And so here we are, having made it through yet another marathon. Due to circumstances, I didn't go to bed till around 6 PM. Now it's about 3 AM the following day and I'm wide awake, so why not start the annual lookback thread that I've been starting since forever on this board? Anyway, this lineup was fantastic. Really, I can only point to one "bad" movie, and that was bad only because I was disappointed that it wasn't entertainingly bad, just repetitive and kind of dull. There were certainly no MOTIVATIONAL GROWTH incidents this year driving me angrily from the theater at 4 AM. Also, while I understand Dave the Projectionist's hatred of digital projection and showing discs, I honestly didn't mind it this year. The Somerville Theater's digital projectors are good ones, and that Oppo Blu-Ray player has one of the best scalers made, so even a DVD looked acceptable onscreen. If this has to be our future and it means we get access to films that we just couldn't ever have prints of, I'm okay with it.

So, to the movies themselves:

1.) FIRST MEN IN THE MOON - We start off with some light-hearted adventure, based on the book by H. G. Wells. It was fun, and we established our running jokes for this year's Marathon. "Door! GIBBS! DOOR!" "Thank you." Still kind of disturbed when it's implied at the end that we accidentally genocided the Selenites, and it comes off as a wisecrack.

2.) WESTWORLD - This was the first time I've seen this one in a theater with a good crowd, and it had been so long that I'd forgotten that it was Richard Benjamin who ended up as the lone survivor of the day the Hall of Presidents figures ran amuck. Being a Michael Crichton story, it all comes down to people refusing to believe that their overly complex system might be developing some bugs and the inexplicable decision to make the doors to central control both airtight and without any sort of emergency lock override. Apparently, OSHA doesn't exist in this futuristic world. Also, why give your amusement park robots such advanced combat and tracking AI? Note to engineers: don't just upgrade the eye and ear sensors because you can. You never know when the "kill all humans" bug will kick in with your new Cylon army.

3.) COHERENCE - Our first really pleasant surprise. From the man who gave us PRIMER comes another complex sci-fi story. Like PRIMER, it takes a while for the mystery to present itself, but once it does, oh, boy! We had a great cast and apparently no script beyond giving them general outlines of where the story was going each day of shooting. What we ended up with was tense and we get a third-act twist that really feels both natural and shocking. I hope this one finds its audience the same way that PRIMER did.

- The Dalek Dialect Contest: At last, we lay the Mating Call contest to rest. Tom said that he wished that they could have two mics onstage, so that the finalists could do a Dalek freestyle, 8 Mile-style. As it was, I won this one, so I have no complaints. Remember, folks: Daleks do more than just yell "Exterminate!" You gotta BE the Dalek!

4.) THE POWER - I'd never seen this one before, and I liked it. We got young, not quite so tan George Hamilton and a crazily cute Suzanne Pleshette. The story worked as a decent little mystery, and we even got to see Pleshette use her comedy talents during that party scene. The parts that made me kind of laugh were the "Look at our new ZOOOOM LENS" party scenes and the final psychic confrontation, featuring Spinny the Skeleton.

5.) EUROPA REPORT - I'd seen this one on Netflix already, so I knew that I liked it going in. A great little low-budget, high-tension story that you could tell was really trying to play for realism. Despite what the guy behind me thought, this wasn't a bad movie at all. I liked how they played with the found footage concept by kind of pulling a SUNSET BOULEVARD with our footage's narrator. It was kind of a downer ending, but still gave the doomed astronauts a victory condition. This is exactly the sort of movie that Sci-Fi Channel should have been funding all these years, as opposed to just showing intentionally bad ones.

6.) SILENT RUNNING - One downer followed by a second downer, and our second artifact of the 70's for this year. I've always liked SILENT RUNNING, with Bruce Dern as the guy who's had a nervous breakdown and clearly knows it, along with his three inexplicably cute robots. Huey, Dewey, and Louie have no human characteristics at all, and yet just by tilting their bodies, tapping their feet, and occasionally making some whistles, they really come off as characters. I love the image of the crew of Valley Forge tearing around the cargo bay in those little carts, although I just can't see it without thinking of the Banana Splits' "tra-la-la" song (Because I'm OLD!). The movie features some still impressive model effects work, great looking sets, and you get a great sense of how isolation and guilt drives this poor guy to suicide at the end. I still can't quite believe that Mr. Forest Man couldn't figure out that lack of sunlight was the problem, nor did it ever make any sense to me why they were keeping the last forests alive way the hell out at Saturn, as opposed to, I dunno, in high Earth or Lunar orbit. And the thing that kind of kills this movie for everyone is every time Joan Baez starts warbling away, reminding us that, yes, indeedy, this movie is from the early 70's. Even so, I loved seeing this on a big screen with a crowd.

