Perley's Pontificating Place

    Yeah, this was a blast, with a couple of my favorite romcom actors, Branden Fraser and a young Nathan Fillion. It was a fun way to wrap up sf49, and a nostalgic trip back to the 50s/60s. It may be a bit before I do my post mortem, so see you then. ^_^

    Here, class, we have a mentally enhanced shark getting an extraction from it’s brain to cure alzheimers. Now I see why SLJ wanted out. And the chef kills a shark. And after Garen doing thank yous we end the Thin with A Blast From the Past. ^_^

    Giant crabs that absorb the memories and voice of those they eat? Are they the result of atomic tests? Well, thanks to the professor from Gilligan’s Island the last one is dead. Woo hoo. That would have been hard to not fall asleep during if it was shown earlier this morning. Now for Deep Blue Sea, a movie I heard Samuel L. Jackson demanded he be killed off early. ^_^

    This fellow will get an upgrade , which leads to more warnings about what can happen when AI goes wrong, in an action movie. At this time of day it can be challenging to figure out whether the movie is twisty or I’m slow. Three movies left, starting with Attack of the Crab Monsters, a genuine 50s B-movie. ^_^

    What a zany, fun romp this film is. Definitely a parody of classic 50s films, with a leading man scientist, love interest, and aliens. And Tom Everret Scott as wacky as ever. Yes, I acted with Tom, and I have stories. Hey do my posts get shorter as the night goes on? ^_^

    At the start of this year’s contest it was noted that the paper airplane contest was started to try to reduce the number of paper airplanes thrown at random throughout the Thon. Judging by the number of participants this year, it is popular. The first throw was the winner, by the person on the right. Top of the Food Chain sounds like a fun parody of a fifties movie, and I acted with one of the stars. ^_^

    I love it when I get to see an interesting movie at the Thon, and this one fits the bill. Time travel, working to do good for society, character development and no more spoilers. I think this will be fun to watch again and see what I missed. Next up, the paper airplane contest. ^_^

    OK, serious grumpy look, and I guess I can accept he’s looking mad. This well know indie film from down under kicked off Mel Gibson’s career. I’m not sure how to feel about him nibbling a pb and honey sandwich when he was upset about his partner’s death, as I have already eaten half of mine.

    It is starting to get to be the time of night when staying awake is not as easy as it used to be. Zzzz. And the attendees with numb mouths are enjoying Dr. Hotbot’s extra hots, and despite them being designed to be hotter than last year, only one dropped out. Youch. Next up Predestination . ^_^

    Based on a british comic book, as I understand it, Dredd is blood and shooting filled action movie, and a second attempt at bringing it to the big screen. The first time had Sylvester Stallone in the lead, and this time with Karl Urban. I think I like this one a little better, though that isn’t saying much.

    Ken hit the road after this one, and I picked tickets for sf50 for Ken and I, and a mug for Steve. Hold tight for Mad Max. ^_^

    Most of my pics are from where I sit in the balcony, though this one is from ground floor, as I was on my way back from a bathroom break. The hat second from the right was the winner, though it was close. Up next, Dredd. ^_^

    This is a relatively recent movie, and well known in computer/video gamer circles. Lots of nostalgia for video gamers, vintage techies, and scifi fans. Basic story for an action movie, so no need to bring the brain cells , just enjoy, and scope out tge background for trivia.

    As soon as the credits end, they will do the tin foil hat contest, then on to Dredd. ^_^

    For those fans of 60s/70s Irwin Allen TV series, this was an interesting view into the early roots of the Lost in Space show. Apparently they planned to send 10 million families a year to other planets to deal with over population, despite them needing to be in suspended animation for 98 years to get to Alpha Centauri. Dangers included giant cyclops, intense lightning , scary earthquakes anand inland sea storms. Yikes. Next up, Resdy Player One. ^_^

    This one is a hoot, with Ray Harryhausen dinosaurs, classic male domination and testosterone , with a hint of civility in the blonde, higher percentage of woman tribe. I also spent more effort than I wanted trying to get my posts in chronological order. Still wotking on that, sorry. Next up is Lapsis, from 2020. Oh and tickets for next year will be on sale after Dredd, at $100 for tge Thon, and $200 for the full festival. ^_^

    Robert, seen above, is working on a history of the Boston Science Fiction Marathon, and looking for stories from audience members. If you have stories to share, check out the bostonscifi.com website for more info.

