Hey Folks, Harry Here...
As I have done these past two years around this time I have announced the impending BUTT-NUMB-A-THON. For those unfamiliar with this event, it is a 24 hour (at least) film festival with all funds raised by the event going towards an organization called THE SATURDAY MORNING FILM CLUB FOR KIDS! This is an organization that I founded with Tim League of the Alamo Drafthouse, as a 100% free film screening series for children in the central Texas region to discover vintage films on the big screen! We do this in conjunction with BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS, THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE and THE AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY.
In the past year alone we have screened THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, MAD MONSTER PARTY, EXPLORERS, PRINCE VALIANT, THE GOLDEN STALLION, JACK THE GIANT KILLER, JASON & THE ARGONAUTS, NEVER A DULL MOMENT, George Pal's DOC SAVAGE, INFRA MAN and much more! In addition to features, we screen shorts, cartoons and fun little mini-films like old Shirley Temple shorts, OUR GANG films, black & white Mickey Mouse Cartoons, old ABBOTT & COSTELLO toons, BETTY BOOP and many others! In the coming months we'll be screening WIZARD OF OZ, KING KONG, THE GREEN SLIME and much more!!! The purpose of the programs is to give the children a context for the films that their parents, grandparents and even Great Grandparents grew up with as kids! To introduce them to the grand tradition of film, how they were made and how they themselves can make films! And all of this is made possible by the money we raise with:
BUTT-NUMB-A-THON!!!
What is BUTT-NUMB-A-THON? The greatest film geek event in the world. The focus of this 24 hour event is to celebrate film in all its forms! In advance of the film festival you will never know what is going to be showing, who may be arriving as a special guest or if you'll ever see the sun again!!! The purpose of all this is to let your mind wander and wonder about what it is that I have in store for you!
In the past our special guests have been Vin Diesel, Steven Railsback, director Guillermo Del Toro and many others. We've had screenwriters, directors and producers show up just to attend the event for themselves... and of course there is the disguised in human form cast of characters from behind the scenes of AIN'T IT COOL NEWS! And the greatest guests of all... YOU and a slue of TalkBackers!
We've had premieres of MAGNOLIA, PITCH BLACK, SNATCH, ED GEIN, THE GIFT and more. We've had secret screenings of somethings that even now I can not mention. AND then my favorite part has been the unveiling of older films... The sort of movies that never find themselves on the big screen... Flicks like WONDERBAR, SEA WOLF, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, SONG OF THE SOUTH, FADE TO BLACK, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, DESTINATION MARS, FRITZ THE CAT, BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA-VIXENS, CALLING ALL GIRLS, DRACULA'S DAUGHTERS, THE HOBBIT, SHOGUN ASSASSIN and more! And then there's the more modern joy like TRON, ROBOCOP and SIX STRING SAMURAI!!! Truly you will never know what to expect at BUTT-NUMB-A-THON it seems!
Here's what various attendees thought of the event: Report 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and here's the live update from Butt-Numb-A-Thon 2 last year!!!
So what can you expect this year? Quite frankly this year is shaping up to be far better than either of the previous 2 years... How is that possible? Ya know the saying 3rd one's the charm? Well this BUTT-NUMB-A-THON I will be turning 30... and I am determined to throw the best possible film event I can imagine... I began securing some of these films... BEFORE THEY EVEN STARTED PRODUCTION!!! And I'm so incredibly excited about the event this year... everything seems to be coming together brilliantly... As you can see by the Cartuna Poster Art at the Top... even the poster came along far better than I could imagine...
So you want details? Well, like both of the previous years half of the available tickets will be sold here in Austin and the other half to AICN readers from around the country and world. Tickets will be going on sale OCTOBER 21st. The details of when and how will be divulged later, keep your eyes peeled here for the nitty gritty!
BUTT-NUMB-A-THON 3 will take place at the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE here in Austin, Texas on Saturday, December 8th through Sunday, December 9th! Again the specifics will be held for the next update!
Lastly, inspired by Cartuna's Utterly Unbelievably Cool BUTT-NUMB-A-THON 3 Art, we are offering T-shirts, baseball caps, boxer-shorts, muscle shirts, Tote bags, sweatshirts, ladies' Ts, coffee mugs, mousepads with a variety of designs... CLICK HERE TO STOCK UP AND BROWSE!!! These proceeds will be going to help offset the cost in bringing in some of the AICN Crew to the event!
Stay Tuned Here For Updates About BUTT-NUMB-A-THON 3!!!!
