BUTT-NUMB-A-THON: THE DIRTY DOZENTH - pre-submission post! All the details!

Hey folks, Harry here… with a little thing called BUTT-NUMB-A-THON: THE DIRTY DOZENTH… Right up front – the application page is not yet active. That won’t happen for a couple of days – as the brilliant folks at the Drafthouse read this page and set up all the fields. And prep the server. Heh. However – I’m getting ahead of myself. For you noobs, you’re probably wondering, what silly thing Harry is talking about. What is this… BUTT-NUMB-A-THON? First off, for brevity’s sake – we refer to it as BNAT – and people who attend are known as BNATTERS – and mostly this isn’t a Jewish cult. It is pronounced BEE-GNAT, however people in Minnesota refer to it as “buh-GNAT” – but they're wonderfully silly folks that voted for “The Body” & Mr Franken… god bless em. No, BNAT is this event I created 12 years ago. It was created to support THE SATURDAY MORNING KIDS CLUB that has provided the young burgeoning kiddies of Austin with a window into cool film that otherwise, they may never of had. Seeing films that are not always necessarily KIDS movies, but movies that KIDS will love if you just expose them to it. Films like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, FORBIDDEN PLANET, The Harryhausen & George Pal flicks and well – ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and tons more. BNAT sponsors exclusively this series – and the money that BNAT makes pays for the cost of BNAT + THE SATURDAY MORNING KIDS CLUB’s budget for the year. This is something that every BNATTER can be proud of. It started when Tim League goaded me into coming up with my own insane 24 hour crazed party around the time of my birthday – AND for only the 3rd time in BNAT history – BNAT gets started on my birthday, DECEMBER 11th and ends on Tom Joad’s birthday, DECEMBER 12th. The specific times will be decided once programming tightens up – last year it was a bit more than 24 hours – but I didn’t hear a complaint. Giggle. What is the BNAT event itself? Well, that is an individual evaluation… it means different things to different people. I know people that have literally had their lives changed forever from BNAT. On purely surface level, it is a 24 Hour Telluride-esque event where all the titles are kept in strict confidence between Tim League and Myself. Now here’s the rub with BNAT – the programming is pretty much aligned with my own fetishistic love of all genres, all kinds of film. But I want to warn you. If you do not love classic cinema. If that’s just what the old farts love, fine. Don’t apply. We will have some Black & White films – and they will most likely be the best films you’ll see on a screen this year. But, You’ll also see some spectacular new wonders. Last year we were proud to unveil the highest grossing films of Martin Scorsese and James Cameron in advance of release… With Scorsese’s SHUTTER ISLAND it was months early – a true honor. We also had what is likely to go down as the most amazing screening of a work print we’ve ever had – with KICK ASS which sent the audience to Valhalla. Just one of the most awesome energetic screenings ever. But compare that with the live music presentation of Murnau’s FAUST with Graham Reynolds blowing the audience’s minds as Murnau destroyed their souls. So amazing. Or that pristine digital presentation of THE RED SHOES complements of Scorsese. It was such a great year. Now it is my job to live up to it, to disappoint or to just flat out destroy! I am the destroyer. Now, the reason you are all here. HOW DO I GET INTO BUTT-NUMB-A-THON: THE DIRTY DOZENTH? There is an application process to be granted permission to purchase your ticket. Why? It began initially due to folks camping multiple days out front of the Alamo Drafthouse for tickets – and with the online tickets disappearing in moments. I wanted to create a ticketing process that would allow a fair process to create what I feel is the perfect audience for 24 hours of film. The audience is made up of people that submit their answers to a series of questions. In recent years I’ve begun having the questions play with the Promotional Theme of BNAT – This year – being #12, I decided should be themed to THE DIRTY DOZEN – since there’s more fun to be had doing that – than say… 12 ANGRY MEN or my other options. In the next couple of days – the submission page will be going LIVE. Now this isn’t a first come first served sort of affair. THINK about your answers. BUTT-NUMB-A-THON is a celebration of film fandom and I need to sense that from you. But if you’re not hardcore – sensing an openness to an experience is always good. Half of the audience will be chosen from Austinites & the surrounding vicinity. The other half will be from all over the planet. The top & most hardcore aspiring film worshippers. This is their Mecca – and I endeavor to have it live up to that. SO first… I posted on my Twitter feed that if I was evil, I would claim that I hid a link somewhere on my site to BNAT ADMISSIONS. This was true, but it was extremely difficult. It linked to a special BNAT email address that I hid in my last DVD column of 2005 - those lucky and doggedly Sherlockian Six still must fill out an application, FOR YEARBOOK PURPOSES – but they don’t have to wait till Nov 1st to see if they got in. SO CONGRATS those who have been emailed. And here’s what everyone must do: Your Photo: Every year we will have a YEARBOOK – where every attendee and some of their answers will be included – as a keepsake – so you can remember your BNAT12 Class of 2010. Some people get every face signed. SO…. The Photo… Since the theme is THE DIRTY DOZEN… and to become a member of the DIRTY DOZEN you had to essentially be someone that has committed some manner of a crime, that’s punishment was The Death Penalty. SO… What I am asking you folks to do is to create a photograph – that shows YOU (CLEARLY) reenacting a Crime that you feel should be punishable by death, in a playful manner. We all have those pet peeves that when we see people do them, in some dark corner of our brain, we feel should be punishable by death. -- Bonus if you do so in some manner of military look. Special Bonus if it is Vintage Military. BUT – if your CRIME is awesome, the military aspect is sheer bonus points, but if the crime is lame, a uniform won’t help. You must submit a photo. It is required for multiple reasons – mainly because it could have something to do with your Badge (if that’s what we do this year) and the YEARBOOK. Now – here are the twenty questions you must answer to get in. Some are themed to the DIRTY DOZEN – others are basic get to know you questions. And just to be clear – the theme film has never once played at BNAT – though we do do hijinks from time to time. Every person coming must submit their application. 1. Your Full Name (middle names too) 2. The Full Names of those you’re submitting with. (This is so I know who they are so they get in, and for seating purposes. If this is blank, I assume you are alone. Remember - Large numbers are difficult to get in because seating is so limited, but 2-3 are not frowned upon generally) 3. Why did your parents name you what they named you? 4. Where do you live the majority of the year? And where will you be traveling from to attend BNAT this year? 5. Craziest Mission You’ve Ever Been On? 6. Why do you have a crush on GEORGE KENNEDY? (Note: Everyone has a crush on him whether you know it or not.) 7. