The CWRU Sci-Fi Marathon, making American college great again, January 20-21

Either scenes from METROPOLIS or Hillary Clinton leading angry audiences members to Strosacker Auditorum for the Sci Fi Marathon.

This weekend a brave group of college-campus student-activists and progressive community members will participate in the most COURAGEOUS act of protest-art against TRUMP yet conceivable! They will sequester themselves in Strosacker Auditorium and force themselves to endure a torturous 36 hours (estimated) of nonstop science fiction and fantasy and horror features, short subjects, cartoons, trailers, TV episodes or whatever, not ending the ordeal until early hours of Sunday morning.

In the spirit of high-profile hunger strikes by Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi and Aung San Su Kii that brought down other TYRANNICAL DICTATORSHIP REGIMES, this act of pure SUFFERING and RESOLUTE MASOCHISM in plain view of the EYES OF THE WORLD will undoubtedly inflame the country to RISE UP together against the villain TRUMP at his very inauguration, overthrowing the EVIL FASCIST REPUBLICAN and instill HILLARY CLINTON as the rightfully elected ABSOLUTE EMPRESS OF THE GALAXY!

...Or, it's just another installment of the CWRU Sci-Fi Marathon. Whatever way the liberal media elites want to spin it.

Scarier and more entertaining than the financial collapse of Parma schools: Shock Around the Clock in Columbus Oct. 15-16

Yes, Clevelanders are feeling really on a roll lately, with the Cavaliers championship and the Indians winning and the Lake Erie Monsters winning and the whole city not turning into a burnt-out ruin of a disgrace with this summer’s RNC. So what is my philosophy?

GET OUT NOW! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!

You just know, with Cleveland luck, that once the region is lulled into a false sense of security something awful will come along and knock the city off its shiny new little plaster pedestal.

Perhaps all those looters headed for the Republican Convention who got delayed in lines with the TSA will finally land at Hopkins and ravage the entire downtown (catching police and first-responders unprepared/drinking at their favorite sports bars).

Perhaps the sheer mathematical magnitude of the Browns losses will create a dimensional shift in quantum time-space continuums, inducing a black hole that swallows large parts of the lakefront. Or the city’s cash reserves. At least that’s the excuse offered by sticky-fingered local officials, suddenly driving shiny new Teslas.

Perhaps LeBron will go back to Florida; now that the place is trashed by hurricanes, real-estate is going super-cheap and he can buy up the entire state this time.

The 41th annual CWRU Film Society Science-Fiction Marathon falls to Earth Jan. 15-16

I suggest that last weekend's Golden Globes were the last straw that sucked away the life of David Bowie (and/or, for you horror fans, Angus Scrimm). Anyone with me?

Truly, there's only about one reason I look forward to January in Cleveland anymore, and it has nothing to do with congratulatory award shows. No, my only light in darkest winter is the Case Western-Reserve University Science-Fiction Marathon, a customary kickoff to the semester of the CWRU Film Society, right here in University Circle.

It is 24-hours-plus of nonstop mind-breaking sci-fi/fantasy features, short subjects, cartoons, trailers, giveaways, contests and more, selected from up and down movie history (and quality). The Marathon has been a CWRU tradition for an amazing 41 years. Spawned by the campus student-film society - but with attendance open to anyone who can take it - the CWRU Sci-Fi Marathon has a national reputation as an endurance test for fans of SF and fantasy.

The 40th annual CWRU Film Society Science-Fiction Marathon invades Jan. 16-17

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

The death of former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo touched me in a personal way. Cuomo was the A-list commencement speaker at my graduation from Syracuse University back in the 1980s. It was at the peak of his popularity, a time when Cuomo was being urged by all the Democrats to run for the White House and be the last, best hope of saving the nation from darkest Reaganism. At the time all I could think was, "MY university nabbed this VIP as our class graduation speaker? I must really be going places! My job  successs in the outside world is guaranteed!"

Well, it wasn't. I did enjoy my graduation ceremony very much - I actually photographed it for the college yearbook, a felicitous way of stepping outside the box, so to speak, and be part of the event and yet take a grander role in it. Little did I know that would be a very rare example of career advancement for Charles Cassady. Much of the next several decades were professionally and personally stagnant and frustrating and soured by perpetual human-resources rejection. And now, my disposition on the matter forever tainted, I do not particularly recommend attending college for anyone.

