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  Community Run Forums for Starship SF › Passenger Information › Boarding Deck - Forward Section › SF/37 Marathon in Review
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SF/37 Marathon in Review (Read 74264 times)
Reply #45 - Feb 26th, 2012 at 4:35pm

G.I. Joe   Offline
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my two cents worth...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - pretty darn good even if parts of it are pretty hard to believe. But, James Franco aint no Chuck Heston!

Brainstorm - can't believe i forgot how loopy Chris Walken was even back then! call me sexist, but Natalie Wood looked way too old to be Walken's wife. The Brainstorm effects were well done and I enjoyed it all pretty well. Can u believe they could show pubic hair in a PG film back then!?  Shocked Shocked Oh, and YOU can go to hell, too!  Tongue

War of the Satellites - we might be pushing it with all these 2nd rate B movies at the marathon, but I still had fun with this

Endhiran - loved it! Hated it! So much to enjoy and so much to take. about half-way through i had to duck out and grab something to eat. can't believe there was still more than an hour to go when i got back-- and I still don't think I missed any real plot. That Rai chick is smoking hot

Dimensions - on the bright side - it's much better than the other premiere we got. on the down side - pretty boring. I know they were trying to make something classy, but at a certain point you just gotta get on with it

Attack the Block! Now we're talkin'! dumb stoopid and lotsa fun. if only i could figure out what they were sayin' half the time!!

Island of Lost Souls - creepy and fun. Charles Laughton must be the swishiest Mad Scientist ever - and he's whip-snapping incredible in the part! Are we not Men? WE ARE DEVO!!!

Scanners - it still has that great gross out head explodin' opening, but the middle is kinda slack. I still liked it, but no mo' Cronenberg for a while, please.......

Frankenstein - a classic - and it deserves to be remembered. nice to have the two censored scenes back in, but you couldn't really hear the 'I know what it's like to be a god' line

Re-Animator - oh, boy, is this one gross! I loved it, but not sure it really fits at the sci-fi marathon - for a 2nd time no less.

Cowboy bebop - glad this one was buried in the wee hours. I needed some rest time. from what i saw it looked good and the music kept jarring me awake at times, but damn did it seem boring to non-fans of the show. no idea why this was booked at all when there are so many more recent anime movies out there....

Paul - like it in theaters, LOVED it with this crowd! it's like it was made with US in mind!

Battlestar Galactica - hey, i enjoy cheezy 70s tv and i had fun LAST YEAR with the first Galactica movie, but WTF showing this back to back years? I mean really, WTF!??

Folklore - WTF Part Two! WTF Times infinitiy! what were those folks smokin' at the Festival that they liked it so much and gave it two bleeping awards?! Was the place packed with crew members? I dont care if I saw this fresh from a 9 hour nap - it would still SUCK! For the first time ever, I walked out of the marathon during the last movie not because i wasn't feelin' well or had someplace to be -but because of disgust at how baaaaaaad the movie was. right DOWN there with the worst marathon movies ever

despite that last movie, I still had a pretty good time . see u next year!
 
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Reply #46 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 3:48pm

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COWBOY BEBOP was tough to schedule. We've done anime early in the schedule and that has gotten some resistance. AKIRA was in primetime, and it's still one of the more controversial entries at the Marathon. By process of elimination, COWBOY sort of ended up where it did. Of course, if FOLKLORE weren't last, the schedule would have been adjusted to accommodate PAUL as the closing film.

And, what are all these strange posts with references to "rest", "Sleep", "naps" etc?????
 
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Reply #47 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 8:42pm

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I hadn't heard about the "opening film, closing film" business. It's a good idea, but I really think the film has to fit the honor to get a spot like either of those. Why not give one Festival winner a midnight spot ... or 8 p.m., or whatever. Besides, I love it when the Marathons kick off with a big, crazy Hollywood film. And I've always wanted to leave on a high note. "Late for Dinner" remains one of my favorite closers. For a number of years now I've been lobbying for the (marginally SF, terrific, and hard-to-get) "Blast from the Past" to end one of them. It's a true crowd pleaser.
 
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Reply #48 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 8:54pm

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Hyman Roth wrote on Feb 21st, 2012 at 9:04pm:


*Marathon premieres are often a tough lot to gauge.  Twenty years ago, when small distributors were still relatively strong, Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna could provide a 35mm print of a mildly budgeted film with a genre stalwart or two in the cast, that at least had the veneer of respectability.  It was respectability caked with sleaze around the edges, but still.  Now, in an environment where premieres like this often skip straight to more seemingly MAJOR fests like SXSW, etc., it's much tougher to secure fare that stacks up in the same way.  It's not necessarily fair that the Marathons are viewed as far lesser cousins by some distributors, but its a fact of life nonetheless.