    Another well built In Memorium by Don, highlighting the scifi related talent we lost in 2023, including Raquel Welch, Cindy Williams, Tina Turner, and many others.

    Garen has done some intros, and noted that next year is the 50th Thon, and Garen’s 75th birthday. He is looking for input on how to keep this going for decades into the future.

    Suzanne Cromwell won this year’s Shannon Maloney, for all the work she does, particularly with the festival shorts program. And it sounds like the One Million B.C. print has some challenges, which will be interesting. Blast of soon. ^_^

    Here we see a quantum switch, which appears to be key to everyone having a personal quantum computer, and driving huge gains in the financial markets. This movie involves two of my favorite topics, hiking and tech, as gig workers are exploited by the quantum cable companies to run cable ali g behind them between quantum switches. I liked it, with more focus on people and less action, despite the tech being rather bogus. Next up, the Lost in Space pilot. ^_^

    Snow is on the ground, and there is quite the chill in the air. Sounds familiar, oh yes, it is the season for the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival, which means it’s time for me to get ready for the Boston Science Fiction Marathon. And as you might have guessed, this years Thon is the 49th. Where has the time gone. I have been ‘live’ blogging the Thon since SF33 in 2008, which makes this my 15th year doing it. I noticed last year that the way I do the blogging means I may miss stuff in movies, particularly the beginnings, so I plan to make some changes this year. I have thought about starting posts for each movie and expected event before had, so I reduce the amount of effort while there, and I am going to give it a try this year. And to do that, it helps to know the line up in advance, so I listened the Boston SciFi podcast “Inside The SF49 Marathon: A Boston SciFi Video Podcast” and did my best to take notes on what will be in this year’s line up for the Thon. Here is what I heard, and feel free to check out the podcast and let me know of anything I missed or got wrong:

    The Matrix – 1999

    Deep Blue Sea – 1999

    One Million Years B.C. – 1966

    Blast from the Past – 1999

    Attack of the Crab Monsters – 1957

    Upgrade – 2018

    Predestination – 2014

    Lapsis – 2020

    Top of the Food Chain – 1999

    Mad Max – 1979

    Ready Player One – 2018

    Since I follow Boston SciFi on multiple social media platforms, particularly Instagram, I try to pay attention to updates, etc, and they did a posting with the lineup, so I didn’t have to pay as much attention to the podcast. Ah well. As commented on in the podcast, a Thon regular suggested at one point that we should party like it’s SF49, and since it is, you may notice several movies from that other party like year, 1999. If you don’t already have a ticket, get to Boston SciFi and buy one. Hope to see you there. ^_^

    And the last post of this years Thon, SF48, starts with a picture of Garen and team doing the wrap up prior to our last film, with thank yous to the many folks who make the Thon possible, and with a call for volunteers, as they will start planning in the next few weeks for next year’s marathon. The gang this year included a new neighbor and his friend, and a regularly attending neighbor and his first time attending friend. Word has it that all newbies enjoyed themselves, and at least one will be back and plans to bring more friends.

    I kept my exercise tracking streak, including getting enough activity to donate free meals via the Vizer app, and my over a year streak in Run Across America. How, you say, if I am sitting in a theater for 24 hours? By parking at the Alewife T station, and walking the two kilometers to Davis Square. I got there about half an hour later than I had planned, due to having to do my food shopping on the way in, and I still got to the line in about the same place I usually end up in. I didn’t have to stand there long before it started moving, which seemed early based on an 11am opening. I was reminded of one of the benefits of arriving early, besides having a better chance to get good seats, which is getting a goodie packet. Oh yeah, here’s a pic of what I got.

