Bondathon without the Bond

June 26, 2014 6:04 AM

2 years ago my husband got all huffy and insulted that I hadn't seen all the James Bond movies and instated "Bondathon" where we watched one Bond movie, in order, every sunday every week until we got through them all. He had it all timed out so that the final week coincided with the release of Skyfall. I may not have liked all the movies (Oh my god, "You Only Live Twice" is utter crap!) but I really liked the experience otherwise. Give me some suggestions for other movie -athons that we can have.

Preferences:
- Movies. TV shows are good and everything, but not what I'm looking for.
- Not just a random smattering of movies. I'm looking for a theme or set of films from a particular series or something that connects them all.
- A fair number of films within the set, at least, say,... 10? Best case would be 52 so that we were set for the year.
- Best if the movies aren't too too heavy/serious/depressing. James Bond had some heavy moments, especially in the later films, but at least shit got blown up and stuff which is fun.
- Movies that aren't super hard to find a copy of.

Themes we're considering:
- The entire filmography of a particular actor (I'd love suggestions for good actors for this)
- The entire filmography of a particular director (same as above)
- The top grossing films for each year the past 52 years
- The top 52 grossing films of all time
- Every Godzilla movie, in order from oldest to newest


So what do you have for me?

posted by PuppetMcSockerson to Grab Bag (92 answers total)

Trekathon!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:06 AM on June 26, 2014 [11 favorites]

Coen brothers movies.
posted by Shohn at 6:12 AM on June 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

*Coenathon
*Chaplinathon
*Marxathon
*Miyazakithon (or Ghiblithon, which would raise the number of movies a bit)
*Austen-adaptation-athon
*Shakespearathon (one fun bit would be to see the Emma Thompson Much Ado about Nothing and the new Joss Whedon one on consecutive weeks)
posted by ostro at 6:13 AM on June 26, 2014 [11 favorites]

AFI's 100 top comedies (Start with #52). Their top 100 (not comedies) would probably make you cry half the time.
posted by sandmanwv at 6:14 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

The Marvel Univers films (even the horrible ones) in order.

All Hitchcock in order.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:14 AM on June 26, 2014 [10 favorites]

Up Series (< 10, but wonderful nonetheless)
posted by maya at 6:15 AM on June 26, 2014 [12 favorites]

All the Planet of the Apes movies might be fun. (the old ones, not the modern ones)


The Bing Crosby and Bob Hope 'Road' movies

Nthing Hitchcock, in order. His stuff is ALL engrossing!


And to start off these movie a thons, I'm going to HIGHLY recommend a cartoon to start, Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated. There are 56 episodes and they are hilarious!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:16 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

I recently did something similar with my husband -- we watched all of Werner Herzog's movies. They are weird, and gave us lots to talk and think about.

It would also be super fun to do this with all the movies made from Raymond Chandler novels:
http://home.comcast.net/~mossrobert/html/works/reel.html
posted by OrangeDisk at 6:21 AM on June 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

Saturday Night Live spinoffs? You'll have some total dreck (A Night At The Roxbury), but you'll also have some good stuff (the original Blues Brothers).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 AM on June 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

What about the World's First Consulting Detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?

Start with the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce movies.
Then go for the Jeremy Brett movies and TV series.
Finish with the current BBC Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch.

You could even throw in some Robert Downey Jr.,Peter Cushing and Christoper Lee in there for good measure.
posted by John Kennedy Toole Box at 6:26 AM on June 26, 2014 [9 favorites]

Seconding Hitchcock. I've done a more scattershot, less-planned out version of what you're doing, and I found it fascinating to see what stayed the same and what changed in his films over the years.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:27 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

You could also peruse this Wikipedia page - it's a master list of lists, yeah, but see if any of the categories they have appeals. (I admit to being curious about their "list of films that most commonly use the word 'fuck'.")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:27 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

If I had it to schedule, I would watch (in chronological order) any of these: all the Coen Brothers films, everything Robert Downey, Jr. has done, all the Philip Seymour Hoffman movies, or all the Oscar winners for best film (or best foreign film, or animated film) beginning the year I was born,
posted by ersatzkat at 6:28 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Or you could work your way through the 1001 films to see before you die.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:28 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

All Hitchcock in order.

Absolutely this. ALL of them.

