I’m doing a 24-hour movie marathon for Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan!

Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan

The Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is holding a 24-hour movie marathon at Celebration Cinema North. As you know, I wrote the book on 24-hour movie marathons and I am totally stoked to attend a movie marathon in a real movie theater for a good cause!

I need your help! First and foremost, I want people to come with me! You can register at the event’s website. You get 24 hours of movies, unlimited free popcorn and pop, candy swag bag, free lunch, dinner, midnight snack, and breakfast, and “red carpet” photos. Doors open at 9:30 AM on Friday, June 21st and movies last from 10:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

If you can’t come,  I could really use your support! My personal fundraising page is here. 100% of the funding is spent helping Michigan families and $0.83 of each dollar donated goes to patients and their families.

Also, for your amusement at my sleep deprivation, I will be live blogging the experience right here at http://24hourmoviemarathon.com.

Finally, if you donate $50 or more, I’ll give you a signed copy of my How to Host a 24-Hour Movie Marathon book.

I would really appreciate whatever you can do to help. I hope to see you there!

Movie Marathon Fundraising Poster

I just created a fundraising poster for the upcoming Hollywood Nights 24-Hour Movie Marathon. You can see it as an image below. I plan on posting it at work to help raise some awareness.

If you would like to use it, it is available as a PowerPoint slide here. It fits on a standard 8.5×11 piece of paper. Enjoy!

24-Hour Movie Marathon fundraising poster

Officially registered for Hollywood Nights Grand Rapids 2013

I am now officially registered for the Hollywood Nights 24-Hour Movie Marathon in Grand Rapids. To get in the door I need to fundraise at least $100. My personal fundraising page is here. Take a look and donate to a good cause!

The Fewest Movies in a 24-Hour Movie Marathon

Usually, the goal of a 24-hour movie marathon is to pack as many entertaining movies in as possible. However, you have to wonder: what is the fewest movies in a 24-hour movie marathon? Thanks to the AMC blog (which only counts American movies) and a little scheduling math, the correct answer is “six movies”.

That’s a pretty impressive 4 hours each, minus a little bit of time for breaks. If you want to take on this grueling challenge, the movie descriptions are below, along with a movie marathon schedule where the movies are sorted from from longest to “shortest”.

If you dare to take this one on, I can only wish you good luck and godspeed.

The Really, Really Long Movies

Hamlet

HamletLength: 242 min.

My take: Hamlet is sad and discusses this at length, then manages to kill pretty much everyone in the cast. The best play ever written in the English language.

The Iceman Cometh

The Iceman ComethLength: 239 min.

My take: Lee Marvin tries to cheer up depressed barflies by telling them to give up their foolish dreams. Amazingly, this does not go as well as Lee thought it would.

Gods and Generals

Gods And GeneralsLength: 231 min.

My take: Another civil war movie that goes on almost as long as the war itself.

Once Upon a Time in America

Once Upon A Time In AmericaLength: 229 min.

My take: Sergio Leone makes a sequel to his popular “Once Upon a Time in the West”. This time with gangsters instead of cowboys.

Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence Of ArabiaLength: 227 min.

My take: One of the greatest movies ever, yada yada – hey – according to the plot synopsis, Lawrence organized guerrilla army “camel attacks”. I would really, really like to see a camel attack squad. Are they armored? Are they bred for their ferocity? I have so many questions.

Gone with the Wind

Gone With The WindLength: 226 min.

My take: Unrequited love plus the civil war equals comedy gold! At least, that’s what I’m guessing not having seen the movie.

The Movie Marathon Schedule with the Fewest Movies

Start TimeTitle
12:00 PMHamlet
04:15 PMThe Iceman Cometh
08:30 PMGods and Generals
12:30 AMOnce Upon a Time in America
04:30 AMLawrence of Arabia
08:30 AMGone with the Wind
12:30 PMFinish

A 24 Hour Movie Marathon in a Theater in Grand Rapids!

I was thinking the other day: “Wouldn’t it be awesome to hold a 24-hour movie marathon in a real movie theater someday? I’ll have to organize one of those some day.” Bam! Already done! No work required! A 24-hour movie marathon right in my own backyard!

The Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan is holding West Michigan’s first annual Hollywood Nights 24-Hour Movie Marathon June 21st through June 22nd (Facebook event here). If you can raise at least $100, you get 24 hours of movies in Celebration Cinema North, lunch, dinner, midnight snack, and continental breakfast, unlimited free popcorn and drinks, and other goodies. They seem to know what they are doing – they successfully ran 24-hour movie marathons in Southeast Michigan for 10 years!

I e-mailed the organizer of the event, and they indicated that during normal business hours, participants get to see anything first-run movies playing in the theater, and after business hours there will be two screens playing older titles. These titles are TBD, but participants are free to suggest ideas ahead of time.

I’m stoked! I’m totally going! Let’s raise some money!