Category: Movie Franchises

Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Marathon

Clocking in at nine movies, the Nightmare on Elm Street movie franchise is one of the longer-running movie franchises. Conveniently, you can purchase a box set and two extras (Freddy vs. Jason and the Nightmare On Elm Street reboot) to get the full collection.

The entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is 849 minutes long. This is a little more than 14 hours of watching Freddy Krueger crack jokes before murdering teenagers in creative ways. This isn’t really enough for a 24-hour movie marathon, but perhaps it is a good way to waste a day in a way you probably shouldn’t tell your friends about.

Despite Freddy’s wit and charm, the mute, dead, dumb-as-a-brick, and probably stinky serial killer Jason Voorhees still has bragging rights, with a total of 12 movies under his machete-holding belt.

But then, Jason wouldn’t brag. He’s the strong, silent type.

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!

Marvel Movie Marathon

I mentioned a while back that having a Marvel movie marathon sounds like a good idea and that I’d put together a sample schedule for such a marathon.

Well here it is, in all its sample glory. This would be one sweet movie marathon, if I do say so myself. If only we had latent superpowers unlocked by sleep deprivation, instead of anger.

The rule of thumb I used for selecting the movies was that I chose the first movie in a series to favor a variety of “origin story” movies, rather than following the sequels of any particular series. Your mileage may vary. Spider-man 2, for example, is widely regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time. The Punisher is, well, “meh” at best. Just be thankful I didn’t include Howard the Duck.

Also, I put the films in chronological order of their release for no particularly good reason. Perhaps it will help you appreciate the special effects as they go from worst to best. Enjoy!

Marvel Movie Marathon Movies

Blade

BladeMy take: Wesley Snipes plays a vampire hunter who really hates vampires and their midnight rave blood-shower parties. What a buzzkill.

X-Men

X-MenMy take: Patrick Stewart plays himself as a totally awesome psychic leader of superhero mutants battling other villainous mutants. Things go boom. Punches are exchanged.

Spider Man

Spider-ManMy take: Tobey Maguire plays a half-human, half-spider. Surprisingly, very few fluids are sucked out of ensnared victims. Mostly, stuff blows up and people smooch and whatnot.

Daredevil

DaredevilMy take: Ben Affleck plays a leather-clad superhero lawyer. His powers of filing briefs and clocking billable hours are unparalleled.

The Punisher

The PunisherMy take: The Punisher fights crime using….no superpowers and pretty conventional weaponry. He’s like Batman without infinite resources, a utility belt, or any kind of working ethical system.

Fantastic Four

The Fantastic FourMy take: Astronauts become superheros who battle an evil CEO while in skin-tight, sexy uniforms. The American dream in a nutshell.

Iron Man

Iron ManMy take: A cocky millionaire invents cold fusion and a flying mechanical battle suit with the help of various robots and artificial intelligences of his own design. This is Showgirls for engineers.

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible HulkMy take: A man who turns into a gigantic, super-powered green fighting machine? Credible. His pants stay intact post-transformation? Incredible.

Thor

ThorMy take: The god of thunder comes to earth to participate in a deadly martial arts tournament….oh wait. That’s Mortal Kombat. In this one, the god of thunder goes to New Mexico and flirts with an attractive astrophysicist. Which film do you think is more plausible?

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain AmericaMy take: Captain America – the superhero who is…really strong due to chemical enhancements…and he has a shield. So – he’s pretty much Barry Bonds with a shield instead of a bat.

The Avengers

AvengersMy take: Calling Team Awesome! Assemble in the flying aircraft carrier and fight an evil God and his invincible alien army from another dimension! Clearly the best movie ever made.

Marvel Movie Marathon Schedule

 

Start TimeTitle
12:00 PMBlade
02:30 PMX-Men
04:30 PMSpider Man
06:45 PMDaredevil
08:45 PMThe Punisher
11:00 PMFantastic Four
01:00 AMIron Man
03:15 AMThe Incredible Hulk
05:15 AMThor
07:15 AMCaptain America: The First Avenger
09:30 AMThe Avengers
12:00 PMFinish

Box Set Honorable Mention: Police Academy

Police academy movies complete box setOk. “Honorable Mention” is a bit of a stretch. In fact, a Police Academy box set / movie marathon makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.But, it is indeed a box set that exits, there are seven movies in the box set, and those seven movies will get you most of the way through a 24-hour marathon.

This box set isn’t enough for a movie marathon all by itself. But, if just can’t get enough of that dreamboat Steve Guttenberg, then take this box set, throw in some Cocoon, Short Circuit, 3 Men and a Baby, and you will have yourself a marathon. I wish you good luck in your 1980’s dreamland.

Someone did it: James Bond Movie Marathon

So I mentioned a while back the idea of a James Bond movie marathon. The James Bond franchise has the distinction of being the only box set that you can easily purchase that would fill up an entire 24-hour movie marathon and then some (2.25 in fact).

But breaking up the franchise into 24-hour movie marathons is so awkward! What to do? Someone actually went out and had a 50-hour James Bond movie marathon. Ugh. Even knowing they had designated sleep breaks, this would be just too brutally long and repetitive to me.

The last line says it all:

We still love the 007 films, but perhaps a straight run isn’t the best way to tackle them. Like a shaken-not-stirred vodka martini, these movies are best enjoyed in moderation!

Want to try this yourself? The Bond 50 box set from Amazon has everything you need!
James Bond 50 - Complete James Bond movie Box Set