Terrific marathon in my book! After last year's trying one because of the snow, it was a 'relief' to only have to deal with sub-zero temps. And, to make up for last year's slightly abbreviated event, we upped this one to 14 features, 2 shorts AND 25 hours! With the Pre-Show - TWENTY SIX!
In Memorium - Not having time for a Bruce Trailer Reel, it was nice to see some old clips and trailer excerpts here. Some of the inclusions and exclusions were baffling, but a welcome effort.
Bowie Space Oddity Tribute - One of the event's highlights. Very warm and affecting - and it came off MUCH better than our
other Bowie tribute.
Duck Dodgers - Instantly puts me into a Marathon time warp. What year is this??!
GREMLINS - Hadn't seen this one since it came out. It's still fun, if a bit slight. A lot of great sci-fi in jokes and it really did bookend nicely with a few nods to the closer - INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. As Frank U mentioned on FB, Joe Dante's affection for the genre really elevates him above the mocking/hommages we usually see. Hard to believe this was considered a PG kiddie matinee with the gremlins in blenders and microwaves! PG-13 was soon to follow.
STARMAN - 3rd time seeing it (original release and at the 'thon 19 yrs ago!), but first in 70mm. Holds up remarkably well. Too bad Carpenter never really got the chance to do more character driven material. He really shows an affinity with actors here. Of course, it helps to have Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen and Charles Martin Smith to work with. The stunning deep reds in the finale is a great advertisement for the superiority of 70mm over Digital.
TRIP TO MARS - Jeff Rapsis is one of the 'thon's MVPs! Great live scoring. The movie itself is pretty darn interesting for an antique, with some genuinely cool moments. The religious overtones got a bit heavy-handed at times, but, this is a more than worthy discovery.
BLADE RUNNER - Of course, I've seen it many times, but, this was my first go around with the alleged 'Final Cut'. This and the 'Director's Cut' will always be lesser versions in my eyes because of Ridley Scott's hairbrained idea of turning Dekkard into a replicant. My preferred cut is the 'Workprint Version' where Dekkard's humanity is questioned, but, not unicornized.
HIGH TREASON - This falls more in the 'interesting' than 'good' or 'bad' category. Some decent sets and futuristic items in this British retort to METROPOLIS (and the woman leading the revolt in the factory is
very reminiscent of Maria's rebellion). The 35mm print was decent, and is struck from the only known copy in existence.
EX MACHINA - On balance, I still see the same flaws and postives on my 2nd go around as my first:
http://sf.theboard.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1429040022 . As much as I admire most of the picture, I am still left wanting more on the philosophy end, and less on the plot machinations. I also noticed that the Turing Test question is pretty unresolved at the end (couldn't Ava's actions be construed as simply copying what she observes from her two male 'subjects'?). As Frank U and I discussed, EX MACHINA and MAD MAX FURY ROAD seem to be a tad overrated by folks who
aren't dyed in the wool hardcore SF fans. Still, one of 2015's best SF efforts.
MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH - Hadn't seen this one since I saw it in a college class (!) 35 years ago or so. I didn't have particularly fond memories of it, and, they have gotten even lowered on the 2nd. This is one arthouse movie that will drive away even many in that clique (like myself). Roeg's work defies categorization, and he's never truly been concerned about a taut story as he is with moments, feeling and emotions. When it works, it can be fantastic (WALKABOUT), but, when it doesn't - you get MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. I had seen the 119 minute US Theatrical version previously. It has now been restored to 139 minutes - and, you feel the extra 1/3 of an hour! This is one case where the 'Director's Cut' lessens the film, rather than improve upon it. Too bad, since many were looking forward to this in light of Bowie's passing.
IDIOCRACY - I'm
so glad I programmed this as a balm after FELL! It's fitfully hilarious. The satire is more than a bit scattershot, but some of those targets are rich. It loses a bit of momentum in the middle, and the stuff with the President falls kinda flat. Save for the one Fox News reference, it is baffling why the studio was so set against giving this film a shot in the marketplace. Nice 35mm print, too.
Bride of Finkelstein - Director Michael Schlesinger has been a good friend to the Marathon in securing us several film prints over the year. This is an affectionate, if only mildy memorable, tribute to old time buddy movie teams.
PITCH BLACK - Or, as David K. would say - 'Pitch Gray'. The DCP projection robs the movie of it's black level, but, that's hardly the biggest problem with it. I had heard some pretty good things about it going in, but, it's a mediocre typical creature feature in space epic. Decent CGI for a smallish movie, but little else. Vin Diesel has done much better work elsewhere. Here, he just does the muttering 'Lone Hero' thing in the most rudimentary manner possible. And, the quasi-surprising ending ends up being more capricious than meaningful - not to mention being undercut by one of Vin's insipid quips. The biggest disappointment of the night.
BIG ASS SPIDER - This was intended to screen after NEVER LET ME GO, nonetheless, this is better than average straight to video/streaming title. Goofy, silly and endearing. Like GRABBERS, PAUL and BLACK SHEEP - SPIDER seems to have been 'engineered' for our marathon audience!
At this point, the weight of 14 movies on the schedule dawned on me - 10 down, and still FOUR MORE TO GO!?? But, being the dutiful marathoid android that I am, no sleep was allowed, dammit!
NEVER LET ME GO - Ex Machina's Alex Garland's terrific screenplay adaptation, the superb cast (Carey Mulligan is one of the best actresses working), and Mark Romanek's sensitive direction make this one of the better films of recent years. An odd alternate future /repressive government /sci-fi medical hybrid that still works brilliantly. Dark and depressing - yet, somehow life-affirming.
DONOVAN'S BRAIN - More brains! Fun 50's B-Movie with a story that has been much copied, but the original still holds up. Decent acting and direction. The black and shadow level of this 35MM print shames that found in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS DCP that followed.
THEY LIVE - Pretty subversive counterpart to IDIOCRACY. But, whereas, the Mike Judge film makes a mockery of the situation, Carpenter's picture takes a kick ass approach. It certainly doesn't all work, but the themes hold up very well. I'm philosophically opposed to most remakes, but, THEY LIVE's themes are still relevant, and a bigger budget and more talented leading man could make it worthwhile. It was amusing to hear the reaction in the crowd to the 7 minute fight sequence - particularly those who either hadn't seen it (or forgot about it)! Solid 35MM Film print. R.I.P. Roddy Piper who I worked with on Hell Comes To Frogtown.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS - This 1956 version is still far superior to the 3 official remakes (plus several copies). Tight, well acted and staged and direct (despite some studio tampering). What I noticed this time was how well Director Don Siegel sets up the famous Cave Kissing Scene with several tightly shot passionate smooches between McCarthy & Wynter earlier in the picture - "I never knew the real meaning of fear until I kissed Becky", indeed! This one has passed DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and FORBIDDEN PLANET to become my favorite 50s SF film.
Thanks again to everybody who helped put on the show from the big guy at the top, to Frank & Fran U, to the entire Somerville staff to the returning champ Major Tom. I'm glad I got a chance to chat with a good number of folks during those 26 hours. And, of course, a special tip of the hat to Steve, Lou and John who've been with me for the last 3 decades! And, to Rob & David A. - cheers!
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