The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:59 pm 
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OK, everybody ... here's a spot to give your thoughts about the Marathon and lineup. I'll be filling in my own commentary here eventually, but feel free to dive in and let us know what you think.

I had an absolutely fantastic time, myself, and I encourage you all to give us your opinions on the event. You must share with us. The spice must FLOW.

Alright, my take on this year's Marathon ...

GENERAL MUSINGS
Let me just say out of the gate that I knew going in that there wasn't a single film in this lineup that I wasn't going to enjoy. Most of them have been favorites of mine for years now. Bruce and Joe picked an absolutely stellar lineup (perhaps encouraged by my own humble whisperings) and it made all the difference.

There was only one film where I drifted off, and then I think it was only for about 45 minutes or an hour.

The projection and film quality were absolutely spot-on this year. I was even pleasantly impressed with the quality on the two BluRay titles (DELICATESSEN and AKIRA.) The BluRay transfers are spotless and I highly recommend them to anyone looking to purchase the films. They translated extremely well to the big screen.

The DCP titles were also incredibly good high resolution transfers, and even my usual complaints about black levels and color wash never really came to mind. The film titles, of course, were exactly what I'd expected, good to excellent with all the warmth and character that I've come to miss in the digital age.

Somehow, I managed to pull the trifecta this year, attending the CWRU, Boston and (obviously) Columbus marathons, and through a confluence of the heavens all three turned out to be spectacular examples of what you can do with this sort of event. That being said, boy howdy am I tired.

FILMS
EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956)
Excellent choice for a pre-60's black and white classic. Plus it's a great tribute to Ray Harryhausen. The DCP was certainly top notch, taken from an impressive archival copy of the film.

THE QUIET EARTH (1985)
I've loved this movie since I first saw it on release in the theater. This was a formative film in my love of science fiction, and it always felt somewhat overlooked by critics. This was one of the many high points of the Marathon for me.

METROPOLIS (1927)
You can never go wrong with this film. I'd seen this version of the film back when Kino was sending it around to theaters a while back, and the DCP is even better than the BluRay release I saw at the Grandview. As a fan of every version of the film I've seen, from the SF06 showing with live music to the Moroder release (whose merits I will still staunchly defend), it never fails to please.

DELICATESSEN (1991)
We've seen the trailer a gazillion times and I was blissfully happy to see it finally make the lineup. This has been one of my favorite Jeunet (and Caro) films for as long as I can remember, and I love it even more than THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (which would be great to see return to a lineup in the near future.) Definitely my favorite experience of the event. The audience really seemed to get into the film, and for those who enjoyed it (and Jeunet's other films like AMELIE) I strongly recommend you dig up MICMACS. You won't be disappointed.

INFRA-MAN (1975)
One of my earliest memories of Science Fiction is seeing this film at "Boy Scout Appreciation Day" at the Kon-Tiki theater in Dayton, OH. This film almost gives gonzo Hong Kong Kung-Fu Action Adventure a new definition. It seems like I've been hoping to see this play for longer than I can remember. Once again, it did not disappoint.

THE HORROR SHOW TRAILERS
I hope everyone is really looking forward to this years' Horror Marathon, because the titles announced already are ones I'm very excited about. I do want to apologize to everyone involved, and reiterate that the incorrect NOSFERATU trailer was ENTIRELY MY FAULT. Somewhere along the lines I completely misinterpreted which one we were showing. It should indeed have been Herzog's 1976 version of the film. My screw-up, don't hold it against Bruce or Joe. "Face it, Flounder, you f*%#ed up! You trusted us!"

AKIRA (1988)
There are a handful of anime films from before 1990 that can legitimately be said to have revolutionized the genre and this film is without question one of them. The film was groundbreaking in protraying anime as a serious medium for adults with gritty, brutal sensibilities and an enlightened, intelligent story. The visuals hold up today as well as they did in 1988 and the style is impeccable.

THE HIDDEN (1987)
I've always thought this film was another underrated gem and as a springboard for both Kyle MacLachlan and Claudia Christian's careers I think it's just tremendous amounts of fun. I mean hey, who wouldn't appreciate being a body-hopping hedonistic alien in Southern California?

REPO MAN (1984)
In the sense of full disclosure, I have to say that this film qualifies as one of my favorite films ever. The punk aesthetic, surreal overtones, raucus and snappy dialog, and balls-out audacity are a near perfect mix. I think I have this film almost memorized.

