I loved this marathon, so, SO good. The Drexel Bexley (now just the Drexel, I guess) is a great venue for thons. Cozy, good neighborhood, awesome staff. I'm glad we had such good turnout but I'd be so sad to see it out grow the place. I told myself going in I wouldn't buy a T-Shirt but that design was boss, and when I saw they offered a zip up hoodie, I couldn't resist. The coffee mug was also beautiful, the program and certificate, I have to say the marathon branding game is strong. Someone missed their calling in design, and thank goodness, because their programming game is stronger.Yes, I missed that nothing was shown pre sixties or in black and white, but what a minor complaint about a wonderful set of films.
Film #1: Mad Max "Know this: that scag, and his floozy, they're gonna die" - Joe, you forgot about the homo eroticism? How?! As a kid, Fifi always confused me, now, I love him. I forgot how soft Max is in this film, it does get a little long in the tooth in that regard. Overall, it's so thrilling, weird and horrifying an experience, you need some tenderness to give the darkness that much more heft. The young couple that gets chased and raped, good god, so very, very scary. This is a film that sticks with you hard every time you watch it. Toecutter is one of cinema's all time most fascinating and fun to watch villains. The stunts, too. Man, those stunts.
Film #2: Starman "I will miss the cooks, and the singing and the dancing, and the eating...and the... other things" I had not seen this film since I was a kid. As hamfisted as it is, in that special 80's way, it still gets you right in the feels. I loved it. Bridges takes a daunting, weird task and makes it an Oscar caliber performance. Did you ever doubt him? The special effects is a marvelous bundle of resources we sadly do not see anymore, and, I guess, never will again. Charles Martin Smith, as the surrogate audience member perspective, also shines. It doesn't get any better than young Karen Allen. Conversations about Carpenter's story telling power must include this film.
Film #3: Arrowhead - After the first fifteen minutes, I decided to take my friends advice and join him for dinner at The Rusty Bucket. I wanted something non pizza to eat, and the time buffer of a Q&A and costume contest seemed ideal. What I saw felt very convoluted. I caught most the costume contest and was thoroughly entertained. I shouted "Kill the kid" and regret nothing, even though said kid was sitting right behind me. Aaaakward.
Film #4: The Man Who Fell to Earth "I don't hate anyone. I can't." I had not seen this film before, and it was so good. The concept is great, and I love the way the story is told, a series of sentences taken out of paragraphs, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks. I'd heard it was explicit, but I had no idea that little Rip Torn and not so little David Bowie were in this movie. The 70's were a different time for cinema and censorship, that's for sure. Bowie was consistently fascinating. Best final line of the thon.
Film #5: High-Rise "This is my party, you're my guests, I should be the one that decides if someone's lobotomized" I had seen this before at Fantastic Fest and was really looking forward to a second watch. I walked away from the first viewing thinking the switch from tension among classes to total anarchy happened too fast, but with some perspective I found it to be more measured than I recalled. The visuals are great. The book High-Rise inspired Cronenberg's They Came from Within, and this film felt informed by early Cronenberg. To me, anyway. Hiddleston is great, Irons is delightful, but my fav character is the guy with the giant mustache who raids the swimming pool with all the kids. He's the quintessential bully, equal parts funny and frightening. I'm a big Wheatley fan, and this may be my favorite.
Film #6: Zardoz "The gun is good, the penis is evil." I love this movie and looked forward to taking in that beautiful transfer, but sadly I zardozed off. Those cheap PBRs caught up with me.
Film #7: Turkish Star Wars "Start that whistle no woman can resist" I have to be honest, I did not pay close enough attention to the opening exposition and so I really have no idea what this film was about. I love a good training montage though, and I applaud the film maker's brave and avaunt guard decision to focus a rather extensive montage on rock slapping. My, how he slapped those rocks!
