#SF46 #BSFM46 The Thing From Another World

    So, did you spot the general theme of my pics this year? I haven’t decided if I will try for a pic theme in future years, as this one just sort of happened at first, and then I tried to stick with it as best I could. Our bookend films for this year’s Thon are different takes on a story by John Campbell, ‘Who Goes There?’, which I read during the week prior to the Thon. While they both are space invader horror movies, and they both focus on a message of how catastrophic and sudden dangers from space may present themselves, how they do that is a reflection of the times when they were made.

    This first version seems to have assumed audiences would not be familiar enough with the state of scientific efforts in Antarctica, or even know about Antarctica, so they placed the story at the North Pole. Hmmm. Also, the invading alien arrived at the start of the story, rather than hundreds of thousands of years ago as in the story and re-make. This 50s version’s conflict among men is science versus military, while in the story and remake it is the paranoia of not knowing who might really be an imitation, i.e. who can you trust.

    While it seems the remake is a more faithful representation of John Campbell’s story, the ending is where this changes. The 50s film ends with most people surviving, and humanity safe, which is more in line with the story. The remake strongly implies everyone at the base dies, and also implies, maybe not as strongly or maybe as strongly, that humanity is doomed as well. They are both interesting tellings. I recall there is a sequel to the remake, though I have not seen it yet. It was kind of interesting to have the same story bookend the Thon.

    Packing up was similar to the many years at the Somerville Theater, and despite the heat pump not wanting to blow any heat after some point in the late night, Alexei and I had fun, easier access to the bathroom, and were more comfortable. We missed chants of Wheat Chex / Rice Chex, door, fire, mark, no you got to hell, and other in person rituals. I tried to engage via chat, SMS, the Film Forum in the app, and my usual live blogging, and while not a waste of time, certainly not as fun as in person, at least for me. That said, it was fun to see the Thon specific content and contest, as well as postings on the Film Forum of how others were ‘attending’ the Thon, pictures and all. A Big thank you to Garen and all the folks who make this possible evey year. I look forward to next year, whether it is all virtual like this year, or hybrid. Now that is is always going to have a virtual aspect, I hope to see more of you in the years to come. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Flight of the Navigator

    Yeah, this was a fun film, despite, or maybe partly because of the voice of Pee Wee Herman, Alexei noted how frustrating it can be to consider amazing technology beyond human understanding being used by a kid, and only by a kid. That’s what stories are about.

    Before we get to the last movie, Garen is giving us a run down on what to expect. There will always be a virtual component going forward, and when we get to safe times, it sounds like the Somerville Theater will be doing some interesting new stuff in the safe times, and it will be helpful for future Boston Science Fiction Festivals and Marathon. And a well deserved to the many, many people who make the Thon happen, particularly in challenging circumstances. Thank you all, and we look forward to next’s years Thon.

#SF46 #BSFM46 Tron

    Hmmm, basic computer concepts pretty much on the mark, and seems to have held up reasonably well over the years. Our hero programs, and user, escape and head off to change things. Brings back memories of when video games were new, and we hung out at video arcades playing classics and the latest. Dragon’s Lair, anyone? Line up your quarters.

    The next to last film for this virtual Thon is Flight of the Navigator, which, don’t judge me, I have never seen. Time to fix that error. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Attack the Block

    More alien invaders, this time with glowing blue green teeth. I did not recall any of the actors in this movie, maybe because I wasn’t that familiar with them when I first saw it. John Boyega and Jody Whittacker are now recognizable to me, and I probably just forgot …. hmmm, I’ve forgotten again. Aliens looking for a good time, by their definition anyway.

    We tried our hands at the name that ship contest, and missed far too many. Ooops, guess we need to see more sci fi. Now for another classic, Tron.

#SF46 #BSFM46 Species

    Watch out, dangerous alien on the loose, despite how good looking they might be. Well, that was pretty much what I remember, of what I saw. I wasn’t tempted to walk out, though it did feel like a lame attempt to cash in on more popular films of the time and genre. I really didn’t buy the guy who was supposed to be the guy the government calls to find and despose of their problems. Just me, I’m sure.

    We found three DVDs of the four genre’s they were looking for, not having any German Expressionism. Next up is Attack the Block, which I recall enjoying the last time I saw it. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Slither

    OK, so my memory of the preview of slither was not quite on the mark, and it was a comic horror movie, with more aliens from space invading human bodies. More of a zombie movie, it does have a neat take, with them all being essentially the original host, or at least tied to the original host. Nathan Fillion is his usual campy self, and I enjoyed it. Even a deer can be infected, it appears.

    Next up is a movie I walked out of a theater from, so I will be interested to see if I stick around for the whole thing this time. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 The Road Warrior

    As you can see, even Mad Max’s dog knows how to handle a gun. This sequel to the original Mad MAx movie had lots of vehicular destruction, and painful deaths, though I’m still confused by why they used so much gas to get a tanker full of sand, when they are in a desert, with plenty of sand. Ah well, who am I to judge post apocolyptic residents.

    One of the new features of this virtual Thon is a couple lessons on BSFM cocktails by Carly. Might be easier to make if we knew what to have on hand before hand, though since I don’t drink cocktails anyway, I guess I don’t really have anything to complain about.