THE RUNNING MAN (1987)
So, perhaps it was being steeped in the 80's for one film too many. Maybe a week of exhaustion and 25 hours of consciousness just caught up with me. Or maybe it's just the fact that this film never resonated with me as much as with other people. This was my Waterloo. I know I slept through the opening 30 minutes, maybe an hour. The remainder is an enjoyable kitsch, a biting commentary on the shallowness of the modern media culture. Even so, my fading attention span didn't really allow me to judge this as well as I should.

DREDD (2012)
This film really impressed me when I first saw it. Structurally it shares a lot with THE RAID: REDEMPTION, but at the same time it manages to completely capture the characters and setting of the universe of Judge Dredd. It got largely overlooked due to a mediocre marketing campaign and poor timing at the box office. It's a perfect Marathon movie, though, and an extremely good choice for a recent title.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981)
Ah, John Carpenter's classic dystopian commentary on freedom in society. Back in the days when you actually had to be an expert to shoot 35mm at night, Dean Cundey shot much of this in the burned out burroughs of St. Louis and demonstrated his mastery of celluloid and night shooting. Certainly one of a long series of successful collaborations between Carpenter and Kurt Russell, it's as watchable, exciting, and enjoyable now as it was the day it was released.

INTERMISSION VIDEOS
Apologies to all if the Intermission video didn't seem very well planned. Thanks to some last-minute DCP work, a crash course in new video editing software, and a trip the weekend before the Marathon, I found myself overly pressed for time and unable to really work out the kinks. Plus, this year was somewhat experimental, my first time working with audio and video both, so please consider the breaktime entertainment to be very much a work in progress. Much of the next year will be spent improving the offering.

THANKS
I'm still too tired to properly do everyone justice who needs thanking for the Marathon. All the obvious players, Bruce, Joe, Jen Chapman, Kevin Rouch, Kevin Carr, Anna, Epic Loot Games (Scott and his crew), all the Drexel staff, Tim and his crew, and all the table volunteers and support staff whose names never did imprint on my few remaining brain cells. I'm missing quite a few people I'm sure, but the brain is still too foggy.

Seriously, this was absolutely one of my favorite Marathons ever and I can't thank everyone enough for it.

THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Watch for me to set up the Archives at http://www.scifimarathon.com in the next few days with pictures that I (and Joe) took during the event, scans of the program and other materials, and of course keep an eye out for an update to the Hall of Marathonia as well.

Know, Marathoids that Bruce and Joe are already at work on this year's Horror and next year's Sci-Fi ... so there's plenty more to look forward to in the coming months. Stay tuned here for further developments. I see plans within plans; I see two great houses feuding ... House Atreides, House Harkonnen ... I see YOU behind it.

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David A. Zecchini; Creature of the Wheel, Lord of the Infernal Engines
"Damnati Im Ludum" (VitruvianZeke@att.net)


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:43 am 
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I had a blast! Everyone was really friendly, and getting into the movies with a crowd of marathon fans definitely is an experience not to be missed. I do think I need to suck it up and pick a time to sleep at future marathons. At my first marathons in 2008-2009, I was still a student who was used to messed-up sleep schedules, but a few years of working for the man has made me start to feel grumpy and uncomfortable if I don't get at least a movie's worth of shut-eye. It just worked out this year that the only movies in this great lineup that I had seen and actually remember were at the very end, so I didn't want to miss any of the preceding ones. But even though I left a little early, I had a lot of fun, and it was super exciting to see the preview of the Horror Marathon! Thanks to Bruce, Joe, David and everyone else who puts in so much work to make the Marathon great.

And now, the movies:

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS - Looked great, and the special effects were cool, although it seems like they were all in the trailer as well. Plus the pure 50s-ness of it was a great way to start off the 'thon and get a good chunk of riffing out of people's systems

THE QUIET EARTH - I had seen part of it before and it was good to finally see it in its entirety. Felt like a "small movie" and a "big movie" at the same time, really well done.

METROPOLIS - I had never seen it, so the style and scope were completely mind-blowing to me, and the restoration looked and sounded amazing.

DELICATESSEN - Great movie to see with a crowd. People responded a lot to the humor and style, and laughing along with the rest of the audience made me like it more.

INFRA-MAN - WOW. I laughed hard and a lot, really happy I finally got to see this. Not sure what was a worse piece of costuming, the monsters or the head scientist's wig.