- Aluminum Hat Contest: I blinked and missed it. Oh, well. I was busy tending my time lapse camera.

7.) THE TRUMAN SHOW - I think this movie was one of the very best of the 90's, and have seen it a bunch of times. The print did look great, although my friend who joined me this year didn't think it was as fantastic as Dave had made it out to be. Even so, the movie remains one of the very few I can point to that features the drama of Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. God, and Man vs. Himself all in the same story. Also, I love how Phillip Glass himself plays the Truman Show's music composer. You just know he's had that cut from the MISHIMA soundtrack ready to go for Truman's escape for years.

- Dancing with the Quarks Contest: Kudos to the two ladies who had the guts to get up there and dance for us. I hope we get some more brave souls next year.

8.) ELECTRIC DREAMS - As much as SILENT RUNNING is oh, so 70's, this one is so 80's that it kind of hurts. The only way this could be any more 80's would have required wireframe graphics and chrome. Oh, wait. It had that, didn't it? Virgin Films didn't make many movies (their most famous was that version of 1984 made in the Summer of 1984), but this was fun. I love the weird fetishy close ups of the computer, and the scene where Edgar first jams with Madeline is really great. You feel sorry for Edgar, as he struggles to become sapient, grows impatient to understand feelings, turns angry at Miles, then finally admits in the end that it's not so much that he's in love with Madeline as it is that he's jealous of Miles' humanity. In the very end, it felt more like the one Edgar really loved was Miles, and it makes for another kind of bittersweet ending with the computer apparently committing suicide for the sake of love. But then we end on a peppy music video, so it's all right.

9.) THE VISITOR - I was really looking forward to another THE APPLE, but what I got instead was an incoherent mess that was repetitive and dull. Featuring an evil little psychic girl and John Huston plodding around endlessly, it had the volume set to painfully loud, only one bombastic piece of music that got used endlessly, bird attacks (WTF?), and scenes of very little happening while the blaring music tried desperately to imply otherwise. Disappointing. Also, what the hell was that bit with Huston slowly ambling down the escalator about? Was I the only one who heard that whole crazy info dump by space Jesus at the start and wondered if the story wasn't ripped off from Scientology? It was about here that I began nodding off.

10.) THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL - However, I was wide awake for this one. When you stop and think about it, this story really was terrifically daring for something released in 1959. What if the world ends, there's only one man and one woman left...and the man is a NEGRO? Heavens! Shock and surprise! Actually, the shock in this story is how the woman has no problem with it at all and it's the African American man who just can't get past the race thing. As post-apocalyptic movies go, the drama in this one works really well. The tiny cast are all great, and the only question I had was where the hell were all the dead bodies? Are we to believe that everybody just left New York and now the highways of America are jammed with millions of dead? Well, I suppose having a completely empty city with no signs of anybody (even corpses) just serves to accentuate how desperately lonely Bellafonte is. This movie was a pleasant surprise for me, and I'm glad it was shown.

10a.) THE TWILIGHT ZONE - Once again, we have another surprise showing of a well-known Twilight Zone episode. It's Agnes Moorehead vs. The Mercury astronauts! Oh, sorry. Did I spoil the ending?

11.) GRABBERS - There's always one movie that I end up sleeping through mostly, and it was unfortunately this one. Which is sad, because I woke up for the last half, and it looked hilarious. The monster was great, the cast funny, and we even had references to ALIENS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. I'll need to watch this one again, when I'm conscious.

12.) CHILDREN OF MEN - I have to say, I think scheduling this one so late in the marathon may have been a mistake. It is such a bleak story, and the last harrowing third of the film, as our characters desperately make their way through the refugee camp during the uprising, has a nightmarish quality that really hits you when you haven't had any proper sleep in 26 hours. It's a great movie, but I and my friend had to duck out for breakfast and came back to watch the last half.

13.) FLASH GORDON - There are some movies that I always watch with a huge smile on my face, and this is one of them. God, what fun this thing remains. It feels like the best insane Italian sci-fi film ever mounted, with a cast who all know how insane it is and they just go with it. Max Von Sydow is just glorious as Ming, who I think has at least 6 costume changes and is resplendent in his bejeweled battle shorts. Sam Jones isn't anywhere near a great actor, but he's so damn likable as he looks aghast at how nuts the world of Mongo seems. Topol is great as Hans Zarkov, the world's most dangerous nerd, and Melody Anderson gets to have a pillow fight with Ornella Muti while both are dressed in diaphanous gowns, so, really, a huge win for everyone (Including the leering handmaidens in that scene.) Timothy Dalton was properly dashing as Barin, and Brian Blessed was gloriously nuts as Voltan. Yes, the Hawkmen wirework isn't very good, but who cares when Brian Blessed is bonking people on the head with a cudgel? Who cares that it makes no sense that stopping the moon 5 seconds from impact wouldn't actually save the Earth, or that killing Ming likely wouldn't achieve that anyway? How did Zarkov manage to write "Long Live Flash!" on the dungeon walls while he was hanging from his wrists? Why does General Kala melt when she's shot? What the frack was up with those Lizard Men? Who cares! It's Flash Gordon! He'll save every one of us! It was the perfect high to go out on, and now we have a year to look forward to SF40!