    Let’s talk food for a bit. I had noticed earlier in the week a hankering for some baby shrimp at the marathon, and had considered getting take out from an all you can eat buffet. I generally just stick with my usuals, as noted in previous posts, and haven’t really thought about anything else, though I have looked fondly back to the first couple times I went with my brother-in-law, and we got hamentashen. Since I had planned to take my aunt out to an all you can eat buffet on Saturday, it seemed it would be easy to grab some shrimp while there. I also thought about whether packing them in and eating them at room temp might be less enjoyable than my stomach was thinkinbg, and I had plenty at the buffet, so I dropped that idea. Also, Friday night my wife made me seafood stew, which had plenty of leftovers, so I ended up finding an old soup thermos, and packing some of the seafood stew for the Thon. And yes, by the time I got to it, it was room temp, though still yummy, and with shrimp. As I planned out my usual array of sandwiches and snacks, I got worried that I had too much bread and bagels to eat before they got moldy, and that making my own bread as I always do might not make sense. I checked with my daughter to see if she would have some of my bread, and as she said yes, I went ahead and made it. I only made two sandwiches instead of my usual three, brought a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, and a plain sesame bagel. Naturally I also brought plain and sour cream and onion Pringles, Sun Chips, a couple apples, a couple plums, a couple nectarines, two flavors of Naked juice, Cashew sweet and salty bars, and grapes, all regulars of my Thon menu. Oh yeah, and I have made it a habit of buying the leftover pizza at my local roller skating rink when I skate there, and since I did that on Saturday, I had pizza on hand, and brought some to the Thon. As always, I had more food than I needed, and I figure that is better than being hungry. I ended up eating the pizza, half of each sandwich, most of the Pringles, three sweet and salty bars, a plum, a nectarine, water, both Naked juices, and grapes. I was disappointed that I had forgotten to pack the Pureo giant vegan oreo like cookie, as I really had a desire for just that kind of sweet thing during the Thon, and the sweet and salty bars were just not filling that gap.

    While I like live blogging the Thon, have done it for many years now, and feel like it helps me keep awake and engaged more than I might otherwise be, I think for next year I need to at least do some of the prep I have considered in the past, like starting drafts for each movie and event before hand. This was really driven home as a result of something that happened a few days after the Thon. The first movie of the Thon was Stargate, and my daughter, my wife, and I had watched the first 7 seasons of the TV series, though my wife had never seen the movie, so I suggested she should. And the three of us did, even though I had just seen it. As the opening credits start, my daughter says she thinks it starts with Ra’s ship, and I am convinced it doesn’t, as I just saw it. She is right of course, and a couple other short scenes and items seem new to me. This is when I realize that my live blogging does mean that I may miss things in movies, as I try to catch up, and sometimes struggle with the less than ideal input mechanisms I use. So next year, I need to prep my blogs before hand, and consider other ways to make it smoother, so I avoid blogging during the films.

    The renovations to the Somerville Theater are very nice, and being able to see films, many in 35mm, on a big screen, makes this more fun and meaningful than sitting at home watching on our big flat panel TV. As is always the case, there were people with sleeping bags out on the hall floor snoozing away in the wee hours, and plenty of audience engagement, including making chicken noises throughout the Thon, after the scene in Stargate where Daniel emphasizes that the lizard like animal tasks like chicken by clucking. Rice Chex / Wheat Chex vocal competitions abound, and this year ‘door / thank you’ were also favorites. As noted previously, I have my ticket for next year, and hopefully by then I will have built a whole blue ray gun from the partially functional ones I have. See you then. ^_^

    This pic from the last film of the 48th annual Boston Science Fiction Marathon is Doug Quaid before he has much of any recall, much less total. This is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, which means it has a basic plot, lots of action, corny one liners, and a happy ending. Not the greatest film to end a Thon on, and not the worst. For more films, you’ll have to wait until next year. ^_^

    Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal. Space Balls reference for Mel Brooks fans. Yes, this the first of the Alien movies, and for first time viewers the most suspenseful. This is another sci fi classic, with at least one scene well known by the general public. More recent films in the franchise have not lived up to this film. And our last film of sf48 is Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger. ^_^

    Well, despite this 50s black and white film moving slowly through a plot of deceptions, I managed to stay awake. Who knew cosmic radiation, due to the dust in the upper atmosphere from all the nuclear bomb tests, could cause a plague. At least some folks were able to escape to colonies on Venus and Mars. Those left behind ended uo sterile, amongst other things. The Doctor Who madlibs was hard to make out, so maybe having it earlier would be better. Scary stuff, enough to scare Adam and Jeff home, coming up with Alien. ^_^

    Fred Ward is picking up few things, and will shortly meet Cindy. This is a film that took a number of years to get released, and has limited availability. It is a fun look at relationships, money making schemes, and belief. Up next, a 50s film, Beyond the Time Barrier. ^_^