AKIRA - I had seen this before but didn't really remember it. It looked GREAT on the big screen, even as a Blu-Ray. Great movie, although it did feel a little repetitive and overlong to me toward the end.

THE HIDDEN - It sure was fun to see stiffs behaving badly, but I gotta say that the whole plot mechanic of "Alien-possessed person dies, Kyle MacLachlan rushes to the crime scene, alien somehow manages to transfer bodies and escape before he gets there" got pretty old for me pretty quickly. But I did miss a bit in the middle to go to the restroom, and I was getting pretty zoned out from lack of sleep at this point, so take that with a grain of salt.

REPO MAN - My first time seeing it. I enjoyed it, but less than I thought I would. Again, this might have been from lack of sleep. But it felt like the overall tone and aesthetic, which I'm sure were revolutionary when it was released, have been copied and absorbed by so many subsequent works, that by the time I finally saw one of the innovators of that style, it seemed unoriginal.

THE RUNNING MAN - A fun movie, which I had never seen, but by this point I was feeling physically drained and a little ill. Although I had a few brief periods of head-nodding, I never did fall asleep, and the more I thought about the drive back to Akron on no sleep, the more I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Plus, I had already seen DREDD and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, so I left maybe 45 minutes to an hour into THE RUNNING MAN.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:10 am 
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Great marathon!

I'll keep this short for now. I really enjoyed [b]all[/b] of the films, but The Hidden and Delicatessen (which I hadn't seen in 10 years) were my two biggest highlights. Fantastic lineup---Joe and Bruce really outdid themselves this year, and the inclusion of the horror marathon trailers was the icing on the cake.

Also, can I say that I loved the discount partnership with the crepe place next door? I definitely hope that relationship can be maintained, because that place is delicious and (for a food item that can be sort of slow to make) relatively quick.

One thing that made me feel old, though: after seeing the Shining trailer, I turned to one of my companions:

Me: "Didn't they just run The Shining recently?"
Him: "...that was 9 years ago"
Me: "Oh, dear."


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:44 pm 
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Great marathon as usual, and I'll get to the movies later, but I'll start off with some general comments.

Breaks - The breaks didn't seem overly long this year, though perhaps that was helped by the entertaining music and videos we got during the breaks. Most of the stuff was pretty entertaining visually or aurally. I recognized a lot of the stuff, but there were a bunch of mysteries in there too. Any chance of getting a list, if one exists, of what we were seeing? Perhaps it was just a matter of perception due to the entertainment on screen, but it felt like the marathon moved along at a good pace this year.

People - Seemed generally well behaved this year. The snoring wasn't too loud (or at least it wasn't too close to me). There was some loudmouth down front who kept trying to make jokes pretty much through to the very end, and as usual he wasn't very funny and definitely not appreciated, but his comments were rare enough that they weren't too disruptive.

Theater - Seemed to stay pretty clean this year. The bathroom was good whenever I went in there (I usually try to avaoid high-use times right after the first few movies). The trash never got too bad around me. The concessions were good, and coffee mug was appreciated by one of my friends. Temperature was running a little hot during the first half, but of course as some bodies left during the second half (and as it cooled even more outside) it became more comfortable.

Speaking of which, seemed like a very healthy sized crowd that stuck around all the way to the end of Escape From NY.

Minor Complaint - In retrospect, I'm not super thrilled with the first three movies played as a set of openers. I don't mean that I didn't like them, but I felt that the three of them added up together made for an awfully slow start to the marathon. I would have liked to see something a little more lively or a little more funny in there. Perhaps something like Running Man or Repo Man would have been good towards the start of the marathon. Though obviously you couldn't play Metropolis much later, and there was a danger of too many poeple choosing to sleep during Quiet Earth if it was played in the middle of the night.

But overall, the start of the marathon seemed to drag a bit. Not from breaks or anything delays, but from the combination of movies themselves. So that got things off to a bit of a slow start for me. Obviously didn't ruin the marathon for me, but it would be nice if there were something a bit more brisk or colorful in there next time. Don't let the energy levels get too low right at the start of the marathon.


Now on to the movies. I'll rank them here in order from my favorite to my least favorite, but I enjoyed just about all of them, so just because something isn't in the top 3 or 4 doesn't mean it's not good.