The 39th annual CWRU Film Society Science-Fiction Marathon invades Jan. 17-18

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Ever since LeBron left, the only thing significant about Cleveland, we can all agree, is the Case Western-Reserve University Science-Fiction Marathon, a customary kickoff to the winter-spring series of the CWRU Film Society.

Each year, on a weekend, an estimated 250 people are in Strosacker Auditorium, on the CWRU Campus, for the student film society's January science-fiction Marathon. Put on since 1975, it's been a campus tradition even before STAR WARS (the first one, the real one) came out. In the movie-fanatic world, the CWRU Sci-Fi Marathon has a national reputation as an endurance test for fans of SF and fantasy, immersed for a day and a half in nonstop fantasy features, shorts and trailers.

It Walks Among Us! The 38th Annual CWRU Science Fiction Marathon

[The 38th Annual CWRU Science Fiction Marathon starts Friday January 19th at 8:00 pm.]

Reporting by Charles Cassady, Jr.

There is a curious announcement in the website of the Case Western-Reserve University's illustrious annual Science-Fiction Marathon this year: watch for a possible `special non-film live event.'

What can that be? The CWRU marathon, a legend in extreme-moviegoing circles, has been going on now for 38 years in Strosacker Auditorium, with 30-plus hours of continuous science-fiction and fantasy, projected on digital, 35mm and 16mm, the playlist including trailers, features, shorts, cartoons, TV episodes, serials, even some local homebrew productions. There have been live prize drawings and costume and trivia contests. For a while there you could even bring a laser pointer and make funny patterns on the screen (but that was outlawed). So what special live event distinguishes the CWRU SF Marathon of 2013?

The 2012 CWRU Sci Fi Marathon F.A.Q.

By Charles Cassady, Jr.

Q: Why in the world should I sit through 30-odd hours of sci-fi movies in Strosacker Auditorium in January? You think I'm nuts?

A: Well, yes. You've been drawn to science-fiction's stimulating concepts and fantastic horizons since childhood, elevating you above the mundanes of society. While it means you lead a rich inner life, the consequence of your nonconformity is that you are likely an alienated loner or outright social pariah and permanent, dateless resident of your parent's basement. Only the CWRU Sci Fi Marathon surrounds you with like-minded individuals (some in their Starfleet outfits) absorbing hours of brain-blasting images, shouting Mystery Science Theater wisecracks at the lame movies, and cheering on their favorites, until, having traversed and transcended time and space, you all stagger towards the exits, exhausted but secure in having shared an unforgettable collective mind-meld with your brethren, your soulmates. Most of whom still won't answer your calls or e-mails afterwards because they've got that new "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica" Blu-Ray boxed set to watch.

And Right Before "Remember Pearl Harbor Day", too! - The JapanCASE Fall 2011 Anime Marathon

[The JapanCASE Fall 2011 Anime Marathon starts on the fourth floor of Nord Hall, 10900 Euclid Ave., Saturday December 3rd at 3 p.m. and goes clear through to 6 p.m. Sunday December 4th.]

by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Case Western-Reserve University in Cleveland's University Circle neighborhood, has certain schools devoted to medicine, engineering, learning to read and write yadda yadda yadda. But let's cut to the chase: campus is really most noteworthy as the venerable home since the 1970s to a 30-hour annual Sci-Fi Marathon in January. Less famous - but equally deranged, though - are the two 26-hour Japanese "anime" marathons that happen at Case every spring and fall semesters.

12 Hours of Terror (Saturday October 15th at the Capitol Theatre)

Article by Charles Cassady, Jr.

The word "marathon" references the battle of Marathon in the ancient world. Greeks won a fight with Persians not far from Athens, and a jubilant messenger ran 25 miles nonstop to the great city to announce the news - then dropped dead. In other words, marathons began in blood and death, a fact not proclaimed very loudly by Runners World magazine.

For the second year in a row the Capitol Theater, at the Gordon Square Arcade under the auspices of Cleveland Cinemas, puts morbidity back into marathons, via "12 Hours of Terror" commencing at 10 p.m. Saturday, October 15, and bleeding into Sunday morning at 10 a.m.