Barking Space

24 Hour Movie Marathon – Year 3

Last night I arrived in Ottawa after a brief, seven hour bus ride.

When we got to Dave’s I couldn’t believe how much snow there was. To think that the storm hadn’t even hit at that time…

This is the snow that was at Dave’s pre-storm. Check out the snow angel made vertically.
Click on either to enlarge…

Now I am sitting in Dave’s living room, ready to begin the festivities.

I will be periodically updating this throughout the day with text, pictures and movies (most likely adding those up to several days later), so stay tuned!

The first movie on deck is…

Bloodsport – 09:00

Ah, who can forget this gem from the eighties? I think the more appropriate thing to say would be what does one have to do to forget this gem from the eighties?

When we were younger this movie was the bomb. We thought it was so cool and that the action was amazing. In actuality, this movie, introduced to me by my friend Frank, was something that rekindled my interest in martial arts.

Now, a few decades later, I watch it and shudder. The action scenes are horrible. While some of the choreography is technically sound, it’s implemented so horribly that it makes it unwatchable.

Most of the dialogue sounds dubbed, and the music is hilarious.

The awesome thing about this movie, though, is that it is a piece of our childhood. Our sorry, sorry childhood.

There are so many cheesy lines that one can’t help wondering why this movie was run in the theater.

Maybe it was the fact that…

• They dubbed over Bolo’s voice so it sounds like he actually went through puberty.
• Van Damme does the splits no less than seven times.
• They played Karate Champ.
• They got what appears to be a Far Eastern guy to play a Middle Eastern guy.
• You get to see Van Damme’s butt, which is covered after a few seconds by a burgundy pair of briefs.
• The kid playing a young Frank Dux is more convincing than Jean Claude.

Our tribute to Jean Claude.
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Our mini-movie of Bloodsport.

Raising Arizona – 10:50

This movie is essentially one of the best forms of birth control.

Ever.

Actually, it’s also one of the funniest movies to come out of the eighties, even if it’s not always funny. This is because it has some of the funniest lines are delivered by the traileriest trashiest characters ya ever done saw!

If you haven’t seen this movie, you really should. It’s a great flick that strikes a chord with each person on some level. Not giving anything away, I can say that the movie centers around the theme of family.

The kid they get to play Nathan Jr. is also awesome in this movie. Cute as a button!

For the record, this movie has better fight scenes than Bloodsport.

Also, there is 400% more yodelling.

The reality of the situation finally hits Joe.
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Our first ever driving scene.

Casablanca – 13:00

I saw this movie a number of years ago, in a strange situation.

In any case, at the time I didn’t really pick up on all of the subtleties. Watching it now reveals some exceptionally witty dialogue and subtle humour.

One note of trivia: Rick never does say Play it again, Sam. In fact, the closest he comes to that line is Play it, Sam.

This is one of those movies that stands the test of time. Even though it was filmed a long time ago, it can still move you.

Bogey was (and will always will be) one of the best actors ever, in my humble opinion, anyway.

It’s one of those movies where the ending isn’t really as happy as you would like it to be. For it’s day, it dealt with a lot of touchy issues.

One thing that all of us movie-watchers agreed on was that Victor Lazlo was one of the most open-minded and forgiving characters ever. Bogey told him, in no uncertain terms, that things happened between him and Bergman. And Lazlo just nodded and took it on the chin.

Bogey doesn’t take rejection very well.
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The rare Casablaca wife swap ending.

Holes – 15:00

I’ve never really heard of this movie. According to Sarah it’s based on a book. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this story before.

Shia LaBeouf is in this movie, so it’s probably good. I thought he was awesome in Transformers

Mark: [On John Voight.] Why do people keep giving him work?
Cathy: Because he’s awesome.

For the first family film we’ve had at one of these, I have to say that so far it’s pretty cool. The pacing is great and keeps feeding you enough information to keep you engaged at the overall plot. Revelation by flashback can be really effective.

Cathy: Did you know the only natural enemy of the hole is the pile?

Definitely a great movie. Make sure to see this one.

Cursed to dig for 100 years leads to some weird finds.
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I tell ya, the things people leave lying around…

Grey Gardens – 17:00

This movie is about a couple of older ladies living in a big ol’ house. The house is in a horrible state, and the ladies live with a bunch of cats and raccoons.

Isha said that this movie is a cult classic.

I think that the type of cult she’s referring to are those cults that end up killing themselves waiting for aliens or comets to help them escape from the planet.

