The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Historically fun and cool events are eventually discovered by the jerks, and the marathons are no exception. I am sure there are those of you who remember the marathons beore the jerks found it. Seems like over the last few years it's hit or miss on weather or not you sit by a group of jerks. Last year I was lucky and everyone around me was cool but this year I had no such luck.

There was a row of 4 or 5 guys behind us who felt it necessary to talk, laugh and comment on every little thing and these were the worst kind of jerks because the majority of their comments were only directed to the other jerks in their group.

I was able to tune them out in the beginning but when Lady Terminator started they went from obscure sexual references to just plain vulgure references with no regaurd for anyone around them including my 14 year old daughter.

At this point I thougth it was best to just leave rather than cause a scene.

The majority of the people at the marathons are good and courteous people it's to bad there isn't a way to keep the jerks out.

_________________
Jaws3dfan®
Follow me on Twitter

Well I can sympathize with you It was stated before the movie started that it was NOT for kids. My friends and I enjoy "snarking" at the bad movies and we cool it for movies like Andromeda Strain and others of the same elk. While I don't think it was my group you speak of, I think you need to take some personal responsibility and take your daughter out of the movie before it began. To many times in todays world we feel the need to blame others for what we did wrong. It's 2:30 in the morning a movie called Lady Terminator is getting ready to start and you have been warned by the host.......why is it everyone elses responsibility to your daughter, be a dad and make the right choice to remove her. A Clockwork Orange is equally not a good kids film would you let her stay and watch that with no talk backs? If you looked at the poster that been hanging in the lobby for Lady Terminator, you would see that it said no one under 17 admitted.......so I'm not trying to be a "jerk" however I do believe you are a little embarrassed to have let your daghter see this particular film.

_________________
http://www.ilmfan.com/credits/project_d ... project=26

Actually me and my wife a very liberal when it comes to the movies our teenage daughter watches, as long as it's not porn we are ok with it and sexual situations and nudity don't bother me.

If these guys would have been even remotely funny or entertaining that would have been one thing but to just spout constant obscenities to the point where no one around them can even hear the movie is another.

They did the same thing during Journey to the 7th planet, I mean really how many "uranus" jokes can you make before it stops being funny? Plus no one around them was laughing. Their entire point for coming to marathon was to try and make each other laugh reguardless of those around them.

Bruce (the host) also said early on in the marathon NOT to constantly talk and try to be funny but every once in awhile it was ok.

_________________
Jaws3dfan®
Follow me on Twitter

if u dont mind my asking, whereabouts were you seated?....i'm just curious to see if you are referring to the group that was sitting right in front of me, because the journey to the seventh planet snarking was fantastic, as was the lady terminator, so prolly not thinking of the same group, but id like to konw for curiosity's sake

_________________
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"

I think you just got stuck with a sucky seat. I was in the middle section on the right side of the theater and the snarking and talking wasn't too bad near me. I just wish more people knew which movies to snark during and which ones not to. I was most excited about seeing 1984 this year and I don't need some guy making jokes about razor blades whenever Julia showed up naked. Lady Terminator and Journey to the Seventh Planet were perfect snarking movies, but it'd be nice if those of us that want to watch the more serious ones could do so without bad jokes ruining it.

_________________
Keep reading my reviews on HollywoodBitchSlap.com

And oh yeah, go check out my new film blog, GarageSaleCineaste

I think I know which group of guys you're talking about... they were seated right next to me. Not only were they just not funny, they kept getting up. These were big guys so every time one wanted up, I would have to stand.

Pretty obnoxious group. By the way, I was seated middle section, third row from back on the right hand aisle seat.

Yep that was them! Very annoying. I have been to almost every Drexel marathon since 1987 and I love perfectly timed snarking but non-stop talking is just rude. But I certainly don't want to seem ungrateful to the Drexel or Bruce, this was not their fault, heck Bruce even mentioned this type of behavior a few times. I could have complained or tried to find better seats and I didn't so I take responsibility for that. I just wanted to vent and I have so I feel better now and there is always next year.

_________________
Jaws3dfan®
Follow me on Twitter

*NOTE* I was out of state this year...

_________________
You should be loyal to your hero's
They can turn on you!

I know I'm probably the last person who should be complaining about such things ... but this year was definitely not the best for "audience participation." I've sat through worse, but I could have done without Captain Obvious and the play-by-play commentary of every dramatic moment, clever nuance, and "bitz-o-trivia" of every film for which he was awake.

Again, I know I have little right to talk (I've cut my fair share of films to shreds in time), but honestly, films like Andromeda Strain and Clockwork Orange are worthy of being seen without the distraction of someone talking throughout.

I might not have minded as much if the offenders in question had even tried to find their "inside voice". I can live with an awful lot from the audience if they're trying to keep quiet. But when you converse with your friends halfway down the row without even trying to whisper your neighbors are going to get an earful. When you do it consistently, your neighbors are going to get annoyed.

But, like I say, it wasn't as bad as the Horror Marathon that I walked out on 4 films early because of the drunken commentary in the row behind me. I ended up missing two films that year I really wanted to see, it was that bad. There has been a CWRU marathon or two that the crowd made almost too difficult to bear. So it could have been much, much worse.

