The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 6:04 pm 
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For those of you who have not made the trek northwards previously, the CWRU Marathon is usually about 30 hours long.
They have been known to go longer due to glitches and packing extra films into the schedule.
It starts (as they say on their website) at 8:00 PMish. Parking is free if you get there after 4:30 pm on Friday.

This year they are charging $30. for approximately 14 movies plus shorts etc. And yes, all SF Marathons show Duck Dodgers.
If you are coming way late, or leaving early, you can pay just $4/film by surrendering ID so they can keep track of how many you watch.

Here's the website for detailed information.http://films.cwru.edu/sfmarathon42/

They have announced four films so far.
First film:
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016, PG-13, DCP)
"Somewhere near the middle"
The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984, PG, Blu-ray)
Next to last:
Have Rocket Will Travel (1959, NR, 35mm)
Last show:
Ghostbusters (2016, PG-13, 35mm)

As usual choices are pretty mundane. CWRU has shown some very interesting stuff over the years, but due to the difficulties in obtaining 35mm - and perhaps other choices, they have gone pretty predictable over the years, even with the 3 "SURPRISE" films that they schedule.

I'll update the list as the announce enough to make it worth while.

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:55 am 
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I've really grown to love the CWRU Marathons. They have a very different flavor than our Columbus events, due to the difference in venue, the fact that they're student run so they don't need to make a profit, the demographic (lots of college kids mixed with the old fogies who have been doing this forever), and the general lack of trailer (but increases in cartoons).

Sadly, my wife is going to DC over Inauguration weekend, so I'm going to have to miss the CWRU Marathon this year.

But it's been a great time the last few times I've gone.


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:56 am 
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I've really grown to love the CWRU Marathons. They have a very different flavor than our Columbus events, due to the difference in venue, the fact that they're student run so they don't need to make a profit, the demographic (lots of college kids mixed with the old fogies who have been doing this forever), and the general lack of trailer (but increases in cartoons).

Sadly, my wife is going to DC over Inauguration weekend, so I'm going to have to miss the CWRU Marathon this year.

But it's been a great time the last few times I've gone.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 1:57 am 
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Sorry that you'll miss it Aaron.
Additional announcements:

Akira (1988)
The Little Prince ( 1974)
Gulliver's Travels (1939) &
Death Race 2000 (1975)

Still not overpowering.
But the popcorn's cheap.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 1:56 pm 
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And the final list is:
Start Time Title
8:00pm(ish) Independence Day: Resurgence (2016, PG-13, DCP)
10:45pm Metropolis (1927/2010 restoration, NR, DCP)
1:30am Surprise 1 (????, PG-13, 35mm)
4:00am Gulliver's Travels (1939, NR, Blu-ray)
5:30am Death Race 2000 (1975, R, media TBD)
7:00am Have Rocket Will Travel (1959, NR, 35mm)
9:15am Akira (1988, R, Blu-ray)
11:30am Surprise 2 (????, NR, DVD)
1:15pm The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984, PG, 35mm film)
3:00pm The Little Prince (1974, G, DVD)
4:45pm Surprise 3 (????, PG, 35mm)
7:30pm Arrival (2016, PG-13, DCP)
9:45pm The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005, PG, 35mm)
11:45pm Ghostbusters (2016, PG-13, 35mm)
I am going.
However with the exceptions of Three Stooges classic :roll: Have Rocket and possibly some Surprise, I share the experience of most people here of having seen every film listed.
Perhaps they've given up on the long term Thon audience and are programming for the students?
Since to the best of my memory the Surprises are always oldies, they probably won't change the experience.
The first & last are decent and recent. A couple are historic classics. Arrival is excellent (but I wish they'd stayed closer to the original short story.) Hitchiker is amiably flaky. You can rate Death Race, Buckaroo, & Akira yourselves.
But as Aaron said, CWRU has it's own charm. And the popcorn is still cheap.
I have seen fewer movies than most fans here, or many longtermers in Cleveland. Even with this level of familiarity the list is disappointing.Sad that CWRU has gotten so mundane.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:21 pm 
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I've been criticized for the above post both by friends and on the Boston Marathon Board where I made a similar post.
It was pointed out that the three 2016 films of fair to quite good quality have not necessarily been viewed by those with a busier lifestyle. And in Boston the oldies were credited as providing a guarantee for those who dedicate the time and money to attend that it will be worth the effort.
Still not blown away by the list, but perhaps I've been around too long.
Anyone needing logistical or other help about attending, just ask. And say hello if you come north for the event. I'll be the guy with long hair throwing fruit out to the audience before the first movie. Popcorn's on me.
Unfortunately I can no longer offer space to crash before or after the show for visitors who are anything other than absolutely desperate. We moved to a smaller place and already are providing space for attendees from upstate NY.
Hope to see you in the Mistake on the Lake.
Le Chaim,
Pogo