I didn't stick around for FOLKLORE because the trailer made it look absolutely terrible.  From the comments I've read so far, my choice of sleep seemed to be appropriate; L.A.'s comments about the hermetically sealed environment of general festivals seems to be spot on in assessing a film like this. 


While there are many other festivals out there, it's also true that it's mainly established indie players that avoid the smaller venues. Most newbie filmmakers are just dying to get their films seen (a fact emphasized when you see 1 or 2 year old (and sometimes older) copyright dates attached to some of these "premieres". Unless you have a track record (or name actors attached), most can't just roll the dice on getting into something big like Sundance.


Hyman Roth wrote on Feb 21st, 2012 at 9:04pm:
*I can't remember a previous Marathon where leaving early was such an easy option for me.  But faced with PAUL as the only one of the final four films that I had any desire to see (I loved COWBOY BEBOP ten years ago, but its placement in the schedule knocked me out), I jetted out around 6:30am.  Scheduling these events is always a difficult juggling act, and L.A. did all he could with what he was given.  But at a certain point, the booking process has to take what works best when into account, a consideration that seems to have been somewhat missing this year.  Ideally, you want to keep as many people around until the end as possible, and scheduling GALACTICA and FOLKLORE for the final two slots (hell, booking them in the first place) is a big, flashing sign to all that checking out early is a viable option.
GALACTICA was a nightmare to schedule, Hyman. It was thought by some that FOLKLORE would have the place leaving in a good mood at the end (and apparently the "hermetically sealed" Fest-goers agreed!).
 
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Reply #49 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:15pm

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Joe er Mr. Hyman Roth played it smart.    It was a mistake to schedule BG and Folklore as the final two films.  BG is nowhere near as bad as Folklore but it is a cut and past middling tv show made into a feature using the same effects over and over and over again.  That was the feint that set us up for the knock out punch.  As for Folklore well enough has been written about that.  I understand that the final schedule does not rest in Tony's hand and I am in no way holding him responsible for the order.  In fact, he warned me about Folklore and recommended that I view the trailer.  In retrospect, Fran and I should have bailed after Paul.

Open and closing film be damned.  End strong.  Make me want to stay for the entire thon.  Let me leave the theater feeling tired but elated.  I understand that they can't all be winners but BG was not exactly well received last year and just watching the trailer for Folklore should have told any experienced marathoid that it would be a tough sell to the thon crowd as a closing movie.    

However, if this happens next year, I will take a cue from Mr. Hyman and leave Havana way before things get ugly.

 
I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
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Reply #50 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:27pm

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I think Ed is gonna be forking over another T-Shirt to me again. LATE FOR DINNER did not close SF/17. It was 2nd to last (Stuart RE-ANIMATOR Gordon's FROM BEYOND was last that year).

Roll Eyes

(ed symkus wrote on Feb 27th, 2012 at 8:42pm:
I hadn't heard about the "opening film, closing film" business. It's a good idea, but I really think the film has to fit the honor to get a spot like either of those. Why not give one Festival winner a midnight spot ... or 8 p.m., or whatever. Besides, I love it when the Marathons kick off with a big, crazy Hollywood film. And I've always wanted to leave on a high note. "Late for Dinner" remains one of my favorite closers. For a number of years now I've been lobbying for the (marginally SF, terrific, and hard-to-get) "Blast from the Past" to end one of them. It's a true crowd pleaser.

 
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Reply #51 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:32pm

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L.A. Connection wrote on Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:27pm:
I think Ed is gonna be forking over another T-Shirt to me again. LATE FOR DINNER did not close SF/17. It was 2nd to last (Stuart RE-ANIMATOR Gordon's FROM BEYOND was last that year).

Roll Eyes

(ed symkus wrote on Feb 27th, 2012 at 8:42pm:
I hadn't heard about the "opening film, closing film" business. It's a good idea, but I really think the film has to fit the honor to get a spot like either of those. Why not give one Festival winner a midnight spot ... or 8 p.m., or whatever. Besides, I love it when the Marathons kick off with a big, crazy Hollywood film. And I've always wanted to leave on a high note. "Late for Dinner" remains one of my favorite closers. For a number of years now I've been lobbying for the (marginally SF, terrific, and hard-to-get) "Blast from the Past" to end one of them. It's a true crowd pleaser.



Unless that was Ed's last film for that year, heh-heh.  Stranger things have happened.
 
I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
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Reply #52 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:38pm

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L.A. -- You are absolutely right! My memory is ... sometimes ... ya know. I did leave before the final film that year. I guess I was feeling too good!
 
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Reply #53 - Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:39pm

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At a certain point, a film's appropriateness for closing a Marathon can be pretty self evident.  I try to be fairly open about premieres fulfilling this role (The Independent in 2002 was a great choice), but anyone viewing the trailer for Folklore could see that it screamed out "amateur hour."  Being forced to schedule a film like this last exposes it as the hollow attempt for an (ahem) OFFICIAL FEST CLOSING FILM that is was. And no, Tony D., that's absolutely no knock on you.
 
