Category: Events

Movie Marathon 2014 Planning Kickoff!

I’m kicking off planning for Movie Marathon 2014! This will be the sixth movie marathon my wife and I have hosted at our house (since 2009) and the tenth I’ve co-hosted in my lifetime (since 1999!). The working title is: Movie Marathon VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Movie Marathon 2014

First order of business – potential movies! I think I have a good starter list, but I need your help in getting more ideas! I’ve had great success in the past from suggestions from friends and family. The movies below are just what I’ve come up with on my own. Please comment in this post with your ideas!

We’ll be bringing back kid-friendly zones, so I’ve divided up the potential movie list into movies aimed at adults and those aimed at the kids. Enjoy!

Movies for the Adults

The Wicker Man (1973)

Horror | Mystery | Thriller – Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

A police sergeant is sent to a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl whom the townsfolk claim never existed. Stranger still are the rites that take place there.

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Comedy | Romance – Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard “Baby.”

The French Connection (1971)

Action | Crime | Thriller – Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

Notorious (1946)

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance – Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

Hannah and her Sisters (1986)

Comedy | Drama – Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah’s husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Drama | Film-Noir – Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

The Crow (1994)

Action | Fantasy – Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%

A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée’s murder.

Kid Friendly Zone

Bolt (2008)

Animation | Adventure | Comedy – Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.

Tarzan (1999)

Animation | Adventure | Drama – Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

A man raised by gorillas must decide where he really belongs when he discovers he is a human.

Mulan (1998)


Animation | Adventure | Family – Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.

Lilo and Stitch (2002)

Animation | Adventure | Comedy – Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

A Hawaiian girl adopts an unusual pet who is actually a notorious extra-terrestrial fugitive from the law.

Ella Enchanted (2004)

Comedy | Family | Fantasy – Rotten Tomatoes score: 50%

Ella is under a spell to be constantly obedient, a fact she must hide from her new step-family in order to protect the prince of the land, her friend for whom she’s falling.

Hollywood Nights Movie Marathon Returning In October

Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is holding their annual “Hollywood Nights” 24-hour movie marathon at the Emagine theater in Novi, Michigan on October 10-11th, 2014.

I had a great time at the 2013 Hollywood Nights Movie Marathon in Grand Rapids. I heartily recommend attending the marathon in Novi if you can. Bonus: the Emagine theater in Novi has luxury seats and cocktail service!

I’m not so sure I’ll make it, what with the birth of my third child in the same timeframe. So if I don’t make it, tell me how it went!

Guinness World Record for Longest Movie Marathon

Guinness World records states that the longest movie marathon was 121 hours and 18 minutes, and took place in 2015 in South Africa. That is an amazing achievement. But if you look around the Internet, others have claimed longer movie marathons. The biggest claim I’ve found on the internet is a 200 hour movie marathon! Are all of these “Guinness World Records”? What does it take to have a “Guinness World Record” anyway?

I decided to get to the bottom of the issue and contact Guinness World Records on Facebook. They responded to me and said that their record still stands. The longer movie marathons, such as the 200 hour marathon, may not have made qualified for a Guinness world record for a variety of reasons. The participants may not have submitted evidence substantiating their claim to Guinness, or the movie marathon may not have followed the movie marathon record guidelines.

In order to beat the Guinness World Record for movie marathons, you need to follow specific rules. These are hardcore rules. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t followed. This article on SlashFilm describes what you need to do:

Guinness World Records rules require the contestants to watch films non-stop without averting their eyes from the screen.  Competitors will be given 10 minutes between each movie, or approximately every two hours, to refresh themselves.  Eating, drinking, standing and stretching are allowed as long as eyes are on the screen.

Those are some brutal rules. I get up and avert my eyes from the screen all the time. Usually it is so I can talk to my fellow movie goers, or just to take a lap around the room to stay awake. I think I’ll stay an amateur!

A 200-hour movie marathon may have taken place in Bolivia, as claimed. But, for one reason or another, it was never verified by Guinness. However, the door is always open to submitting new evidence to the Guinness World Records! If you are going to be the next one to try, I wish you good luck!

UPDATED: Updated in 2017 for the new world record.

24 Hour Movie Marathon Challenge

Ryan Chattaway laid down a 24 hour movie marathon challenge on YouTube: do a 24 hour movie marathon, follow his rules, and record your experience on YouTube! I think that’s a pretty interesting twist to the normal 24 hour movie marathon experience.

Below is his 2013 (second annual) call-to-action (and here is the original 2012 announcement in case you are interested).

His rules are:

  1. Watch one film over 180 minutes
  2. Watch one film you have no interest in watching
  3. Watch one best picture academy award
  4. Watch one of your favorite films

Below is his recording of his own 2012 marathon.

I like Ryan’s idea. Even though he did his marathon alone, he gets to share his experience virtually via YouTube, and so does everyone else performing his challenge. Having a social experience was always the most fun part of a movie marathon to me.

I don’t think anything can replace the in-person party aspect I love so much. However, extending the experience virtually is an excellent idea. I think I’ll give vlogging a try during my 2014 movie marathon.

If you liked Ryan’s rules, check out the 24-hour movie marathon rules I live by!

MST3K Turkey Day Revived!

All the way back in 1991, I was at the annual Thanksgiving family get-together . It was easy to get lost in these events, as my mom’s family consisted of 11 aunts and uncles, their significant others, and an unknown, but large, quantity of cousins.

I glanced over at the TV, and noticed that Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was playing. This made me happy, as I was an avid 1970’s-style Godzilla fan at the time. Then I noticed the little silhouettes at the bottom of the screen. And that was the night I became a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K).

What I had stumbled upon was the first of five Turkey Day marathons of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. Each turkey day run for about 30 hours. Turkey Day was always a joyous occasion, since I could use it to fill in the gaps in my ever-expanding VHS library of MST3K episodes. In retrospect, I wonder if Turkey Day planted the seed that would later become my great delight in hosting and attending movie marathons.

25 years after MST3K debuted, Turkey Day is back! It is a web event curated and hosted by Joel Hodgson – the creator and original host of the show.  It will be six episodes long (as opposed to, say, fifteen) and starts at noon on Thanksgiving. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it myself, but it sure sounds like a fun event! Sign up if you can!