Lodger's cub reporter Tim "Big Bright Shining Star"Norfolk on:

Harry Knowles Butt-Numb-a-Thon

"I couldn't go to this 24 hour movie watching marathon put on by Austin's more popular website guru. But filethirteen's intrepid reporter Tim Norfolk was there and he gave me the scoop:" -Lodger

The marathon lasted from 12 noon Saturday (12/11) to 12 noon Sunday (12/12). The next day the seats at the Alamo were replaced.

The event was to celebrate Harry Knowles Birthday. But more importantly, it was a benefit for the Saturday Morning Movie Series Knowles wants to put on to help out Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

Tickets were only $5 and every seat was sold. No tickets were sold mid-event for those who left early. If you did leave before the gig was up, you had to pay extra to get out. You also had to show a credit card or $200 (the max price to leave early) but this also seemed like a way to insure the Alamo you would buy some snacks during the event. Some people got pledges for each hour they sat. The top three filmgoers with several thousand dollars worth of pledges between them were given some bonus gifts.

There were breaks between movies where we got to stretch our legs and stand for a bit. Harry opened presents during one of these.

It was good to have the cash on hand as there were "Butt-Numb-a-Thon" posters on sale. But there were also some freebies handed out including promo items for the films "Galaxy Quest" and "Duece Bigalow."

As everyone got seated, the Alamo played a montage of some Hong Kong action film sequences with trance music playing over it.

Sometimes, between the movies, "short subject" entertainment featurettes were shown. They included a Buzby Berekley Highlight Reel, some 70's film trailers, a look at old horror movie stars, "Lonnie Goons" (classic horror film clips set to "Strangers in the Night") and a program called "Monsters You Know and Love."

Around 6pm, everyone pitched in $2 apiece to play the lottery. It was calculated that if we won the jackpot, it would be like a $70,000 payoff for each of us. We didn't win quite that much and the proceeds received from the few winning tickets were donated to the charity

Harry handed out little plastic bats and these plastic balls that lit up. The balls were only given to those who had come from far away. Harry also warned people against using cell phones and beepers, sleeping and talking excessively. Also, all the films, with only a few exceptions, were from Harry's personal stash of 16mm prints.

The movies, in order of showing, were:

Plan 9 from Outer Space - Harry tells us the film was meant to have fun with so talking is okay. The audience goes wild over the opening credits. Lots of hecklers and fun.

Magnolia - P.T. Anderson wanted to be here but was unable to attend because he was filming a video for his girlfriend, Fionna Apple. But he did send a taped statement which was played. A very large man pretending to be Anderson introduced the film. The crowd gets the joke and loves it. As the man gets up to leave, he puts the microphone down in front of his crotch, seemingly like an accident, but with obvious and humorous implications. The movie starts and there isn't a peep from the formerly slightly rowdy crowd. The audience knows when to make jokes and they know when to shut the fuck up and appreciate a new film. Everyone really seemed to like the film. Later, Harry told me that Anderson sent the film because someone on the aint-it-cool-news website said it sucked and Anderson wanted to back up his own glowing opinion of his film. According to Harry, Anderson quipped, "I know my film is brilliant."

Song of the South - Harry calls it a "great movie." He says Disney refuses to show it now because they consider it racist. Harry said that the last time he did the Roger Ebert show, they got in a 20 minute argument over whether the film is racist or not, so he wanted to show it to a modern audience and see what they think. The biggest surprise of the evening, next to seeing "Magnolia," was the fact that a dated Disney film could follow that new cinematic assault from PT Anderson and still captivate an adult audience directly after it.

Fritz the Cat - Harry tells us "I think this is the film Roger Ebert thinks "Song of the South is..." Harry tells us that this is probably the only time you'll ever see "Song of the South" and "Fritz the Cat" on a double bill. Quips Harry, "Now I'm not exactly sure what that does to the human brain, but I'm doing that to ya..."

Fade to Black - Richard Linklater picked this one. He had to go to New York and couldn't be here. He did make a videotaped statement, and it was actually him! Rick felt that the reference laden film was appropriate for an audience of film geeks. The film is a early 80's horror flick, similar to "Scream," which references other horror films, but predates that 90's film dynasty by at least a decade. It's about a loner who watches old film noirs and starts emulating them and taking on different screen personas before turning to murder.

7 Brothers Meet Dracula - Hammer horror where Dracula ends up in China. With Peter Cushing. There were wall-to-wall Kung Fu sequences. The crowd seemed to like a lot of the ass-kicking going on.

Phantom of the Paradise - Guillermo del Toro brought this one. He actually showed up to introduce it. Del Toro stated that if the world were to end and he could only save one thing, "fuck history, fuck culture," this would be it! 70's pop opera with Paul Williams that references several old horror films. Guillermo told the crowd that if they know the words, they better sing. Guillermo and Harry sang a lot during the screening.

Pitch Black - Harry and one of his "spies" saw this one at the Sony lot a few weeks back sorta by accident, on a lark. The sidekick said it was like seeing "Terminator" for the first time without knowing what it was about. It's a new film about a space ship that crash lands on a seemingly secluded planet. Vin Diesel stars. After the screening, Diesel was brought out as a surprise guest. It's like 5am and the crowd flips out! Mainly because he's in this great new movie but also because he's the voice of the "Iron Giant." Diesel did a Q&A and even did a bit of the animated Giant's voice for us before going to sign autographs on free headshots for the appreciative crowd. The scripter of "Pitch Black" was also in attendance.

The Giant Gila Monster - I nodded off through this one. Old 50's monster flick. I had to get coffee. The only movie that actually almost broke me. After 20 minutes, I didn't see a Gila monster coming anywhere, anytime soon.

Daughters of Dracula - Tim of the Alamo picked this one. The much anticipated "lesbian vampire" flick. It was really stupid. Some hecklers tried to keep the spirit of the evening alive, but the night began to drag.

Tron - It was cool to see a familiar old film we almost all knew this late in the festival and this allowed us to all get a bit of a grip of sanity, believe it or not. The Disney classic about a guy who gets stuck in a computer. The crowd was really into it.

6 String Samurai - The last film was supposed to be a really bad, horrible piece of crap but because the film print (of whatever this film was going to be) was in scope, and the Alamo was having some trouble with a scope lens, they showed this indie film instead. Another film laced with cinematic references. It's about a Mad Max-like drifter who walks around a post-apocolyptic world that seemingly ended in 1957. Las Vegas becomes Lost Vegas and the center of the film's universe, where every man tries to be the next "King," i.e. Elvis.

Harry said that they almost got "Gladiator," which isn't even due for release in theaters for quite some time, but Ridley Scott was afraid to show it because he doesn't have the final score nailed down yet.

The Alamo was still close to full near the end of the marathon. About 80% of us made it through the whole 24 hour ordeal! Harry thanked us and we all got our free T-shirt, which was hazard orange and has Harry's caricature from his website on the front. They also say "Harry Knowles Butt-Numb-a-Thon Survivor" on the front. On the back it says "If you think this T-shirt is ugly, you should see my festering ass sores." Speaking of which... I need to go tend to mine...

"Thanks Tim for the exclusive details! We may have more on the Butt-Numb-a-Thon here at filethirteen in the near future!" -Lodger