24 Hours of Wellman
Today’s piece is part one in a series exploring my Top 10 Movie Moments & Memories. I’ve been a movie fan my entire life and I’ve always tried to be creative with my movie watching. This series will detail my all-time movie related experiences, but they are not ranked. Not even I could do that.
Today’s Movie Memory takes me back to March 30, 2018 when I participated in what came to be known as 24 Hours of Wellman.
The idea was to stay up for 24 hours straight and watch movies non-stop. The first challenge was to construct the lineup. I wanted to make sure that I mixed genres and didn’t include anything I would characterize as “heavy lifting.”
I tend to be a bit OCD, so I also became pretty obsessed with the time adding up to 24 hours exactly. (1,440 minutes)
I had a list of films I wanted to see, so I chose 9 or 10 of those, added up the time and saw how much more I’d need. I don’t remember coming up with the exact time being much of a problem at all. The planning was going well.
I then enlisted the help of a friend when it came to putting the 12 films in order. He also helped me construct a menu and food strategy. Alcohol intake was discussed, because there was absolutely going to be cocktailing going on.
After a week or two of planning, I was all set. I had a film schedule, I had a menu, I had a fully stocked bar. All I needed was a weekend.
I chose a three day weekend that included a Friday off. Easter Weekend 2018. I had to work on Thursday, so I had to figure out how to manage my pre-marathon sleep. I figured my best shot at staying up 24 hours straight was to go to sleep immediately upon getting home from school on Thursday.
I snuck out early and got home by 3:00. I took a hot shower and put myself to sleep. This wasn’t easy, but I love to sleep so it wasn’t too difficult either. I’m thinking I was out by 4:00. My alarm was set for 11:50 PM.
What follows is what happened after that alarm went off…
12:00 - 2:44 AM 2:44 - 4:59 AM 4:59 - 6:53 AM
I led off with Blade Runner 2049 figuring it was going to be dark, so I may as well watch it at midnight. I’m a big fan of the original and I was excited to see this. Even though it was dark, it kept me awake. 👍 1 down - 11 to go.
I remember seeing the trailer for Downsizing and wanting to watch it immediately! I loved the premise (overpopulation so people voluntarily shrink themselves and live together in these tiny places), but the direction this went in was at times ultra-depressing. The trailer highlighted all the fun aspects of this happening and then the movie hammered you with the sad side of what could possibly happen. 👎 2 down - 10 to go.
Sunrise was going to happen during the next movie (at 6:32 AM), so what I was anticipating being the most difficult part of the day was almost over. Another strategy I came up with was watching the films in different parts of my house. I had three different set ups and rotated when needed.
I adore Agatha Christie. She was a great writer whose works were occasionally made into wonderful films. Ten Little Indians among those. I was very pumped to watch Murder on the Orient Express. Great cast, obviously great story, sun coming up. This was a fun movie in many ways. Things are looking good. 👍 3 down - 9 to go.
6:53 - 8:41 AM 8:41 - 10:56 AM 10:56 - 12:56 PM
I made myself an English muffin with cheese and a mimosa as a reward for making it through the first three movies. It was time for one of two animated films on the schedule, Ferdinand. This was perfectly placed in the lineup! Right after the mystery, it’s now daytime, it’s a fun and uplifting story, and It is next…👍 4 down - 8 to go.
I’m a huge Stephen King fan. I can say the same thing about him that I said about Agatha Christie. A quick count tells me that I’ve seen 23 movies based on stories written by Stephen King, so It was highly anticipated! And it did NOT disappoint! So glad that this was a daytime slot. No need to have Pennywise in the house after dark. 👍 5 down - 7 to go. 🎈
I, Tonya was phenomenal! I remember this story very well since I was living in Stoneham, MA when Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed by Gilhooley. Margot Robbie did a nice job playing Tonya Harding, but Allison Janney was absolutely amazing as Tonya’s mother. Excellent midday movie. Well done, all around. 👍 6 down - 6 to go.
12:56 - 2:40 PM 2:40 - 4:46 PM 4:46 - 6:46 PM
At this point, I was halfway there. Feeling good, not tired. Walking around the house while watching now and then to keep the blood flowing. All systems go! And then I watched The Disaster Artist. Not only was this, hands down, the WORST movie I watched today, it was one of the worst I saw all of 2018. Actually it’s one of the worst things I can remember seeing in the past decade. Piece. Of. Crap. 💣👎💣👎💣👎 7 down - 5 to go.
Next was Little Otik! If you’re a regular reader of this blog or you have listened on Spotify or watched on YouTube, you already know about Little Otik. It was one of the 10 films I discussed on “Around the World with Cinema Wellman.” Needless to say, a film about a piece of wood that grows up and likes to eat humans is PERFECT for this project! Two branches up for Little Otik! Way up! 👍 8 down - 4 to go.
Little Otik marked a point in the day when I knew I was going to make it. I usually got home from school around 3:15-3:30 which fell into the window of this movie. I knew that I would have no problem staying up until midnight because I did that all the time during the school year.
I should have known better, including a comic book movie in this project. Not really my cup of tea, although I do watch a lot of them. Justice League was okay, but it was a bit of a weak link in the proceedings. Getting pizza and a salad delivered from Zesty’s definitely helped my opinion. 9 down - 3 to go.
6:46 - 8:31 PM 8:31 - 10:05 PM 10:05 - 12:00 AM
Coco was delightful, and it was perfectly placed in the lineup. Fun, uplifting, good music, and “The Day of the Dead!” A perfect lead-in to our next film! 👍 10 down - 2 to go.
Like Little Otik, Juan of the Dead was just highlighted in the “Around the World with Cinema Wellman” episode. If you read/listened/watched, you know that I liked this movie a lot. It’s funny, it’s bloody, it’s bloody funny! 👍 11 down - 1 to go.
I must admit that I got cocky at this point. I only had one film left, Atomic Blonde. I was still feeling good. Got another slice of pizza and decided to watch Atomic Blonde IN BED! Fall asleep, and the entire project is ruined. Stay awake, and it’s a great success! Not a great movie, but it certainly was loud enough to keep me awake! I did it! 12 down - 0 to go!!!!
24 Hours of Wellman Schedule
All of these films are from 2017 with the exception of
Little Otik (2000) and Juan of the Dead (2011)
This is one of my Top 10 Movie Moments & Memories, and I recently thought of doing it again, but I decided against it. That box got checked, on to other boxes!
If you think you’d like to attempt this on your own, or with friends, let me know! I’d love to help you strategize and plan. E-mail me at cinemawellman@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @cinemawellman
Listen to the Official Podcast of Cinema Wellman on Spotify!
Watch the Official YouTube channel on, well…YouTube!
Just search for “Cinema Wellman!”
Until next time…
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