more fun this year than I had expected. No, it didn't nail it out of the park like last year. Yes, there were issues finding a feel with going digital. Over all, I'd say this was a solid C+ marathon. About average experience.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly....

2001 looked beautiful as ever and things were off to a great start but than came Time of the Robots wich was a bumch of clips from public domain movies spliced together to try and make a whole new movie, needless to say it wasn't very good but I was still awke enough to recover and move on.

Safey not Guaranteed was realy good movie although no what I would call 100% Sci-Fi it didn't matter because it was fun and it recharged my batteries as we movied onto Inception.

I was having a really good time at the marathon and was wide awake as I anxiously awaited the "Surprise Feature" which I was hoping was JASON X but would have been happy with any Main stream big budget release, or a cult classic but instead we were given a Black and white movie from 1960 that was all in spanish with no subtitles. You could literally feel the life being sucked out of the marathon and I knew there would be no recovery. Bruce tried to keep the snarking alive but in the end it was a total failure.

Had the "Surprise Feature" been followed by anything else but Vanishing Waves I may have been able to recover and survive the rest of the marathon but that was not to be....The slow pace of Vanashing Waves did me in and I found myself nodding off during Dr. Cyclops and after that ended I called it a nigh and went home to my soft, warm, comfortable bed.

As stated above it's time to pull the trigger on the costume contest, it has become a waste of time and effort. I also hope next year classic trailers can be added one again.

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I'm sorry to say this but it sounds like i missed the worst marathon ever. I mean the ONLY advantage to digital projection would be to open up the possibilities for film titles. Looks like that didn't happen. Sounds like an overall awful lineup with no old trailers or shorts which has always been a huge draw for me. And then I hear that the Drexel still has a 35mm projector that Capa just doesn't want to paid for the upkeep. Sounds like the marathon needs to find another venue without the limitations that the Drexel clearly has now. I hope Bruce and co. can wrestle this away from Jeff Frank and the Drexel who obviously don't care anymore. I hope Bruce still does care enough to keep on doing these. I know there are problems with the Grandview sometimes but there's go to be another option for the marathons if that doesn't work? Where else in the Columbus area has 35mm projection capabilities and would let you do this? Is it worth going back to the Riffe Center with their food restrictions? I missed those years when I was in college so I honestly don't know if that's a good option. I'd hate to see the marathons end entirely, and if they are going to end they should end with a bang and not the whimper that it sounds like this one was. If there's a horror marathon this year with 35mm projection I will try my hardest to make the drive out there.

_________________
"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick a**. I'm all out of bubble gum."

I don't want to make a super long post rehashing everything everyone said, so just a few notes.

- Time of the Robots: I would have actually enjoyed it as a short film, but the director's stretching it out to feature length made it painful

- Safety Not Guaranteed: highlight of the marathon for me. Loved the movie and the crowd was way into it, which made it even better.

- Vanishing Waves: It sounds like a lot of people found this too slow/boring/etc., and I can definitely see where it's not for everybody, but personally I was riveted the whole time, really really liked this one.

- Upside Down: I'm glad that some people in the audience seemed to enjoy it, but I thought it was so, so dumb. It was so dumb that it was almost enjoyable just continually being amazed at every dumb thing about it. Perhaps my favorite dumb moment was, "I can't believe she doesn't remember me." "Hmm? Oh, that's just her amnesia."

I left after Monolith Monsters; I thought I heard Bruce say to someone in the hallway that he was just going to do thank yous and wrap it up, so I don't think they were going to show Dr. Strangelove, but I could have been wrong. Can anyone confirm whether they showed it or not?

Overall, I had a really fun time, but a lot of it came from being with friends and actually taking some time (during Inception, which I've seen at least 3 times), to leave the theater and get dinner, drinks, etc. Had I come alone and focused more on the singular marathon experience, it might have been kind of disappointing. But it's a unique, fun event, and even with the most questionable of movie lineups, an optimistic marathonner can always have a great time, so I hope that it continues on in some capacity in years to come. Planning to make it to my first ever horror marathon later this year!

