Mini-Marathons/Watching Projects 2020
Just some binges of thematically connected movies. Not sure I'll be doing this each and single year, but I'm willing to experiment in 2020.
Note: 2020 was seemingly not willing though: COVID-19 pandemic postponed so much of the projected theatrical releases, many of which were supposed to be linchpins in planned mini-marathons, that most of them were either postponed or scrapped in March-April. This video essay by Thomas Flight inspired me not to give up on "watching projects" (probably a better term than mini-marathon, but I'm keeping both), but rather explore new patterns, themes and options.
01-11,31-39: Winter Holidays (Christmas(es), New Year, "Old New Year" (idiosyncratic Post-Soviet oddity thanks to calendar reform), Chinese New Year and so on).
12: Friday the 13th (oops, could've been 13th, but alas; let's consider it an unintentional "being a rebel I am" moment).
13: Twin Peaks 30th Anniversary.
14-22: Sudden Doctor Who Binge.
23: Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday.
24-25: Independence Day of Ukraine.
26-27: The Mask.
Gas Station September.
28-29: Ukrainian Cinema Day.
30: Dino Drac's Chilling Challenge (#3)
Note: 2020 was seemingly not willing though: COVID-19 pandemic postponed so much of the projected theatrical releases, many of which were supposed to be linchpins in planned mini-marathons, that most of them were either postponed or scrapped in March-April. This video essay by Thomas Flight inspired me not to give up on "watching projects" (probably a better term than mini-marathon, but I'm keeping both), but rather explore new patterns, themes and options.
01-11,31-39: Winter Holidays (Christmas(es), New Year, "Old New Year" (idiosyncratic Post-Soviet oddity thanks to calendar reform), Chinese New Year and so on).
12: Friday the 13th (oops, could've been 13th, but alas; let's consider it an unintentional "being a rebel I am" moment).
13: Twin Peaks 30th Anniversary.
14-22: Sudden Doctor Who Binge.
23: Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday.
24-25: Independence Day of Ukraine.
26-27: The Mask.
Gas Station September.
28-29: Ukrainian Cinema Day.
30: Dino Drac's Chilling Challenge (#3)
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- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsMacaulay CulkinJoe PesciDaniel SternAn eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.Winter Holidays, 3 January: Re-watch.
- DirectorJalmari HelanderStarsJorma TommilaOnni TommilaPeeter JakobiIn the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 meters deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up. This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.Winter Holidays, 6 January.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Winter Holidays, 6 January.
- DirectorRenny HarlinStarsBruce WillisWilliam AthertonBonnie BedeliaJohn McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.Winter Holidays, 6-7 January.
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.Winter Holidays, 7 January.
- DirectorPilotRedSunStarsPilotRedSunSanta ClauseBeing fed up with the entire holiday season, a man chooses to become a Grinch.Winter Holidays, 7 January.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsMacaulay CulkinJoe PesciDaniel SternOne year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.Winter Holidays, 7-8 January.
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsLino VenturaFrançoise FabianCharles GérardReleased from prison apparently under a New Year amnesty, a criminal tries to pick up the threads of a life changed not only by his daring plan to rob a jewelry store in out-of-season Cannes, but also by a very special someone he met there.Winter Holidays, 14 January.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsPeter FalkCharles DurningClaude LelouchNick and Charlie (Peter Falk and Charles Durning) are two crooks that rob Harry Winston's jewelry store. Nick portrays a rich elderly brother and sister by using prosthetics and make-up to con the manager.Winter Holidays, 14-15 January.
- DirectorArthur CrabtreeStarsMarshall ThompsonTerry KilburnMichael BalfourA scientist's thoughts materialize as an army of invisible brain-shaped monsters (complete with spinal-cord tails!) who terrorize an American military base in this nightmarish chiller.Winter Holidays, 24-25 January. Oddball, but it's a tie-in for next one which is more thematically relevant.
- DirectorNorman J. WarrenStarsSuzy AitchisonNikki BrooksColin HeywoodA group of friends take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them.Winter Holidays, 25 January.
- DirectorWilliam FruetStarsJohn D. LeMayLouise RobeyChris WigginsTwo cousins, Ryan Dallion and Micki Foster, inherit an antiques shop from their uncle. Together with his partner, they must track down cursed objects that their devil-worshiping uncle had created. The first object is a demonic killer doll.Friday the 13th, 13-14 March.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael OntkeanMädchen AmickThe small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken up when the body of the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer, is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.Twin Peaks 30th Anniversary, 8-9 April.
- StarsSophie AldredTom BakerColin BakerThe Rani hatches a scheme to trap the incarnations of the Doctor and their various companions in a 20-year time loop in Albert Square.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 16-17 April.
- DirectorGeoffrey SaxStarsPaul McGannEric RobertsDaphne AshbrookThe newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 17 April.
- DirectorJamie Magnus StoneStarsBarry AirdChris FinchA Gallifreyan soldier undergoes initiation in the use of a headcam, as well as the defence of Arcadia. During his training, the impossible happens and Daleks invade. The Last Day was a mini-episode released on 20 November 2013 as part of the run-up to the 50th anniversary special.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 20 April.
- DirectorJohn HayesStarsPaul McGannEmma Campbell-JonesClare HigginsWith the aid of the Sisterhood of Karn, the Eighth Doctor regenerates into the War Doctor.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 20 April.
- DirectorNick HurranStarsMatt SmithDavid TennantJohn HurtIn 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 20-21 April.
