My 5th Annual 24 Hour Movie Marathon
I finally watched Full Metal Jacket, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and more!
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Welcome to the live diary of my 5th Annual 24 Hour Movie Marathon.
I’m no strangers to 24 hour marathons, with this one being my seventh total attempt over the past four years. This is the first one, however, where I was completely alone. With Taylor out of town this week, this was my first time without watching at least one movie with another person. Well, kinda…
I'm writing this blog live and throughout the day. In fact, I'll be hitting publish on this piece in 24 hours without proofing or editing, so you can watch me grow more and more tired, see my honest reactions, and pinpoint the exact time I abandon my sanity.
I woke up at 7:15am to let the dog out, make breakfast, and get the Blu-rays ready:
Movie #1: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.
started at 7:55am on Saturday, August 17
I always start the morning with an animated film and this year I decided to go with a fan favorite I've missed over the years.
There are two things I just couldn't get out of my head while watching this:
It's clear that they wanted a few recognizable Scottish names to give this cast some credibility, but not too many. Gerard Butler? Of course, it's 2010, he's still a bankable star a few years away from Redbox movies. Craig Ferguson? Well, he's a talk show host, but sure. David Tennant? Yeah! That guy's The Doctor, right? And then...Jonah Hill...
This really feels like Dreamworks saying, "Since the dragon sequence in the first Shrek is the best thing we've ever done, should we just make that an entire movie?" That's probably not how they got there, but it's definitely not not how they got here.
Anyway, this was fun! I don't think I quite see the giant franchise appeal, but that's obviously a me thing.
Movie #2: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".
started at 9:26am on Saturday, August 17
That's right, I had never seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail until now. But I basically have. Through cultural osmosis, the occasional commercial flipping stops on cable back in the day, and the musical Spamalot (which I can only recall seeing one time, but have a strong enough memory of the material that I must've seen it more than that...), I've pretty much seen it already. As a result, just about nothing was new to me. I knew just about all of the jokes, gags, and quotable moments. Some may argue that Monty Python's work rewards multiple viewings, but those people are probably bigger Monty Python fans than I am.
I'm off to take my first shower of the day. This is my "get ready for the day" shower - I'm not yet at the "wake me up" shower, which will come around 3:00am.
Movie #3: The Big Risk (1960)
On crowded Milan streets, two men execute a split-second payroll heist—in broad daylight—then begin a lightning-paced getaway, via every conveyance available. But after all, when a tough guy's returning to France (where he's been sentenced to death in absentia) after holing up in Italy for nearly a decade, he's got to have some startup money—particularly if he's going back with the wife and kids.
started at 11:30am on Saturday, August 17
Because I'm alone in the house (well, I do have the puppy) for this marathon, I wanted to try getting out as much as possible so I wasn't just sitting on the couch losing my mind for 24 hours straight.
I looked at what was playing at every local movie theater and without much interest in what's playing first-run, settled on two revival screenings at two different movie theaters. The first theater, the one closest to our house, shows classic films every Saturday morning and I can usually trust their programming. Early in the day is usually where I place a black-and-white movie or two, and three movies into this marathon seemed like the perfect time for a French-Italian crime thriller from 1960.
And it's a really good movie! In classic gangster movie fashion, there are always more characters to be introduced so that more people can die, which is either how someone learns their lesson or tragically never gets the chance to learn. You'll have to watch Classe tous risques to find out which one happens here.
I didn't realize until just now that Wes Anderson chose this as one of his Top 10 Criterion titles, which I guess means I can write off the ticket price as a work expense now.
Movie #4: Double Team (1997)
A CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island exile, he teams up with a flamboyant arms dealer and sets out to find the terrorist and rescue the agent's family. Together they're a two-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world.
started at 1:43pm on Saturday, August 17
I knew I would want to follow up that subtitled classic with some straight-up trash, so I turned to Double Team, a movie that's been on my watchlist for almost as long as I've had Letterboxd. I'm not exactly sure why I added it in the first place, but it's probably because the basic premise has Jean-Claude freakin' Van Damme and Dennis freakin' Rodman teaming up to kick some ass.
And silly me, I expected Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman to spend most of the movie together. Not really! Rodman settles in around the midway point, but the story is really Van Damme's. He's just the guy with the stuff, like the Q to Van Damme's Bond. And then all I could think about is how there's an alternate, better timeline out there where Van Damme played Bond and Rodman was his Q...
