Once again, the AMC theater chain is planning a marathon screening of all five Best Picture nominees. Starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, the day before this year’s Oscars, you can watch Michael Clayton, followed by There Will Be Blood, then Atonement (pictured), followed by Juno, and finally, No Country for Old Men. This seems kind of like a punishing day — not because it’s 12 solid hours of movie-watching, but because four of the five pics are so grave and serious. (I was hoping they’d put Juno last, so the marathon could end on a cheerful note, but maybe it’ll work better as a palate cleanser between Atonement and No Country.) All-day passes are just $30 and are available now at the AMC website, which also tells you which of its theaters across the country are screening the Oscar showcase.
We’re hoping one of you PopWatchers will take up the gauntlet, especially because we tried to do this last year and didn’t get very far. Volunteer below; tell us why you should be our guinea pig brave marathoner. (Please include your e-mail address, so that we can get back to you.) If you are chosen, you’ll get to describe the experience for all your friends here on PopWatch.
Comments (1-30) of 94 Add your comment
Because it sounds both fun and completely insane and it makes an excellent story to tell people.
Sorry, I’m a big theater-hopper, but I think both “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country…” are movies that have to be seen on their own and given digestion time. So, for this year’s selections particularly I think this is a bad idea. Best of luck to the guinea pig!
I’d love to do it. I hate to admit it, but I haven’t seen any of the films, so it should be interesting to be able to see them all in one day.
I saw all five and I can’t imagine seeing them all at once! I saw two of them (Atonement and There Will Be Blood) in one weekend and that was a lot. I appreciate that the release dates were spread out so I could take them all in gradually.
I’ve only seen Juno and read Atonement, so I’m up for the challenge…but the closest AMC is four hours away.
It has always been a life goal of mine to watch all the Best Pictures before the actual Oscars. Needless to say, it has yet to actually happen. And I’ve previously rocked the AMC marathon at the theater. That’s right, I went to Trilogy Tuesday for Lord of the Rings. And for my friend’s birthday, we watched all the Star Wars (that’s right, all 6) whilst playing Star Wars trivial pursuit (probably shouldn’t admit that to too many people). Anyways, all that to say that I’ll be your huckleberry. I’ll take one for the team and watch ‘em all.
I’d totally do it! I saw Micheal Clayton and Juno already, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. This way, I can stop agonizing myself over the three best picture noms that I STILL haven’t seen.
Could I skip Atonement? I’ve already seen it and don’t know if I could sit through it again. I suppose I could sit there text messaging during it but that Kung Fu Panda (from their “Silence is Golden” announcement) would get mad at all the click-click-click-click-click and beat me up. Or I could take a nap but I might sleep through the next movie. But hey, I’m willing to do it.
Ha! I looked at last year’s message and said the same thing about Little Miss Sunshine last year that I did about Atonement this year. It must be a sign.
I have already seen them all and I would love to do this, but I live in Canada and they don’t do that here. Bummer. I would love to see them all together. It would be quite the expereince.
Count me in. I’m all about this kind of masochism…i mean, fun (I watched all 5 Rockys in 2 days so I could go see Rocky 6 when it was in theaters…my motivation: milo ventimiglia.) I’ve wanted to see all of these movies, but I’ve only been able to see Juno. Color me excited.
I would love to do it but unfortunatly for me there is no theater near me.
I would volunteer to do it because of these 5 movies, I have only seen one (Juno). I am normally the “awards movie” guru of my circle of friends, but this years’ crop, as excellent as they are rumored to be, has failed to excited me. I guess that is why I am so blasee about the Oscars this year. I was more excited about hearing about what Sean Young did at the DGA awards. I need to find a reason to get excited about these films, and this assignment could just be the spark I’m looking for. Otherwise, I don’t even know if these are renters.
I worked for five years as a movie theater projectionist and manager before going into teaching. I literally watched every movie that came out (I used to have a 20 minute rule that all movies deserved at least that much of my time in order to discover those hidden gems that I might overlook. These days, however, I’m not so sure.)Furthermore, on a teacher’s salary, I can’t afford to see all of them and a $30 deal is just what the budget needs.Help EW!
If you’re in DC, you can watch all five of the Foreign Language film nominees at the National Geographic headquarters! Only $7 a show or $25 for all five, and they’re showing them between Feb 14-17.
http://www.nglive.org for ticket info
I would so love to do this. . .i have yet to see any of them cus none of them have caught my attention, but like always the oscars fall on or around my b-day (this year on). So i will be busy super busy getting wasted but if you insist i will make it a memerable 22nd b-day and sit down in a theatre for 12hrs straight to watch them on the day b4 my B-Day!!! I have 3 theatres around me doing this!!!
LET ME KNOW. . .im down for it!
I’ve seen all 5- for the sole purpose of not doing this exact very thing- (I tried the marathon last year and it was brutal!)
As an AMC employee, I obviously urge folks to do this. But as someone who’s seen all 5 noms, I agree with an earlier post; There Will Be Blood and No Country should be watched on their own.
