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 1982Another, 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 1960I 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! 2009Really 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 1985The 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.
