Guide to a Movie Marathon

Over the course of the past two nights I have been involved in a rather enjoyable movie marathon with a close buddy of mine.  The marathon started in the most innocuous of way as we both figured out we really didn’t want to talk to one another anymore that night.  He was busy working away while I was also in attendance.  So we decided to watch Lethal Weapon because we had both not seen it and thought why not.  That two hour mismatched cop flick began our journey into our great 1970’s-1980’s movie marathoning.  Below are some annotated notes on the proceedings.

Prelude

 9/14/14 – 9:30 PM to 11:30 PM – Lethal Weapon

We find Lethal Weapon on his iPad and sit down to watch the film with varying levels of commitment (he with his designing and what not and me with my Megapolis City building).  The highlight throughout the movie is the sincere saxophone that punctuates every scene.  There was once a time when that slow sax tune was not thought of as ironic and I’m glad to be a witness to a simpler time.  Watching Lethal Weapon is like watching the genesis of the mismatched buddy cop film and I couldn’t get over how funny and rather charming that Mel Gibson was until I remembered how much of an anti-Semite he currently is.  The movie moves along with general badassery and actually exciting villains unlike the banal stoic evil of most Superhero films.  We have thoroughly enjoyed the film and agree to watch part 2 but disagree about when.  I protest saying I have to leave to wake up early for a job interview while my friend and colleague calls me an idiot (amongst other hurtful things) and tells me to stay for the sequel.  I win a rather cold victory and take the train home to enjoy a repeat showing of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. 

Part 2

 9/15/14 – 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM – Lethal Weapon 2

I arrive at around 6 PM and swiftly apologize to my friend for not staying over to watch Lethal Weapon 2 as that job interview turned out to be less than ideal.  I also apologize over my slandering of Kanye West over his recent incident as on second thought, I concluded that the media did blow the whole thing out of proportion.  He graciously accepts my apology and we eat and buy art supplies until we fire up the old iPad for a viewing of Lethal Weapon 2.  To our continued delight, the sequel bests the original and surprises us with its high level of humorous sequences (the condom commercial, Joe Pesci, Donald Glover on the toilet, Mel Gibson being intentionally funny).  We both note the irony of seeing Mel Gibson call out a bunch of people for being Aryans and such (again, it was a simpler time).  It is the rare movie where I’m actually laughing along when the characters make jokes.  The movie gets quite gruesome at times (there seems to be a death every 7 minutes) and we also notice how strictly this film sticks to the theory of Checkov’s gun.  So far we’re two for two on movies as it’s on to the third film.

9/15 – 16/ 14 – 10:00 PM to 1:15 AM – Full Metal Jacket

I tell my friend that Lethal Weapon 3 wasn’t so well reviewed and we determine to utilize the IMDb Top 250 movie rankings to pick our next film.  We decide to pick the highest ranked movie that we both haven’t seen, but quickly stray from this argeement to argue about the user ratings.  I argue that the Shawshank Redemption is not the greatest movie of all time and that these ratings are flawed, while my friend claims I’m an elitist and a film snob.  We’re both right, but I’m more right than he is.  I look down the list and suggest Full Metal Jacket, a movie both of us have not seen in full.  We strike it up and begin watching.  The first 45 minutes on the army base are as harrowing and as intense as anything I’ve ever seen on an Ipad screen.  Watching these men get torn down and built up as killing machines in such a brief amount of time is a testament to the skills of Stanley Kubrick and Lee Ermey’s performance.  As we move to Vietnam, a problem begins to occur with our marathon.  For some reason our viewing iPad is not charging and it forces us to take 5-10 minute breaks after watching around 15 minutes of pure Vietnamese horror.  This takes away a bit of the tension, but the technology is not the sole culprit in this.  The film drags a bit until the end piece surrounding the mysterious sniper.  Watching the greatest force in the world get picked off one by one equals the psychology intensity of the basic training scenes, despite the fact that I had seen this sniper piece before.  The film ends with a chanting of the Mickey Mouse theme song and we agree that this was the best film so far.  What a stone cold classic.

9/16/14 – 1:15 AM - 4:30 AM – The Sting

It’s getting late so I make a food and Red Bull run before we decide on our next film.  I return to that controversial top 250 list and after much arguing we agree on The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.  As with Full Metal Jacket before, the Ipad shuts off every 15 minutes leaving us hanging in the middle of an important grift or an essential flim flam.  This has the opposite effect as before and ratchets up the tension as each intricate con move becomes more fascinating.  The wait between scenes is unbearable as I take up the annoying habit of pacing the rooms while waiting for the device to charge.  The Sting has so many things elements I enjoying viewing in a film: elaborate cons within schemes within cons within schemes, high stakes poker games, grifting teams that work well together, and Paul Newman.  The movie is truly a masterpiece and it starts a debate about which profession we would be best at if we were limited to the professions shown in our movie marathon.  I contend that my friend would be a great con man but a lousy cop.  My buddy counters by saying I’d be a great cop but an awful con artist.  Again we’re both right, but I’m more right.  I’m getting sort of tired but we had already made a deal during this great film to watch another Paul Newman gem so it’s my duty as an American to stay up.

9/16/14 -    4:30 – 7:00 – Slap Shot

We let the iPad charge for a half an hour as I pace around the place chatting to another buddy diligently working in the wee hours of the night.   The loading has finished and we begin watching the greatest hockey movie of all time, with doesn’t sound like much of compliment, but I mean it as one.  The highlights are that disco score, Paul Newman, and the Hanson Brothers as every scene with those goons just kills.  The line “I’m listening to the fucking song” is still the best.  Paul Newman plays a delightful asshole whose goon tactics I will never tire of.  I’m passing out halfway but figure it’s okay because I’ve seen this film twice before.  Regardless, the movie’s a classic and deserves to be treated as one.  After the film ends/or I shut off the iPad, I leave for the train back to Manhattan with these definitive rankings:

Full Metal Jacket

The Sting

Lethal Weapon 2

Lethal Weapon

Slap Shot

Each is fine film and a worth component to any good late night marathon.  I wish you well in your own marathoning and advise you not to use the IMDb top 250.  That list is a joke.