Akira - What a brilliant movie. I've seen it a bunch of course, but I don't think I've ever seen it on the big screen. Regardless, it's been a good 3-5 years since I've seen it, and just sitting there watching the opening 15-20 minutes of the movie reminded me of just what an incredible story it is. It blew me away all over again. And boy did it look good on the big screen. Beautiful colors and details. I really can't even imagine that it could look better than that. An absolute classic!

Repo Man - Holy crap, how have I never seen this movie before? What an awesomely entertaining style of movie. Loved the dialogue, loved the offbeat discussions, loved the lessons he learned from the other repo men, and loved the general wackiness that everyone in the movie was up to. This is going to be rewatched for sure, and for an old movie that I had never seen, it's going to earn a mention on my all-time list of favorites (If I had such a thing. And if I did, it would be really long. But this would be up there.)

Dredd - Loved it when I watched it in 3D a year and a half ago, and loved it just as much on the second occasion. A beautifully filmed movie, with such glorious violence. I was impressed with how well it held up on a second viewing. So sad that we'll never get a sequel to it, because I really loved just about eveything about it. Urban and Thirlby made a great team, and Lena gave us an awesome villain as Mama.

Metropolis - I had never seen this before, so it was mostly new to me. Not exactly what I was expecting, but easy to see why this is considered such a revolutionary classic. A hugely impressive production with massive sets and wonderful imagination. And there's a story in there too. And a message. My modern sensibilties told me it felt a little heavy handed, but the huge message felt oddly appropriate in such a huge movie.

Delicatessen - I'd seen the first hour of this before, but never the last half, and I have to say, it was even more enjoyable than I remembered. I thought about voting for Aurore for the Hall Of Fame, as her scenes clearly gave the audicnce great amusement. The whole movie was full of the odd little quirkiness that really seems to get eaten up by the marathon audience. Really, I'm not sure how this isn't higher up on my list. It could have been the movie of the marathon. Perhaps in another year with a different lineup, I would have ranked in #1.

Infra-Man - I was in the "never seen it before" crowd for this one, so I enjoyed it, and found it full of typical craziness. I liked it, but perhaps I had my expectations a little too high after hearing all the stories about it over the years. Or perhaps I've just seen too many other "crazy" movies so that I'm not terribly affected by ones like this anymore. I enjoyed it though, and laughed on numerous occasions.

The Running Man - Fun movie, full of classic lines and characters and deaths. Funny how you notice new things sometimes as you rewatch them after seeing other movies and shows, I had no clue Kurt Fuller was in this! A fun classic, I'm actually ranking this a little higher than I thought I would because it served as a great wake-up movie at 7:30am. And it's got one of the greatest stupid corny lines of all time. "Hey Killian, here is Sub-Zero, now... plain zero!"

The Hidden - Lots to like about this movie. It started off with a great action sequence, and the bad guy really kept it up from there. That alien sure liked to have fun as it was going around stealing stuff. And of course Kyle was perfectly cast for his role, it really suited him well. The movie as a whole was definitely more fun that I thought it would be.

The Quiet Earth - Good movie, I think a lot of us always have a special place in our hearts for good old "last man on earth" type of stories. Always fun to live in a world with no rules and no boundaries, but then it always gets lonely. This was an odd little twist on the genre, as I'm still not 100% sure on exactly what was going on. But I liked it, and I think I'll have to watch it again someday. I'd like to comprehend it a tiny bit more.

Earth Vs The Flying Saucers - Maybe I'm not as nostalgic as I used to be, but while I found this movie to be fair and okay, I wasn't terribly enamored with it. Some lines were funny ("we've lost the first 11 satellites and we're clueless as to why, but we won't delay the launch of the 12th, we're sending it up on schedule"), but as a whole, it just wasn't as engaging as just about all of the other movies. I understand that starting with a movie like this may be an attempt to let people get their snark out of the way early, but our marathons here have been so comment-free lately that it's probably not necessary. So for me it was a bit of a downer to start, though of course I would have slept through it if it was played in middle of the night or early morning. I won't say it was bad, but it's getting ranked down here at the bottom.

Escape From New York - Enjoy this movie, but I just saw it again in the past 2-3 years, so I decided this would be the best option for sleeping before the long drive home. Fortunately, I was pretty much able to sleep through the majority of the movie, and had a safe drive home. Still a good movie though, and I can't complain about it. I might have to watch it on tv to make up for missing most of it at the marathon. (Fell asleep a little after the plane crashed, woke up when Snake was starting to scale the wall at the end.)


