The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Hey gang,

I've posted my full Marathon experience recap to my site, Comic Hero News.

Go check it out!

Some musings on the recently completed, now dearly departed 27th (give or take a few years here, a few time warps there) annual edition of the Ohio Science Fiction Marathon and Backpain Junkies’ Convention a.k.a. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My $30 million Cosmonaut Experience a.k.a. This Cinematic Thing of Ours:

*The premieres? I’m glad that most of the crowd seemed to enjoy them. That being said, I think it’s time to seriously consider the Marathon definition of what constitutes a premiere. INK and SLEEP DEALER have both been available on DVD since last fall, readily there for all to see at their leisure. Yes, this event featured their first Columbus theatrical screenings, but calling them premieres is starting to get a bit tenuous. As for the individual quality of the films:

-Although I had high hopes for it, I guess I’m in the minority in finding INK to be an utterly boring and trite collection of genre clichés, ranging from the acid-washed visuals to the absent and irresponsible father being pulled into redemption to the power of childhood innocence. And of course, there was the kick-ass team of dream warriors engaging in bullet time, sub-marital arts battles shot with that annoying strobe effect on the camera shutter that was passé years ago. I’m a big fan of playing around with genre conventions, and I wouldn’t have minded if the filmmakers had picked a few and ran with them. But choosing to fill out the running time with every convention they could think of didn’t serve them well.

-I saw SLEEP DEALER in Boston back in February…where it played last! Yeah, just think of how fun THAT was. Needless to say, that scheduling quirk made my initial impressions of it somewhat middling. Its charms and subtleties played much better during the waking hours yesterday evening. This is a compelling and relevant narrative that plays to the best aspect of science fiction: presenting a commentary on real life couched in a somewhat fantastical structure. As the years go by and my grey hairs become more obvious, I find that these types of Marathon premieres to be my favorite, and this one didn’t disappoint.

-I genuinely dug RICHARD GARRIOTT: MAN ON A MISSION. Its story is, in essence, so simple, and yet so compelling on a human interest level. I was so wrapped up in the buildup to the flight, that it was almost disappointing when I realized that there would be a substantial portion of the running time devoted to Garriott’s actual time in space. It seemed almost perfect to end the film with the liftoff sequence, followed by a title card detailing the success of the mission. But that’s more a commendation of what comes before the flight than an indictment of the film’s structure. Recommended.

-I skipped out on RETURN OF LOST SKELETON (surprise, surprise.) Wake me when Mr. Blamire creates something of worth or has something original to say.

-I’ll agree with the overwhelming crowd sentiment on STINGRAY SAM. It was a genuinely goofy, often subversive play on several genres, very endearing and worth the time investment.

*When I found out that all of the premieres would be shown on video, I was very apprehensive of the impending experience, both from a personal and crowd perspective. I’ve seen a lot of cruddy video projection at Marathons and other general theater events, so it was somewhat comforting that the Drexel has improved this part of their presentation since last year. That being said, INK and SLEEP DEALER both benefited from having highly stylized visual palates that didn’t belie their video origins as much as more naturalistic films might have. And MAN ON A MISSION had major problems with image combing throughout. I understand that some films (like, presumable, MAN ON A MISSION) don’t have prints available, but spending most of the first half of the Marathon watching video projection still leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth…or maybe that’s the aftertaste of my fifth cup of coffee. The filmic image has a tactile quality and texture that video still has not managed to duplicate, and part of the Marathon experience for me has always been seeing movies in the 35mm (or, sometimes, 16mm) format that I can’t play at home.

*I was pretty disappointed in the crowd reaction during Mike Olenick’s SPACEBOY Q+A. Full disclosure: I count Mike as a friend and have known about this project for a long time. Nevertheless, it still seemed like many of the questions were outright dismissive of the project and condescending toward any artistic merit (or plain general interest) that the original or the remake could generate. To boot, the portion of the crowd not asking these questions was just carrying on with their own confabs in other parts of the theater. A little courtesy, here, people; I mean, this wasn’t Sandy Collura bragging about his demo reel flick. Mike’s not the type to put on a three ring circus during his Q+A’s, but he has a genuine interest in the film and its history, and I would have thought that more people would have just had an open mind and given him more of a chance. But it seemed like a lot of folks were more comfortable not having to think that SPACEBOY could be anything that didn’t fit into their preconceived notions.