Luckily, JCVD is more than enough to fill the screen when it's just him. As we all know, he never skips leg day and this movie is no different. He does a lot of splits, kicks guys in the face, and even throws one dude out of an airplane with only his legs. When he and Rodman do team up, their dialogue is filled with basketball puns, which is exactly what I wanted. But I suppose "dialogue" is generous, as it seems as though all of their back-and-forth is punched-up dubbing in post. Oh well!
Movie #5: Terror in the Aisles (1984)
A non-stop roller coaster ride through the scariest moments of the greatest terror films of all time.
started at 3:15pm on Saturday, August 17
This is so unlike anything I've ever programmed in one of these marathons before, seeing that it's a "documentary," which is really just a clinical way of saying clip-show/highlight reel of a few dozen other movies.
But there was, at one point, a version of this marathon made up entirely of movies from 1984, with the next movie acting as the centerpiece of the whole thing. This was supposed to be the horror appetizer to that movie's entree. Yes, it's nearing dinnertime as I write this...
In collecting my list of 1984 movies, I turned to my new coffee table book In Search of Darkness, the '80s horror companion and compendium by Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley. When my copy arrived in June, I made a list of the movies featured in the book that I either needed to watch or wanted to rewatch. As of this writing, I still have 113 to go. Yikes! So I've been looking for excuses to check them off.
When the marathon lineup changed back to its original, eclectic format, these two 1984 movies still made the cut.
This movie is exactly what it promises, a best-off collection of great movies. Movies!
I'm off to take a break. Last year, I didn't take a substantial break until almost 7:00p. I was so far ahead of schedule, in fact, that I had to add another movie. I think 12 movies in 24 hours is plenty, so I'm taking a real break here to drive to the mall, grab dinner, and get settled for the primetime entry...
Movie #6: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
started at 6:37pm on Saturday, August 17
This is the first time in four-and-a-half marathons that I've programmed something I've already seen. Normally, I use these all-nighters as an excuse to make it through my home library or my Letterboxd watchlist. But Cinemark is in the thick of their 1984 40th Anniversary series (I saw one of my favorite movies, The Terminator, the other day) and this is what was playing today. I knew I wanted to get out of the house for dinner and before theaters closed for the night, so I went with what they had.
I've also been working my way through the Elm Street series for an upcoming piece (coming in October!) and while I've enjoyed them (I have two left, but I can say I've at least liked half of them), I haven't fallen in love with them yet. The first film is still the best and I thought seeing it with a packed house would get me over that "love it" hump.
I've been reminded this week why I stopped going to Cinemark, other than press screenings. I haven't regularly been there since 2021, and although AMC crowds aren't much better, it's at least a better deal. There were plenty of talkers, texters, and, the worst, ironic laughter at both screenings this week. There's plenty about Elm Street that's silly, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not, but it's not that funny. It's scary! This screening has been nearly sold out for weeks, so I assumed that it would be full of dedicated fans. Maybe not.
This is the best it's ever played for me, despite the distractions, and that's definitely the big screen effect. I'm liking Freddy more and more, but I'll always be a Michael Myers guy. That's right, I was the asshole who showed up to the Elm Street screening in my new Halloween II shirt.
Movie #7: Sully (2016)
On 15 January 2009, the world witnessed the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ when Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and career.
started at 9:04pm on Saturday, August 17
Alright, I'm home for the night. No more running around. I'm thirteen hours and six movies in, so I'm at the halfway point. We've gotta do six more in eleven hours, so we're powering through from this point on.
The 1984 version of this marathon included another Clint Eastwood movie, Tightrope. I noticed that when I went back to my original draft of the list, which I've had for a few months now, I had put this Clint-directed 2016 biopic about Sully Sullenberger and the moment that made him famous, emergency landing that plane on the Hudson River. I figured I'd stick with Clint and take this unopened Blu-ray off the shelf.
I've always found this story interesting and Clint's version and Tom Hanks' performance do it justice. I think I dismissed this one at the time because Clint can get a little hokey in his rah-rah pictures and Tom playing real person after real person has gotten a little old, but this manages to be strong regardless. That's probably largely because the story is astounding.
