I don’t know how many of you use Facebook, but there is an app on Facebook called Social Interview that allows you to answer random questions about a person and then post it to their walls. Here are some of the most recent question/answer pairs I have received:
Q: What was your first impression of Marshall?
A: Man, this guy really likes movies.
Q: What will Marshall be doing in ten years?
A: Reviewing movies.
Glad to know they get me.
Today’s factoid deals heavily with Sporcle. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should (and you can find out by clicking the link to the left). It is the perfect way to do “meaningful procrastination.” By that, I mean that this is somewhat beneficial to your brain. Facebook and YouTube, not so much.
A friend of mine was in random quiz mode on Sporcle, and the quiz that followed was “Can you name all of the categories at the Academy Awards?” She knows me well enough and instantly called me over to help. In less than 2 minutes, I had rattled off all 28 categories much to astonishment of my classmates.
I was determined to get the early word out on the National Board of Review winners today (you know, for everyone that comes to my site for all the breaking Oscar news). In order to do this, I kept the group’s official site open in my Internet window along with several other awards blogs and I hit refresh on each of them about every other minute. Surprisingly, I got the news from Dave Karger’s OscarWatch blog before I got it from the official site.
The things I do for you readers.
There is more than one “Marshall and the Movies” on the web.
Don’t worry, I am the other “Marshall and the Movies.” When I had the idea to create a blog, I wanted to explore a great series of hosts. I had previously used Blogger, but I settled on WordPress because I felt that it provided much more tools for growth. The site still exists, and I stumbled upon it the other day. There’s nothing there but my first post, but I just thought you might find it interesting.
The link is http://marshallandthemovies.blogspot.com/ if you want to see what could have been.
I have been saving this one for a while, and you are really in for a treat. Since today is December 1st, it seemed like a good time.
In 2003, I became quite obsessed with “Elf.” I even went as far as to create what I called the “Moviegoers Challenge,” designed to see how much people really paid attention in the movie. I’ll attach a Microsoft Word file for you to download it, but I’ll paste it onto this post. If you decided to actually take it, keep in mind that I actually knew all the answers to this.
Elf Moviegoers Challenge – click here to download.
Full challenge is posted after the break.
Something about 25 being a factor of 100 made me want to make this the factoid to start a new trend: whenever I can, I will include pictures with factoids to make them more visually appealing. Sound good? Let me know “yay” or “nay” in the comments.
So, without further ado, today’s factoid:
I love this irony. The only time my ID was ever checked before going into an R-rated movie was 5 days before I turned 17. That was to see “Paranormal Activity,” for those of you wondering what movie it was.
If you haven’t gotten to laugh at something pathetic today, this factoid will give it to you.
I lay out the tickets in my collection in a grid format. The normal sized tickets lay six in a row. Going into the summer of 2005, I had 5 tickets on the last row on a page. We were headed to an AMC theater to check out the new “Star Wars” movie, but this was bad news for me. I knew I had to convince my family to use the auto-ticket machine, or there would be a big empty space on my page. When we walked in the theater, there was no line at the normal kiosk. I started with casual suggestions but then turned to begging. It was to no avail. If you ever look through my collection and notice a glaring blank space, this is its story.
I’m not the kind to hold a grudge against a person. A website, that’s a different story.
I have not used Fandango to purchase advanced tickets since 2002. I pre-ordered tickets to “Star Wars: Episode II,” and there was some sort of a mix-up with the system that caused me to miss the first 15 minutes of the movie. If you ever read the factoids, then you will know that picking up on a movie already in progress is something I really despise. Even though I’m sure that the technology is updated and millions of people use it without problems, I still haven’t forgiven Fandango.
When I went through a big movie buying phase in eighth grade, I bought a few movies sight unseen because I wanted to have something new if I was ever in the mood for that kind of thing. To quote Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman,” “Big mistake. BIG. Huge.” Why did I spend $10 on “The Longest Yard?”
Thanksgiving Day isn’t necessarily a huge moviegoing day for my family, at least nowhere near as big as Christmas. It is the first day that my dad permits listening to Christmas music (although that hasn’t stopped me from listening to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” ten times already on my laptop). When we do go, they have been family movies (“Enchanted” in 2007, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” today) so be thankful for that time we can share together.
Before the factoid, an off-topic tangent: It’s funny how inspiration comes from the strangest sources. I was struggling for today’s factoid. While thinking, I started listening to some songs from the “Walk The Line” soundtrack. With my face down in the pillow, I thought about that stretch of 4 months in late 2005 and early 2006 where I was completely obsessed with the movie. Then, it came to me.
In my 7th grade computer class, we were given a PowerPoint assignment to create a slideshow that utilized animation to bring up the lyrics to a song as they were being sung. Other people in my class did artists like the Backstreet Boys and Sum 41. What did my partner and I do? Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon singing “Jackson” from the “Walk The Line” soundtrack.
The giddy sensation that comes with buying good movies cheap, like I mentioned in yesterday’s factoid (Random Factoid #118) isn’t limited to stores. iTunes often offers $5 movies, and I will confess that I simply cannot resist. I have bought “Hitch” and “Thank You for Smoking” through these promotions.
P.S. – These promotions also bring very frustrating feelings whenever the movie that I just bought gets marked down almost instantaneously.
I love looking through “bargain bin” movies. A few weeks ago, I discovered “The Wrestler” and “Revolutionary Road,” two of 2008’s finest, for $5 apiece in a grocery store. If it’s good and cheap, it proves to be an irresistible combination for me, a cocktail for disaster.
Last week, I proved to myself that I am less like Woody Allen or Larry David than I thought.
I was at an advanced movie screening, and the star was there to answer questions afterwards. I had managed to secure second-row seats, but the friend I was meeting was running late. With a few minutes before his seat would be sold, I started to worry frantically. I had to run up to give him the ticket as soon as he got there. But there was no one to guard the seats I had secured. So, I scribbled a note on a page ripped out of the notebook I brought. It read: “PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THESE SEATS. I GOT HERE FIRST. THANK YOU. <3, MARSHALLANDTHEMOVIES.”
After five minutes waiting up top, I knew I had to return to my seat or I might not have one. I came back to the row to discover two non-adjacent seats open on the row. A very well-dressed women had taken a seat where I had left my note. I asked, “Are those two seats taken?”
She replied, “No, I believe not.”
A little bit of anger was working up inside of me. “They wouldn’t happen to be occupied by the person that left that note?”
She giggled, “Oh, I don’t know what happened to them.”
A part of me wanted to reprimand her for blatantly disregarding my note. If I had not secured front-row seats, I probably would have. But nonetheless, it was a victory for my self-control.
After 16 factoids, we are taking a temporary sojourn away from the world of my obsession with movie ads. I’ll be happy to address any complaints you might have in the comments section.
I have discovered at least twice that I have had ear infections while watching a movie theater. If the booming sounds in the theater seem muffled, then it is a wake-up call that something is wrong with my ears. I distinctly remember realizing the infections in 2002 watching “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” and in 2003 while seeing “Finding Nemo” for the third time.
Marshall and the Movies 
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