*When I saw STAR TREK in first run last year, I found it to be fairly diverting and interesting, but boy did my opinion change the second time through. This reboot plays to the worst aspects of modern popcorn flick culture. The script, if you’d like to call it that, is just an assemblage of quasi-catch phrases and cornball action lines straight out of the Schwarzennegar/Stallone playbook, coupled with an almost ADD need for some chase or fight scene every five minutes. And the characterizations are atrocious. It’s not enough for Kirk to be self-absorbed, he has to be a mega-prick for all but the end of the film. Most of the supporting characters are reduced to in-joke lines that presage what we as the audience know they eventually became. That’s fine as a one time joke, but the second time through it struck me as completely self-congratulatory (audience sez: “HA! It’s funny because Chekov will say ‘wessels’ years later in the film timeline!”) I guess this is not mistake, since Orci and Kurtzman also wrote TRANSFORMERS, which trades in the same clichés and banal dialogue. Go back and watch WRATH OF KHAN again, and appreciate how rich the characterizations are, how Ricardo Montalbon takes what could be a hambone role and turns it into an almost Shakespearean icon, how you give a damn about the people you’re watching. Yeah, I know, the original cast is way too old to play these roles anymore (and I say this all as an admittedly casual TREK fan), but if you’re going to cast a reboot at least find some actors who are less vacuous and disposable. Of course, most of that could be due to the script. And by the way, this is not just a knock on J.J. Abrahms, as I really enjoyed CLOVERFIELD and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III.

*I’ve waited nearly twenty years to see BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE in a theater. Although I wish I had seen it at 3pm, rather than 3am, it was still worth the wait. And I know that Godzilla films can be goofy, but even by those standards, GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH was REALLY goofy. But still enjoyable.

*As I recovered from the Marathon late this afternoon, a lot of the aforementioned thoughts roiled around in my head. And then I came to a moment of revelation: Ro-Man is the perfect symbol for the current incarnation of the Science Fiction Marathon. Follow me here. The longtime marathoid who dresses up as Ro-Man (or other ape-related spin-offs) has won three of the last four SF and Horror costume contests, and now places in the money every year. He’s amusing, but a lot of his appeal is based on the relative weakness of the other entries. That doesn’t mean his costume is bad, but if he had appeared in some of the vintage Drexel North contests, he probably wouldn’t have won a thing.

So too goes the SF Marathon. I’m glad that everyone enjoyed themselves, and that a higher than usual percentage stayed until the end. Regardless of my feeling that this was the weakest lineup is several years, these events continue to be a good time for all and a nice reunion of an extended mutant family. But, as we’ve kvetched about on this board, they could be great. They could sell out every year. I think that a lot of the appeal of some of this year’s films stemmed from lack of context for the greater fare that could have been shown…or maybe my tastes have just diverged from those of the crowd in general. I just want to see the best event possible, and I’m not sure that it’s been that way for awhile now.

To be perfectly clear: this is, in no way, a knock on my partner in crime Mr. Bartoo. His is a Herculean task, one in which he doesn’t always have the amount of control that would be ideal. To see him maintain his enthusiasm for the Sci-Fi Marathons throughout the myriad changes and trials that they’ve endured over the years is heartening. Without Bruce, there would be no Science Fiction Marathon, so it’s great that he continues to enjoy the event and to receive his just plaudits from the crowd. Bravo to him, once again.

…and now, on to the Horror Marathon.

Amen Brother! To me a premiere should be something big and special like "Frequency" was.



I disagree, it was boring and self serving plus it's Science FACT not Science FICTION and the underlying message was if your rich you too can make your dreams come true



I liked this movie, not as much as the first one but I laughed a few times.



I loved Stingray Sam and wouldn't mind it becoming a part of the Sci-Fi marathon tradition!



I just thought it lacked over the original, the female lead doesn't have the same sex appeal as Florence Marly which took away from the overall project.



I can't disagree more, of all the recent reboots I think Star Trek has worked the best and it did a great job of keeping me awake.



I agree totally, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE need to make another marathon appearance and play much much earlier!!



I said this years ago and I still stand behind it, the costume contest is dead. We had 5 entries this year when we used to get 20 or 30. I think it's time to end this tradition and move onto something new...Just like Bruce said about 35mm prints, it's the future and we need to eccept it.



DITTO!!!



I am looking forward to a long hot summer but when the season changes and that Halloween feel is in the air my blood will start to boil as my desire for the Horror Marathon grows!!