Warning, all movies except for Juno are over 2 hours. Bring rations…
I’ve learned from past film fest experiences that I can only handle about 3 theater movies a day before I start craving sun and actual food. And going a little cooky.
I’m a broke Americanwould-be writer living in the most expensive city in the world- it’d be great to get 12 hours of free entertainment and a story our of it.
…Pretty Please?
May I suggest that AMC invests in therapists for those who put themselves through that. Not only is that serious time spent sitting in the dark but I needed couch time just after No Country, let alone all the others.
I would do it, but I’ve already seen all of them but Michael Clayton. And I’ve seen There Will Be Blood 7 times. Yes, people, SEVEN TIMES! I’m kind of psycho about that one. And I agree that TWBB and No Country should be seen on there own. BUT I will be very interested to see what the guinea pig has to say!
“This seems kind of like a punishing day — not because it’s 12 solid hours of movie-watching, but because four of the five pics are so grave and serious.”
I think you meant because four of the five pics are so BORING.
I’ve already seen JUNO & MICHAEL CLAYTON and my friend and I are going to see NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN tomorrow night. Ironically I passed on ATONEMENT in favor of atending the press screening for JUNO that same night, and I actually liked JUNO. I may get around to see ATONEMENT yet, but I don’t see myself lining up for THERE WILL BE BLOOD, let alone on the same day as as 4 other films, since THERE WILL BE BLOOD is both dark & just shy of 3 hours long itself!
I would love to do this, EW. Besides being an avid reader of your magazine (yes, I have the covers on my bedroom walls), I would really enjoy the opportunity to revisit some of these movies. I think I can give honest criticism on each of the movies as well, especially seeing (most) of them for a second time. So I certainly wouldn’t mind being the guinea pig!
since i have already seen all of these and properly digested them, i’d love to do this and just might. TWBB is my pick for the oscar, although i was on the edge of my seat the WHOLE TIME for NCFOM. great films this year, though i’d replace juno w/ american gangster.
Why should I be plucked as the brave marathoner? Because I’ve been ready to go since conception. My ticket is purchased, the AMC is ten minutes from my house, I’ve seen all the films already and I’m currently a freshman USC film student (who happens to be an Oscar Hound) whose had plenty of time to discuss and debate them – not to mention write a paper on No Country.
Besides, EW could try out some young blood and see how it flows. Diablo Cody, anyone?
Wow! This year I am just a Michael Clayton away from seeing all of the nominees. That never happens. I better get on the ball, stat.
This is going to be a hard year for the AMC marathon. I needed a minute to process everything I had seen in “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country…”. Of course, for the bargain price of $30, there’s no better way to see 5 movies. (Remember when you could go to the movies for $6—those were the days!)
I didn’t even know this existed and now am extremely excited! My new year’s resolution was to see all the movies nominated for best picture this year and was fairly surprised when I had already seen two of them(Juno and Atonement). I know I have the stamina because I survived an almost two day continuous marathon of Battlestar Galactica seasons 1.5-3 without even batting an eyelash and was forced to watch the 5 hour BBC Pride and Prejudice twice in a row. I love all genres of films, and my friends never want to see the ’serious’ or ‘foreign’ movies with me so I won’t be biased. If I’m not chosen I’ll still go, I just won’t get to write about it.
Last year they had the same program and I did it with a friend. It’s really a lot of fun. At my theater they had trivia and prizes between the movies, as well as unlimited popcorn and soda. It’s really not a bad way to spend your Saturday. Sure the lineup is a little depressing, but so was last year’s, I mean The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima and Babel aren’t exactly light hearted. But it’s definitely worth it.
I’m slightly confused. Is EW offering to reimburse the $30 charged by AMC, or merely offering to let us talk about it afterwards? It doesn’t matter to me. I haven’t worked in over two years (long story but it doesn’t involve being in jail) but I’m willing to fork over the money myself. So don’t fall for some sob story about how they can’t afford to go to movies.
On second thought, I’ll even sit through Atonement again.
The AMC site says “free large popcorn” and under that “unlimited refills all day” — does that refer to the popcorn or to beverages? Because I can figure out a way to get some food, but I’m not willing to buy soda at their prices all day and night!
There comes a time in the life of every PopWatcher when endurance must be tested. When time must be sacrificed. When copious amounts of popcorn must be consumed.
My fellow PopWatchers, I believe my time has come. I would like to be your representative on the Oscar front lines. In training for this day, not only have I formulated anti butt-numbing strategies and eye fatigue avoidance exercises, I have also (I believe) discovered the Pop Secret (4 minutes on high and a little seasoning salt).
My recap of the day shall be humorous (I promise an anecdote featuring at least one of the following: cell phone hijinks, snack spillage, and/or someone who thinks Juno is actually about the mythological character). My recap of the day shall be poignant (I will cry at least once, if only because I’ve run out of belt notches before I’ve run out of popcorn). And my recap of the day shall be snarky in all the right places because, well, I’m an EW subscriber. We do snark in spades.
Pick me.