I figured I would sleep on it so my comments might be a little more coherent.

The Teaser Trailer of this post (since it is so freaking long)

Marathon good, not great. Food okay, needs improvement, I offer a solution. I accuse Bruce of committing an Inception, the Mole People played after all and there were more boobs than I expected, but they were covered.

The Line

First some non-movie thoughts. I slept in a little and didn’t get to the line until about 8 am. The usual folks were there with a guest or two, but I still got a nice spot. I was disappointed not to see Greg from White Castle, does anyone know if he is okay? I wondered if perhaps he had a conflict, but I missed talking to him and Aaron beforehand. I did have a good time chatting with folks, mostly Dr. Bob, InfraMan and his wife but a few others that I finally put faces to names, like SRCputt. He brought his daughter who was a bit quiet, but very nice.

Demographics

Which leads me to what I consider more good news. I noticed two encouraging demographic trends this year. More kids and more women. While never 50/50, the horror usually has more women than the SciFi. This has to have been one of the higher turnouts of women that I can recall. There was a young lady behind me, who was the girl gamer in the costume contest. She was energetic and enthusiastic and maybe even a little obnoxious (I cringed at her second round call center costume change) but she is 14. We need more people who are young and enthusiastic. I hope she and the family she came with make it back next year. While not sold out, it did seem like the theater was fairly full.

Food

I actually liked the hot dogs I got, but I like crappy food sometimes. I didn’t like the pizza last year and when I heard it was from the same folks I skipped it this year. Plus, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found it doesn’t really work for me. I will agree not trying to get some other pizza was odd, but what we don’t know is if they tried and failed to get additional pizzas or not. Though I suspect on a Saturday night, while there might be a delay on a large order of pizzas, I would think someone would be able to get some. I would like to once again promote the idea of letting us get wristbands at a cost of like $10 that would let us bring outside food in. I’m sure there would still be folks sneaking some food in, but I think it would be a net gain in the end. I actually never made it to Graeters to sneak a milkshake in. Thanks again for the endless cup of pop. It is a shame the Café isn’t open. I wonder if it was more of a grill and a little more low end it would bring in kids from Capital and would be able to stay in business. On a positive note, the donut selection was nice and unlike with pizza, they went back out and got more. And they had milk, which I like better with donuts than pop or juice.

Staff

They were all very friendly, as usual, even in the wee hours of the morning. And the projectionists did a great job; I’m not sure who well I would have functioned actually working after all that time. Related to the staff, the men’s restroom stayed pretty clean and well stocked (ran out of hand towels at one point, but there were extra overhead.) It is a little thing but it is nice.

Movies

So I’m writing this in word because the browser I am required to use does not spell check, nor can I add a spell checking plug-in. I realize I am at Page 2 and have probably lost some of you. For those that stayed...

Trailers and shorts – I missed them a lot. I am hoping this was a one year thing, due in part to the conversion and the planning issue. Looking back when Jeff mentioned they are working for an April date next year I would have stood up top ask him why it is such an issue. I was afraid I would come off as too aggressive and did not want to ambush him, but I wonder if that might have been a missed opportunity. We did get Duck Dodgers, Heston of the Apes and newer trailers. Maybe a year off will make some of them fresh again next year.

2001 – Very nice print… Oh wait. I thought most of the films looked good, I’m not the connoisseur of the different formats some of you are and much like with the hot dogs, I’m okay at times with low standards. But I thought this looked good. I’m not sure where to put it, but starting with it and having Bruce have to come out to stop snarking suggests it was misplaced. I understand the significance of the film and I know folks had not really seen anything like it before, so at the time stuff that seems to be dragged out to us, was groundbreaking at the time and it made sense to stretch out docking sequences and make them seem like a dance. I had initially send I would prefer the marathon to end on it, because it ends more hopefully than Dr. Strangelove, but again the pacing is such, I’m not sure where to put it.