Also, all Kubrick, in order.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:34 AM on June 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino are two directors I immediately thought of for 'entire filmography of a particular director'. Some other ideas:

* Modern interpretations of Shakespeare plays (10 Things I Hate About You, Romeo + Juliet, etc.)
* Every Alien franchise movie/crossover/spin-off
posted by neushoorn at 6:37 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Russ Meyer's run of "Sexploitation" films in the 60s make for a fantastic day of sleazy nonsense:
Lorna (1964)
Mudhoney (1965)
Motorpsycho (1965)
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Mondo Topless (1966, mockumentary)
Common Law Cabin (1967)
Good Morning and... Goodbye! (1967)
Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968)
Vixen! (1968)
Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:41 AM on June 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

A marathon of John Carpenter's Streak.

Go here. Check out that list. Note only the films which list "Yes" in the director column.

Start with Dark Star and finish with They Live. Starman is a little soft, but other than that, you will be watching one of the most phenomenal hot streaks in directorial history.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:42 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Then maybe the next weekend you could watch John Waters' best in order, which parody Meyers (along with a lot of other stuff):

Pink Flamingos (1972, 16 & 35 mm)
Female Trouble (1974, 16 & 35 mm)
Desperate Living (1977, 16 & 35 mm)
Polyester (1981)
Hairspray (1988)
Cry-Baby (1990)
Serial Mom (1994)
Pecker (1998)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:42 AM on June 26, 2014 [7 favorites]

Spielberg has directed 52 films according to the IMDB. You may have seen a lot of them but they are worth a second look and some have improved with age while others are laughable.
posted by saucysault at 6:45 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

All of Frank Capra's movies in order--many of them are pretty good but not particularly popular today, so you may not have seen them.
posted by chaiminda at 6:47 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

My son and I did this recently over a long weekend with all of the X-Men movies. That was a fun experience.
posted by jbickers at 6:53 AM on June 26, 2014

If you can track them down, Sharpeathon!

Sean Bean is a swashbuckling English officer in the Napoleonic wars. (Bonus: he's the main character so he doesn't die. Not even once!)

These were done in the 90s for British TV so they do have some budgetary issues, things where they end up trying to recreate the Battle of Waterloo with a dozen extras, a horse, and a smoke machine. But mostly they cleverly send Sharpe and his trusty squad off into the countryside on some special mission behind enemy lines.

They're not hugely demanding, they're a lot of fun, and they're even a little Bond-like in their way.
posted by Naberius at 6:53 AM on June 26, 2014 [6 favorites]

If we were doing this, I would suggest a MST3k-a-thon. There's easily a year's worth of movies available in the DVD sets (there were nearly 200 total I believe, not all of them available though).

There's a half dozen or so of the spinoff-but-same-concept 'Cinematic Titanic' available on Amazon Prime Video.
posted by SquidLips at 6:54 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Some friends and I got most of the way through a John Sayles a-thon and it was good.
posted by latkes at 6:55 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

(The more recent movies are the weakest so it's a good one if you think you may not follow through to the end!)
posted by latkes at 6:55 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

I would do all of Robert Duvall's movies. I've never seen one with hm that I didn't love.
posted by dawkins_7 at 6:55 AM on June 26, 2014

Draculathon! Start with Nosferatu and move forward.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:58 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

My mom occasionally does this with the Bond movies-her other favorite is old Clint Eastwood, especially his westerns and the Dirty Harry series.
posted by purenitrous at 6:59 AM on June 26, 2014

Planet of the Apes, and its sequels. (7 films)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:00 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

1930s-athon
posted by emilyw at 7:05 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Jim Jarmusch filmography as director, for quirky goodness.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

A WesAnderson-a-Thon pretty much shows how he goes from indy to twee at breakneck speed: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, Darjeeling, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:08 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

My husband would say Kubrick-athon. Maybe James Cameron-athon.

I would do something lighter like movies made by Saturday Night Live alums of the 80s - this will include some of the all time greatest American comedies like Ghostbusters and some real stinkers.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:08 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

How is it that nobody has mentioned Brat-Pack-A-Thon?

I'll suggest a few directors:
David Fincher
Martin Scorcese (pick a top-10)
Guillermo del Toro
Doug Liman (I don't know if he's a good director, or just had a string of good movies)
Andrei Tarkovsky
Stephen Soderberg
Danny Boyle(!!)

Actors who direct:
George Clooney
Robert Redford
Clint Eastwood
Dustin Hoffman (just 1 movie)

Love them or hate them:
Woody Allen (greatest hits, at least)
Paul Thomas Anderson
Darren Aronofsky
posted by Sunburnt at 7:14 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

I have done a Godzilla-athon before. There's such a variety of Godzilla movies to pick from that you can definatly get a good grove on.

