Marathon Man
For "the most wonderful time of the year," Christmas can sure stir up a lot of logistical nightmares. How much should I budget for gifts? What faraway relatives should I visit? When are the best times to avoid all those people on the roads/in the malls?
New Year's Eve is a more reliably relaxing holiday, not least because it and New Year's Day lend themselves to lots of TV-watching. If you're like me, you were never really that enthralled with Times Square, and/or your alma mater's not playing football in January. With that in mind, let's take a look at some possible New Year's viewing marathons.
Epic movie sagas are naturally suited for this sort of endeavor. If you pace yourself effectively, you can be well into Hour 12 or 13 and the adrenaline from being at the Crack of Doom or the Battle of Endor will complement nicely all the caffeine and sugar sure to be coursing through your overstimulated system. What's more, you don't have to devote a half-day to The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars to get a fulfilling experience. Episodes I-III run about 7 1/2 hours and Episodes IV-VI take about 7 hours. Yes, the theatrical versions of the Rings films still require about a 10-hour commitment, but if you're really pressed for time, and don't mind some ... questionable adaptation decisions, the animated versions take just under 4 hours -- with the 1977 The Hobbit, just over 5 hours.
Spike TV's edited-for-TV James Bond marathons always drive me to my Bond DVDs, but it would be very hard to watch all 20 films over two days and still do things like sleep, bathe, and enjoy the outside world. My top two Bonds are The Spy Who Loved Me and Goldfinger, and I'd probably throw in a couple more Connerys, maybe Moonraker, and one of the Brosnans.
Often TV will have done the work for you. The Sci-Fi Channel is showing two days' worth of "The Twilight Zone", and A&E has a "24" marathon.
Finally, while it may seem a bit redundant to fill up your movie-watching schedule with a program about guys who perpetually watched movies, you can't really go wrong with a good selection of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Whether you like Joel or Mike, the Comedy Central era or the Sci-Fi Channel, there's nothing like watching this show to make sitting on your duff for hours at a time seem really worthwhile.
New Year's Eve is a more reliably relaxing holiday, not least because it and New Year's Day lend themselves to lots of TV-watching. If you're like me, you were never really that enthralled with Times Square, and/or your alma mater's not playing football in January. With that in mind, let's take a look at some possible New Year's viewing marathons.
Epic movie sagas are naturally suited for this sort of endeavor. If you pace yourself effectively, you can be well into Hour 12 or 13 and the adrenaline from being at the Crack of Doom or the Battle of Endor will complement nicely all the caffeine and sugar sure to be coursing through your overstimulated system. What's more, you don't have to devote a half-day to The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars to get a fulfilling experience. Episodes I-III run about 7 1/2 hours and Episodes IV-VI take about 7 hours. Yes, the theatrical versions of the Rings films still require about a 10-hour commitment, but if you're really pressed for time, and don't mind some ... questionable adaptation decisions, the animated versions take just under 4 hours -- with the 1977 The Hobbit, just over 5 hours.
Spike TV's edited-for-TV James Bond marathons always drive me to my Bond DVDs, but it would be very hard to watch all 20 films over two days and still do things like sleep, bathe, and enjoy the outside world. My top two Bonds are The Spy Who Loved Me and Goldfinger, and I'd probably throw in a couple more Connerys, maybe Moonraker, and one of the Brosnans.
Often TV will have done the work for you. The Sci-Fi Channel is showing two days' worth of "The Twilight Zone", and A&E has a "24" marathon.
Finally, while it may seem a bit redundant to fill up your movie-watching schedule with a program about guys who perpetually watched movies, you can't really go wrong with a good selection of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Whether you like Joel or Mike, the Comedy Central era or the Sci-Fi Channel, there's nothing like watching this show to make sitting on your duff for hours at a time seem really worthwhile.
posted by Tom Bondurant @ 9:23 PM
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