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Jaws3dfan®
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Excellent commentary, Joe. I hope my thoughts can do it justice.

First off, a re-iteration of the thanks to the Host Organism and the King of DrexelSpace for their efforts in organizing the event. As much as they always like to credit the audience, we're lazy ... we just buy the tickets. This stuff is hard work.

A few general thoughts before we begin ...

I too count this as probably one of the weaker lineups in the past few years. Still, I think the lineups' strengths (the premieres) went well and it's weaknesses (lack of classics, less-than-optimal film order) did not weigh it down to any serious extent.

Concerning DVD projection, I am with Joe in being a 35mm purist, though I can generally be somewhat forgiving in many cases. Still, I felt there was way too much DVD projection this time around. Though the projector is very good, midway through "Richard Garriott" I definitely hit my "Ok, I'm tired of scan-lines, this is way too much video" limit. It could be because it was mostly front-loaded, but I'd had enough. Still, in many cases it can't be helped.

I won't say much about projection problems because for the most part things went very smoothly. Frames were taken care of quickly, the focus was good and the projectionists were very responsive. There were a number of audio problems during Intermissions and with several films, but this seemed to stem mostly from switchovers between film and DVD. Methinks if DVD is going to be this much of the lineup that the Drexel may need to review its patchboard configuration. That, or reduce the amount of DVD next year.

As for the lineup itself, in general it was good but I do think it concentrated far too heavily on the "premieres" and recent films and needed at least one or two films from pre-1968 in the mix. (And that's AFTER considering the "Moon" swap-out.)

And again, let me point out that even being critical, I definitely consider this Marathon to be a Success.

Alright, on to the REALLY long, boring commentary.

MOON - This was a genuinely crushing disappointment to lose. It was a perfect film to show (most people never got to see it in the all-enveloping environs of a darkened theater) and a genuinely receptive crowd to show it to. Though I love its replacement (the "Thing From Another Reel") with all my heart and soul, losing this hurt bad.

Stingray Sam - Wow. Friggin' perfect. Shown in the perfect way in the perfect venue. (Admittedly, it might become a bit tedious in a single dose, but done serially it was fantastic.) Fun, irreverent, enjoyable ... and a musical, no less! This is the sort of thing we come to Marathons for, the "surprise hits" that most of us know nothing about. Plus, David Hyde Pierce's best vocal work since The Amazing Screw-On Head <-(Look this up and WATCH IT, by the way. I don't think you'll be disappointed.)

Ink - Joe and I diverge here, though I think his points are very valid. Still, after watching it I felt like overall it worked, and worked pretty well. It pulls cliches from a LOT of sources (more which a Recognized Horror Expert like Mr. Neff would readily recognize), and its hook was pretty obvious about 1/2-way in, but I found myself enjoying it despite all this. Not the greatest premiere the Marathon has run, but worth seeing. I'd even forgive it on DVD if the lineup weren't already so DVD-heavy.

Spaceboy - Admittedly, the audience was a bit harsh/dismissive of Mike Olenick, which is a shame - but in their defense,Spaceboy is a hard sell, even amongst those whose tastes cross a broad spectrum. Not everyone, for example, holds your love of Suspiria, Joe.

Richard Garriott: Man On a Mission - Excellent documentary, and a glimpse into the inner workings of the Soviet Space Agency and the ISS is always welcome. That said, my neo-Marxist side kept thinking, "Geez, THIS is what this guy did with all that Ultima cash I gave him?" Still, ultimately I was glad to see it and I think it's extremely well done. I admit, I want to like the guy even if he does have more money than he knows what to do with.

Costume Contest - Please, people, let's see some more/better entrants in the future. Ro-Man has jumped the shark, his seat of power CAN be usurped. Costume and presentation, it can be done. No, really, some of us WILL vote for you.

Geharha - Missed bits of this ordering a pizza, but didn't miss much. An amusing enough lark, with genuinely funny moments, though not the screaming riot I had hoped for. Still, by the end I was genuinely chuckling and managed the occasional guffaw.

Sleep Dealer - An excellent gem, and the title that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WISH they had gotten on film (I had thought there were prints available, though maybe I'm wrong there.) I echo Joe's comments exactly. Definitely resonated well with me and I think it's an excellent entrant in the catalog for Mexico.

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah - Oh, yeah, this is Godzilla-kitsch at its best (and worst.) Ridiculous plotlines and rubber suits, everything I've come to love about Gojira. I truly enjoyed it, though for my money I'd rather see a pristine 1960s kaiju (i.e. "Mothra") than the modern reboots.

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again - Again, I'm with Joe here. Blamire can call me when he learns how to be funny. He's the king of Beating a Dead Joke and neither he, nor his editors (nor indeed most of his actors) have any sense of comedic timing. They also lack an understanding of the idea of "funny once." I would have probably dropped it entirely in favor of any number of other titles.

Battle In Outer Space - This was where the sleep deprivation started to catch up with me. I know I nodded off for about 45 minutes, maybe an hour, right in the middle. Kinda disappointing, since I did want to see it, but it's a rough time slot for a classic.

Star Trek - This is now the 5th time I've sat through this, and though I'm not quite as critical as Joe on the film, it consistently can't peek its head above 3.5/5 stars in my book. I will say this, what it does well, I think it does VERY well and quite enjoyably. Its flaws, however, are FUNDAMENTAL flaws, and they're big, and I just can't get past them. It's a pity, too, because this much effort and money could have made a reboot of genuine quality, rather than just another re-hacked franchise cash-cow. It's too recent, too, given its popularity ... I would have let this vintage sit for at least a year or two before bringing it up to Marathon status.

Galaxina - Yeah, this is really a bad film. But then, it's SUPPOSED to be a bad film. 70's/80's schlock at its glorious worst. At least it doesn't take itself too seriously. Sadly, there's another 30-minute gap in there which I just don't remember (though I suspect I didn't miss much) so I'm sure I nodded off once more. I enjoy this sort of thing, (I actually laughed more at this than at Cadavra if you can believe it), but it needed a better time slot. Hey, Cadavra looks like a good place.

2010 - I almost skipped out early on this one, but the print was in pretty good shape and I hadn't seen it for a very long time (in spite of having the BluRay sitting on top of the pile right now.) Other than the political atmosphere, which overwhelms the film and is difficult taken in modern context, I think it holds up extremely well. It's certainly a worthy successor to the Masterpiece (which I think holds up better at 42 than I do at 40 :/), and it was good enough to keep me awake after a very long, very heavy Marathon. Again, though, there could have been a better spot for it. I probably would have made it the opener.

Premieres I would REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LIKE to have seen ... Cargo, The Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Splice (though it's out soon anyway, I believe), Black Lightning, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, heck even Iron Man 2 would have been a fun surprise. Still, what they got was good and I have no complaints. Keep an eye out for all the above titles, as they'll be coming somewhere nearby reasonably soon.

One thing I wanted to add for anyone out there that lurks, or who has wandered here from Facebook or Twitter. Please, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK. The registration process might be a bit cumbersome, but the admins can help and we're always looking for feedback. We'll take it anywhere you want to put it (comments on Facebook are good as well.)

I'm sure there are people who would love to hear an opinion other than our Merry Band of Talking Heads.

And really, that's all I have to say about that. I'll start scanning the materials from the 'thon this week and get them into the Archives, and I should have the Hall of Marathonia updated tomorrow, if I can still remember anything by then.

Oh, and if people are interested in the list of songs from the Intermission music, I can post those here this week as well.

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

I'm still too tired to formulate a coherent reply/commentary, but I have to agree with these two points quite a bit. I was a bit surprised to see INK and SLEEP DEALER as "premieres" as well...especially since I had already started watching INK on Netflix streaming a bit ago. To me a premiere is the first time it has played anywhere in the US, or more realistically, the first time it has played in Ohio - not Columbus.

Secondly, I found INK boring as hell. I mean, I was literally groaning and squirming at it after the first ten minutes or so easily. The lead male actor (dad) wasn't the best of performers and lacked, to me, any real talent for distinguishing the characters he played. It was painfully obvious from his voice and makeup who was who early on. Plus, I didn't care for the message of the film (i.e. don't be corrupted by "the world" and enjoy those you love, you can find joy in innocence, blah blah blah). I liked the look of the incubi, but past that I was just...bored.

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Six side is heaven/Nine side is go

Ink was the highlight of the marthon for me. I realize that it's not to everyone's taste and it could even be easily mocked and will be by most viewers. What the makers of the film did with a tiny budget and some big ideas should be applauded. While most indie films are slow navel gazers about mumbling lost 20 somethings or other here was someone trying to do something new and executing it surprisingly well considering the constraints. The film had it's flaws and came close to collapsing on itself with some of it's more sentimental messages and moments but it's to the filmakers credit that it held together and still worked.