I would also suggest writer/directors:
Luc Besson
La Femme Nikita and Point of No Return
Leon: the Professional
Fifth Element
Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
Transporter 1, 2, 3
Colombiana
The Family
And finish up with Lucy in the theater.

Also, Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi
Desparado
Four Rooms
From Dusk til Dawn
The Faculty
Spy Kids 1 & 2
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Sin City
Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Grindhouse: Planet Terror
Machete
Machete Kills
And close out with Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
posted by teleri025 at 7:18 AM on June 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Ed Wood a thon. But stop before he switched over to softcore porn.

(or Ghiblithon, which would raise the number of movies a bit)

Do be aware that Grave of the Fireflies is a ghibli movie and heavy as a heavy thing. Great movie but...
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:19 AM on June 26, 2014

Hal Hartley had an incredible streak in the 90s, marred only, imo, by Flirt.

The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
Trust (1990)
Surviving Desire (1991)
Simple Men (1992)
Amateur (1994)
Flirt (1995)
Henry Fool (1997)
The Book of Life (1998)
No Such Thing (2001)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:25 AM on June 26, 2014 [8 favorites]

Movies loosely based on Dashiell Hammett novels, especially including Yojimbo and the Thin Man series.

Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire movies.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 7:26 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh boy, is this up my alley!

nthing Star Trek movethon! Or Star Wars. We did it 1-6 last time but there are fan made orders out there.

A quick one is Back to the Future trilogy, which really doesn't fit your 10 or more timeline but boy is it fun if you do it on a rainy/snowy day.

Planet of the Apes is a good one too if you are into that kind of thing. Definitely watch the newest one too and there is a new one coming out soon!

I love the Dracula movie marathon idea.

If I was up for something different I'd do some research and find 5 or so highly suggested Bollywood movies and jump into that for a month of Sundays. Bonus, cook some related foods/snacks!
posted by PlutoniumX at 7:26 AM on June 26, 2014

Do a Sergio Leone marathon:

A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Duck, You Sucker!
Once Upon a Time in America
posted by octothorpe at 7:31 AM on June 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite director of all time, Bertrand Tavernier, whose entire work is good, but also shows such a fabulous range, from new wave family drama (The Clockmaker, Spoiled Children, Daddy Nostalgia) to historical epic (Que la fête commence, La Fille de d'Artagnan) to war story (Captain Conan, Life and Nothing But, Laissez-passer ) to noir, musical biopic, and science fiction (the incomparable Deathwatch), but all with the same non-linear plot disgressions, incredible acting performances by everyone from his go-to leading man Philippe Noiret to Max Von Sydow to Dexter Gordon, plus gorgeous cinematography. I can't possibly think of a better way to spend 24 hours than living in a Bertrand Taveriner film fest, especially since I think his #1 characteristic is how much he cares for his characters, even as they reveal things about themselves that aren't necessarily wonderful.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:40 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Double Feature series. Every week, pick a year and watch the movie that won best picture and also watch the movie that some/many/most think should have won.

Here's Wikipedia's page for Best Picture (all nominees included)

Here's a "should-have" list with amazon links for the years 1931-2011.

There's a lot of other "should have" lists out there. Google or DuckDuckGo is your friend.
posted by marsha56 at 7:40 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

My favorite is heist movies. Here's a big list.

Start with The Lavender Hill Mob and go from there. Some of my picks:
Rififi
American Hustle
Die Hard
Dog Day Afternoon
The Getaway (1972, Sam Peckinpah is of course his own genre.)
The Grifters
Heist (the David Mamet one, also another genre)
Inception
Inside Man (I like this one a lot)
Italian Job (probably both versions)
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Matchstick Men
Ocean's Eleven
The Pink Panther (the original one)
Point Break (so bad it's good?)
The Score
The Sting
Sneakers
The Spanish Prisoner
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (the 1974 one)
The Thomas Crown Affair (both again)
Topkapi

If you liked From Russia with Love you could add that one again. It more or less fits.
posted by sevenless at 7:42 AM on June 26, 2014 [17 favorites]

All of the Frankie & Annette beach party films! There's only seven, though that can be stretched if you add in Ski Party, Back to the Beach, etc.