Neil_N wrote on Feb 18^th, 2014 at 5:16am:


I'm mostly on board with Dave on my hatred of digital. It really does suck overall. Even after more than a decade and a half of implementation it STILL can't show true black and shadow detail is wretched. COHERENCE looked as incoherent as the plot -- full of blotchy pixellation and rotten grays masquerading as "black".

But, I understand it is the wave of the future. Too bad 35mm film prints of FLASH GORDON, CHILDREN OF MEN and SILENT RUNNING weren't procured although they are still extant. SILENT RUNNING on DCP looked particularly grainy and soft.

Surprisingly, some of the DVDS looked better than the DCPs. Pretty shocking when a 60 year old TV show like TZ looks better than a brand new movie like COHERENCE.

P.S. And, I enjoyed THE VISITOR. I'll take it's overlong 108 minutes over 10 minutes of MOTIVATIONAL GROWTH or FOLKLORE anytime - especially at 3am! 

R_F_Fineman wrote on Feb 18^th, 2014 at 8:24pm:


As Lance was getting it on in his Tribble-fur bed Sonya complained "I waited half my life to see Lance Henriksen in a sex scene and this is what I get?"

I was too busy being absolutely flabbergasted by what was going on, but I remember distinctly identifying the inappropriately bombastic soundtrack as the Action 6 News Theme.

(As far as the "Door!" joke goes, it only worked if someone had, y'know, left the door open. Too many people were enthusiastic door enforcers though I really liked when, after the lady went up the chimney in GRABBERS, someone in the left balcony hollered "Flue!")

Apparently Grabbers just fell down the memory hole, huh?

Well soldiers! I think this years marathon was pretty damn good! MUCH better than last couple. The festival films still sucked but not as much as Motivational growth or Folklore!!

First Men in the Moon - Harryhausen still rocks! Godspeed good man!

Westworld - sure we didn't show this before? anyway, Yul was one damn badass! He can be in my army anytime. nice to see this on the big screen

Coherence - another crappy festival movie. Stupid boring repetitive. low budget crap - keep it in the microcinema! Too bad Dr.Who got bumped for this. I woulda skipped out for dinner but it was too damn early. damn

The Power - don't think ive seen this one before. not bad. nice color print

Europa Report - missed some for quick bite, but this was pretty good. will catch the rest on Netflix

Silent Running - wow, man. pretty odd 70s flick and the droids steal the show.

Truman Show - I hate reality Tv and this makes me know why. good movie though

Electric Dreams - gotta love them 80s clothes and computers. Virginia was pretty darn cute and the music was cheezy good

The Visitor - wtf!? indeed. didn't make a lick of sense. crazy shi# happens at random. Weird collection of actors. Bottom line - LOVED it! 

World Flesh and Devil - not bad, but just another 50s end of the world flick without much nuke destruction. dozed a bit

Grabbers - more festival crap. Yeah not awful. The girl was cute, sorta. But all the drinking and slimy monsters is old hat. Putting a foreign accent on it doesn't make it any good. dozed some more

Children of Men - really good movie. I liked it being before the end. especially after that crappy festival flick and the slow World Flesh film. Needed something solid to get us to the end and...

Flash A Ah! - love it for all the wrong reasons. bad trash, but fun especially with the marathon crowd

in the end, a really good marathon. had a great time. see everybody at 40!

oh lord i beseecheth thee. do not let an open door on the movie screen continue to be a trigger for mass audience shouting of "close the door"

if people shout 'GIBBS!" whenever there is a technical glitch like focus or framing, i think that would be okay.

Hard to believe it's been a week!

Overall, I'm with the consensus that this was a top tier marathon. Very good lineup. Nice big crowd. Good enthusiasm. Great seeing many of my oldest and dearest commarades, and really missed the few who weren't able to attend.

The movies:

In Memorium - Nice tribute, but, still too long and with a few too many passages where you couldn't tell who was being memorialized. Also, adding a job description for Directors, DPs etc would be helpful. And, did I miss Ray Harryhausen???! Nice to see a clip from SOLAR CRISIS in the Richard Sarafian segment - I was a Prop Man on it, lo those many years ago! 