I was captivated from beginning to end and happily gave myself over to the film's new world and message to examine onself. I am a sucker for films that wear their heart on their sleeve like this one did. It invites derision but this movie has a heart a mile wide and it's trying to generally move it's audience to be better people. When hollywood does this it is usually condescending, cloked in cynicism, or sentimental pap.

Also the music was gorgeous. I will be downloading the soundtrack.

By the way, also wanted to give a big thumbs-up to the t-shirt design this year. Quite nifty. I really dig the neon-purple.

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

Okay, got a decent 10 hours of sleep last night. I might still need an extra hour or two to make it up tonight, but I'm almost back up to full speed.

And speaking of sleep, I found that this year I kept my eyes open for a lot longer than I did at last year's sci-fi marathon. While I guess I would agree that this year's lineup wasn't the strongest, it still did a pretty darn good job of keeping my interest and keeping me awake. I closed my eyes for a little bit during Battle In Outer Space, but still, my eyelids give a pretty good overall thumbs up to this year's selection of films. So I suspect that the lineup itself was probably a bit stronger than it appeared on paper.

Avatar was a pretty good choice for this year's upside down and backwards selection. Makes a lot of sense as just about everybody saw it. Amusingly, the floating mountains looked juat about the same upside down.

Stingray Sam was an utterly enjoyable marathon experience! Both the story and the singing were a lot of fun, and it worked perfectly in the 10 minute serial format. I tend to doubt that I would have enjoyed it quite as much if I'd watched 60 straight minutes of it in my living room at home.

Moon. Wow, Moon was the #1 movie I was looking forward to from this year's lineup, because I've seen such great reviews for it, so I was terribly disappointed when it didn't play. That said, the replacement is a brilliant piece of cinema that is chock full of gorgeous visuals and awesome music. So I really shouldn't complain. We certainly could have done a lot worse for a replacement. (In fact, it's pretty much impossible to do any better!)

As for the great debate about Ink, I definitely come down on the "I loved it" side. It may have been full of cliches, but there's a reason cliches are cliches: it's because they work and are generally well-received by audiences. In this case, I figured it out about halfway through, and I'm really glad the movie went the way I wanted it to. The movie did a pretty good job of usuing flashbacks and telling the story in a non-linear manner. I'll admit, for maybe the first 20 minutes or so I had my doubts about the movie, but after that I really got into it and embraced it. Definitely my favorite movie of the marathon, and I'm glad it got the best reaction when Bruce asked about each movie at the end. (Perhaps the only thing that I didn't like about it were the choppy fightscenes at the start.)

Spaceboy- I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Spaceboy. I don't mind if it's shown every year though, as I'm comfortable with the knowledge that it'll be over in a few minutes. Some people seem to like it, and I wouldn't want to take their enjoyment away from them. The new version was amazingly faithful to the old. Regarding future showings of Spaceboy, I'd hope that we'll only be subjected to one version next year. Perhaps next year show the new version (for anyone that missed this year's marathon) and then alternate year-by-year after that. As for the possibility of a sequel, well lets just say I'm not enthusiastic, but if we watched a sequel next year instead of the original, I wouldn't complain. At least it'd be something new and different.

Weighing in on the Richard Garriot: Man On A Mission debate, once again I am definitely in the "I loved it" camp! Is it science fiction? No. But it's the reason all of us love science fiction. Who here wouldn't love to actually go into space for real? I was a bit worried the movie would turn into "the Richard Garriot life story", but that didn't really transpire and it focused on the training and spaceflight soon enough. A lot of the training sequences were different enough from what we normally see about the space program to keep it interesting. And of course the onboard shots from the ISS itself are always going to be interesting, especially when he shows you things that are just a little different from what we normally see. I liked the shot of the fired caused by that one capsule's return to earth. And you could really see how blackened Garriot's capsule was after it landed. Does Garriot have more money than he knows what to do with? Well yeah, but in this case he did something really cool with it and I'm glad he shared that experience with the rest of us. Seeing more private spaceflight is a good thing. But remember, you don't have to be rich to go into space. I'm pretty sure being a millionaire isn't a pre-requisite for being an astronaut.

At this point in time, I was feeling a little sick to my stomach, so we took our planned dinner break a bit earlier than anticipated. Because of that, I missed Geharha, the costume contest, and most of Sleep Dealer. Is Geharha worth tracking down? It sounds like folks enjoyed it, but it may not have exactly been outstanding. I only caught about the last 10-15 minutes of Sleep Dealer. I was looking forward to this one, so I'm bummed that I missed it. Now I have to decide if I want to watch it having already seen the ending.

