Terrific statement by Jacks!
I understand that every Marathoner is different, but, why attend if you go in with totally pre-conceived notions? Before I became involved with the planning of the Boston event, it was the
curveballs that inevitably were the most fun. The film you hadn't seen. The juxtaposition of two movies that weren't alike at all, but somehow worked as a coincidental double-feature. The film you had no desire to sit through that turned into something cool. And, of course, the reason to attend most of all: The Audience.
As one who helps put together the Boston SF Marathon and organizes the running order, it mystifies me when I hear folks saying that such and such a movie scheduled in the wee hours will "put me to sleep", "kill me" or worst of all: "There's no way I'm gonna make it through that!" This all before the FIRST movie of the Marathon has even started.
A couple of years ago, I personally helped locate a print of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 THE MOVIE. It had been on the Marathon's wish list for a decade or more. The studio told us years ago that they had "destroyed" all 35mm prints. Many Marathoners clamoured for the MST3K film. We found it. We booked it. I made the "mistake" of scheduling it at the "dinner hour". Marathoners fled the cinema in droves, individually and in groups. It seemed like whole ROWS of the theater ran for the exits like the place was on fire. The screening went OK, but, having a half-empty theater ruined the experience of a
full house laughing at/with the MST3K troop. I understand the imperative to eat at some point, but, do you have to be such a slave that you look at your watch and say, "time to eat!", no matter what is showing at the Marathon? It's one of the reasons I have never worn a watch to the event - I want to get lost in the community as much as possible. I joked a few months back that you could show a World Premiere sneak preview of Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT at dinnertime and some folks would still skip out to grab a greasy burger. "World Premiere? Whatever. I'm hungry...."
Have fun folks. Wish I could be there. Have fun and let the event take it's course - Don't try to overly Pre-Plan your body's rhythms and your mental state. Let it rock 'n roll.
IamJacksUserID wrote:
...The marathons for me are an all or nothing proposition. Maybe I have a different mindset being thousands of miles away, because it is a considerable investment for me to have a good time. But the fact of the matter is, when I'm at the Marathon, I'm at the Marathon. I know I'm in the minority because of all the stories I hear about folks arriving late or leaving for a bit due to previous commitments. I also hear talk of planning naps or "dinner breaks."
For me, none of this is in the spirit of the event. In this day and age, if I wanted to just sit around and watch old movies on my own schedule, that is very easily done. At least ninety percent of the appeal of the Marathon for me is the sense of being "trapped," so to speak, in the theater. That's why they call it a "marathon." And though I argue, make suggestions, and question certain booking trends from time to time, I would not have it any other way. Some of my fondest Marathon memories are of movies I didn't think I would like or was at best indifferent about going in. But, in the spirit of the event, I was "forced" to watch them at the whim of those involved....