http://www.baudot.net/gil/andromeda-strain-1971/qdig-files/converted-images/med_andromeda-strain-M35-6.jpg
Keystone?  Who said anything about keystoning?

Yep, it's just about time again for that misbegotten mutant of a Marathon, Boston's brother by another mother (at least in terms of inception date and longevity), the one and only Science Fiction Marathon at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (January 20-21)!  The folks at the CWRU Film Society have been puttering around with adding a digital projector to their booth (as an addition to the current 16mm/35mm setup), so the lineup hasn't materialized until now.  The current slate?

8:00pm - Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
10:15pm - Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
12:30am - Surprise #1
2:30am - The Rocketeer (1991)
4:30am - The Mummy (1999)
6:50am - Back to the Future (1985)
9:00am - Slither (2006)
10:50am - Surprise #2
12:55pm - The Andromeda Strain (1971)
3:20pm - The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
4:20pm - Surprise #3
6:30pm - X-Men First Class (2011)
8:55pm - 9 (2009)
10:30pm - Surprise #4
12:35am - Jurassic Park (1993)

My cohorts and I will be making the trek to the icy tundra in two weeks, so expect a full report of annoying audience members and their half-baked callbacks, cheap concession items and all things in between.  For more info, head on over here.

Ugly perhaps, but I've been attending for 23 years.
As is often the case, the saving grace for that Fest will be the quality of the surprise features.
For any interested, here's a list of what they have shown over the years.
As a newbie, I am not allowed to post a link , but use this as an address if you are interested in seeing what they have shown over their 30 years+

films.cwru.edu/sfmovies.html

And parenthetically, since the 37th CWRU Marathon  will occur on 1/20/12-1/22/12, why does Boston claim to be the longest running genre Fest?

Sorry, Pogo. It's just a spam deterrent. You should be able to post anything now. Here's the link:


http://films.cwru.edu/sfmovies.html

pogo wrote on Jan 12^th, 2012 at 6:02pm:

And parenthetically, since the 37th CWRU Marathon  will occur on 1/20/12-1/22/12, why does Boston claim to be the longest running genre Fest?

When was the first one held? The history only lists dates starting with 1996. I seem to remember Bruce saying there was some question as to the actual date of the first Cleveland marathon and no one can say for sure which came first.

According to the Ohio Sci-fi Marathon Message Board

Quote:

Since their inception in 1987, deep in the heart of that wonderfully musty and atmospheric celluloid palace known as the Drexel North, the Ohio 24-Hour Science Fiction and Horror Marathons have delighted thousands of loyal Marathoids with... http://www.scifimarathon.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1230

Didn't either Cleveland or Columbus claim to have gone through a "time warp" in which the numbers of the Marathons were non-sequential? There's never a "Timecop*" around when you need him. ;)




*"Timecop" Played at SF21 in 1996, which according to our records, occured between 1995 and 1997.  ;)

Wot's all this then?

For the record and the uninitiated:  There are two marathons in Ohio.  First, there is our sister marathon, the one that Bruce Bartoo, our former host organism, started in 1987 after he migrated west (The 24 hour Ohio Sci-fi Marathon).  Second, there is the CWRU film society marathon that has been on-going since 1976.  No one can seem to nail down the exact date of CWRU's first marathon hence Boston's qualified title as the World's Longest Running Genre Film Festival (maybe).

Now move it along you lot, noothin' to see 'ere.

Well, they've closed the Cleveland airport (at least temporarily), suggested that people get off the roads, and predicted more of the same joyous Midwestern weather for tomorrow. So if you are coming to this Marathon I hope that you are already here.
The last scheduled Surprise! was replaced by Super 8.
If any poster here should have the bravery to come visit the Mistake On The Lake, say hello. I am the guy with long gray hair who usually grabs the spot dead center on the stage. At some point I'll be tossing out free apples & oranges to the audience.
Cheers from Cleveland.
pogo

Have fun. We look forward to your post-'thon report on the crowd, the films, the quality of the film prints, attendance figures etc etc.


pogo wrote on Jan 19^th, 2012 at 6:42pm:

Well, they've closed the Cleveland airport (at least temporarily), suggested that people get off the roads, and predicted more of the same joyous Midwestern weather for tomorrow. So if you are coming to this Marathon I hope that you are already here. The last scheduled Surprise! was replaced by Super 8. If any poster here should have the bravery to come visit the Mistake On The Lake, say hello. I am the guy with long gray hair who usually grabs the spot dead center on the stage. At some point I'll be tossing out free apples & oranges to the audience. Cheers from Cleveland. pogo

For any interested, the actual films as screened in Cleveland were:
Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
The Rocketeer (1991)
Surprise 1! Rise of the Planet of the Apes(2011)
The Mummy (1999)
Back to the Future (1985)
Slither (2006)
Surprise 2 ! Flash Gordon(1980)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
Surprise 3! Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (1978)
X-Men First Class (2011)
9 (2009)
Super 8 (2011)
Jurassic Park (1993)

Notable were:
The screening of the four highest receipt SF films from 2011.
- The CWRU Film Society must have had a lot of money sitting around.
The extreme low level of the cartoons. - While admittedly classic, only 2 had what was even by a generous evaluation any Science Fiction content whatsoever.
The hugely annoying bossiest and loudest functionary it has ever been my unfortunate experience to experience in decades of film viewing. In addition to the patrons, she was ever ordering the Film Society workers around at the top of her lungs.
The numerous projection problems with frequent freezing and sound glitches. This was totally forgivable however due to the recent equipment changes and the good natured apologies. Luckily the Film Society did not have the above mentioned functionary make the apologies. Overall the Film Society are good folks, many of whom are no longer even students at CWRU.
A number of interesting films. I could have done without Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, but that is due to their overfamiliarity. I also could have done without six of the films featuring huge violent confrontations and blasting soundtracks, but that was a feature of experiencing them all in one 30+ hour period.
As far as the individual films, most would be very familiar to everyone here. I had forgotten how good the remake of Invasion was, both acting and cinematography. And I would suggest that if you haven't seen Cthulu or 9 you should pick up on any chance to do so.
The film prints were good. It helps to be showing mostly new or fairly new flicks. The audience and atmosphere is probably different than what you have experienced previously. It is a camp-out, with coolers, sleeping bags spread out so that many fans can lie down and watch the films and what is definitely an older crowd. Before the films they do a countdown of how many marathons the crowd has attended. An eighth to a quarter were first year, but over a quarter were 20 or more year attendees.

Cheers from Cleveland.

It was pointed out on the Columbus board that when I said that the Four Highest receipt SF films from 2011" were shown in Cleveland, I had left off 4 Superhero epics plus one Transformers epic & one battling robots flic. Sorry. It was expressive both of carelessness and of having been (primarily) a Science Fiction reader for 55 years. Guess I was showing my bias.