I'm a big Godzilla fan, so of course I liked Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. It's got a good mix to it, including some time travel/sci-fi plot elements, some goofy android running action, and enough giant monster action. I appreciated the fact that we got to see the Japanese version.

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again was my second most anticipated movie (after Moon) when it actually got added to the lineup. I loved the first, and this one certainly tried to copy as much of the first as possible. In fact perhaps it tried way too hard to copy the first. I enjoyed it and laughed at a number of lines throughout, but overall, it just didn't live up to the first one.

Battle In Outer Space seemed like a very well-made movie (well, the parts that I was able to keep my eyes open for). Though I have to admit, when it comes to old movies like this, I think I prefer the pure goofiness and cheese of movies like King Dinosaur versus just plain quality, like this one.

I only saw Star Trek once last year, so I had no problems at all with watching it again. It's a great thrill ride and perfect marathon fare. All throughout the movie, I was thinking that it would have been great as the 10AM closer (compared to a slower movie like 2010). I think it pretty much woke everyone up in the whole theater. I looked around once or twice, and it seemed like everyone was watching attentively.

I realized about 5 minutes into Galaxina that I had seen it before. (Twice actually.) Not a great movie, but amusing enough. I laughed or at least smiled here or there, and Galaxina sure is fun to look at.

The sound for 2010 started out awfully quiet, but I guess that either it eventually got fixed, or my ears just got used to it. I thought it might be a challenge as an ender (especially after Star Trek) but boy was I wrong. I paid close attention to this movie and it kept my attention throughout. I hadn't seen this movie for years, so I was looking forward to watching it again, so maybe that played a part in it. Most people seemed really into it though. There was a pretty good crowd still left by 10AM, so they must have all wanted to watch this movie. I think it goes without saying that it's a great movie, with some great special effects and space scenes. As for the political atmosphere in the movie, I thought it was just fine, and good reminder of how things used to be imagined.


In the end, it seemed to be a pretty good lineup (though I did miss just about all of Sleep Dealer) and yet another fun marathon. I brought a brand new person with me this year, and for the most part he had a great time. (He wasn't too into the Godzilla movie or the Lost Skeleton though.) He agreed with me that Ink was the favorite and Stingray Sam was a hidden gem.

By the way, regarding the suggestion to bring back Stingray Sam, I think most people would be happy to see it again, but I don't think we'll want to see the full one hour again next year. Perhaps in 3-5 years, or maybe we could just watch one 10 minute episode each year. (Or two per year. It really was rather enjoyable.)


Anyways, a HUGE thanks to Bruce (and Jeff and the whole staff) for yet another fun marathon.

what was missing this year?

-Gravity
-Chubb Chubbs
-Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell

anything else I'm not remembering?

I had a great time as always. Thanks to Bruce and everyone who puts this together. Thanks to the Radio Cafe staff who keep me going for 24 hours. I made it to the end for the 2nd time in 3 years. (with naps)

I don't know if I am in a minority, but I usually don't notice, if I even could tell, whether the movie is 35mm, 16mm, DVD or whatever. I enjoy seeing it on the big screen in the theater full of fans. I don't really care a lot about how it is projected.

I haven't seen Moon, but a had not seen Blade Runner, so no problem. I enjoyed Blade Runner.

I agree with Joe and Jen about Ink. Lose this turkey.

Stingray Sam was great. I don't want to see it played at every marathon,
but it was fun.

I've never been a fan of Spaceboy (been coming since 2004), but there is no excuse for rudeness.

Richard Garriott should have been about 30 to 45 minutes long (maybe ending at liftoff would be the improvement it needs) Rich boy is hard to like.

Sleep Dealer was a highlight for me. I thought this was very good.

I'm always ready for a godzilla movie. The slaps at the US role in WWII were interesting.

I haven't seen the first Lost Skeleton movie. but I loved this one. I was laughing out loud throughout. Great choice for the marathon.

Battle in Outer Space: At this point, I was beginning to overdose on Japanese (or beer)

Star Trek: I am a Trekie, who has always considered TNG a pale imitation of TOS. I really like this movie. Yes, the plot is crap. I think the casting was excellent. I love the way the characters are shown to be like their counterparts from the 60's series and ST I through VI. The portrayal of the characters more than makes up for the weak plot IMO. So, great choice for the marathon.