But overall a great lineup. Seems like Delicatessen should be ranked higher, but I guess that's the probelm when you like so darn many of the films.

Also, great to see those trailers for the horror marathon. Thanks so much for doing that.

Gravity looked awesome. Beautiful.

I walked out the second Spaceboy started. But I don't begrudge it being played, not really. All marathoids should be subjected to it. I just don't see the need to subject myself to it year after year. Plus, at that time of the night, a nice little 5 minute stroll outside was probably good for my system, keep those legs in working order.

Overall - great marathon this year. Great lineup of films, and from a "functionality" standpoint, the whole event seemed to have gone off quite nicely.

Thumbs up, keep up the great work, and can't wait for the next ones!


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:47 pm 
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This was easily one of the best sci-fi marathons we've had in years. Fantastic line-up. Well-behaved crowd. Great assortment of trailers. Excellent work by the Drexel and marathon staff.

The only downside to the schedule was the aforementioned slow start and the block of foreign films in a row. However, these are casualties of having to program a full slate. Not every movie can play between noon and 10pm, and it was a wise choice to put the slower films in the first quarter of the run. I think The Quiet Earth would have destroyed the crowd at 4am. Same goes for the foreign films, which can be tough to read when you're bleary-eyed and tired. So I was entirely happy with the slate of films and their order this year.

Concessions - While not as many options as we've had in the past, the theater food wasn't as hard on me as it has been in recent years. The sloppy joes were a real nice touch for something to balance out greasy pizza and the nitrate fatigue from hot dogs. As always, I loved the unlimited drink refill options (of which I opted for soda). Also nice to have juice and other beverage options available.

The costume contest was a bit thin, but that happens from time to time. Great job for the people who made costumes (unlike idiots like myself who just made crap up when they got in front of the crowd). Loved the Ed Wood style of flying saucers on the winner's costume. (Next year... start planning for next year.)

I loved the idea of releasing a partial list (with six films, no less) for the upcoming 666th Annual Shock Around the Clock. These are great titles, and should play fantastic in this crowd. (If you haven't seen You're Next or The Manitou yet... man are you all in for a treat!)

One other note on the schedule before detailing the films. Personally, I was perfectly happy with the absence of premieres. While premieres can be cool to see, I'd rather watch a great classic film on the big screen like you'll never see elsewhere than for a less-than-good premiere that is likely already on VOD or will release on DVD in a couple weeks. Nothing against the premieres we've had in the past, but I'd personally prefer the excitement for a premiere be held for a quality premiere rather than just anything so the word "premiere" can appear in print.

Thoughts on the films...

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS - I saw this when it played at the 5th annual sci-fi in 1991, but it played at like 9am and while I didn't sleep during that one, my sleep-deprived brain did not remember much of it. So it was awesome to see it again, and the Harryhausen SFX were still impressive on the big screen all these years later. It was a bit of a diversion from the overall theme, but it wouldn't be a sci-fi marathon without a movie from the 50s.

THE QUIET EARTH - I had never seen this one, so it was a treat for me. Even though the poster is pretty doggoned spoilery, it was still a cool little film that had grand scope.

METROPOLIS - Such a fantastic movie, and it was a gorgeous print. The restored scenes really rounded out the story well, and watching it again with a more mature eye than I did at SF6 in 1992 gave me a much better appreciation for it. And as much as I have enjoyed live music for these silent film selections at these events, hearing the original theatrical score was awesome.

DELICATESSEN - I had never seen this before, and while I'm not a huge fan of Jeunet, this was a fine film. It looked great in digital projection, and if this is the standard we can expect from Blu-ray/DCP transfers, count me excited. Also interesting to note that my son Liam said this was his favorite movie at the marathon. I wasn't expecting that.

INFRA-MAN - Holy cats, this movie is bonkers! I fell asleep during it at SF3 in 1988 when it played at 4 a.m., and I ended up grabbing dinner when it played at SF12 in 1998. I'm so glad I got to see it in its full glory, with an energized crowd, on 35mm, with warts and all. So much fun. Not my favorite film of the marathon this year (that would be Metropolis), but definitely my favorite viewing experience this year.

AKIRA - I hadn't seen this since its initial release at the Drexel North (RIP) in the late 80s. Had forgotten a lot of it, but like Metropolis, watching it with a fresh, mature eye gave it much deeper meaning. Such an intense movie with scope you wouldn't expect from an animated film. It looked vibrant and brilliant on the big screen in digital projection. Like Delicatessen, the image was still worth the trip out of the living room to see in a movie theater.

