Infra-Kid wrote:
Many people have said that the Gateway Marathon that featured Night of the Comet,Chopping Mall,King Dinosaur,Flash Gordon,Mindwarp(Galaxy of Terror) and Frankenstein meets the Space Monster were their favorite sci-fi marathon and indeed it featured the most "schlocky" titles but maybe those obscurities and schlock titles are what people really want.
Hmmm... I think you jump to an unsupported conclusion there - namely, that the specific films you mentioned are the reason for the favorable reviews of that year's lineup, as opposed to the other films on the lineup. I'll use myself as an example: while I agree that, overall, the lineup that year was a good one, the films that stood out for me were 12 Monkeys, Puzzlehead, The Great Yokai War, Fido, Night of the Comet, and Flash Gordon. Most people who posted their preference for that lineup mentioned 12 Monkeys and/or Flash Gordon, whereas only 1 mentioned King Dinosaur, and none mentioned Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster.
In other words, in coming to the conclusion that the "schlocky" titles are specifically the ones that "people really want," you have committed the Fallacy of Division: Assuming that something true of a thing (the 2007 lineup) must also be true of all or some of its parts (the specific films from that lineup).
Also, Flash Gordon is in a different class of film than the others on your list - I would not call it "schlocky": it had a budget of $35 million (the same as ST: The Motion Picture), in 1980 (around $100 million in today's dollars?).
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I know I do. It was one of my all time favorite marathons,too. Maybe something to think about.
I think you've made a hasty generalization here. Just because YOU like those particular films you mentioned, and would like to see more of them, does not mean everyone does.
3 last points I'd like to make on this topic:
1) To use the words "fun" and "good" to define the films you'd like to see in the lineup is completely unproductive, since they are subjective terms. Everyone will disagree on what a "fun" or "good" film is.
2) Please correct me if I'm wrong - to sum up what you are looking for in the Marathon experience (at least, for the lineup) is, I think, rare and obscure films, ie. that are not available on video - correct? In case you don't realize, this is pretty much impossible in this day and age, for cinema programming, since almost everything is available on video or online. For example, all of the films you listed from 2007, as examples of a great lineup? EVERY single one, readily available on video. And the list of stuff you were apparently hoping for this year? Starcrash, Night Beast, Liquid Sky, The Incredible Melting Man, Bloodsuckers from Outer Space - all on video. Dark Side of the Moon, I'm not sure which one you're referring to? Also - seeing stuff in the cinema is different than watching it home, alone, on your couch. Hopefully, coming to see these films at the marathon, and sharing them with an audience, is worthwhile.
3) Lastly... the programming strategy has not changed so much over the years as you seem to imply - only your perception of them has. I beg you to look over previous years' lineups, compare them to recent ones, and reconsider. For example, even in the glory days of the Drexel North, those lineups generally had around 2-3 mainstream big-budget films, 2 premieres (sometimes more), 2-5 classic b-movies, 2-3 schlocky but available on video films, and 1-2 truly rare or obscure films... very similar to the more recent lineups.