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Author Topic: What's the longest time you've spent watching movies in a theatre in one go? Michael Swarbrick Film Handler Posts: 23 From: London, England Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-13-2003 10:34 AM                     I was thinking about the 11 or more hours I may be spending watching the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy this Christmas, and I remembered spending 15 hours watching the first 7 Star Trek films at the Empire in 1995 (9am til midnight for £15!) So, what's the longest some of you have spent at a theatre watching a bunch of movies in one go? That's sitting down watching the whole movie, not doing a 15 hour shift at your theatre (we've all done that)! What did you see, when, and how much was it?  |  IP: Logged Scott D. Neff Theatre Dork Posts: 919 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 10-13-2003 12:44 PM                        I think I did 4 movies in one day... but at different theatres. I still don't think that adds up to 11 hours though.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-13-2003 12:45 PM                        Two movies in a row (about 4 hours) is my record, and I don't think I could take much more than that without getting a headache.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-13-2003 12:54 PM                     Try running the entire Planet Of The Apes series like I did in a carbon arc two projector drive-in from dusk to dawn. When I left the booth that morning, my knuckles were dragging on the ground while I was walking to the car. I don't know if running this can be construed as watching it in these manual houses. With the tasks at hand at hand such as change-overs, threading, rewinding, and replacing the carbons which takes about two or three minutes if you drag your feet, the rest of the time the projectionist is sitting on his ass in such a manner as he can keep the carbons in trim and watch the movie.  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 10-13-2003 01:08 PM                     While I can no longer do this, I did see one triple feature in one sitting (Planet of the Apes, Benetah the Planet of the Apes, and Escape from the Planet of the Apes), and some VERY long double features (Gone With the Wind and How the West Was Won; The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told; and Cleopatra and The Robe). I have seen as many as 5 movies in one day on seperate bills (example: Ordinary People, The Elephant Man, Startdust Memories, and a double-bill of The Tin Drum and My Brilliant Career). I also had many 4 single features in one day back in the 80's (ET, The Thing, Blade Runner, Firefox, all in one day, all in 70mm in Hollywood). My last FULL DAY of movies was last fall, when I caught Lawrence of Arabia, 2001: a Space Odyssey, and Hello, Dolly, all in 70mm). But two in one day is my usual MAXIMUM today. They all begin to run into another in my mind if I see more.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-13-2003 01:27 PM                        I think my longest day in one cinema was when I watched one Woody Allen movie (I don`t remember which one, they are more or less all the same anyway), and then both parts of Bertolucci`s "1900" (318 minutes).  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 10-13-2003 05:40 PM                        The Case Western Reserve University Film Society has a Science Fiction Film Marathon that has been an annual event since 1976. There is a brief intermission between each feature. Plus interesting trailers, cartoons, and other oddities. The first feature begins at 8:00 PM Friday and the last feature ends about Midnight Saturday (usually it's later, like 2:00 AM Sunday). I attended every Marathon from 1980 to 2002. I've helped program it since 1981. Sundance now interferes with my attendance. Some of the Marathon projectionists and programmers tell me that Sundance should change its dates because the Marathon started before Sundance did.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Stricker Master Film Handler Posts: 481 From: Calumet, Mi USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 10-13-2003 05:52 PM                     When I was a kid in the 50's, we would go to the local theater for the Saturday matinee about 1 PM. (Mom mom used to fix me a sandwich and snacks that we sneaked in. Plus 25 cents for snack bar stuff) This was all continuos showing. We would watch the matinee through twice, then the evening double feature, plus cartoons, trailers, shorts, etc. and head home about 11 PM. Paul---the only "Apes" film that I thought was worth a darn was the original "Planet of the Apes".  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-13-2003 07:26 PM                        I know that I've been in the audience to watch four features in a row and maybe five during film festivals. This isn't the ideal way to watch anything (I like to have some after a screening to "digest" a particular film), but many festivals only show each feature once. I'm sure that lots of us have done long shifts in the booth; my longest was probably something like noon until 2:00am (with carbons and changeovers).  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-13-2003 07:38 PM                     My record for running booth was around 36 hours (give or take an hour or two, I didn't pay exact attention to the clock). I have done many, many 24+ hour shifts getting a new theater open. I think the longest I've ever spent in an auditorium was 3 features in a row, because there was no one else available who could QC check them.  |  IP: Logged Ron Keillor Expert Film Handler Posts: 166 From: Vancouver, B.C. Canada Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-13-2003 11:06 PM                     Maybe not the longest, because the features are short, but one of the best was a dusk-to-dawn drive-in program of A Hard Days Night, Help, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be.  |  IP: Logged Jim Leko Film Handler Posts: 90 From: Redondo Beach, CA, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 10-14-2003 03:42 AM                     Back when I was 13, and getting a $7 a week allowance, I used to theater-hop at the Del Amo MANN 9. I was in there from 10am till a little after midnight. I did that about once a month. Some of that time was playing arcade games, but I would usually watch about 4 movies. The upcoming LOTR marathon will be my longest stretch since then. If Return of The King is 3:30, as I have been told, the Marathon should take 12 hours, 45 minutes (counting the hour break between movies). Although it isn't as long in the theater (compared to my childhood), it will be the most amount of movie I have watched in a 13 hour time period.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-14-2003 04:11 AM                        it's not that unusual for me to see 4 films in a day. 5 is really pushing it, and hard to do logistically. i see around 10 films a week these days. a few years ago it was more like 15. i have a number of friends that i see only when we show up to see the same films. carl  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-14-2003 04:10 PM                     In 1991 I went to see the first 5 Star Trek movies in a row (with 20 min breaks in between) At the end was the trailer for ST 6. I think the event went from 12 noon on Saturday to 1am Sunday.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-14-2003 08:42 PM                        I often showed "dusk-to-dawn" shows at the drive-in. Five features and cartoons.  |  IP: Logged

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