Film #8: Jason X "We love premarital sex!" If you don't like Jason X then up yours. This film is way more entertaining than it has any right to be. Poor Jason had already suffered two broadly despised finales. Jason takes Manhattan is not as bad as remembered, it would be much more appreciated if they had named it Jason on a Boat, or Maritime Jason, or Captain Jason, and left the Manhattan ending a surprise. Fans would then go apey over the fact the film winds up in Manhattan, instead of anticipating it the whole time and then getting pissed. Jason goes to Hell repeats the stupid idea of blowing the ending in the title, and adds to it by omitting Jason from the film almost entirely. If Jason could switch bodies, why the fuck has he had a machete head wound and a missing eye this whole time?!! What is actually a decent horror film simply should not have been attached to the Jason franchise, we would like it as an original production about a new character. Adding to Jason X's context, the production of it halted the development of the highly anticipated Freddy Vs. Jason much to the dismay of two rabid fanbases. I'm sure most fans saw relegating Jason to space as just one final, familiar pit stop before the semi permanent, pre-remake graveyard of horror franchises. Instead, Jason X would have been a fine, if not ideal, final entry (Freddy Vs. Jason proved an even more fitting end for both franchises instead). It has plenty of inventive kills. The concept is worked freshly despite the fact space was already well trod ground for other horror film series. There are a lot of successful jokes in it, I definitely LOL during this movie. The cookie cutter characters get dispatched quickly, and the ones that stick around all have something interesting about them. It's smart, swift, fun, funny, and inventively gory. Also features a more awesome cameo than most, which helped weave this film into the lattice of coincidence all marathons enjoy.
Film #9: Fantastic Voyage "12 minutes left, not the time to run out of sugar" The last time I saw this film was at a marathon, it was a faded print, so my memory was everything in shades of pink. This movie really benefits from it's full color palate. It had to have been a blast to work on those sets. Maybe it was a pain, but it had to have looked cool in person at least. I enjoy the characters and their dynamics, and the idea that our internal bodily defenses are the villains of the film, personified by some really wacky special effects. Ok, Pleasance is the villain, but he's just so damn cuddly I don't want to accept it. I'm sure he's simply misunderstood.
Film #10: Destroy All Monsters "It appears to be some kind of special micro transmitter, why they inserted it into his body, I don't know" Hooo boy, I remember the satisfying smackdown Ghidora is the recipient of, but what I forgot is the laborious amount of alien invasion exposition that precedes it. This is not my most favorite Godzilla film for that reason. Also, all these dudes, but no Gigan? Really? When the monsters are attacking the various cities, that's good stuff. I don't why those monsters hate landmarks and public transportation so much, but I guess that's why they call them monsters. For those saying they would like more family friendly fare at opportune hours, this film was rated G and included on screen suicide and shoot outs. Either leave your kids at home or accept their minds will be bent and know they'll thank you for it one day.
Final Film: Mad Max Fury Road "All this for a family squabble. Healthy babies, tsk" Proceeding The Raid and being followed by Hardcore Henry it would appear that an action film renaissance may be upon us. Yes, this doesn't fit in the original cannon, but if Max were to become a multi actor, James Bond like character, we would have to make this concession anyway, and I have high hopes that is where Max is now headed. A fitting companion to to the first film as Hardy seems to be channeling that early, broken Max. I continue to be weirded out by the foreign back story that haunts him but is never explained, Miller has said more is on the way, will this be revisited? Who knows. I love all the fine details in this film, all the little touches that add up to a much finer woven world than you normally see, all the little untold stories or hints at what's really going on. There is a lot, alot alot, in this movie. I love. Here is a conversation between the kid I mentioned earlier sitting behind me and his (probably) father:
Boy "What happened?" Dad "He died" Boy "Who?" Dad "The big bad guy" Boy "How?" Dad "His face ripped off" Boy "Oh"
To the man who is clearly flipping a massive double bird to every piece of parenting advice he's ever received and keeping the future safe for cinephiles in the process, I salute you.
Thanks so much to Bruce and Joe. I really wanted to shoot it with ya'll a bit afterwards but sadly I had to jet. Next time. There will be a next time.
|