Doubtlessly, in “these times of financial crisis” I’m not the only one in this position...so I thought I'd share my idea with whoever happens to take the time to read this...
I can remember only a couple of years ago, where my only having a tenner in my pocket until payday would have resulted in me clubbing in with a few more friends, raiding our kitchens for alcohol and going on a road trip to see some faraway friend.
However, with petrol being the price it is, I think I’d be unlikely to make it out of my driveway on my budget.
Distraught at the possibility of a weekend devoid of entertainment, and having grown unsurprisingly weary of friendface or whatever it is I’m on when I’m supposed to be working, I flicked through the internet, and after reading everyone’s desert island dvd’s in the recent piece from the den of geek writers, I decided to fall back on my dvd collection, and create the opposite of a road trip.
By the opposite of a road trip I mean staying in one place (the place in question being “bed” or “sofa” only) for as much as possible of a 24-hour period…and trying to cram as many of your favourite movies as possible into this period.
I should point out that I suffer from horrible bouts of insomnia, that last days at a time-so this isn’t my first attempt at this…and in the attempts that I’ve made so far, I’ve come up with a few rules to help you to get down to your selection of films.
Firstly, there should be no two movies wherein the same actor/actress plays the lead role. So this rules out doing a Lord of the Rings Day, or Star Wars Weekender, or (god forbid) a Harry Potter or Scary Movie-a-thon (and yes, before anyone asks, I lend both of the aforementioned titles the same level of credence-little to none).
Secondly, we’re talking “movies”; not TV shows, or direct spin-offs. For instance, the original Transformers cartoon series is not allowed, the (animated) Transformers movie is also disallowed by association, however, the Transformers live action movie is in play.
Thirdly, you will include at least one movie that you have yet to see. Whether this be begged, borrowed or simply bought and unloved to date-it doesn’t matter. You just can’t have seen the film the whole way through before it goes into the dvd player.
Finally, you’re not allowed to put anything you’ve watched in the past month on your viewing list.
Ideally, the total run time of your collection to watch can total no more than 24 hours.
Now I realise, that these may sound a mite idiotic, but-as a voice of experience-nobody wants to sit through a John Cusack-a-thon (even when I count myself amongst his many fans)-this is designed to mix things up a bit, and if nothing more, should help you to break out some of the movies that’ve been gathering dust somewhere in the corner of a darkened room.
With all of that being said, here’s my viewing list for the weekend:
Clerks (88mins)
An obvious choice for me, clearly, as it remains in a three-way tie (with Shaun of the Dead and Office Space completing the ménage-a-trois, both of which were unfortunately disqualified due to the “watched in the last month” rule). When I mentioned Clerks as my desert island disc, I noted that I’d probably watched it “at least once a week” for the past few years. Thankfully my brother has had my copy since Christmas-and as such, it makes the list.
The Boondock Saints (103mins)
This film is almost as well known for the documentary which is often sold with it “Overnight”, wherein we see writer/director Troy Duffy unravel from a man of the people to asshole of asshole, unsurprisingly, overnight. That being said, the movie itself was frought with problems, but the end product still entertains me to buggery, and was one of my “safe” bets to get me through an hour and forty-three minutes when I’m probably not awake enough to follow something I haven’t watched before.
The Warriors (89mins)
I found this gathering dust at the bottom of a drawer in the spare room. Who cares if it’s aged? It should never ever be remade, because it’s still just about perfect the way it is. One of my all-time favourite movies, and I had to throw this one in, even if for no other reason than “it’s been a while”.
Fight Club (133mins)
I spotted this on the
High Fidelity (109mins)
If any movie could give Office Space, Shaun of the Dead and Clerks a run for their money for me, it’s this one. Jack Black steals scenes all over the shop here, and is almost on-par with Belushi in Animal house for brief, fleeting moments. However, it’s the darkness of Cusack that gets me here, and keeps me coming back again and again.
The Godfather Part II (192mins)
Quite simply, a masterpiece. By far the best of the trilogy, and in my opinion it’s probably the best work of not only Pacino, but also De Niro and Coppola.
The Usual Suspects (102mins)
This is the only film that I’ve ever watched and had to watch immediately afterwards again. To this day I cannot believe that this was shot for less than $5.5million, and within 35 days, especially when you consider the numerous turkeys that studios have heavily financed in recent years (Gigli, anyone?).
Be Kind, Rewind (97mins)
Not breaking the lead role rule, because Jack Black was not the lead in High Fidelity; and also filling another of the Ant-Road Trip Commandments, because I’m yet to see this film to date. I bought it with a voucher on a friend’s recommendation, and simply haven’t gotten around to it yet-but from what I’ve heard, I’m happy to have saved it.
Four Brothers (104mins)
Absolutely the best tagline of any movie of all-time. “They came home to bury mom…and her killer.” No other reasons required, next…
One of my favourite graphic novels of all time, and comfortably inside my top ten movies, forget the Wrestler for a minute, this film relaunched Mickey Rourke to the point where I can almost imagine every other actor in the premiere just sitting there thinking “Damn”.
American Gangster (150mins)
Okay, so I like this movie probably a lot more because of the memories it brings back of a certain Jay-Z/Linkin Park concert from last summer (and watching this/listening to American Gangster on the way)-but it’s still fantastic, and whilst it’s by no means the best work of either Washington, Crowe, or indeed Ridley Scott, it’s certainly amongst the better pieces released in recent years.
Midnight Sting (94mins)
There are probably only a couple of people will have heard of this movie; but it’s an apt way to end the marathon viewing. James Woods, Louis Gossett Jr and Heather Graham all get outshone by Oliver Platt in a comedy about a con-artist and a washed up boxer.
And that’s me done. The observant of you will have noticed that there’s only 23 hours of viewing material there…and while I could have crammed Gary Busey in 'The Gingerdead Man’ into my final hour (excluding the extras which are for some reason included in the 72 minute run-time), I’d have had to have gone out and bought it in the first place, and that’s kind of against the spirit of things.
Anyway, let me know by comments which movies you’d go for, and I hope you had as good a weekend going absolutely nowhere as I’m about to.
Arron MacDonald
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