Galaxina: Expected this to be bad...Did not expect it to be this bad.

2010: Good movie to end on.

Looking forward to October.

Moon - Losing Moon was rather disappointing. However, "Moon" was fantastic, one of my favorite movies.

Ink - The Highlight of the marathon for me. I too had the story figured out halfway though, but the story was told very well. This flick was the first time I was emotionally moved by a fight scene, lol.

Richard Garriott: Man On a Mission - I love these documentary during the marathon. Nothing like a little science fact to go with all the science fiction.
Stingray Sam/Spaceboy/Geharha - This marathon was extremely short/serial heavy. I absolutely hate Spaceboy (i understand that it is a marathon tradition, but i appreciate the better marathon traditions such as Duck Dodgers), Geharha was just ok, and Stingray Sam was entertaining enough ... but honestly, I think I would have rather just had another feature length movie in their place.

Sleep Dealer - Interesting concept. I found it interesting enough to pick up a copy at the concession stand. I'm actually watching that DVD right now.

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah - Ah, Godzilla ... I've missed you so. I haven't seen a Godzilla movie in years, and now I wanna see them all again. (Godzilla marathon? hmm.)

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again - This was a serious test for my patience. It started off as funny, then went to silly, then went to irritating. And the funny part is ... I'm glad it was shown, lol.

Battle In Outer Space - Unfortunately, I slept through most of this. Fortunately, it is now in my Netflix queue.

Star Trek - I saw this movie 3 time on opening weekend. Needless to say, I really liked it. At first I was amazed that you guys were able to get a summer blockbuster flick the year after it was in theaters, but then I started thinking about past marathons ... didn't the same thing happen with Robocop? I also thought it was funny that most of the stuff that I read online about the new Trek film is negative, but by a show of applause, it was the audience's 2nd favorite film of the marathon.

Galaxina - This is a cheese ball film that I love to hate. I was one of the few in the auditorium that had actually seen it before.

2010 - I haven't seen this movie in an extremely long time. It's not nearly has slow paced as I remember it. Makes me wanna watch 2001 again.

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Remember ... no matter where you go, there you are.

Had a good time, as usual. Actually this is the first marathon, both Horror and SciFi, where I didn't have a cold, allergies or something of the like.

The Drexel - Happy with the venue. I liked the art work in the theater, reminded me a bit of the old days when Jenny Reeder used to make the really big decorations. The staff was very good, and I know several of them put in very long days, but they always were very pleasant.

Booth - A big Kudo's to the booth. I think 2010 was the only time I heard frame called out. Yes there was the Geharha video projection restarts, due to audio, but the audience had fun with it.

Snarks - Seemed fewer this year, but most I heard were good. I believe it was Bob who during the opening of 2010, said, "Previously on 2001." If you like snarking, the schedule put a lot of the best snarkfest movies when people were dozing. Maybe that was for the best.

Pacing - I assume the schedule was what it was due to technical reasons, but man did this start slow. I think a better schedule would have had more technical headaches, and many more appearances of the screen adjusters.

Audience - I was surprised at how many folks stayed. Maybe the low energy opening 10 hours or so, didn't burn people out and they stayed longer. I did see a number of kids there this year and saw them stay through most of the event. It seemed like there were more women as well. Usually the horror has more women than SciFi, but this looked like a horror audience from a gender breakdown, at least to me. While there was less snarking, it seemed like there was a lot of chatter during the announcements. I agree wholeheartedly with Joe that the crowd was downright rude to Mike Olenick’s. Not so much the questions, which I thought were pretty good. even if they asked a tough question, at least they showed they were paying attention. My problem was the fact 3/4ths of the folks in the theater were seemingly having their own conversations. I get that most folks don't like Spaceboy, and may not be interested, but that is no excuse to be rude.

Moon - I really expected this print to not be quite so Red and the story to not be quite so familiar. 'Twas a nice opener, though it didn't help with the early energy.

Ink - My friend Brett and I have a somewhat unique reaction to this move. As some of you know, his wife died in a car accident a few years ago. His only daughter is five has blond hair and is named Emma. Fortunately Brett is nothing like the father in the film, but let's just say that movie made me somewhat uncomfortable. I figured out who Ink was part way through, but it still was still an interesting story. The good guys looked like they came straight from a United Colors of Benetton shoot. I came away thinking the concept would make for a good comic book series.