This movie gave me the opportunity to call home and check in on the troops.

It’s been almost an hour now and I’m contemplating gouging out my eyes with a coffee cup.

Looking out the window, I can see the snow piling higher and higher. I’m going to go out and shovel under the pretense of being a good person. When in reality, I will be shoveling because I will go insane if I have to watch this for too much longer.

Isha just let it all go when she got her 300th cat.
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Why Tylenol was invented…

The Warriors – 20:00

I am pretty sure I’ve seen this before, but it’s feeling like a new film at the moment. Especially with the remastering of the DVD we’re watching.

Nothing like a bout of gang violence to get the evening started off right!

I think that all gangs should dress as colourfully as the gangs in this movie. It makes it easier to tell what they are trying to be. Nowadays, the gangs are so confused and far more subtle than the gangs shown here.

Plus the gangs in this movie are tougher than real life. I mean, come on! The Roller Skating Gang? You don’t find toughness like that every day.

This movie is so cheesy it’s awesome. It’s essentially like watching a video game. It surprises me that they took over twenty years to actually make a video game about it.

It has all of the elements. A goal to reach. A cadre of enemies to fight to get there. Weapons to upgrade to (dropped by said cadre).

So good.

Don’t mess with the Lounging Pants Various Household Utensils Gang.
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I get the idea from this movie that Dave wants the Warriors to come out and play…

Cube – 21:40

I saw this movie a long time ago. It’s a sci-fi flick about a group of people stuck in a prison of sorts.

It’s all kinds of awesome, this movie. Filmed with a very tiny budget, it made do with little and delivers a huge, crazy ride.

It’s a suspenseful thriller, showing how a small cross section of humanity copes with a stressful situation. In some way, it reminds me a little of Lord of the Flies.

If you have a need for endings that explain everything, though, you might want to avoid this movie. I am not giving anything away by saying it doesn’t end in a way that will leave you with certain key knowledge.

This is some complicated math!
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Joe designed the perfect prison. Can you tell why?

Hard Candy – 23:15

I heard about this movie a while ago, and was really interested because of the nature of the story. I don’t really want to give a lot away, but it’s a cat-and-mouse thriller that puts a twist on an issue that’s in the headlines far too often.

Ellen Page is an impressive actress. I saw her in Juno and thought she was incredible.

If you don’t like spoilers, don’t read the next few lines.

We are about 45 minutes through the movie and I have to say I AM SO FUGGIN’ UNCOMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW!

All of the guys in the room have assumed protective poses.

This movie is incredible. The cinematography is amazingly frustrating. It reveals just enough to leave you on the edge of your seat.

End spoilers.

I have this sinking feeling I’ll be missing something.
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Dave makes sure he’s not missing anything after a harrowing experience.

Suspiria – 01:15

This is an Italian horror movie. It’s supposed to be crazy gory and scary. Seeing as it’s dark in the room (the lights are out), maybe it will actually be scary.

There is a reference to it in Juno, which is pretty cool, as I was curious about this film.

Well, about ten minutes into the movie, I didn’t find it so cool anymore, so I decided to sleep. It wasn’t very scary. It was just loud and stupid.

Basically the movie was about hallways and ketchup and weird, creepy music. Last year’s horror film was way scarier.

What I thought of this movie.
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Sunshine – 04:05

I want to sleep, but I want to see this movie more. I saw a trailer for it about two months ago and thought it would be something that I might be interested in.

And…it has officially lost me.

It could have been a good movie for me until they took some of the realism and threw it out the window.

F!

Sad to say, but this is the direction this movie went in when it decided to be something weirder than what it should have been..
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FAIL!

We never finished. We all went to bed.

Whether it was the shovelling of endless amounts of heavy snow or the back-to-back one-two punch of the last two movies, I can’t say.

But we all basically decided that sleep was more important than Kevin Bacon.

You can read Dave’s account of the event here.

Extras

Here is an extra movie, as well as some bloopers we hope you enjoy. There are no movies for the last two, because filming a bottle of Ketchup and Mustard would probably make a better clip, but I’m outta ketchup…

Dave and Goliath.

Never cut off the Hong Kong chief of police.

Trying to call out the Warriors. Not very well, I might add.

Still hasn’t called them out correctly yet…

The blooper of the night. Dave’s second call-out was too high, resulting in hilarity.

Filed under: Friends, Humour, Special Events | Tagged: 24 Hour Movie Marathon, Entertainment, Movie Marathon, Movies | 20 Comments »