There's a great Brian Regan bit about Sully that I had in my head throughout the entire movie. I've tracked it down and transcribed it for your enjoyment:
"He's a hero, but he's not allowed to think that he's a hero. That's one of the rules about heroes. They have to ask you if you think you're a hero and you have to say no. 'You think you're a hero?' "No." You have to look up and to the left for some reason. And that makes him a hero! I think it would be okay if he admitted it, it's kind of obvious. 'Captain Sullenberger, do you think you're a hero?' 'Yes. Did you see the footage of that plan coming in? Do you have any idea how hard that was? Keeping the wings level and the nose up, survivable speed. Hero!'"
Movie #8: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
started at 10:41pm on Saturday, August 17
I've been on a Kubrick kick ever since I saw that the AFI in Silver Spring is going to be playing 2001 on 70mm at the end of the month. I'm doing some homework and catching up in anticipation.
Full Metal Jacket is an excellent movie. It's a cultural juggernaut, it's one of our most haunting war movies, and it shows Kubrick operating on all cylinders.
However...
I'm writing this in the middle of the night so maybe I'll come to in the morning, but I'm not exactly sure what Full Metal Jacket does that other war movies don't. The first act in the boot camp is singular and iconic for a reason, but after the intermission, I just felt like I could reach for All Quiet on the Western Front or The Story of G.I. Joe (which I just reviewed a few weeks ago) or any of the other countless Vietnam films instead. I'll have to sit on it while I watch more Kubrick.
Movie #9: The Good Nurse (2022)
Suspicious that her colleague is responsible for a series of mysterious patient deaths, a nurse risks her own life to uncover the truth in this gripping thriller based on true events.
started at 12:55am on Sunday, August 18
The Good Nurse has been on my Letterboxd watchlist ever since a friend of mine, who rarely recommends movies to me, said I had to watch it while giving me a holyshitwaituntilyoucheckthisout kinda look.
I'm going to tell him that I liked it. Which I did! What I won't mention is that I don't understand why there's little to no mystery, that this "thriller" didn't exactly thrill me at 2:00am, and that I just can't take Eddie Redmayne seriously (he's on my Mount Rushmore of Goober Actors - the "I can't I can't I can't" sequence is just ridiculous.)
Off to take a shower! This is my wake-up shower. The dog seems frustrated that I keep waking him, but he sleeps most of the day so I'm sure he'll be able to catch up.
Movie #10: The Keep (1983)
Nazis take over an ancient fortress that contains a mysterious entity that wreaks havoc and death upon them.
started at 3:24am on Sunday, August 18
A note: I'm writing everything from now on the next evening. It was taking all that I had to stay awake and watch the movies. I could not have possibly willed myself up to grab my laptop and type coherently.
This movie was a massive mistake. I knew that The Keep wasn't the Michael Mann film that it could've been, but I figured it would have enough Michael Mann making a haunted Nazi killer monster chiller picture. Instead, it was just a total drag. This movie is a terrible head-scratcher and the worst possible pick for 3:00am after nine other movies.
Cut down to 96 minutes, apparently Mann's initial cut ran 210 minutes. As much as I trust him, the last thing I want is more The Keep.
Movie #11: Attack the Block (2011)
A teen gang in a South London housing estate must team up with the other residents to protect their neighbourhood from a terrifying alien invasion.
started at 4:59am on Sunday, August 18
At this point, I'm just totally beat. I dozed for the middle section of The Keep (according to five seconds of internet research, it's not like I missed anything that would've made it make more sense) and my eyes were trying so hard to close during this movie. Every time I checked the time, it was the same. I think that happened 438 times during this 88-minute movie.
I was so tired that I must have missed why it’s not called Protect the Block. Right?
Movie #12: I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2015)
A documentary about Caroll Spinney who has been Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969. At 78-years-old, he has no intention of stopping.
started at 6:40am on Sunday, August 18
This seems like a pretty random closer and that's because it is. My evening breaks went a little long and my original closer, Life Itself, the documentary about Roger Ebert, runs two hours and would've sent me way past 8:00am. That's exactly what I didn't want to do. I chose that film so I could have a movies are awesome! wrap-up when the last thing I wanted to do was watch another movie. I thought it would help. I wanted that same feeling, so I typed "documentaries about movies" into Letterboxd and this 90-minuter popped up.
I think that this movie might actually be really bad, 10 minutes of "This guy is really cool and chill and cares a lot about Sesame Street" stretched to 90 minutes, but there's no way for me to really know. Plus, I also didn't care. I got up and went straight to bed!
Another one down. See you next year!
finished at 8:04am on Sunday, August 18
Credit: Each plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.