THE HIDDEN - Although it gets really corny near the end, I had a blast with this movie. It's a cool body-snatching sci-fi movie masquerading as a buddy cop flick, and it works. This block of 80s films really helped keep the crowd charged late into the night.

REPO MAN - Nothing against this movie, but I took a little break for this one. I had recently watched this, so I didn't feel I missed a lot (though the bits I did see told me it looks great on DCP... better than anything you'd see on home video or streaming). I got up and wandered around the lobby and then came back to my seat to doze just a bit to get me ready for the next film.

THE RUNNING MAN - 80s fatigue had started to set in by now, but I was okay with it. Love this movie and its cheesy yet weirdly prophetic nature. No deep meaning here. Just Arnold at his peak of wise-cracking sci-fi action.

DREDD - I had just seen this movie a couple weeks ago, and like Repo Man, while I like it, I didn't want to kill myself staying awake. I found a corner of the theater with a bunch of empty seats and took a nap. (Apologies to anyone around me if I sawed too many logs during the film.)

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - While this has never been one of my favorite Carpenter movies, it was still great fun with a marathon crowd (in my opinion, the best way to watch this movie). The print looked great - again, better than what you'll see on home video or streaming. Great way to end the marathon. (Which begs the question to the marathon historians... does John Carpenter hold the record for his films closing the most marathons? e.g., They Live, The Thing, Escape from New York)

In summary... great job Bruce and Joe for putting together a smashing event this year. Thanks to everyone who did anything great or small to make this event a reality. I really feel the spirit of the marathons getting energized at this point. There was a time when I feared we would lose these completely, but things feel like they're looking up again.

See you all in October! (And at any trailer trash or other marathonish events coming up in the next few months.)


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:15 am 
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cleazer wrote:
I recognized a lot of the stuff, but there were a bunch of mysteries in there too. Any chance of getting a list, if one exists, of what we were seeing?

Quite likely. I'll see if I can format something in a message here later this week.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:17 pm 
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CAUSE:

kevincarr wrote:
...Concessions - While not as many options as we've had in the past, the theater food wasn't as hard on me as it has been in recent years. The sloppy joes were a real nice touch for something to balance out greasy pizza and the nitrate fatigue from hot dogs. As always, I loved the unlimited drink refill options (of which I opted for soda)....


EFFECT:

kevincarr wrote:
...REPO MAN...and then came back to my seat to doze just a bit to get me ready for the next film....


kevincarr wrote:
...DREDD - I had just seen this movie a couple weeks ago, and like Repo Man, while I like it, I didn't want to kill myself staying awake. I found a corner of the theater with a bunch of empty seats and took a nap. (Apologies to anyone around me if I sawed too many logs during the film.)...




RULE TO FOLLOW TO STAY AWAKE:
:
L.A. Connection wrote:
...
2. LIMIT CAFFEINE. One year, early on in my Marathon career, I thought popping No-Doz and drinking coffee was a good idea. It wasn't. 3/4 of the way through, I thought I was having an ulcer right smack in the middle of DEMON SEED (that 'demon' was in my stomach!). More importantly, the constant ups and downs eventually catches up to you (same goes for excessive Sugar intake). Some folks have a higher built-up tolerence, but go easy.

4. EAT as LITTLE as possible. Again, early on, I looked forward to the Marathon as a 24 hour junk food party. Over the years, I have seen many Marathoners "go down for the count" long before the finish line due to upset stomachs. Pizza, burritos, Chinese, Indian, Thai food are all favorites of mine, but I would stay away from them. I eat a big breakfast. Then nibble, nibble, nibble all day and night with only 1 warm meal (usually just a chicken sandwich without fries, shakes or too many condiments). Maybe , something warm for breakfast. Otherwise, it's pretzels, chocolate covered raisins, several Power/Energy bars and lots and lots of water. Boring? Yup, but this post is about SURVIVAL!!



"unlimited refills" of Soda?! tsk, tsk. Hot Dogs, Pizza, Sloppy Joes?! Oh, my.

:)

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:52 pm 
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EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS - I saw this when it played at the 5th annual sci-fi in 1991 and was excited to see it back in the lineup, a cheesy classic

THE QUIET EARTH - I had never seen this one, so it was a treat for me. I really liked this one.