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 12:30 am 
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Nahhhh, you're not off-base in your judgment. This year's lineup is pretty scattershot. It's particularly disappointing in that they made such a big deal last year about the purchase of a new 4K DCP projector, which, alongside their reel to reel projection, should've opened up all sorts of possibilities for future lineups. And yet, here they are with 4-5 slots filled by Blu-Rays or DVDs. Very much seems like they decided on which films they wanted, without a ton of consideration toward formats. Personally, if I had such enhanced projection power, I'd do all I could to play all 35mm or DCP titles.

And the lineup selections in recent years have featured a good number of head-scratchers too. Programming an event like this is always a challenge, as you're trying to balance out playing to the veterans while keeping an eye toward the growing younger members of the audience. But somewhere in the last five years, there's definitely been a shift away from the more esoteric fare that used to populate the 'thon, seemingly replaced by a preponderance of PG/PG-13/family-oriented films. Which is puzzling, as this audience is distinctly adult in nature. Even moreso than in the past, they seem to now shy away from titles that might be more serious or challenging in favor of nostalgic reminders of childhood. Compound this with their long-standing tradition of playing a recent, mediocre film first and a recent, somewhat loved film last.....and, well, yeah, things get a bit dicey.

I still think that recent lineups have been fairly solid, especially once the Film Society abandoned that ill-fated majority video format of 2013. But this year is definitely disappointing on several levels. Still, a CWRU Marathon is always a fun time no matter what.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:25 pm 
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Joe Neff wrote:
Which is puzzling, as this audience is distinctly adult in nature. Even moreso than in the past, they seem to now shy away from titles that might be more serious or challenging in favor of nostalgic reminders of childhood.

Deliberate attempt to cull the drunken frat crowd? Certainly compared to a decade ago the crowd has grown more sedate. Correlation or causation? You make the call!

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:01 am 
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Sorry to invite and then go away.
I'll be missing the Marathon. Due to the imminent and two week early arrival of a grandson, I'll be in Boston.
If anyone comes north, let me know how it went.

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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


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:25 am 
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Congrats Gary! That's great news! We'll try to hold down the fort at CWRU in your stead.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 12:03 pm 
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I'm back in. I'll be going to Boston longer and later to support my daughter's growing family.
Hope to see you at the 42nd CWRU Science Fiction Movie Marathon.
If you're political it'll be the best way to avoid the events of the weekend!
See: http://films.cwru.edu/sfmarathon42/ for details and logistics.
Say Hi and the popcorn's on me.
Or catch a fruit that I toss your way.
Gary (pogo)

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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


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 10:20 am 
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So, like I wrote above, I can't make it this year, since my wife is on her way to D.C. for the weekend.

Which has led to Adam and I hosting a little mini-marathon at my house this Saturday. It's going to run from noon until about 2:00 a.m. And I have assembled trailer and short reels for the event. I'm including a link below to the "preview" reel, that will be set to run on a loop from 11:00 a.m. until noon, which is the trailers for all of the movies that will play during my mini-marathon.

Trailers, Trailers, Trailers!


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:03 pm 
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Nice combination of the silly and quality Aaron.

