Category: Events

It is 2019, which can only mean it is time to throw 24-hour movie marathon 2019! We have selected the movies and set the schedule. Read on to learn all about the movies we picked out. I hope we inspire you to throw your own 24-hour movie marathon this year.

Movie Marathon 2019 Theme

When my wife and I host a movie marathon, we don’t center it around a single genre or theme as most people expect. Instead, we always follow two rules when selecting movies:

1. We have never seen the movie before
2. The movie is one we’ve always wanted to see, or have heard we “should” see

We’ve found that this really helps foster variety and novelty in our movie marathons. Compared to, say, watching our favorite movie series for the 100th time, it is a risky approach. Sometimes the movies don’t work out. But sometimes we stumble on a real gem, and it becomes a favorite movie we re-watch for years to come. We don’t know until the movie marathon what we are going to get. It is all really exciting!

This year is no different. We’ve assembled a variety of films based on recommendations from friends, recent releases which we missed, entries from great film lists, and more. Let’s look in detail at the movie roster.

Movie Marathon 2019 Movies

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Start: 12:00 PM Finish: 2:30 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74%
Common Sense Media Age: 16+
TMDB Description: The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

My take: James Bond has been a reliable opener for all of our movie marathons – but we ran out of the best bond films! I hear the Kingsman movies are a ridiculous over-the-top action-oriented James Bond-like experience. Let’s give it a try!

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Start: 2:30 PM Finish: 4:15 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
Common Sense Media Age: 13+
TMDB Description: A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.

My take: Would you believe I’ve never seen a Burt Reynolds movie? In fact, I may have first become aware that Burt Reynolds was a celebrity of note from Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Jeopardy series of skits. Now I can find out if the parody lives up to the reality!

Bullitt (1968)

Start: 4:15 PM Finish: 6:15 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Common Sense Media Age: 13+
TMDB Description: Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal’s hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.

My take: Look. It is just time to watch the greatest car chase of all time. It just is.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Start: 6:15 PM Finish: 8:00 PM

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49%
Common Sense Media Age: 8+
TMDB Description: The world’s most highly qualified crew of archaeologists and explorers is led by historian Milo Thatch as they board the incredible 1,000-foot submarine Ulysses and head deep into the mysteries of the sea. The underwater expedition takes an unexpected turn when the team’s mission must switch from exploring Atlantis to protecting it.

My take: This is one of those Disney movies time forgot. Or, at least, I forgot about it. I was in college when it was released, so I wasn’t exactly the target demographic. Now that I’m a parent of multiple children, I’m right back there again!

Chicken Run (2000)

Start: 8:00 PM Finish: 9:30 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Common Sense Media Age: 7+

TMDB Description: Having been hopelessly repressed and facing eventual certain death at the British chicken farm where they are held, Rocky the american rooster and Ginger the chicken decide to rebel and lead their fellow chickens in a great escape from the murderous farmers Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy and their farm of doom.

My take: Shaun the Sheep was a big hit in a past movie marathon, and has been rewatched many times in our house. Let’s see if lightning will strike twice by watching another claymation classic from Aardman Animations.

Shane (1953)

Start: 9:30 PM Finish: 11:45 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Common Sense Media Age: 10+
TMDB Description: A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

My take: All of our movie marathons include a western. This is the Western. Why this picture? Well – it was definitely on a list of best Westerns of all time. I also hear Shane is supposed to come back. Other than that – I don’t really know what to expect out of this film. Sometimes, surprises are nice.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Start: 11:45 PM Finish: 1:35 AM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Common Sense Media Age: 14+
TMDB Description: A psychological thriller about an eight year old boy named Cole Sear who believes he can see into the world of the dead. A child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe comes to Cole to help him deal with his problem, learning that he really can see ghosts of dead people.

My take: Ok – to be clear. I know the super-secret twist ending. But, to be doubly clear – I still have not seen this movie. Yes, that seems impossible in this day and age, but there it is. It is time to correct this pop culture blind spot.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Start: 1:35 AM Finish: 3:40 AM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
Common Sense Media Age: 14+
TMDB Description: An American-born Chinese economics professor accompanies her boyfriend to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding, only to get thrust into the lives of Asia’s rich and famous.

My take: Rom-coms seemed to die out in the early 2000, but then this movie suddenly blew into 2018 to much fanfare. Adding this movie to the schedule adds a little humor to the schedule and lets me pretending I’m current and woke. Win-win-win!

Ex Machina (2015)

Start: 3:40 AM Finish: 5:30 AM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%
Common Sense Media Age: 17+
TMDB Description: Caleb, a 26 year old coder at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.

My take: A movie about a super-intelligent, sexy, evil robot lady? It sounds like this movie was made for me.

All About Eve (1950)

Start: 5:30 AM Finish: 8:00 AM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Common Sense Media Age: 8+
TMDB Description: From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo’s Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo’s director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

My take: The Unspooled podcast really sold me on this movie. I’m hoping for witty, fast-paced dialog like some of the other classic movies I love, like Casablanca.

Matilda (1996)

Start: 8:00 AM Finish: 9:45 AM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
Common Sense Media Age: 9+
TMDB Description: An extraordinarily intelligent young girl from a cruel and uncaring family discovers she possesses telekinetic powers and is sent off to a school headed by a tyrannical principal.

My take: Ronald Dahl wrote a surprising number of recognizable childrens books, including James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, and this story: Matilda. While I’ve read much of his work, I’ve never read “Matilda” or seen this movie. I’d like to see what its all about.