    Now on to a newish film I haven’t seen, Slither, with Nathan Fillion. I hope it is as fun as I now remember the previews as implying. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Tenet

    The final battle to save the world, though I think entropy still wins. Woah, I think my head still hurts from trying to follow that one, though since it is new, and with it’s limited release, I don’t want to spoil anything for the folks who haven’t seen it yet. Next time, all bets are off. A trippy kind of film, with an interesting twist on time travel. This is also a movie worth seeing multiple times, to catch things you miss the first time. And sadly, since this appears to be an issue with Christopher Nolan movies, the sound balancing is terrible, with background sound too loud, so it is almost always hard to hear the dialogue. I’m not one to use subtitles, as I find hem distracting, though they really help with this movie. You are forewarned. ^_^

    And now we get into the harder to stay awake phase of the Thon as we head into tomorrow. The Road Warrioer is next, with Mel Gibson. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

    Rats, indenting paragraphs still doesn’t in the WordPress iOS app Visual Editor, so I am back to using the HTML editor. As for Buckaroo Banzai, this is a great example of transfering the comic book medium to the movie media. While I enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that takes the energy and stories of comic books to the big screen, though with an adapted style. Buckaroo Banzai has more of an independent comic feel and freedom. It is a movie I enjoy everyime, and for reals find things I didn’t notice before. Definitely a movie for multiple watchings.

    Next up is Tenet, a movie whose release got delayed by COVID, and was finally released earlier this year. I saw it when it released, safely at a drive-in theater.^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 12 Monkeys

Another film I have seen before, and enjoyed. Terry Gilliam has a clear style for dystopian films, and it comes through in this one. Kind neat how the roles of the main starts swap from the start of the movie to the end. And we are continuing on with the pandemic/infectious entity theme, hitting home, though it is nice to not have to wear masks while watching these movies. I think it may be a sign of old age how much I did not remember from the first time, or forgot :-), though that can make the film more enjoyable. I’m sure I didn’t notice Bruce Willis saying he only see dead people in this film. ^_^

The next one up will have people named John paying attention, as it is Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and I really enjoy this campy one. Not my planet, monkey boy. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 The Quatermass Xperiment

Our facing contagious dangers from outer space continues with this 50s B movie, as brit Elon Musk type brings back his rocket to jolly old England, only to spend the rest of the movie chasing his sole surviving astronaut infected with some alien life form, before it produces spores and infects the world. Man, this is really driving home our COVID driven virtual Thon at home. I’m seeing if I can manage my own themes in my pics. See if you can figure it out.

Next up, after the tin foil hat contest/poll, is Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys. More infection/pandemic madness. I see a theme here. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 The Thing

Not a good film to eat during, particularly pizza or pasta. 🤢 John Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic, gory horror film, and maybe questionable to start the Thon, though I would say it is fine, and not as bad as one year when they started with Clover Field. 🤮 That Blair Witch Project style hand held camera action made me pretty nauseous.

Next up a 50s B movie The Quatermass Xperiment. I have not seen this one yet, so here we go.

#SF46 #BSFM46 Duck Dodgers

    And we are virtually off. And I was right that at least at the start, I am distracted by trying to py attention to the new social apps, etc, to stay as enaged as possible, and that makes it harder to think about blogging. There is some pre-recorded stuff from the Thon staff before each item, and that fills in some of the annnounceements usually done in the theater, as well as some explanation on how Swank works. Next up, John Carpenter’s The Thing. ^_^

#SF46 #BSFM46 Lineup

    This year’s Boston Science Fiction Marathon (BSFM46) start’s tomorrow at noon, and being virtual this year due to COVID-19, preparations are a little different. Access to the web site that the films will be accessible from went live for me yesterday, and I have noted the lineup with times below. The site through which each individual attendee will be able to stream the films allows access for a chunk of time longer than the normal 24 hours of the Thon, and each individual is their own projectionist, i.e they control the running of the films. I wonder whether that will have an impact on the social interactions that may be possible via the Boston Sci Fi app, since watchers may be out of sync with each other. Will it be as enjoyable when a bunch of attendees post ‘door’ in chat at the same time? What happens when attendees are out of sync on their start times, do the ‘door’, ‘fire’, ‘mark, and other traditional comments end up also enough out of sync that they aren’t as impactful? Will participants even bother with them at all? I hope so, and I need to pay more attention to what I can do within the app, so I am ready for tomorrow. I think it will be easier for me to live blog, though I may find out I spend more time actively trying to participate in on-line social activities vs a more passive approach when at the theatre, and that may limit the time I have to blog. Still, I will be able to use my Bluetooth keyboard, so the actual writing of the blog should go quicker. ^_^

    I really like the lineup, even though I have seen all but two or three of the movies before. The only one I didn’t care for is Species, and it has been long enough since I walked out of a theater, which I never do, when I saw it for the first time that maybe I will not be as dissappointed by it now. Either way, the rest I enjoy, so I’ve done my tech testing, and am ready to enjoy them all soon. I should note that since it is virtual, it is easy for you to get tickets anytime and enjoy the fun, even if you wouldn’t normally be able to get to the Somerville Theater, or if you aren’t up for 24 hours straight of movies. Watch some or all, at the prescribed times, or at times that work better for you. There is a link to where to buy tiickets in my last blog post. ^_^

    12:00pm – Duck Dodgers in the 24 and 1/2 Century

    12:08pm – John Carpenter’s The Thing

    2:00pm – The Quartermass Xperiment

    4:00pm – 12 Monkeys

    6:30pm – Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension

    8:30pm – Tenet

    11:15pm – The Road Warrior

    1:00am – Slither

    2:40am – Species

    4:45am – Attack the Block

    6:30am – Tron

    8:15am – Flight of the Navigator

    10:15am – The Thing From Another World