Cleveland was not a waste for me. Below are reactions, not a review.
They had severe problems with one movie, Gulliver's. which even for what they got on the screen was a lot more dated than I remembered. Other projection went pretty well. The classic Rabbit of Seville was the only good cartoon. One other stop action claymation short was hilarious. (Forget the name. Help?)
The Previews were sort of so what (mostly hints as to the Surprises) An initial preview for a decades old coming of age film, Independence Day was a great joke.
The three surprise choices were a very mixed bag. Godzilla(1998) was the best of the many remakes of the classic. Downright hilarious in its science (so what?) but very good for action with Matthew Broderick doing a fair job as the fresh faced scientist and Jean Reno in a support role. Reno's face alone gave him a presence that made up for the herky jerky action continuity. But the Thrilla action was pretty good.
Hercules Against the Moonmen was the worst sandals and biceps crap that I have ever seen. To disparage plot, acting or any aspect of something in that genre seems to be so obvious as to be a waste of time, but I'll do it anyway. MST3K, has done a job on it, I understand, but it was so bad that even possible one liners pale vs. the stupidity on the screen. It was too bad to even make fun of. The Film Society must have thought that it would be a goof, but no. A waste of time.
The third choice was Contact. You probably have seen it, I hadn't, although it was always on my list. Deliberately long, the point being to develop Jodie Foster's character and the ideas behind the movie. Some friends do not like it. I did as an overdone, slow but extremely engaging & thoughtful exposition. The ending twist? Felt that it was an easy way out. So the balance for me was +2, -7, +4. Factoring the need for sleep time, a positive balance.

In contrast to my earlier post, I realized hat I had not seen The Little Prince a sweet little Lerner & Lowe musical with interesting bits by name performers. In spite of the above description, it was such an anomaly for the Marathon that I really couldn't get into it or enjoy it.
Other stuff you've probably seen. I like Arrival a lot, the reasons you can find in almost any discussion. Ghostbusters is there for the one liners the visual jokes & the splashy effects. I could be cynical, but I like the actors and as a concluding film sent the (by then) small remaining crowd out enthused at 2:30 AM.

CWRU, like Columbus, always likes action, and there was applause for most of the movies. The crowd was small (3/5th full), but appreciative.

Half a dozen Columbusards were there. Comments?

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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


Last edited by pogo on Mon Jan 23, 2017 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 11:38 pm 
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As I've stated before, the main enjoyment I derive from the CWRU Marathon is based in the unique time frame, the sleepover atmosphere, the weekend road trip, etc. So even the lesser lineups over the years haven't dimmed my enjoyment of the event too much.

That being said, this still stands as one of the weaker Case lineups I've sat through. Part of that overall weakness was due to the stark contrast between much of the lineup and the stone cold classics (METROPOLIS, BUCKAROO BANZAI, AKIRA) and high quality fare (ARRIVAL, DEATH RACE 2000.) Pure quality aside, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and LITTLE PRINCE seemed like stabs at the more eccentric Case fare of old gone wrong, as neither can really be classified as even mildly strong science fiction. HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL is a weak Stooges film at best (which is saying a lot.) The Devlin/Emmerich GODZILLA might've been an interesting choice if the same team's INDEPENDENCE DAY sequel hadn't been in the same lineup. I've always thought that GODZILLA is not a horrible film, just a mostly pedestrian one, and that same sentiment carried over into too much of this lineup.

As a surprise, CONTACT was interesting, but having it paired as a double feature with ARRIVAL did it no favors. The latter is a more stylistically and emotionally complex offering, which only serves to highlight the weakness of Robert Zemeckis's more populist fable.

I did end up quite enjoying the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot. It'll never match the original, but then again, few remakes/reboots do. What remains is an enjoyable collection of comedic riffs, and show-stealing turns by Kate McKinnnon and Chris Hemsworth.

As I noted in my pre-Marathon take, it still seems odd that the programming has seemingly developed an aversion to more than 1-2 serious Sci-Fi films. Classics like BLADE RUNNER haven't played in decades. And the tone of too many of the films now plays off a sense of childhood nostalgia, or in narratives that play into a childlike (sometimes childish) sense of the genre. Or maybe it's how the programming has seemed to studiously avoid R-rated films for a few years. Having attended for 16 years, I've yet to see a large contingent of kids at any of the events. Not advocating for a consistently harder edge, but Sci-Fi derives such universality from the broad range of the genre. Scaling back on more challenging fare only serves to increase a naval-gazing, regressive view of said genre.

All this being said, my crew and I still had a a great time. Aside from the freezing temperatures for most of the Marathon's first half. But hey, endurance of this type often has its costs, amirite?


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 4:40 pm 
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Like the thrust of your review Joe, but it wasn't the contrast of quality and crap, it was the quantity of crap.

Try sitting at the front. At the start the stage was so toasty that I took off a couple of layers. The balcony is always warm - and there is room to stretch out. If you prefer your back to the wall, well, bundle.
Interestingly, it got cool at the front by the end.

The real reason for coming back was that I tracked down the 10 min claymation short. Watch. It's worth it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRJMijBzjwo

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