Kurt Russell's filmography would be fun - he's been acting for over 50 years.
posted by troika at 7:44 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ooh, some more:

*Screwballthon (Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey, etc., etc. The Thin Man movies would also fit nicely in there.)
*Mobathon (starting with The Public Enemy, working through Godfather I and II and Goodfellas, to Gomorrah)
*Pixarathon
*Untraditional-Disney-thon (both Fantasias, The Emperor's New Groove, Lilo and Stitch)
posted by ostro at 7:48 AM on June 26, 2014

Also, all Kubrick, in order.

I did this one year when the Wexner Center in Columbus was hosting screenings for all of them and it was amazing.

It is worth noting that Fear and Desire, his first student film that he would not allow to be shown during his lifetime, is now available on YouTube. It's not very good, but it's almost so bad it's good, and I wouldn't recommend skipping it.
posted by Juliet Banana at 7:50 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Akira Kurosawa's samurai films:

Seven Samurai (one of the best films ever, IMO. Remade as The Magnificent Seven)
The Hidden Fortress (Lucas borrowed liberally from this one for the plot of Star Wars)
Yojimbo (remade as A Fistful of Dollars)
Sanjuro
Kagemusha
Rashomon (so influential that there's a trope named after it)
Throne of Blood (Macbeth set in feudal Japan)
Ran (based on King Lear)

You could follow this up with Spaghetti Westerns.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:56 AM on June 26, 2014 [5 favorites]

Here are two questions I've asked that have great, relevant suggestions: Definitive Films of the Slobs v Snobs genre, Categories of Films with 16+ movies.
posted by troika at 7:57 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - This is what you need. You can watch cheesy movies to your heart's content with the same fun companions to give you continuity. Plus, this will also include some other series' like Mothra and Gamara and Hercules.

Mel Brooks
Pink Panther
Hitchcock
Ray Harryhausen
Bogart
Kenneth Branaugh's Shakespeare movies
posted by irisclara at 7:58 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Buster Keaton-a-thon.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:59 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

2nd'ing Star Wars but in Machete order and adding the Clone Wars animated series (Ep 4, 5, 1, 2, Clone Wars, 3, 6).
posted by VTX at 8:03 AM on June 26, 2014

I've seen nearly everything by Jacques Tati and Federico Fellini and loved all of it. Tati is lighthearted, with a lot of sophisticated visual gags and slapstick. Fellini's themes can get heavy and he doesn't shy away from showing his characters' brutality, but there's a lot of beauty too.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:04 AM on June 26, 2014

John Wayne movies.
posted by Ardea alba at 8:06 AM on June 26, 2014

Guess what? The Vatican has a list of recommended films. It leans towards Classic Art-House B&W Cinema. Pasolini is on the list, and 2001 ASO.



Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire movies.

We watched all of these. If you're okay with the dated style, the dancing is hypnotic and quite impressive!
posted by ovvl at 8:08 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Monty Python & Terry Gilliam movies.
I once went watched a Greta Garbo Fest; she was amazing.
Die Hard
I'd enjoy a Meryl Streep or Denzel Washington -athon.
Marx Brothers
posted by theora55 at 8:15 AM on June 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

Oscar Best Picture from every year?
posted by amaire at 8:19 AM on June 26, 2014

Nthing Star Wars, but with a modified Machete order:

IV - V - soundtrack to I - II - Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV animated series) - III - VI

(skips Episode 1, but you still get the lovely music - which works great for background as you put dinner together and spares you the pain of JarJar and midichlorians)

We did a similar marathon of all the Star Trek films (I now have my ranking list of them, from "love love love" to "dear god, don't make me ever watch that thing again" - I'm talking to you Final Frontier).

While not exactly 10+ in number, some other options that run 4-6 in the series (we've done these and enjoyed them):

Back to the Future
Resident Evil
Austin Powers (works especially well after Bond viewing because you can say "Oh, there's Thunderball! There's Goldfinger!")
Aliens
Indiana Jones
Fast and the Furious

Astaire and Rogers are fantastic (and there are 10 movies here!)

Crosby and Hope are great in the Road to... movies (7 of 'em). Helpful to watch them in production order because they reference each other.
posted by sazanka at 8:46 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Fast and Furious might capture the Bondian, adventure, car chase feel. There are 7 of them, I think.
posted by irisclara at 8:50 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

One of my best Criterion purchases was this set of films from Bob Rafelson's short-lived BBS Pictures. You've probably seen a couple of the movies before (Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show), but taken together, they present a really interesting vision. Rafelson and co. were trying to create a new set of rules for American cinema. Even when they failed at it, they failed interestingly.
posted by roll truck roll at 8:56 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would watch all of the films mentioned on the Zizek documentaries "A Pervert's Guide To Cinema" and/or "A Pervert's Guide to Ideology"(there are 24 films in the latter, more than 40 in the former--maybe not all are available) and then cap it off by watching the documentaries themselves, at the end.
posted by vitabellosi at 9:10 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Nicolas Cage. Here's a CAGElist.
posted by zix at 9:13 AM on June 26, 2014