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Reply #54 - Mar 2nd, 2012 at 2:54pm

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Joe Neff wrote on Feb 27th, 2012 at 9:39pm:
At a certain point, a film's appropriateness for closing a Marathon can be pretty self evident.  I try to be fairly open about premieres fulfilling this role (The Independent in 2002 was a great choice), but anyone viewing the trailer for Folklore could see that it screamed out "amateur hour."  Being forced to schedule a film like this last exposes it as the hollow attempt for an (ahem) OFFICIAL FEST CLOSING FILM that is was...


Supposedly, FOLKLORE played well in the Festival portion of the program - and was voted two awards (Cast Ensemble & Direction). I guess the Marathon-only attendees missed what made it work in the prior venue.

I propose we ask that it show in Ohio in April. You know, a 2 out of 3 tie-breaker!! And, this way Hymie and Joe Neff would have a second chance to make FOLKLORE's acquaintance!!


                         ...
  EVIL L.A.

 
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Reply #55 - Mar 5th, 2012 at 1:37pm

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Reply #56 - Mar 5th, 2012 at 1:40pm

Frank   Offline
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Folklore?  Why subject anyone else to that mess?
 
I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
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Reply #57 - Mar 5th, 2012 at 3:14pm

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L.A. Connection wrote on Mar 2nd, 2012 at 2:54pm:
Supposedly, FOLKLORE played well in the Festival portion of the program - and was voted two awards (Cast Ensemble & Direction). I guess the Marathon-only attendees missed what made it work in the prior venue.

It played OK at the Fest more than well; there were two ladies behind me laughing loudly enough to make up for the bulk of the audience who enjoyed it well enough but didn't love it.  The director was also there, and it was clear Garen was 110% behind it (nearly as nutty in his praise as some others have been in their disdain), and asking "so... just what was supposed to be funny about the spider-lady?" during the Q&A is not something many people REALLY want to do.

As to the awards...  I don't think it's as blatant here as with the undead shell that was once the Boston Film Festival, but it looks like showing up or basic competence gets you one.  It's the same thinking that gets us crappy premieres and the continued existence of the Alien Mating Call contest; it looks like it will encourage publicity and participation, but doesn't do much for the event's reputation, which is its main currency.
 
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Reply #58 - Mar 5th, 2012 at 4:07pm

Frank   Offline
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Jay Seaver wrote on Mar 5th, 2012 at 3:14pm:
L.A. Connection wrote on Mar 2nd, 2012 at 2:54pm:
Supposedly, FOLKLORE played well in the Festival portion of the program - and was voted two awards (Cast Ensemble & Direction). I guess the Marathon-only attendees missed what made it work in the prior venue.

It played OK at the Fest more than well; there were two ladies behind me laughing loudly enough to make up for the bulk of the audience who enjoyed it well enough but didn't love it.  The director was also there, and it was clear Garen was 110% behind it (nearly as nutty in his praise as some others have been in their disdain), and asking "so... just what was supposed to be funny about the spider-lady?" during the Q&A is not something many people REALLY want to do.

As to the awards...  I don't think it's as blatant here as with the undead shell that was once the Boston Film Festival, but it looks like showing up or basic competence gets you one.  It's the same thinking that gets us crappy premieres and the continued existence of the Alien Mating Call contest; it looks like it will encourage publicity and participation, but doesn't do much for the event's reputation, which is its main currency.


Well I for one would not verbally bash anyone in a public venue about their movie.  Love it or hate it, it is something that the makers worked very hard to accomplish.  I never liked being grilled in a public setting and I won't do it to others.  However, the movie is bad.  It is not nutty to bash it.  If anything your take seems a little nutty to me.  It is supposed to be funny and there is not a lot of funny to be gleaned here.  The outrage may not have been so great if it had played at a different time in the thon but regardless of the slot, it would have brought the proceedings to a grinding halt.  I did not stay for the entire painful affair but I have not heard that it was accompanied off screen by a chorus yelling "That Sucked!  That Sucked!"  This has happened to some movies at the thon so it could have been worse.  Give me a story... Sleep Dealers worked.  Gonad worked.  Neither are especially great movies but they are entertaining more than annoying and that is important.  Folklore, unfortunately, is far more annoying than entertaining.   

As for the awards ... I am afraid that you are dead on target.....
 
I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
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Reply #59 - Mar 6th, 2012 at 12:00pm

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Alright, beyond the obvious FOLKLORE, what was the one or two OTHER FILMS ON THIS YEAR'S SCHEDULE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE MINDED TO SEE DROPPED???
 
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