24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

[Frankie's Market]

This sounds like fun. The 24 Hour Ohio Sci-Fi Marathon.

And the same folks also hold a 24 hour horror marathon every year before (duh!) Halloween.

I wonder if adequate interest is out there for similar marathons to be held here? Do we have enough sci-fi/horror hardcore types in this state who would dress up in costumes and stay from 12 noon Saturday to 12 noon Sunday in a theater watching 12 or 13 flicks, interspersed with brief intermissions, movie trailers, costume judging, trivia contests, and guest speakers?

BTW, 24 hour movie marathons are not for the faint of heart. If you are merely a casual fan of either movie genre, you will start getting restless or falling asleep by the middle of the 3rd film. And by the 4th or 5th film, you'll be leaving the theater bored out of your mind and thoroughly sick of the whole thing.

For those masochists afficionados who think they could make it through an all-day marathon, what would be your proposed 12 movie lineup for a horror and a sci-fi marathon? What would be your choice of theater location? And what kind of special amenities would you need in order to successfully make it through 24 hours w/o leaving the theater? (i.e. greater variety of concession food, a movie marathon finisher's shirt as incentive, etc.)

[helen]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

The closest thing to that here was the Star Trek Marathon a few months before the Star Trek VI openning in 1991. Was held at Waikiki #1, 5 movies in just over 10 hours time. I remember it was on a Saturday and one had to purchase the ticket from someplace before the day of the event. I don't remember if those tickets were available on the day of the event or not.

I really don't know if something like this would work here as in a full 24 hour thing. Maybe a festival across three days with 8 hours each day or 4 hours on a Friday night, 12 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday.

[mel]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Many years ago the college I attended held a "Planet of the Apes" marathon. All 5 ape movies shown in sequence... lasted about 9 to 10 hours. This was years before the reimagined movie by Tim Burton, which would probably have been an added bonus to such a marathon.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Many years ago the college I attended held a "Planet of the Apes" marathon. All 5 ape movies shown in sequence... lasted about 9 to 10 hours.

I remember going to an "Apes" marathon li'dat when I was in high school; came out with such a headache, I'd never do THAT again!

[sophielynette]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

A few years back when I still lived in Ohio, I took the bus up to Chicago to attend a 24 hour horror movie marathon with some friends. It was at an old theater with the most uncomfortable seats imaginable, but you had a wristband that let you come in and out, so we checked the schedule and would leave during the movies we weren't interested in to stretch our legs and get some food or whatnot. A lot of people showed up in pajamas and brought along pillows and blankets, and my friends and I ended up nodding off toward the end. Of course, by the last movie we were all loopy and sleep deprived, so the entire theater was laughing their heads off at "The Shining". It was a lot of fun, but I don't think I'll ever do it again. I don't really like horror movies any more..

[helen]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

According to the link provided this Ohio Sci-Fi Marathon has been doing it for the 27 years and the 2010 offering seemed like a good mix of recent sci-fi films, some oldies, a Godzilla movie thrown in for good measure and the movie 2010 itself.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

What about a 24 hour marathon of watching nothing but B-movies? Northwestern University has hosted their B-Fest for 30 years! A Masterpiece Theatre of Cheese, if you will. Plan Nine From Outer Space, Invasion Of The Bee Girls, and the like.

While I admit a predilection for an occasional viewing of a "so bad, it's good" kind of movie, even I don't think I could handle a 24 hour onslaught of this kind of dreck.

Any takers for this idea?

[Kaonohi]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

I could handle it if it were the ten best rated sci-fi flicks of all time... in reverse order.

[helen]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Any takers for this idea?

Are asking for people to watch 24 hours worth of movies or are you asking for a group of people to staff a presentation of 24 hours worth of movie watching?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Are asking for people to watch 24 hours worth of movies or are you asking for a group of people to staff a presentation of 24 hours worth of movie watching?

Get robots to do it. You can start with simple office machines: http://bit.ly/9NP1k0

[Frankie's Market]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Are asking for people to watch 24 hours worth of movies or are you asking for a group of people to staff a presentation of 24 hours worth of movie watching?

Maybe both. Since this kind of endeavor is not going to make anyone rich, it has to be a labor of love for the organizers to set everything up. But hand-in-hand with that, you also need sufficient fan interest that will financially sustain this event.

For myself, I would love to program such a marathon. Screening 5-6 movies in a row of any one single franchise (Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes) would be a snoozer. But mixing up various sub-genres and formats (shorts and features, Hollywood blockbusters and independent/foreign films) could be an intriguing experience for everyone involved.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: 24 Hour Sci-Fi Marathon

Wasn't that a scene in Clockwork Orange with a violent person's eyes are kept opened with clamps?