Danger 5 – It was funny. Yes, it repeated some of the same elements in each episode (the perfect drink deathbed recipe, dissing the Blonde in the Briefing, Hitler jumping out the window) but that is kind of the point. I thought they made a nice addition.

Time of the Robots – Others have mentioned they either didn’t like it or hated it. I thought it was okay. Much like Electroma, I thought it could have been shorter, it seemed longer than it actually was. Actually, now that I think about it, if it would have been possible, I think breaking it up into its chapters and showing them serially might have worked better. I thought there was a lot of effort and thought put into this and I found his explanation of the changes in Marta quite clever. Fritz, not so much, but it was funny trying to say he just didn’t wash his hair anymore, so that is why it is darker now. I think a Q&A with Hammen might have been interesting, if so many folks didn’t strongly dislike it. It probably would have gotten uncomfortable.

Costume Contest – Another person missing was the man with the gorilla suit. I hope he is well. For a few years I put the $100 prize back into the contest. I stopped mostly because I felt like it wasn’t marketed well and did not draw larger number of entrants. It seemed to help a bit, but the fickle nature of the audience makes it hard for someone to go to a ton of effort to get shot down in the first round while someone with a quick mind and a sleeping bag ends up winning it. And I don’t mind that. I’ve always enjoyed the folks who improvise their costumes. I might consider putt the $100 back in if they can announce a date 3 months or so out and make mention of the costume contest cash prize with each update. I don’t want the attention for me; I want the attention on the money as a motivating factor. I thought the winner this year was clever.

Safety Not Guaranteed – Very enjoyable. And the sci-fi element had to be saved to the end for it to pay off. It was a bit of a rom-com and bro-mance, but I enjoyed it and may watch it again sometime with my wife. The scene at the lab with the party going on while he is trying to steal equipment was pretty funny.

Inception – I don’t get out to the movies much anymore and honestly don’t have time to watch them at home very often, so I had missed Inception, though heard a lot about it. Good choice and fit the theme of some other films about what is real and what isn’t. It reminded me a bit of Normal Again an episode of BTVS that kind of ruined Buffy for my wife. After that she could never get it out of her head that maybe Buffy really was just delusional and in a mental hospital and her poor parents never get their daughter back. I think the end of Inception has the same feel.

The Surprise Feature – I actually get it and this was a clever bit of Inception on Bruce’s part. I actually didn’t think of it that way until just now. The fact they didn’t put anything in the program let me build the false hope that I was nursing that this was going to either be Jason X as a nod to those who wanted or something real big. The guy giving out Trek posters and taking pictures actually had me believing, against my better judgment that it might actually be showing. I know in this day and age, that doesn’t happen, the studios have too much invested and too tightly control the message to let it happen. And yet, I believed. And then when he mentioned the Spanish part, I thought, maybe a Spanish-language dub of a Star Wars film to celebrate both May 4th and May 5th. Or maybe even Q. I was so convinced that even after the movie started, I thought after a few minutes he would cut to something else. I wanted to believe in the dream. The movie itself was okay, I would have loved subtitles. I do think, like me, a lot of folks were expecting something better and while on further review I think I get what Bruce was trying to do and did, I still think it sucked the air out of the room and soured some folks for the rest of the marathon. I don’t think he could have sucked us in with a different time slot, it had to be there for us to believe, but it ended up be a cruel joke.

Vanishing Waves – You would have thought with so much T&A it would have held my attention, but I think I actually did nod off for a moment or two. It tied in nicely with Inception and Safety Not Guaranteed. I thought perhaps it should have swapped places with Dr. Cyclops due to content, but I think more people would have fallen off and I might have actually slept. I also suspect this was Bruce’s way of saying a version of Mole People actually played. Again, nicely played, host organism.

Dr. Cyclops – A nice pick up the pace film after Vanishing Waves. Good choice and fun to just watch and not have to think so much.

