For the Star Wars Fan with Everything #32

This one should get the fans amped up: to celebrate International Star Wars Day - May the 4th - New Zealand will be treated to a marathon of all six films on the big screen! On Saturday May 3rd, Episodes I - III will be shown, followed by Episodes IV - VI on Sunday (which I imagine is where most fans will be lining up for). The films will be shown in Digital 2D. Stay tuned for location details and session times on the Australia/NZ Star Wars facebook page.

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!

Fatso 24 Hour Movie Marathon: The PSAs

The PSA entries for the Fatso 24 Hour Movie Marathon competition are in. Check them out, tell us what you think! Thanks to all who entered - great effort! (warning: contains offensive language, nudity and bad taste)

The Dangers of Sitting: DVT & YOU from Hand-Out Collaborative on Vimeo.

Movie Marathon PSA: A Moviegoer's Story from Andrew Todd on Vimeo.

Spike Cellphone Helmet from Nick Withers on Vimeo.

Attack the Block To Premiere at 24 Hour Movie Marathon

British comedian Joe Cornish's urban sci-fi monster movie Attack the Block has been announced to screen at the 24 Hour Movie Marathon on November 19th. The film's been getting some hot press around the place and looks pretty dang fun... check out the trailer and buy yourself a ticket (or two) to this "Mount Everest of Movie Experiences" here (don't waste your time, it'll sell out!):

24 Hour Movie Marathon Returns for Halloween!

It's that time of the year again... that annual endurance-testin' gathering of movie maniacs known as the 24 Hour Movie Marathon is back and best of all, it's all going down on Halloween! There's a new sponsor on board for the event, Vendetta Films (web; twitter), who're one of our favourite DVD suppliers of cult and foreign/festival flicks. This year also marks the marathon's 10th Anniversary, so we're expecting something special and nothing less than than the marathon that'll go down as THE ONE in history books. Join the facebook event here to see what it's all about and get the latest news and updates.