This year’s Turkey Day in May marathon technically took place on the first Saturday in June, mostly because May was packed with other commitments. I knew I couldn’t skip it, but I couldn’t find a way to make it happen in May, so we broke tradition and held it in June. Speaking of tradition, we also had to swap my wife’s usual lineup of amazing pizzas for store-bought frozen ones. After dealing with mold remediation in our bathrooms, money was a little tight, so we took the cheaper route. But once the first movie started, I don’t think anyone cared!
Another one in the books. We only had 5 of us this time, but we still managed to make our way through our normal 7 titles, which I have to admit was tough in a couple of them! But we’re professionals and we struggled through them to become stronger! Or something like that. Joining us this time out was our usual suspects: Neil Calderone, Brian Fukula, Tim Palace, and my T-Day co-pilot Aaron Christensen, making this event his 20th anniversary of Turkey Day! While we did miss a few of our regulars, due to incoming bad weather and other such issues, we still had a good time. And probably ate way too much pizza.
Another T-Day in May is in the books, with our usual 7 features devoured, along with about 22 pizzas! Truth be told, this last month or so has been a struggle for me, dealing with some health issues, new medication, work stress, and all the other fun things that go into life. Nothing serious, but just those things that can try to take any of the positives and put them in the shadows making it a little harder to see. But getting together with about a dozen like-minded film nerds, sitting and watching 7 features that probably would never make anybody’s Best-Of lists, and having a damn fun time doing it, really did wonders for me. It was the closest that I’ve felt back to my normal self in a long time. So, for those of you that came out, thank you!
Another very successful Turkey Day in the books. As usual, we got through 7 features, some hitting the low point, many hitting some high points, and one hitting so far off the grid that it would be tough to explain! But we managed through, because we are, after all, professional lovers of cinema! And if you can’t find enjoyment in some of the strangest films out there, you’re just looking too hard at them. These films are the ones that you just sit back and bask in the wonderment, that someone thought that not only was the story good enough to proceed, but that they actually found backers willing to put up the money!
Starting on our 3rd decade of Turkey Day Marathons, with this one being our 10th Turkey Day in May event, there just seems to be no stopping us. There are several things about these events that continue to amaze me. First and foremost, is the number of my friends that are crazy enough to continue to come out and sit through whatever I throw at them. Keep in mind, the titles are never announced until I hit play on the player. But they still come out. Sure, every once in a while, there might be a film where a mutiny is maybe thought about, but it is soon forgotten, and we move on to the next film. It reminds me that cinephiles are a different breed of people, ones that can look at what most people would scoff at, look down at, or even wonder why we’re wasting our title with that particular title. But the people that continue to come out see the real value and entertainment in these pictures. I am honored and so grateful to call them my friends.
Two Whole Decades of Turkeys. I started this crazy idea in 2003, rather than go out and battle the crazy shoppers on Black Friday, but to stay at home and watch some of the best in the worst cinematic achievement on film. Or at least that is how described it when I started. But something has changed over these past 20 years. Films that I even would call typical “so bad they’re good”, or bad but for all the right reasons, I’ve learned over the years how the terms “good” and “bad” are so damn objective. Kind of like food, it all comes down to one’s particular taste. There’re people that eat rotted fish head soup that might look at someone who doesn’t like they are the crazy ones. Same with movies.
For me, it has always come down to not being good or bad but if they’re entertaining. If the answer is yes, then they can’t be bad, at least not for that particular viewer.
Can you believe that it has been 20 years since I made the crazy decision to spend all of Black Friday watching some of the finest in cinematic shipwrecks? And what’s even crazier, is that now I am not alone in that celebrating. While it did start by myself in 2003, once we got to 2010, the number of people joining in had grew, as well as the number of films we’d get through. While we started with 4 or 5 titles, once we hit 7 features, it seemed that was the standard going forward. I think our record of attendees was at 14 or 15 people. To think back of when I started this idea, and then jump ahead two decades and realize that not only am I still doing it, but that a trusted group of people join me each and every time for this insane celebration.
The first part of our Turkey Day 20th Anniversary was yesterday, and I have survived to tell the tale! In fact, we all did! It was a little different this time out because we spent some time doing a little filming here and there for a documentary about just how crazy we are for doing these little get-togethers for the last two decades, all in celebration of these cinematic shipwrecks. We had around 15 people joining in this year, most of which stayed here from the very beginning right to the very last film, knocking out SIX features (and about 21 pizzas!) before it was all said and done.
It is really hard to believe that not only have I continued this crazy tradition, but that I have more than a few die-hard friends that actually look forward to these little marathons with great joy and excitement. Yes, we are all mad cinephiles. It really is hard to explain to most people what exactly the reasoning is behind these, and even more importantly, why they are so much damn fun. But if you know, then you know and don’t need the explanation.
20 years. Two whole decades of Turkeys. In fact, 174 films during those years. I started doing this little mini marathon back in 2003, on my own, as a way to celebrate the type of films that most critics would scoff at. Two years later, I was joined by my friend Aaron Christensen, who has never missed one since then. While it took a few years of it just being Aaron and I battling through these wonderful cinematic shipwrecks, by the time we got to 2010, the number of people joining us on this mad quest started to grow. We had 6 that year, increasing year by year to around a dozen each time. In 2010, we started our second annual event, Turkey Day in May, because there was just too much Turkey to do it only once a year! We did go online during the pandemic, where during those online adventures, we did get 20 to 25+ people watching online, so that was kind of cool. But it just wasn’t the same as being in the same room with other fans.
Before we get to the films, I wanted to send out a huge thanks to those that have attended my little crazy marathons. I started this because I wanted to give these movies the appreciation that I feel they deserve. As I’ve quoted many times before, the only bad movie is a boring one, and the ones we’ve screened over the last 20 years are far from boring. Well, okay, most of them weren’t. With every person that started attending, they not only understood that statement, but they believed 100% of it, and relished in the outrageous titles, sometimes just plain bat-shit crazy. Never making fun or shitting on these, we treat them with love and respect. My fellow Turkey Day attendees are more dedicated film lovers than any serious critic I know. Because we can see past the flaws of low budget, maybe with not the most talented cast, or a script that doesn’t seem possible that someone would not only want to film, but actually get it done with a straight face! For that, I am forever grateful to consider these fellow demented cinephiles my friends. They really know and understand what true cinema is.
For the last two years, due to the pandemic, we’ve been holding our bi-annual Turkey Day Marathon online. It has sucked not being able to have that gathering of friends, but we all need to keep each other safe. This year however, not only did I decide to go back to holding an in-person event like we used to, but because of concerns of having too many people all crammed into my movie room, I decided to break it up over both Saturday and Sunday, with the same movies but with a different set of people each day. That’s right, that meant I was going to personally have to watch the same Turkeys two days in a row. Not an idea that I completely thought through. And . . . now that it is over, will be the last time!
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