Upside Down – Looked nice. My astronomy professors would likely be rolling in their graves if they are dead. I really struggled with buying in on the rules the movie laid out. It was even strange to have Timothy Spall as a good guy. But it did look very nice, the only time I had trouble with the visuals was the chase scene near the end where they were leaping from rock to rock. The CGI really showed through there.

Space Milkshake – Deserved a better spot. I’ll commit heresy and say swap it with 2001. Had a fun energy. It was easier to buy into because it was so silly. Yes a few of the gags ran on a bit long, but the casting was well done and it was just good cheesy fun.

The Monolith Monsters – I enjoyed this as well. The pacing was pretty good, I already had disengaged my critical science brain for Upside Down (or I have a lower standard for films of this era) so I didn’t have trouble with Silicone and Sodium.

Dr. Strangelove – For those who didn’t grow up in the Cold War, I think the fear it instills is lost on them, to some extent. You can conceptualize it, but you didn’t live it. Now, I grew up in the last two decades of the Cold War and we didn’t have the duck and cover drills when I was in school, so even I’m limited. But, it still brings up good points, and from a pacing perspective, it fits nicely at the end. I just wish we ended on a more hopeful message.

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The wages of sin are royalties.

Don't like simply repeating what has been said earlier. Dennis comes closest to my own views so I'll use some of what he said.

On Demographics Dennis hit it. As unlikely as it seems, Columbus skews a little younger than Boston & Cleveland and that's a GOOD thing. As much as part of the event is the joy of long termers, the fact that younger folks can enjoy older genre, which is what gives the event flavor & a reason for being, is extremely positive.

Staff, line, volunteers, overall efficiency; all excellent. Someone, perhaps a volunteer, could do a regular between movie theater trash walk, it got pretty littered, but that's a minor criticism. Logistics, cleanliness and ATTITUDE all great.

Food. yeah, the pits. Especially since that's how theaters make money, they couldn't have done much worse. Didn't try the Sloppy Jeffs, they might have been okay, but both previous experience and the above reviews sum up a food desert. And I would be willing to pay for some sort of quality. Submarines, soup (chili?) some sort of edible staple. And almost anything would have made money. But while food improves an experience, it certainly isn't why we are there or something you can expect too high a standard. Brought sandwiches in car intending to bring em home if anything looked good. Ate em up. Doughnuts looked nice. I resisted.

Ticket price: Not bad. The event is not cost subsidized. If Bruce & others charged for their time it would triple the expense. I know that for some it's a lot, but by any comparable standard is worth the $$$.

Bruce, his comments and on site management.
He has one of the loveliest smiles & attitudes existent. But the guy (as he commented) seemed TIRED. His enthusiasm flagged pretty early. Without him we would not exist. But he didn't seem to be enjoying himself. Too bad. He's earned it. Wanted to lead a rousing cheer to pep him up. Needs an acolyte perhaps to run a couple of giveaways or something.

The social side brings in many. Enjoyed all my conversations, a highly pleasurable and unlikely occurrence. Talked to the three or so folks I knew from this board, but would have enjoyed meeting others. Next year I think that I'll suggest getting together with a couple of y'all to follow up on conversations from this board.

Snarking Very few funny comments, perhaps due to restraint. Liked Bruce's request to hold it for 2001. But humor was rare. Conundrum: was it worth the silence to lose the humor?

FILMS The main thing.
Overall B/B-.

2001 Read Dennis. I remember it more fondly from years ago than from this viewing but that's probably due to Dennis' observation about it's originality. Deliberately very flat, letting the images (& Strauss) carry it. Kubrick had a forum & used it.

Time of the Robots Didn't think it was very good. Liked the idea, but wished that this obvious labor of love was better done. Too choppy with no humor. Liked the continuity of using of Crabbe & Lugosi in cuts from different movies, but ultimately that joke was not not enough to carry it - as shown by the increasing boredom of the audience.

