2012 Omegacon Movie Room Schedule

About a year ago, I started this blog with a post about the upcoming Omegacon movie room schedule.  While not the actual one year anniversary, this post qualifies as my topical anniversary.

The one thing to remember about the Omegacon Movie room is that I schedule movies that I either like or want to watch. Half the time, I’m one of three people in the room so I might as well want to be there.

Usually I cook up the theme for the room way early but this year I wasn’t inspired until just a few weeks ago.  The theme for the movie room is “Wrath of God” and it all keys off of the first movie I’m showing.

So here’s the list along with lengthy and pointless commentary:

Friday – 3:30 PM – 2012

What with the expected end of the world this December, I wanted to show a film that suggests how we all might meet our fates.

The Friday afternoon spot was originally “What was Ish Thinking Theatre,” which recalls the early days of Omegacon when Ish and I ran the movie room together.  Ish likes a lot of films that are of…questionable quality.  At least in my opinion.

So we would try to pick a movie that I viewed as “bad” but Ishmael liked.  Movies like Lost in Space.

So now that I’m running the room alone, I frequently schedule a bad movie on Friday afternoon as an homage to those beginnings.

2012 is a horrible movie.  If you ever wanted to see John Cusack sell out for a paycheck, this would be the film to watch.  A huge chunk of the film involves Cusack out driving all manner of computer generated natural disasters.  It beats outrunning an explosion but just barely.

I knew I wanted to put this film in the bad movie slot and as soon as I knew that, the theme seemed pretty clear.

Friday – 9:00 PM –  Mystery Movie

Omegacon is a slacker con and this is my slacker movie spot.  I don’t know what I’ll show here but I always come up with something that deserves to be on the list.

Friday – 11:30 PM – The Cabin in the Woods

The thing I find remarkable about this movie is the lengths to which people will go to avoid spoiling it for others.  I mean, the movie is months old and the statute of limitations on spoilers ran out a long time ago.

Yet, there is something enjoyable about letting folks discover the story.  It isn’t that the film is packed with surprise twists but rather that it unfolds in delightfully clever and frequently unexpected ways.  There is no one moment that is a spoiler.  Rather, it is a lot of little moments that are that much more enjoyable if you didn’t know they were coming.

Also, I love the image of the Cabin they used in the promotional materials.  It’s like a mixture of M.C. Escher and a Rubik’s Cube.

Saturday – 10:00 AM – Hercules

The Saturday Morning Cartoon slot goes to a Disney film that may not be one of their gold standard movies but it’s still pretty damned entertaining.  Does it make sense that the Muses are gospel singers?

No.  Shut up and watch the movie.

Saturday – 1:00 PM – Road Trip!

I love that there is a movie theatre a block and a half away from the hotel.  Since Skyfall opens OmegaCon weekend, I expect that’ll be the road trip movie.

You never know, though.  The Siren theatre sometimes waits a week or two before screening major releases.  That would be about the biggest cock block in OmegaCon history.

Saturday – 4:00 PM – Commentary-o-rama   The Avengers

I’d actually wanted to do a commentary for Inherit the Wind or Clash of the Titans (the original) but I don’t have a DVD with a commentary for either one.  I’m taking a chance on this commentary because I haven’t listened to it yet.

Whedon is a pretty entertaining dude, though, so I’m fairly certain it’ll be a good commentary.  If not, we’ll turn it off and just watch the movie.

Don’t touch it! It’s eeeeeevil!

Saturday – 11:30 PM – The Gods Must be Crazy

I remember watching this one a lot back in the 80’s.  It definitely fits the theme and I hope at least one person who has never seen the film gives it a try.  Especially given how much of a challenge it was to find a copy of the film.

If nobody comes, though, I’ll still enjoy watching it for the first time in nearly 30 years.

If I tell you that the film is all about the evils of a single empty Coke Bottle, will that convince you???

Sunday – 10:30 AM Moonrise Kingdom

Sunday morning is New Release Theatre.  Sometimes I can find a film that fits the theme but not this year.  Instead, I opted for a movie that I picked up sight unseen because I’ve heard so many good things about it.

So there you go – that’s the OmegaCon movie room schedule for this year!

If you are coming to the con, I’ll see you there.

If you aren’t coming to the con, you can follow along at home!

Except for The Gods Must be Crazy.  Good luck with that.