- DirectorJamie PayneStarsMatt SmithJenna ColemanOrla BradyThe Doctor's worst enemies, The Daleks, The Cybermen, The Angels and The Silence, return, as the doctor's eleventh life comes to a close, and his twelfth life begins.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 21 April.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsPeter CapaldiJenna ColemanNeve McIntoshWhen the newly-regenerated doctor arrives in Victorian London, he finds a dinosaur rampant in the Thames and a spate of deadly spontaneous combustions.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 22-23 April.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsPeter CapaldiJenna ColemanNeve McIntoshWhen the newly-regenerated doctor arrives in Victorian London, he finds a dinosaur rampant in the Thames and a spate of deadly spontaneous combustions.[Placeholder for Deep Breath Prequel] Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 25 April.
- DirectorPaul MurphyStarsPeter CapaldiJenna ColemanTom RileyIn Sherwood Forest, the Doctor uncovers a sinister alien plot and forms an alliance with Robin Hood. With Nottingham at stake, the Doctor must decide who is real and who is fake.Sudden Doctor Who Binge, 25 April.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsVirginia ValliCarmelita GeraghtyMiles ManderTwo couples' romances are fancifully intertwined.Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday, 13-14 August.
- DirectorYuriy MuzykaStarsSergey ZuevArtur LiKristina SinelnikSpirit, dwelling in a cave, raised young and gave a magical power and the fire of justice. After that, the guys joined in the fight against evil.Independence Day of Ukraine, 24 August.
- DirectorVasil BudishevskyArkadiy LokosovStarsGeorgi ShestakovYuriy KornishinEleonora NezguretskayaDemonic telepath Knyazev succeeds in extracting a soul from Nadya, but falls in love with the girl, soul foremost. Meanwhile, girl's spirit forms a bond with Viktor which results in a superpowered phantom.Independence Day of Ukraine, 24 August.
- DirectorChuck RussellStarsJim CarreyCameron DiazPeter RiegertBank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask.The Mask, 28 August.
- DirectorLawrence GutermanStarsJamie KennedyTraylor HowardAlan CummingTim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist, finds himself in a predicament when his dog stumbles upon the mask of Loki. Then after conceiving an infant son "born of the mask", he discovers just how looney child raising can be.The Mask, 30 August.
- DirectorArtur VojtetskyStarsBogdan StupkaValentina SaltovskayaLidiya EzhevskayaTired archiereus of Orthodox Church falls ill and experiences loneliness on his deathbed, having flashbacks to childhood.Ukrainian Cinema Day, 12 September.
- DirectorVasiliy IlyashenkoStarsSvetlana KrutAleksei BogdanovichAleksey GorbunovLove triangle revealed during a wedding is set to a backdrop of Ukrainian history and tradition, with questions of honor and faithfulness asked.Ukrainian Cinema Day, 12 September.
- DirectorNick MillardStarsPriscilla AldenAlbert EskinaziRoyal FarrosMurderous, overweight nurse Edith and her brother run a medical clinic out of their suburban home: they take in patients, kill them, and continue to bill the state for their care. But a nosy county inspector threatens to complicate this foul family business.Dino Drac's Chilling Challenge (#3), 17 September.
- DirectorThomas J. WrightStarsMichael T. WeissAndrea ParkerPatrick BauchauJarod joins the medical examiner's office to expose who killed a popular homeless man in a hit and run.Winter Holidays, 19 December (St. Nick Day in Orthodox Christianity).
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonDanny DeVitoMichelle PfeifferWhile Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.Winter Holidays, 25 December (Christmas): re-watch.
- DirectorPatty JenkinsStarsGal GadotChris PineKristen WiigDiana must contend with a colleague, and with a businessman whose desire for extreme wealth sends the world down a path of destruction, after an ancient artifact that grants wishes goes missing.Winter Holidays, 26 December.
- DirectorDoug WalkerStarsDoug WalkerWalter BanasiakTamara ChambersNo better way to celebrate a dark, dreary Christmas than with a dark, dreary Christmas movie. Since Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are classified as Christmas movies, the Nostalgia Critic bestows the same honor to Batman Returns.Winter Holidays, 27-28 December.
- DirectorDan RibaStarsKevin ConroyTara StrongMathew ValenciaThe heroes and villains of Gotham City have various adventures during the Christmas holiday season.Winter Holidays, 28 December.
- 1992–199521mUnrated8.1 (1.5K)TV EpisodeDirectorFrank PaurStarsKevin ConroyEfrem Zimbalist Jr.Robert CostanzoDet. Bullock reluctantly asks for Batman's assistance when he is convinced someone is trying to kill him.Winter Holidays, 28 December.
- DirectorTerry IngramStarsErin KarplukMichael ShanksRukiya BernardDuring a weekend trip to the mountains, Mary finds herself at the now run-down lodge where she spent the holidays with her family growing up. She becomes determined to restore the building to its former glory.Winter Holidays, 31 December (New Year's Eve).
- DirectorMel DamskiStarsDanica McKellarNeal BledsoeAndrew FrancisLizzie Richfield lands a job as house manager for the exquisite Ashford Estate in Virginia. While preparing the place for sale, Lizzie plans one final Christmas Eve gala for the Marley family, though they seem to be a family in name only.Winter Holidays, 31 December (New Year's Eve).
- DirectorEldar RyazanovStarsAndrey MyagkovBarbara BrylskaYuriy YakovlevAn incredible story about a man who misplaced the cities and found his love during the one special night - New Year's celebration.Winter Holidays, 31 December (New Year's Eve).