Safety Not Guaranteed. A gem. Even the obnoxious infantilism of the reporter ultimately worked. Not science fiction? Yes it was. People rarely object when an action film is given a SF context, like remaking a western & calling it Outland. Here a coming of age/romance/party comedy was made into science fiction. It just didn't hit you over the head. Given the assumption by studios that SF means over the top "Action" (& explosions) this is a beautiful contrast. Well done & selected.

Inception My daughter-In-Law's favorite film. But I think of it as a kitchen sink movie. Throwing in everything including the kitchen sink, another complication, explosion, even well done Matrix sort of action is too much. Simplicity can improve lots of things. Hated it my first viewing, but appreciated the quality parts this time enough to say that perhaps if they had only had half the money to spend it would have been okay.

Monster Space Ship. Or whatever the hell the title was.
I like camp, but this was just too awful to make us endure the joke. Even Bruce got tired narrating.
With all the world of film out there, no. Would have preferred a small quality film, but I understand last minute copyright problems. Any of hundreds of out of copyright oldies would have been preferable, although that might have overloaded the balance with Cyclops & Monolith already on the list.

Vanishing Waves Hard to say. The pretty bodies & the sex actually fit the conception very well but I am probably jaded by too many entering someone's consciousness films. SF is much about stretching how we look at things, and explorations like this are worthy. Just didn't quite do it for me. If "European sensibility" or going into a person's mind were newer to someone, I could see it ranking much higher on their list.

Dr. Cyclops & The Monolith Monsters Both great genre films. You want science? Great acting? Go elsewhere. MST3K could have enjoyed the hell out of them, but they stood up very well on their own.

Upside Down "Willing suspension of disbelief" is necessary to enjoy a film. Obviously you were supposed to leave rationality at the door, but the pseudo science just got to me. Once it occurred to me that the guy's head should of exploded due to its blood pressure it became even harder to watch. Perhaps if the soppy plot or acting was up to the money spent I could have gotten there. If the movie had centered on Timothy Spall (Berchuwitz) instead of the oh so cute leads and "plot", I think I could perhaps have liked it.

Space Milkshake See Dennis. Agree totally. "Good cheesy fun."

Dr. Strangeglove Perfect movie. Absurdist humor. Comedy acting, Social commentary, Editing, Cast choice (Did you know that until he got sick, Sellers was supposed to play the Slim Pickens role too? Don't see how he could have, but I'll bet he would have killed it.) Since it's on my short list of best movies ever made I have to disagree with Dennis on using it to close. Yeah a downer. But Bruce went with the best.

Previews & Danger 5. God, the dystopias out there. Scary how much money they are putting into all that stuff coming out later this year. It is interesting to see what they are going to throw at us, but like others I would have liked shorts & classic previews. Danger 5 made up for it with it's goofy spoofing interrupting the serious stuff.

Overall mix. Easy to second guess. The mix of old , new, humor & oh so serious was great.
Even some that didn't carry me like Waves & Inception were okay in this mix. Looking back I think I'll jump to a B/ B+.
And express my thanks again to Bruce & other responsibles.

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Thar’s only two possibilities: Thar is life out there in the universe which is smarter than we are, or we’re the most intelligent life in the universe. Either way, it’s a mighty sobering thought. - Walt Kelly

Price - These are two good topics I didn't mention. I think the price was fine. Even for a bad lineup, which this was not. I paid $32 to sit in a comfortably heated theater (something else I failed to mention, but I do recall they were talking about a HVAC system some time back and it seems to have worked. The theater seemed to stay at roughly the same temperature throughout.) and had a clean bathroom. That's $1.34 an hour. We had 11 features and Danger Five, but lets say 11 features. That works out to $2.18 per movie. That is a tough deal to beat to see movies in a theater on the big screen.

Bruce - I saw several sad smiles and a lot of shrugs. I do think this year was hard on him and I made a point to thank him several times and as I do every year let him know I specifically but we as a whole really appreciate what he does. I have missed the last few Horrors, I know early on when they teamed up he and Joe did a nice job sharing duties. Not sure that is something either of them want to do with the SciFi. I think the conversion, the Drexel side's poor planning and fan reaction did impact him. The fact that he made the snark's he made during the surprise film should leave no doubts. It seemed a bit out of character but I hope it let out some of his frustration in a way that did generate some laughs for us.