Oh, and honestly ... I can't back you on Lady Terminator. Even I didn't expect any mercy from the audience on that one. I'm surprised the audience was as tame as it was .

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

That sucks that you had to leave one of the Horror, cons due to drunks. BUT that is one big diffrence between those 2 crowds. With the horror thon' crowd it's more of a party crowd for sure...But idiot drunks do suck either way you look at it..

_________________
You should be loyal to your hero's
They can turn on you!

Trust me when I say I have ZERO problem with "snarking" at bad films:

Snarking:
Reacting to a characters dialog or a situation in a way that is amusing to those around you.

Snorking:
Creating your own soundtrack for the entire film that is in no way amusing to anyone but yourself and the group that your with.

Be a snarker not a snorker!!

_________________
Jaws3dfan®
Follow me on Twitter

After Battlestar Gallactica, when Bruce asked if there was too much commentary, the majority shouted "yes". For those who have thought they were just being funny, realize you are hurting the experience for most of the rest of us.

I have to agree with Comix8 and say that you were unfortunately in a bad seat. I found the crowd this year to be especially raucus, but in general not obnoxious. I was near the back in the right side section and I did not hear rude comments from the middle section. So I feel for you when you say they were constantly chatting amongst themselves. Anything that makes a marathon veteran walk out must have been pretty bad. I would have said something eventually, rather than walk out, but that's just me.

I thought the crowd was very respectful during the classics and had a lot of fun during the not so classics.

Personally, I am aware that I am going to get up a lot during the marathon. It's just what I do. I get antsy and I like to walk around to keep refreshed. So I choose seats on an aisle to the side, being respectful of others. I would never be able to sit in the middle of a center aisle with that small amount of legroom and not being able to raise and lower those giant wooden planks they call armrests at the Drexel.

_________________
Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

Yea I am just to laid back and none confrontational but I do let stuff like this eat at me for a few days. I am pretty much over it now. I did scan for better seats but didn't see any.

I did think of a New Invention...

THE SCREEN BLOCKER 2000

It's a small item that looks like a small umbrella, the way it works is like this... The people behind you are talking, you hold up the SCREEN BLOCKER 2000, push the little button and it opens up (much like an umbrella) however instead of a circular shape it forms an upright rectangle that you than hold up so "the talker" can't see the screen, when they complain they can't see you tell them Good because I can't hear.

But thats not all..you also get a lovely throw towel that reads "WARNING I AM ARMED WITH SCREEN BLOCKER 2000" you place this towel over the back over your chair so the people sitting behind you know what to expect if they talk.

Also included when you buy the SCREEN BLOCKER 2000 is the Patron Zapper which is a light weight taser you can use to defend yourself when the talking jerk attacks you

_________________
Jaws3dfan®
Follow me on Twitter

Greetings, friends.

I was with the group of snorkers that you speak of, and I have to say - I'm sorry that my good time ruined your good time.

I wish you had come to talk to us. Despite finding the concept of a vaginal snake demon hilarious, I'm a reasonable human being that understands the needs of others. The middle ground between walking out and causing a scene is coming to us calmly and explaining that you'd hope we would tone it down in the interest of the other attendees. Sometimes it only takes that sort of jolt to get someone in a rhythm to tone down. It's hard to do during a movie, but at marathons, it's really easy between films to approach someone and ask politely for them to cool it.

And Svarney, I'm really sorry. I know exactly who you are because we sat next to each other in the first movie. I was sort of worried about it, and figured the zen thing to do was to see if you wanted to slide to the middle of the row where our getting up wouldn't be an issue, but you didn't say anything, so I didn't prompt it. I notice you left during the middle - I hope to find a different seat and not out of the theater entirely.

I understand the frustration, although the only comment I feel the need to defend is that we were vulgar without regard to your family. Nothing we said was any more vulgar than was on the screen for Lady Terminator. I saw an 11 year old boy right before Clockwork and suddenly felt self-conscious about some of the jokes (I was admittedly naive about the presence of youngsters since I didn't see any until then). Then I thought - this 11 year old is about to watch Clockwork Orange, and I felt instantly better.

For the most part, we tried to just joke to each other. I'll agree we had zero barriers for Lady Terminator and Seventh Planet, but the people around us were laughing, and it's hard to stop the momentum of positive feedback. It's funny that we're a main focus of the comments, even though we were pretty silent during Day the Earth Stood Still, Sputnik, being completely silent (in reverence) for 1984, Clockwork and Big Man Japan and not even being in the theater for Pitch Black or Andromeda Strain.

And yeah, the guy who made the comment about razors during 1984 irked me, too. Because it's 1984.

So apologies. And for dealing with us in the future, just talk to us. Or if you're non-confrontational, talk to the host to speak with us directly. We'll feel sheepish for a second, get really red, and then comply.

And regarding Seventh Planet, Bruce introduced the film by saying, "snark away", and I complied because I'm an automaton that yields to authority.

Olive branches,
Snorker