24 hours of movies – What would you watch?

This week I saw a lot of tweets about Christian Marclay’s The Clock, which is a movie which lasts 24 hours and is made up of thousands of clips from various movies which are synced with the actual time. Seems like a very interesting thing to watch, but as it is probably one I’ll never see it got me thinking what I would watch if I had to watch movies a whole day. The rules are simple, you can pick any movie you like that has been released (even ones that you know are hard or impossible to get) and fill the day with watching them. Although I know I would probably fall asleep before the end if I’d try it, these are the movies I would pick to experience 24 hours of film.

Time – 06.00

1. Before Sunrise (105 minutes)

As I normally get up around 06.00 it’s nice to start slowly with a movie which I love. Two strangers who meet each other on a train and get to know each other during a night in Vienna. The end of the movie will leave you wondering what will happen in their future, but I will get back to that later in the day

Time – 07.45

2. Being Elmo (80 minutes)

As it’s still early why not continue with something light. Although it’s not widely available I’d love to see this documentary about Kevin Clash and the iconic puppet he created, Elmo. Seems to be a heartwarming movie.

Time – 09.05

3. Das Boot (281 minutes)

This is a DVD I’ve had for ages, but because of its length I’ve never watched it (although I really want to). As I’ve got 24 hours to watch this would be perfect. It tells the story of a crew in a German submarine during World War and how they cope with the various situations they encounter.

Time – 13.46

4. Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (90 minutes)

After such a long and thrilling movie I would need to see something which is a bit more relaxing. Since I’ve read good things about this documentary it’s the one I would watch next. Always nice to hear some great music and learn more about an iconic band.

Time – 15.16

5. The Hunt for Red October (134 minutes)

As if I haven’t seen enough submarines this day I would watch The Hunt for Red October again. When it came out it’s a movie that I saw several times at the cinema. I played the soundtrack (which has a lot of Russian choirs) quite a lot as I loved the bombastic sounds. Since I haven’t seen this in years it’s one I would like to see again.

Time – 17.30

6. Before Sunset (80 minutes)

As it’s about to become dark I’ll have to watch this and see what happens between Jesse and Celine. Originally I watched these with a couple of days between them, making you imagine what would happen if they met again. The acting of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy is excellent and at the end of it you get the feeling that you seem to know quite a lot about them.

Time – 18.40

7. Project Nim (93 minutes)

With Man on Wire, director James Marsh has proved that he’s able to make a documentary feel like something exciting. This documentary about a chimpanzee that was raised as a human sounds very interesting and would me the next movie in this 24 hour marathon.

Time – 20.13

8. Red Cliff (274 minutes)

Just like Das Boot, this is another long movie which I haven’t come around watching yet. When I go through my DVD’s it’s always one I realy would like to see, but never do. John Woo’s epic movie will get me through the rest of the evening.

Time – 00.47

9. Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box (73 minutes)

As it’s already quite late this is the one that would probably keep me awake. It’s a documentary which I already want to watch for years but is not available. I understood that there were some licensing issues which resulted in this movie disappearing, never to be released. Supposedly there are some copies available, but never have been able to track someone down who had it. It’s one of those movie you know you really want to see, but probably never will. That’s the reason that being able to watch this would keep me awake. It has interviews with the well-known beatboxers like Rahzel, Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, Scratch and many more. If anyone knows where to get this let me know!

Time – 02.00

10. Casino (178 minutes)

02.00, so a perfect time to visit a city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. Martin Scorcese knows how to make a movie. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are great as two mobsters and their gambling empire.

Time – 05.18

11. Psycho (109 minutes)

Looking at the time it would probably be better to go to bed as 42 minutes isn’t long enough to watch a whole movie, but Psycho would probably keep me awake long enough to fall asleep at 07.07.

If you had to watch movies for 24 hours non-stop, what would be your choices?

Andina from Inspired Ground has also posted her 24 hours, which you can read here

12 thoughts on “24 hours of movies – What would you watch?

  1. I know this is not exactly answering your question, but what I would really love to do is watch an entire series of 24 over 24 hours, or even West Wing.

    I can see a lot of thought went into this post and someday I hope I can sit and do the same and answer your original question.

    • Great idea, but you would have some remaining time as the episodes don’t run for exactly an hour though 🙂 It will allow some time each hour for bathroom breaks and eating 🙂

  2. I actually managed 16 or 18 (can’t remember) hours of continuous 24. Yes the extra 10 minutes at the end of each episode does help, although I would watch 2-3 episodes and then take a little break 🙂

    • That is pretty impressive. Sometimes you have these shows that really grab your attention and you just want to keep watching. I had that with The Sopranos on DVD…rented the first disc and immediately went back to get all they had 🙂

  3. Pingback: Project Nim (2011) « My Filmviews

  4. My choices for watching films for 24 hours would be:
    The Bourne Identity
    The Bourne Supremacy
    The Bourne Ultimatum
    We Bought A Zoo
    Ice Age Continental Drift
    The Departed
    Ice Age:Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
    Pixar’s Brave
    Contagion
    Tangled

    That’s probably it for now, I’ll add more movies later< if I think of any more movies, I will add them to this list later!!!

      • I really recommend seeing The Lincoln Lawyer, A Time To Kill, Brave and The Adjustment Bereau, as well as, the all four of the “Ice Age” films IN ORDER, as well as, all three (sadly not the and very disappointing The Bourne Legacy movie) “Bourne” films, ALL IN ORDER!!!!!

    • I could watch it before midnight since I’ve now seen or rewatched most of the movies on this list (still have to watch Red Cliff and have not been able to track down Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box which I can get my hands on (I know of one VHS copy in Florida at a library, but I’ll have to go there if I go there on holiday)).

      Thanks for commenting!

  5. The days of hopping into the car and driving to the video store to pick out a DVD to watch seem to be coming to a close for many people. Just as with many other aspects of life, watching movies has moved into the online world and lots of online movie watchers wouldn’t have it any other way. There is certainly a sense of nostalgia in going the video store route for many people, but the reasons to watch movies online just seem to keep piling up…

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