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The wages of sin are royalties.

Note. Boston's advance price this year was $50. Parking there is almost impossible. You park elsewhere & take the MBTA to the theater.
Case is heavily subsidized, they get the theater for free. To the best of my memory, they charged $30. this year. Regular concessions are fairly cheap, although the pizza et al they bring in costs as much as Columbus. You can bring your own food.

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Thar’s only two possibilities: Thar is life out there in the universe which is smarter than we are, or we’re the most intelligent life in the universe. Either way, it’s a mighty sobering thought. - Walt Kelly

I was thinking about the price at the marathon and I actually think its a good deal. What I was worried about was if they are breaking even. I see what some distributors charge for film rentals and, without counting the audience, it might be kind of close.

One way that the Drexel could possibly correct the food situation, assuming it is held there next year, is to sell a coupon (wrist band, whatever) that allows outside food to be brought in. Make this coupon say $20 or so, but in addition to being allowed to bring outside food in, you receive full credit at the concession stand. For example, coupon costs $20, you get $20 credit for the bottomless soda, candy, beer, whatever. The Drexel sells some concessions and the audience is happy. Admittedly, this might be a little difficult to track.

Or, from what I hear Columbus has a pretty vibrant food truck scene. Let them know that hundreds of hungry people will be at the Drexel. Maybe even slip them a schedule of the films so they could show up about the time something ends. If the Drexel won't let us bring it in, at least we wouldn't have to walk far.

And, though I've never spoken to them, I would like to thank Bruce, Joe, et all for all the hard work they put into the marathons over the years. If we didn't care, none of us would be posting our thoughts, positive or negative.

I brought up food trucks a few weeks back. I wonder though if Bexley has tighter controls on them than Columbus does as a whole. I don't know. Looks like they were considering it, but not sure if it passed or not. May try to look later, actually busy this morning.

_________________
The wages of sin are royalties.

I've been reading all the comments and after having time to really digest, I thought I would put my .02 in.

While I know a lot of people are "locals", my wife and I are not. It's about a two and half hour drive one way. We came up Friday night and stayed in a hotel so that we could get enough sleep and enjoy the marathon.

Initial Observations:
I didn't think it was as packed as last year. By the time Attack the Block had started, it felt like there wasn't an empty seat. This time, I saw quite a few empty seats. That doesn't mean they weren't claimed, it just means they were empty at the time. It could have been that they didn't care for 2001. Like many others have said, the demographic shift was evident. I saw more kids this year, and a more diverse group of male and female.

The food:
I purchased popcorn, bottomless soda, a pretzel, and some donuts. Everything else was not at the theater. Even by the end of the marathon, I was craving vegetables. Something healthy. After the second cup worth of soda, I was ready for water. It probably didn't help that I hadn't had soda in a while and gulped it down fast. I didn't feel good for a while after.

The movies:

2001 - As a kid, I didn't care for this movie because I was all about Star Wars. But as I got older, I understood this movie much more.

@svarney - About the overture - I know some people were commenting, but I'm not sure if you could see it where you were sitting at, but on the screen it looked like some weird digital artifacting. It was the back doors of the theater opening and closing. Some of the people thought there was something wrong.

Danger 5 - I loved this. I'm a fan of Italian Spiderman, and I specifically only watched the trailer for this. I don't quite know why there was more hate for it. I did hear a lot of laughter...

Time of the Robots - I actually liked the idea, but knew it was either going to be good or just a mess. I think that many of us could have edited this better. I enjoyed seeing many of the old films put up on the big screen, but there was so much pixelization, It was like watching a quicktime video circa 1995. I think this should have been shown at the 4AM time slot.

Safety Not Guaranteed - Many of my friends had already seen this (I think it's currently on Netflix). It really is a nice gem of a film. I like that we got to invest time and energy into characters with real heart and payoff.

