The Outer Limits: A Post-24 Hour Movie Marathon Wrap-Up

One of the oddest things about the 24 Hour Movie Marathon each year is the feeling that it doesn't seem that long since that last one. I only ever venture out to Avondale once a year, for the marathon, and whenever I'm on the way there, taking the motorway exit, driving pass the Avondale shops, I get struck with a de ja vu-like sensation that it was just the other week I was here. This may be in part due to the fact that the marathon is such an indelible experience that it actually stays with you throughout the year, whether you're conscious of it or not. Or least that's how I'm trying to justify the feeling.

Not to sound like my judgement has been coloured by Fatso's involvement as sponsor or anything, but this year's marathon has to go down as one of the best, an opinion I think - I hope anyway - will be shared by many marathon-goers. The line-up of films was as delirious and varied and unpredictable as ever, ranging from pulpy '70s crime dramas to dime-store period horrors to super-obscure spaced-out student films to surreal regional oddities.

For those wondering what the effect of watching around 12 movies in a row in a theatre is like... first off, there WILL be some nodding off at some point. Unless you're wildly hopped up on V, or caffeine or some similar sleep-deprivation substance, there's a high chance you won't be fully awake at 3 in the morning trying to comprehend the non-existent plot of a glacially paced sexploitation flick that features an ailurophobic gangster. Everything starts to blur before breakfast time. You'll be confusing the line-up of films ("did Film X come first or Film Y or..?"), or forgetting something even played. It is a sort of druggy state of mind, something enhanced especially when the program fearlessly plunges into depths of cinema so unconventional, so extremely removed from norms of taste and technique that you feel zapped into another dimension. Which is to stay, whilst the marathon will provide you with many hours of laughter and entertainment, it is also a COMPLETE SENSORY EXPERIENCE. You won't be the same person you were earlier during the day when you sat down and eagerly awaited the first film out of the gate while the innocuous old-timey sounds of a live wurlitzer opened the event.

Kudos to Ant and the Incredibly Strange team, the Hollywood Cinema crew, and the appreciative, douche-bag-free audience for a fantastic 24 hours.

Stray thoughts:

• The dinner/breakfast catering seemed to work really well.
• If most people knew the rarity of some of the prints shown... mind-blown.
• It seems to be warmer upstairs than downstairs. I usually sit down stairs at the back. There's a lot of legroom. 
• Few projection issues this year, i.e. nothing broke (Correction: there was a break at the end of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark according to marathon attendee Doug Dillaman - I must have slept through it)
• Ant mentioned that this would be the last year that the marathon will be mostly 35mm (sob).
• The superette next door has expanded!

Funny Incredibly Strange Film Festival Press Release

Head Incredibly Strange Film Festival programmer Ant Timpson issued a hilarious press release today, bestowing the films in his section with tongue-in-cheek awards categories. "I already know these films are very special," he says. "I don't need a jury to tell me what I already know. I'm giving these films awards in advance because 99% of the public don't care what films win awards AFTER they've screened, they want to know BEFORE they screen. Call me a ground-breaking loose canon if you must but maybe, just maybe, the public would prefer to know what films win awards before a festival has finished!" (Click on the film titles to watch the trailer)

BEST FILM ABOUT VIRAL PHENOMENA & WHY SUSAN BOYLE WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
And the Winner is Winnebago Man.

BEST FILM TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE FROM YOUR PAST
And the Winner is Best Worst Movie.

BEST FILM TO PUT YOUR PARTNER OFF EVER WANTING CHILDREN
And the Winner is Grace.

BEST FILM FOR PAIRING TWO WORDS THAT SHOULD BE PAIRED MORE OFTEN : NAZIS & ZOMBIES
And the Winner is Dead Snow.

BEST FILM FOR SAM RAIMI FANS WHO WANTED HIM TO RETURN TO HORROR
And the Winner is Drag Me To Hell.

BEST FILM TO SHOW THOSE ANNOYING FRIENDS WHO SAY THEY'VE SEEN IT ALL
And the Winner is Embodiment of Evil.

BEST FILM TO SHOW FILMMAKERS THAT LOW-BUDGET DOESN'T MEAN TWENTY SOMETHINGS SITTING IN CAFES TALKING ABOUT THEIR BORING RELATIONSHIPS
And the Winner is The Horseman.

BEST FILM TO REVEAL THAT SEX, BLOOD & RELIGION WILL ALWAYS MAKE GREAT ART
And the Winner is Thirst.

BEST FILM THAT PROVES THAT THE BEST WORST MOVIES ARE BETTER THAN THE WORST BEST MOVIES.
And the Winner is Troll 2.

BEST FILM TO PROVE THAT FOUR HOURS FLIES BY WHEN SAID FILM CONTAINS MASS MURDER AND UPSKIRT PHOTOGRAPHY
And the Winner is Love Exposure.

You can also check out an interview with Timpson here on the 3News website.

The New Zealand International Film Festival opens this Thursday in Auckland!