Incredibly Strange 24 hour Movie Marathon 2009: the 10th anniversary

I nearly missed out on the 10th annual Incredibly Strange Movie Marathon.  I wasn't paying attention to when it was going to happen this year, but I found out a few days in advance that it was going to be on Halloween. I was sad to find out that it was sold out. No tickets were being sold on the NZ eBay, TradeMe.  The day of the event, I joined the Facebook fan page, and found that some members had tickets available. I managed to get a ticket and attend for my second year in a row. I blogged about this event last year, but it was stuffed in with lots of other interesting stuff, and I left out some important details.

For example, one of the cool things about this movie marathon is that the Hollywood Cinema has a balcony.  This is where I sit.  Also, they are sponsored by V energy drink, so they give you free cans of it.  The seats are moved from the central floor of the theatre, and people are allowed to bring in bean bag chairs.  I brought in a pillow. In addition, you are allowed to bring in food. This is useful because the breaks are usually short, and there's mainly just carbs and caffeine in the lobby. 

The following is the list of movies shown, in order, and my comments. 

1. The Secret Four 1952

Film noir. Good crime drama.

2. Zombieland 2009

A clear highlight of the marathon. Like it was made just for me. They managed to make a film that was both familiar and novel. Loved Bill Murray in it.

3. Roadhouse 1989

There are some hysterical scenes in this movie! An homage to the recently deceased Patrick Swayze.

4. Forbidden World 1982

 This was an able attempt to repeat the success of Alien (1979).  Amusing and rediculous, taking itself far to seriously. Good stuff.

5. Vice Squad 1982

Another, and not the last, 80's film. This was a good film, despite the repeated scenes showing us was a "heart of gold" the prostitute has, and the evil pimp played fabulously by Wings Hauser.

6. Paranormal Activity 2007

What a disappointment this one was, but it has gotten pretty good ratings. The film begins rather slowly, and after watching night after night of some little thing happening in their bedroom, I began to hope that the couple would die soon.
7. Maidens of Fetish Street 1966

I groaned when this film was introduced as being similar to Moonshine Woman, from last year, but this was surprisingly watchable.

8. Mill of the Stone Women 1960
I napped during the end of this one. Reminded me of the old Vincent Price House of Wax.
9. Night Train to Terror 1985

This was amusing and gruesome. 3 separate stories tied together by God and Satan debating the afterlife of different people, involved in some crazy shit. Some mind-bending mid-80's pop and breakdancing that is extremely incongruous.

10. The Visitor 1979

I also napped during this one.  Normally I'm a big fan of movies about evil children, but this was too complicated, with the whole alien visitor aspect.

11. The Informant! 2009
Really good story and capable acting.  Amusing as well. Incredibly Strange- not so much.

12. Creature from Black Lake 1976

Bigfoot movie! Pretty fun to watch. Sadly I fell asleep for the final fight/escape scene, but awoke to the final thrill of the film- I won't give it away.

13. Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf 1985

The best part about this movie is that at the end, we see the scene where the evil werewolf master bitch tears off her top repeated about 20 times.  Boobies.

14. Commando 1985

Arnold! Totally gratuitous violence, but set in a lovely garden, so that was nice. I hated the kid in the movie, totally spoiled brat. She is superficial to the story anyway.

I've previously posted on the Mt Eden Prison, which immediately next to the Boston Road train station. It's an awesome old building, so I'm really sad to see that some chucklehead spraypainted, badly, some illegible shit. Generally I am a fan of grafitti, but this crap is just pointless, ugly, vandalism.

So now, instead of noticing the cool little plants that are growing betwen the rocks in the wall, I get mad about the ugliness.  Supposedly, there are CCTV cameras operating 24 hrs, so with any luck, they caught the offender. I have no idea how the paint is going to be removed, with the surface being so uneven. 

Mt Eden Prison

Behold, the new Boston Road Train Station: directly next to Mt Eden Prison. This is where I get off to walk to work at Auckland Hospital. Ok, it's a very cool old building, I'll grant you that. However, isn't it a jarring juxtaposition? A prison just does not belong next to a train station, much less a busy road (the motorway is just up and to the left of the photo). What's more, there is a DOOR into the prison for easy access.

True, it doesn't appear to be used much. Actually the prison is really interesting to me, I like to imagine taking off my underwear, wrapping around a rock, and hefting it over the wall to see what would happen. Ha ha! The station was moved out from under the trees, and is now totally exposed and hot, so I'm not too happy with the new location. Also, because it's down a slope, they put a fence across the top. Today I had to jump the fence to run to the train, because the gate through the fence requires you to backtrack to the tracks crossing, which would have lost me precious seconds and thus miss the train.

While I'm on the topic of crime and punishment, I'll reveal my husband's new hobby. While illegal in the US without a permit, distilling alcohol is still legal in New Zealand. He used to brew beer until we moved to San Diego and discovered a wealth of delicious craft beers. In NZ, good beer can be found, but it is expensive. We particularly like the Epic, Hallertau, and Galbraith's brews, but they are not easy to get our hands on, and also cost plenty (as a good quality craft should). Distilling gives a bit more "bang for the buck" and is easier I guess- you just put 5 kilos of sugar in a big carboy, and yeast, and stand back. I don't know all the details, but the end result is basically pure alcohol. He then dilutes it down and adds a bottle of flavor. I have so far resisted drinking his "fake" tequila, because the real stuff is made from agave plants, and I'm a purist (and a snob). The gin and scotch, however, are rather tasty. Below is a picture of his set-up.

We have made a second trip to the restaurant Squid Row on a Sunday afternoon to take advantage of the 2 for 1 pot of mussels and happy hour drink specials. This is a terrific deal and the big pot of mussels is delicious. We've also returned to the Kumeu Beer, Wine, and Food Festival. This year, it rained, but it was clearing by the time we went. Though bad for the event, the rain made us happy because it wasn't crowded or hot. We enjoyed visiting with the brewers of Croucher and Epic beers. The Auckland Beer Festival is comming up, but I don't know if we'll go- we also have the Kumeu A & P show, CheeseFest, and the Northland Field Days, where we intend to shop for a water tank for our new garage.