Spirited Away (2001)

Start: 9:45 AM Finish: 12:00 PM
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Common Sense Media Age: 9+
TMDB Description: A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

My take: I’m a sucker for Hayao Miyazaki films. My kids really enjoyed Howl’s Moving Castle last year, and I’m hoping to end the marathon with another classic.

It is 2018, which can only mean it is time to throw 24-hour movie marathon 2018! We have selected the movies and set the schedule. Read on to learn all about the movies we picked out. I hope we inspire you to throw your own 24-hour movie marathon this year.

Movie Marathon 2018 Theme

When my wife and I host a movie marathon, we don’t center it around a single genre or theme as most people expect. Instead, we always follow two rules when selecting movies:

1. We have never seen the movie before
2. The movie is one we’ve always wanted to see, or have heard we “should” see

We’ve found that this really helps foster variety and novelty in our movie marathons. Compared to, say, watching our favorite movie series for the 100th time, it is a risky approach. Sometimes the movies don’t work out. But sometimes we stumble on a real gem, and it becomes a favorite movie we re-watch for years to come. We don’t know until the movie marathon what we are going to get. It is all really exciting!

This year is no different. We’ve assembled a variety of films based on recommendations from friends, recent releases which we missed, entries from great film lists, and more. Let’s look in detail at the movie roster.

Movie Marathon 2018 Movies

The Incredible Hulk

IMDB Summary: Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into, whenever he loses his temper.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

My take: We typically open our marathons with an action-adventure crowd pleaser. You might ask “Why ‘The Incredible Hulk’?” The answer is: Everyone has already seen all of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies. This is one of the forgotten early origin stories. Remember those? Watch the Incredible Hulk and you can travel back in time to a straightforward superhero origin story before the MCU became the complex cinematic juggernaut that it is today.

Pitch Perfect

IMDB Summary: Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school’s all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

My Take: Some light musical comedy to follow the typical “I’m a Marvel superhero, so I am all sad and complex and have problems and stuff.” I’m told it is a crime against movies that we have not seen this movie yet. Let’s all bop along to this simple college movie about dueling singing college groups.

Murder on the Orient Express

IMDB Summary: In December 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

My Take: I saw Murder on the Orient Express (2018) in theaters and loved it. Then I read some of the reviews. A good chunk of them complained “Not as good as the original!” and “Not as good as the book!” and “Not as good as the book or the movie because I’m a cultured critic and I’ve read and seen both and I already know the plot twist blah blah blah”. Well, I say “challenge accepted” critics! Let’s see how good the original 1973 movie really is!

A Bug’s Life

IMDB Summary: A misfit ant, looking for “warriors” to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Common Sense Media Age: 5+

My Take: One of the few Pixar films we have yet to see (the only other ones being derivative sequels like Cars 2 – those can wait), yet it still has excellent critical reviews.  Let’s catch up on this lesser-known classic together!

Howl’s Moving Castle

IMDB Summary: When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87% Common Sense Media Age: 8+

My Take: Another film in the portfolio of Hayo Miyazaki. Like most of his films, it promises a fairy-tale story, gorgeous animation, and goofy characters. Let’s hope it can live up to expectations, since my kids are running out of excellent American animated cinema to watch!

3:10 to Yuma

IMDB Summary: A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who’s awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

My Take: As far as I know, there is nothing stunning or unique in this movie. It is just a well-executed, recently-made, Western movie. Don’t we all need a movie like that sometimes? Its comfort food for your cinematic soul.

La La Land

IMDB Summary: While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

My Take: A second exuberant musical – because why just have one in your movie marathon when you can have two? Lest we forget, it was almost the Academy’s best picture winner in 2017. You know it must be good since one of Hollywood’s favorite topics is itself.

Your Name

IMDB Summary: Two strangers find themselves linked in a bizarre way. When a connection forms, will distance be the only thing to keep them apart?

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

My Take: So good, this anime got a limited release in theaters beyond Japan. The basic premise is stereotypical anime (mind/gender swap) but the reviews say it is well done, thoughtful, and doesn’t go for salacious gender comedy. In short, it is a movie worth our time to seek out.

Stand By Me

IMDB Summary: After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

My Take:  Did you know Stephen King writes stories that don’t have anything to do with killer clowns, psychics, or psychopaths? Who knew, right? This movie presents a short, meaningful story about boyhood friendship and features 1980s boy wonders Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and River Phoenix. It should fill the niche of “required 80s movie” in our movie marathon nicely.

The King’s Speech

IMDB Summary: The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

My Take: This period drama is an Academy award winner for best picture and best actor (Colin Firth). Nobody knows drama better than the British monarchy.

Into the Woods

IMDB Summary: A witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71% Common Sense Media: 10+

My Take: I first saw “Into the Woods” as a play in college. I remembered it fondly as a Shrek-like. winking take on fairy tales. Apparently I wasn’t paying attention since this movie was released by Disney several years ago! This will be the 3rd musical in the marathon, and the second musical in the marathon to star Anna Kendrick.

The Muppets Take Manhattan

IMDB Summary: Kermit and his friends go to New York to get their musical on Broadway only to find it’s a more difficult task than they anticipated.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81% Common Sense Media: 5+

My Take: My kids are currently re-discovering the joy of the Muppets via clips from YouTube. Everyone sings the praises of the original Muppet Movie, but some say this is perhaps the overlooked, best Muppet movie of them all. Let’s hope it closes out the marathon with Muppety love.

Movie Marathon 2018 Schedule

So how do all the movies fit together into a 24-hour schedule? Check it out below.