Inception - I have seen this half a dozen times. Still a great film and holds up to repeated viewings.

The Ship of Monsters - Okay. I'd say this is the turning point of the marathon. After the announcements which made it seem like a big "special feature" I was excited. The hallway conversations really led me to believe it was going to be something big (I was thinking Star Wars, or some newer film - Oblivion, Iron Man 3, or *gasp* even Into Darkness - as posters were given out and pictures of us holding the posters were taken earlier). So the movie starts and Bruce is leading some snarky commentary. I was thinking, great! we are seeing this crap 50's no-budget sci fi film in Spanish and it's going to cut to the real feature. 20 minutes in...my excitement is slowly turning into irritation and disappointment. Within half an hour, Bruce isn't doing a running commentary at all. I go get out to get some air and I hear a lot of angry people talking about this film. I do have several issues with this movie. 1 - It's in Spanish. Bruce started with it, but if they completely redubbed the soundtrack - THAT would have been fun. 2 - Time slot. It was still a prime slot to showcase something spectacular, not something like this. Save it for the 2, 4 or even 6AM slot. Like many people, this movie sucked the life out of the marathon.

Vanishing Waves - I bet some people wished they had watched the Rocketeer instead. I liked this film, it's a deliberately paced film, but I didn't feel like it dragged (like Time of the Robots did). It had some interesting ideas, I felt that much was taken from something Ken Russell would have done from Altered States. Safe to say that this was a very European film. Unfortunately since it was so deliberatly paced, I started getting very sleepy.

Dr. Cyclops - Asleep

Upside Down - Asleep until the last 20 minutes. When I woke up, it was basically at the tail end and what I watched, I wasn't too impressed. I had read a synopsis of the film and I had already flagged it as one of my "sleeper films". I was kind of upset I didn't see Dr. Cyclops, but that's how it goes.

Space Milkshake - This was a fun movie, too bad it had a crap timeslot. I wouldn't mind watching again in the future.

The Monolith Monsters - At least I got to see one of the older Universal movies. I still love this era of film and even B-movies like this are still immensely enjoyable.

Dr. Strangelove - I know this ends with a downer, but still has a fast pace for a Kubrick film. It was great to see Peter Sellers in all those roles. George C. Scott as well.

I think was was amazing that we got to experience a couple of iconic images in film history as bookends to this marathon. The Kubrick films made it for me.

Overall, my wife and I had a great time, because we had each other and friends to experience this with. As a singular experience, I'm not sure it would have been nearly as much fun, but I think that would be correct even if the film choices were perfect.


I have to give praise for the staff, all very nice and attentive. I also feel the need to state that the men's bathroom was very clean. Plus it always had liquid soap and paper towels. With so much foot traffic I know this could be a problem.

Food - Last year I had a problem with it, but I took action to remedy it this year.

Ticket Price - I know at ~$40 it can seem a bit high, especially in hindsight, but I think it's a good deal. Overall cost for my wife and I is a bit more. We have to consider hotel stay (Friday and Sunday), gas and food - so that tacks on another $250-300.

Temperature - I was surprised at how well the temperature held (from the warmer day to the cooler night, the temperature inside was moderate and I didn't need a blanket).

Overall a good time was had. I do feel like the movies skewed more toward the females this year (maybe part of trying to bring in new blood) and I on that level, I think it worked. Also there was no Manborg this year for me to champion. Except maybe Danger 5...For the record, my copy of Manborg on DVD was waiting for me when I got home yesterday.

I do have to commend Bruce and everyone else involved. I know this has to take a ton of time to prepare and sometimes is a thankless job, but you are appreciated.

Price: I have no issue with the price. As has already been noted here, it breaks down to about $2.18 a movie, and combined with the general Marathon experience, it is a very reasonable price.

Food: This is the biggest issue I have. I have stopped drinking pop, so the drink options were limited. I am not a coffee drinker, and beer is too expensive. More juice options, or sweet tea, fruit punch, etc.. would be nice. Outside of a popcorn, I went out to the car to eat food I brought with. I really miss the cafe.