METROPOLIS - I have seen this movie a few times and it's not really my kind of film, I will say the DCP looked amazing.

DELICATESSEN - I had never seen this before and I loved it. Lots of fun.

INFRA-MAN - This is availbale on DVD under the title "Super Infra-Man" although watching it at home would not be as fun as it was with the marathon crowd. Easily one of the high points of the 'thon.

AKIRA - Way better than I thought it would be and the BluRay projection was awesome. Japanese subtitles at 2am are a bit difficult to follow.

THE HIDDEN - Awesome, Awesome, Awesome, Awesome, Love this movie!!

REPO MAN - Good to the last Drop, the best combination of dark-comedy with a sci-fi twist.

THE RUNNING MAN - One of my favorite 80's films ever. Couldnt wait to see it on the big screen for the first time and it did not disappoint!

DREDD - Karl Urban is DA MAN and he plays DREDD Perfectly. I can't wait for part 2. Wish this was in 3-D but it's ok because I have the 3-D Blu-Ray.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - They saved the best for last....Carpenter is the perfect Marathon closer, and the DCP was perfect.

I stayed awake for 28 straight hours with only a couple head nods during AKIRA. This Marathon was way to good to sleep thru.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 4:37 pm 
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L.A. Connection wrote:
CAUSE:

kevincarr wrote:
...Concessions - While not as many options as we've had in the past, the theater food wasn't as hard on me as it has been in recent years. The sloppy joes were a real nice touch for something to balance out greasy pizza and the nitrate fatigue from hot dogs. As always, I loved the unlimited drink refill options (of which I opted for soda)....


EFFECT:

kevincarr wrote:
...REPO MAN...and then came back to my seat to doze just a bit to get me ready for the next film....


kevincarr wrote:
...DREDD - I had just seen this movie a couple weeks ago, and like Repo Man, while I like it, I didn't want to kill myself staying awake. I found a corner of the theater with a bunch of empty seats and took a nap. (Apologies to anyone around me if I sawed too many logs during the film.)...




RULE TO FOLLOW TO STAY AWAKE:
:
L.A. Connection wrote:
...
2. LIMIT CAFFEINE. One year, early on in my Marathon career, I thought popping No-Doz and drinking coffee was a good idea. It wasn't. 3/4 of the way through, I thought I was having an ulcer right smack in the middle of DEMON SEED (that 'demon' was in my stomach!). More importantly, the constant ups and downs eventually catches up to you (same goes for excessive Sugar intake). Some folks have a higher built-up tolerence, but go easy.

4. EAT as LITTLE as possible. Again, early on, I looked forward to the Marathon as a 24 hour junk food party. Over the years, I have seen many Marathoners "go down for the count" long before the finish line due to upset stomachs. Pizza, burritos, Chinese, Indian, Thai food are all favorites of mine, but I would stay away from them. I eat a big breakfast. Then nibble, nibble, nibble all day and night with only 1 warm meal (usually just a chicken sandwich without fries, shakes or too many condiments). Maybe , something warm for breakfast. Otherwise, it's pretzels, chocolate covered raisins, several Power/Energy bars and lots and lots of water. Boring? Yup, but this post is about SURVIVAL!!



"unlimited refills" of Soda?! tsk, tsk. Hot Dogs, Pizza, Sloppy Joes?! Oh, my.

:)


Well, *had* I opened my comment by saying I was planning on staying up and not sleeping at all, this might have been fair to do. However, I never said my goal was to stay up all night without falling asleep. Having been to the marathons since 1987, I gave that up a long time ago. I've never been someone who can stay awake for more than 20 hours at a stretch. That's just the way I'm wired.

I know you were being whimsical, but I wasn't following your list of rules. Before using someone as a counterexample and shaming them for drinking soda (I see enough anti-soda posts on Facebook, thank you very much), you might want to contemplate the context of what is being said.

You have to realize that not everyone has the same goals/ideas as you do. I've never seen the marathons as a challenge to never sleep I'd rather sleep through a movie or two by choice than to nod off during something I really, really wanted to see.

<minor rant over>


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 5:46 pm 
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Sorry, Kevin.

I was being a bit whimsical.

And, importantly, I always preface my 'Guide' with this:


L.A. Connection wrote:
...
First, I know that it is NOT A MUST to stay awake. This is a guide IF you wish to try (Only an IF). Second, yes, know your body. If you can take gallons of coffee and greasy spicy food at 4am - go for it. But, these are some tried and true suggestions....