> Hal Hartley had an incredible streak in the 90s, marred only, imo, by Flirt.
...
Henry Fool (1997)

I'd finish that with Fay Grim (2006), the 10-years-later sequel to Henry Fool. Maybe The Girl from Monday (2005) before for continuity and maybe Meanwhile (2011) for completeness, but while Fay Grim doesn't really wrap up loose ends of Henry Fool, it does somehow make the whole story more satisfying.
posted by morganw at 9:23 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Hitchcock immediately came to mind. You may want to start with his more famous films in chrono order, then go from there if you're still interested. There's even a book and podcast series called "A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense."
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 9:37 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Spielbergathon!
posted by cooker girl at 9:47 AM on June 26, 2014

I said Brat-Pack-a-thon already, but a John Hughes series would also work.

Oh, and you said not Bond, but I wonder if you did that knowing about the licensed, but non-Canon Bond movie, "Casino Royale" starring David Niven as James Bond, Ursula Andress as James Bond... even Woody Allen as James Bond. (I can't explain that, but it's true.) It was a spoof of Bond when Bond was brand new, but it was also a licensed movie.

And if Spy movies are on the table, check out the recent spy spoofs "OSS 117: Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio," based on a series of French novels for a 1950s-60s bondesque action hero.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:19 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh, Netflix DVD may have a decent selection of Hong Kong movies. Off the top of my head, I'd suggest anything starring Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, God of Cookery, and A Chinese Odyssey 1 & 2), movies based on Jin Yong novels (e.g. the Swordsman trilogy), John Woo + Chow Yun-Fat movies (e.g. The Killer and Hard-Boiled), Michelle Yeoh movies (e.g. Heroic Trio and Wing Chun), old Jet Li movies (e.g. Once Upon a Time in China), very old Jackie Chan movies (e.g. Drunken Master II), The Bride with White Hair, and Infernal Affairs.

I guess so many of those actors and directors have Hollywood careers that either familiarity with their work is assumed or doesn't seem cool anymore, but if you haven't seen them, they were pretty neat and have some things in common with Bond--namely, action that's sometimes super serious and sometimes way not.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 10:28 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Holy hell, ask and ye shall receive! There are so many great suggestions in here, I don't think we're ever going to lack for a good movie theme marathon ever again! Can't mark best answer because frankly they are all awesome answers. Looking forward to what else people come up with.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 10:36 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Helen Mirren-athon? She always did excellent work no matter how great or dreadful the context.

If you want to see just how great an actor can be, watch Terence Stamp in The Limey and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert back-to-back.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:41 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Kevin Smith-a-thon. First the 6 movies of the Clerks trilogy, then the rest that he directed.

The others that came to mind but were said above were Pixar and Marvel Universe - the latter is on my radar as well.
posted by neilbert at 10:45 AM on June 26, 2014

Has anyone mentioned Zombie-thon yet? All the Romero films, 28-Days/Weeks later, Shawn of the Dead, World War Z, The Crazies, the couple of Remakes of the Romero films, some of the foreign suggestions from this recent ask.me, etc.

You could also do an originals/remakes-athon.
posted by VTX at 11:01 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thank you, PuppetMcSockerson, for this thread - I'm about to do the same idea, and was just wondering the same...

Also:
Buster Keaton-a-thon.
posted by soundguy99

If you follow soundguy99's advice, bear in mind that you may injure yourself laughing. That man has never been touched as the god-emperor of sight gags.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:09 AM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

All Soderberghs movies. They are incredibly good.

Elvis made a lot of movies too and they are pretty entertaining.
posted by fshgrl at 11:57 AM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Before Sunrise
Waking Life
Before Sunset
Before Midnight
posted by hydrophonic at 12:03 PM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

A theater near me is doing a Bill Murrathon this summer...
posted by mskyle at 12:09 PM on June 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

Gary Oldman. He has some incredible movies, and some that are just incredibly bad.
posted by zoetrope at 12:19 PM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

A Billy Wilder-a-thon would be a great way to go. Essentials:
Ninotchka (written by Wilder, directed by Ernst Lubitsch)
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard
Stalag 17
Sabrina
The Seven Year Itch
Witness for the Prosecution
Some Like It Hot
The Apartment
One, Two, Three
The Fortune Cookie

He covered a lot of different genres, from comedy (romantic and/or madcap) to war movies to noir, but they've all got Wilder's deft touch and razor-sharp sense of humor.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 1:14 PM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

My Hitchcock best of list:

Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
posted by kirkaracha at 1:52 PM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Funny, I was thinking of my own list of Hitchcock favorites and/or essentials, and also came up with 11.