Films:

2001 - I LOVE this movie! For most people, Kubrick films are a love/hate thing: you either really love them, or you can't understand and hate them. I definitely am in the former category! It looked beautiful, and having the overture and intermission as well just made it even better!

Danger 5 - I thought this was definitely on par with Stingray Sam, which I also loved! I was kinda disappointed we had to leave out the last two episodes, but since they're online, I will definitely watch them! And remember, Kill Hitler!!

Time of the Robots - I was VERY skeptical about this one, as it had a high potential for early sleep induction, but alas, apart from two very quick head nods, I stayed awake through this one. It was WAAAAY better than Electroma, but that isn't saying much. The music was pretty bad, and the pace slow, but it could've been worse. And later on, it did get worse...

Safety Not Guaranteed - This year's surprise hit for me, I truly loved everything about this film. The acting was well done, the script was great, and the payoff was spot on. I was really glad that the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it as well, can't wait to see what next year's surprise hit will be!

Inception - I own it, have seen it several times, and it was great seeing with the Marathon crowd. It actually seemed, judging by audience reaction throughout the film and especially at the end of the film, that most people hadn't seen this one. I loved hearing collective audience reactions throughout, great choice with this one!

The Ship of Monsters - ...and here is where it got worse. I, like most people, had become excited with anticipation to see what our surprise would be. As has been mentioned here in the reviews, I thought after 15 minutes or so that Bruce would say "just kidding, the surprise feature is...". However, after 30 minutes, I knew that wasn't happening. I had actually stayed awake the entire time thus far, longer than I have ever made it, and felt that I would be able to keep it going the rest of the way, but this movie killed that notion. Spanish movie, no subtitles, and just weird story = sleep time..

Vanishing Waves - I had awoken after Ship of Monsters as I really wanted to see this movie. However, Once the sleep had crept in, it couldn't be stopped. I saw the first ten minutes or so, then awoke for the end of the film. I hope to find this somewhere, because I really think I would enjoy it.

Dr. Cyclops - Zzzzzzz

Upside Down - I was once again awake, because I wanted to see this one as well. Again, I caught the beginning and end only. Even though most people here seemed to not like it, I would still like to catch the film sometime, as it looked like a promising movie.

Space Milkshake - I wish this had played earlier, as I think people would have enjoyed it. I dozed off here and there, but caught the majority of it, and thought it was unique and funny.

The Monolith Monsters - I was really glad to see this, as the lineup lacked movies from this era. Good, classic cheese, I lvoed this movie!

Dr. Strangelove - Another Kubrick classic, this move is one of the best all-time, and a great book-end with 2001. The script is top-notch, the timing, acting, imagery, I just cannot say enough!

Overall, I really enjoyed this marathon, and look forward to many many more!

_________________
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"

After the drama of the changing lineup on this board, I was pleasantly surprised at the final lineup. It was one of the better lineups in recent years. While there were some stinkers, there isn't a single film that I'm not glad I got to see. Time of the Robots was horrible, but I liked getting to hear that soundtrack of early 20th century Edison recordings. The Mexican monster film was fun, at least before the snarkers gave up. There were some notable things missing, though. I miss the trailers, Spaceboy, and Gravity. That digital transfer of Gravity that showed a few years back was bad, but bad Gravity is better than no Gravity.

As for food, I agree that something has to be done, even if that means a change in venue. The hot dogs weren't bad for hot dogs in general, but they weren't good enough for that price. I think Anthony's Pizza might be the worst I've had that didn't come from the cheap shelf in the freezer section. Getting it when it starts cooling down only makes it worse. I miss the food from the Radio Cafe, but there's one good thing I've found in its closing. When it was open, I was more likely to skip out of the lesser films and go there. Since that isn't an option anymore, I stay in the theater more, meaning I'm theoretically less likely to miss the shorts and trailers and the films that I have given up too quickly on in the past.