I will say the movie must have really grabbed my attention because I can't believe I would have missed this right in front of me, especially given how attractive Jen is. I may be old and married, but I'm not dead.

Spaceboy and the remake. - I appreciated the remake more after Mike Olenick’s Q&A when he explained part of what he was doing was trying to figure out how they did some of the effects and tried to determine the colors. However, the casting for Valana ruined it. I will say, the lyrics are much easier to understand in the remake. I might even be interested in the documentary, but at the moment, I don't think Mr. Olenick has enough information to make a very good one.

Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission - If spaceboy was a vanity project... Actually I enjoyed this, though it seemed a tad long. I also would have liked it to end with the launch and a comment on a successful mission, though some of the mission footage was cool. I am glad they edited out the necrophilia footage with Gagarin's wife's corpse, cause everyone has to do everything he did.

Geharha - I actually hope to see the sequel/rest at some point. Couldn't be worse than Big Man Japan.

Costume Contest - <sigh> May be the last year for the cash prize coming from me. It's almost to the point I have to declare Ro-Man as a dependant on my taxes. Though, I have to say one of the other dads in my son's cub scout pack has a printing business and I am toying with the idea of the return of the big check. I don't know if more info on this, mention in the flier, if we had one, might have helped or maybe the costume contest is over and the era of the Stingray Sam handshake contest is upon us. Maybe next year, I'll go up, and the audience can decide if the winner deserves the $100 or it can go back to me.

Sleep Dealer - Thoughtful, though the America is evil part gets old after a while. Interesting concept.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah - Hey, evil America is back again. The films from this era always come across as excessively preachy to me, but I'm not in their choir, so that is to be expected.

The Lost Skeleton Returns Again - I'm with Joe that not much new original work here, but I loved the last one and I liked this one. Felt a bit too long and lacked some of the intense absurdity of the original.

Battle in Outer Space - I think I must have dozed in this one. Aaron summed this up pretty well in his comments over at Comic Hero News.

Star Trek - I saw this twice last summer as part of double features at the Drive-In. I liked it better this time, I think in part because the image was better. I know what some of the others have said, but I think this film did the job they wanted it to do. They introduced the characters, especially some of the minor ones to those who never saw or don't remember the original series. They did it in such a way with a nod to the audience who knew who everyone was. Sulu fighting with a sword, an explanation of where the name Bones came from, etc. They also rest who Kirk is, so they can go forward with a character many are familiar with but they can explain to the die-hards why he isn't who he was. Same with Spock and the loss of Vulcan. My hope is this film will be to the next Trek film what Batman Begins was to the Dark Knight. A nice introduction that set the stage for a great film.

Galaxina - I used to work near the fairgrounds for Columbus Public Schools back in the late 1980s. What does that have to do with Galaxina? One day at lunch, the Batmobile pulled off I-71 and pulled into our parking lot as I was coming out to lunch. I ended up running the guys to an auto parts store to get a new alternator and actually jump-started the Batmobile. I expected more T&A and not quite the low budget Spaceballs this ended up being. Though it did remind me of that day I got to jump-start the Batmobile.

2010 - Good closer, more upbeat than THX1138, Westworld and a few others we have had.

Stingray Sam - I plan to get it and the Soundtrack. I loved the music and while I'm pretty sure I don't want to see all of it every year, I would love to see snippets of it in the trailers where appropriate. Imagine the Lullaby song before a move like Sleep Dealers, or the "Name game" song before something like Gattaca. Got the best snark of the marathon for me, "Jeff and Bruce had a son named Juice."

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The wages of sin are royalties.

I don't recall seeing the Green Slime trailer play, did I miss it somewhere?

Snarking was definitely at a good level this year. Pretty minimal, and not as much of a distraction. The 2001 line was priceless.

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

Other missing things:

The Muppet welcome to the theatre introduction.
An actual countdown to blastoff to open the marathon.
Most of the Castleberry/drive-in concession ads.

I usually never notice that stuff either. I don't have an artist's eye and I don't have a musician's ear. The only times it bothered me at all this year were during RG:MOAM when some lines would show up during some of the moving camera shots, and very briefly during the sound on 2010.

Overall, the booth and the people who worked in it definitely get a grade of A this year. Nice work, folks.

Agreed on the 2001 line.


Oh yeah, Muppets are always fun too. Hopefully they'll be back next year along with that gorilla/snake yogurt ad from Australia that always amuses me.

As for the countdown, there was one!