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 6:04 pm 
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No worries. It's all good.

Are you going to make it to the Horror marathon this October? Plenty of lead time.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:29 pm 
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A few years back, when I wrote up a review of the 2nd Annual SHOCK AROUND THE CLOCK (which you can find here, a friend asked me if I could really critique an event that I had planned. I'm still not sure of the answer, but I'll give some thoughts on this past weekend's SF31: FUTURE SHOCK! anyway.

In trying not to repeat too much of what's already been said, I'm forsaking a film by film breakdown and going for some general impressions and memories instead.

-Have I mentioned lately how totally in love I am with INFRA-MAN? Truly, this is a film whose absence made my heart grow fonder. Hadn't seen it since Boston's SF25 in 2000....and the wait made it all the more worthwhile. Similarly, I could watch METROPOLIS every day of the week and still find new things to enjoy. As someone else mentioned, the staggering scope and sheer spectacle of the whole thing is fairly mind-boggling when you really think about it.

-I had some apprehension about how DELICATESSEN would be received, but damn if this crowd didn't eat it up in all the right ways. And yes, the digital tricks we were able to pull with the Blu-Rays of this film and AKIRA might have opened up a lot of doors to other titles we've been wanting to play, but which have no easily attainable 35mm or DCP copies.

-Speaking of which....I mentioned this at the end of the Marathon, but has the crowd become almost too polite? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the fact that there aren't a bunch of rude jerks spouting off every precious thought that pops into their heads. But over the last several years, it also seems like it takes a lot to get the crowd vocally enthused. Trailers and shorts that used to receive gregarious reactions now elicit respectful silence. Action-packed films are sometimes greeted with quiet appreciation. A few of us have theorized that with much of the younger generation of Marathoids basing many of their social interactions online, they aren't quite as used to the group dynamic that a Marathon crowd sometimes offers. Any thoughts? Again, this remains a fantastic crowd. Just makes me wonder a bit.

-With all of the advance publicity we had for the date and the film lineup, we were fairly disappointed that attendance didn't match our expectations. But ya know what? It sure didn't feel like a smaller crowd. And that made sitting through 24+ hours of movietime all the more enjoyable.

All in all, this was one of my favorite Sci-Fi Marathons in a long time. Say what you will about my personal bias (this was the first Sci-Fi for which I've stepped up my role behind the scenes), but the films, the crowd, and the operations all clicked in a really nice manner.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:43 am 
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By the way, congrats on not having to cancel any movies this year. (Due to the film not arriving, or the wrong one being sent, or the marathon running way too late, etc.) Always a plus, and worth mentioning as yet another aspect of a successful marathon.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:30 am 
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By the way, the ARCHIVES of the website has been updated with the pictures that I took and scans of the various fiddly bits from the Marathon. I expect Joe will upload his batch in the coming weeks, but if anyone has any pictures they want to send my way I'll see that they get uploaded along with the rest.

The 31st Annual Ohio 24-Hour Science Fiction Marathon (2014)

I've also updated the Hall of Marathonia with the details of the event. I'm going to try to get the Intermission video details posted here tomorrow, time and sanity permitting. :)

The 31st Annual Ohio 24 Hour Science Fiction Marathon

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:59 pm 
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Just wanted to congratulate you on a great marathon. This was my third, but my previous marathons were in 2003 and 2005, so it's been a while, and I brought a friend who was a first-timer. To answer your question, Joe, it does seem like the crowd was more "polite" than it had been ten-ish years ago. I remember more jokes being thrown around back then. And actually, I liked the MST3K-style riffing of years past. Most of the jokes were funny and the crowd knew which movies to be quiet for. But that's a very minor complaint on my part.

As for the movies themselves, it was a great variety. I had only seen three of them previously (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Dredd, and Metropolis, albeit the Moroder version, and yes, I freely admit to liking the Moroder version, though I understand why a lot of people don't). In terms of quality, I was pleasantly surprised by Delicatessen. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but Amelie is one of my favorite movies ever, and as it turns out, Jeunet's style fits both light romance and dark comedy. I'm going to have to search out his other movies. In terms of entertainment, I have to go with Infra-Man. Holy crap, that is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen. This needs to make appearances at future marathons for sure.

Again, great job this year, and I can't wait for the next one!


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