Duck Dodgers - I always get a woozy feeling of deja vu as it kicks off yet another 'thon.

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON - Still charming after all these years. Lionel Jeffries's Cavor is still one of my favorite parts in any SF film. This really was during the peak of Harryhausen's career in terms of budget and overall production values.

WESTWORLD - Too bad it took so long to get this to the Marathon despite being one of the most famous titles of 70s SF cinema - particularly Pre-Star Wars. I said famous, not "great". A bit pokey in the pacing, and the full airlock control room was a pretty hoary contrivance. I'm pretty sure James Cameron...uh....'watched' the ending a few times before shooting the last sequence in THE TERMINATOR...just sayin'....... 

COHERENCE - I know I'm in a minority here, but, this didn't do much at all for me. This mismash of Primer/Another Earth and stuff like The World's End/Night of the Comet was more muddled than edifying. It came as NO surprise when actor Nicholas Brendan (a nice sport) revealed that there wasn't a full script. It's an offense to the intelligent work of Primer's Shane Carruth to compare to his films. And, the shaky hand-held cam was nowhere near as polished as what Paul Greengrass does with it. It's more like bad TV which tries to juice up dialogue scenes with spastic cam.

THE POWER - A true oddity. Some very good ideas and some strong scenes, but, more than a bit undercooked. The North By Northwest-like sequence in the desert was strong, but the center lagged. Still, some striking bits and a superior Miklos Rozsa score. Great color in the IB Tech print to boot - digital is a LONG WAY from reaching that saturation level - let alone for a 50 year old print!

EUROPA REPORT - Glad the audience went along for this ride. It was my first recommendation of 2013 films to be shown at the 'thon this year. What happened to the screenwriter, though?

Fleischer Superman - Really enjoy this series. I don't think I had seen this particular one.

SILENT RUNNING - If you can say that Michael Crichton as a Director is a world-famous Author, then it follows that you can call Douglass Trumball a director who is a lengendary special effects maven. Like a Fahrenheit 451 for trees, this works more as a parable than a believable reality (books and earthbound plants are MUCH MUCH easier to stow away in hiding than memorizing or shipping into space). Dern is one crazed botanist! The drones really do take on human qualities.

THE TRUMAN SHOW - Remains one of the best films of the past decade or so. More relevant than one could really have imagined when it first was released. Seeing it again really shows screenwriter Andrew Niccol's Frankenstein like theme of a 'created' person. It also works as an analogy to parenting where one has to eventually let one's "child" leave the home to seek his own future. Beautifully played and directed by one of the most undervalued helmers alive, Peter Weir. The print was good, but, it doesn't seem to have been as preserved as it should have been.

ELECTRIC DREAMS - A cheezy 80s VHS staple. But, sweet, fun and likeable. The computer technology wasn't quite as painfully dated as I remembered. Of course, like many early 80s films (Brainstorm, Scanners) the creators always seemed fixated on the computers to take on physical and mechanical aspects. I guess you can't really blame them as they were certainly trained to think analog as opposed to pure digital. Interesting to see A.I. traced from Westworld/Silent Running to Electric Dreams to the current Her.

THE VISITOR - WTF?! It was an enjoyable romp through a Scientology-like cult crossed with an Italian giallo. The zooms and over-the-top music were quite the style. Loved the shooting of the mother sequence and the cross-cutting between the skating scene and John Huston riding the escalator. Too long, certainly, and not as fun as The Apple, but ok.

WORLD FLESH & THE DEVIL - Saw this fairly recently on TCM. Held up even better on the big screen. The story wasn't exactly original even in the late 50s, but the race angle and the solid acting elevate it.

Twilight Zone - Nice to see on the big screen, wind-up toys and all. Hopefully, we'll use a different program to spotlight next year.

GRABBERS - Dumb, stupid, but decently fun. As far as low budget under-the-radar 'Local Premieres' go, this was painless.

CHILDREN OF MEN - I'm not in the Masterpiece camp on this one, but, it certainly more than held its own on re-screening. Cuaron is certainly a technical master (as he again showed on Gravity). Hopefully, his next SF effort will have an even stronger story.

FLASH GORDON - Definitely overlong. Definitely silly. Without the Marathon crowd (and the pulsating music), this would be a hard sit. A nice lite-weight way to end a Marathon. And, boy was Ornella Muti one sexy starlet.

Again, thanks everybody who said 'hello'.

On to...gulp...

Quote:


...Just one question.  Who has multiple unopened boxes of a wide range of colored glowsticks casually lying around in their apartment?  (I'm just sayin"....)

Still, it was a fun film - not too long, and with a great celeb follow-up.  Thanks to all involved.