The ones not on your list were The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Birds.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:58 PM on June 26, 2014

Definitely Gilliam.
I would also suggest a Kevin Kline/John Cleese minimarathon:
Silverado, A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures.
posted by plinth at 4:18 PM on June 26, 2014

yes a Gilliam-a-thon, including Python movies and the above mentioned Kline/Cleese films, with Faulty Toers double features thrown in. This would be the best.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:05 PM on June 26, 2014

towers. dammit. Fawlty Towers
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:24 PM on June 26, 2014

The entire filmography of a particular actor

John Cazale feature film oeuvre. Every movie -- every -- he was in was nominated for Best Picture, and three won. There's even a highly-rated documentary. He's often considered one of the best actors of his generation, and he's dearly missed; he died of lung cancer, nursed by his fiancée, the little-known actress ... Meryl Streep.
posted by dhartung at 11:26 PM on June 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Richard Linklater

It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books
Slacker
Dazed and Confused
Before Sunrise
SubUrbia
The Newton Boys
Waking Life
Tape
School of Rock
Before Sunset
Bad News Bears
Fast Food Nation
A Scanner Darkly
Me and Orson Welles
Bernie
Before Midnight
Boyhood

Not necessarily in that order though, you could watch "Before Sunrise", "Before Sunset" and "Before Midnight" all in one go. And you'd have to go to the movies for Boyhood since it only just came out.
posted by the_great_mutato at 12:14 AM on June 27, 2014

Watching Pirates of the Carribean I became fascinated with how subtle and nuanced Johnny Depp can be. Watch his eyes as he reacts to other characters. And the way he moves. I think it would be interesting to watch a few of his movies and see how he's evolved as an actor.

Also, Benicio del Toro. Specifically I'm thinking of his performances in The Usual Suspects vs. Traffic.
posted by vignettist at 9:20 AM on June 27, 2014

You could pretty much choose any subject from Inside the Actor's Studio.
posted by vignettist at 9:28 AM on June 27, 2014

I would suggest a Forbrydelsen marathon -- three seasons of episodes of Sarah Lund kicking hiney and taking names. You could also start in on The Bridge, which is similar, but different.
posted by blueberry at 1:14 PM on June 27, 2014

Some of my favorite directors:

SPIKE LEE-A-THON! Bonus points if you can track down some of the commercials he's directed.

DAVID LYNCH-A-THON! Including Twin Peaks, the TV Series!

STANLEY KUBRICK-A-THON!

WOODY ALLEN-A-THON! Be sure to include a viewing of the documentary about him.

ROMAN POLANSKI-A-THON! Again, there's documentaries about him that are worth viewing, too.

MIKE NICHOLS-A-THON!

BLAKE EDWARDS-A-THON!

MEL BROOKS-A-THON!

AKIRA KUROSAWA-ATHON!

JOHN FORD-A-THON!

Lots of good actors mentioned upthread, but I would call your attention to the late, great Peter Sellers. Do a PETER SELLERS-A-THON! and you won't be sorry!


Other faves:

MONTY PYTHON MOVIE-A-THON!

HAMMER HORROR FILM-A-THON! (I pretty much do a version of this each Hallowe'en).

PUBLIC-DOMAIN-FILM-A-THON! There's a metric assload of public domain films online at YouTube and the Wayback Machine.

FILM-NOIR-A-THON! WESTERN-A-THON! CRIME FILM-A-THON! FAMILY MOVIE-A-THON! ROMANTIC FILM-A-THON!
posted by magstheaxe at 2:33 PM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

Philip Seymour Hoffman.
posted by vignettist at 4:25 PM on June 29, 2014

Mike Leigh -athon!
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:36 PM on July 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Denzel Washington-athon. There are so many good ones!

Also, seconding Soderbergh-athon.
posted by reksb at 11:19 AM on July 7, 2014

Seconding Peter Sellers marathon! You get Lolita and Strangelove, a pride of Pink Panthers and (one of my alltimefavorites) Being There.
posted by maggieb at 9:58 PM on July 8, 2014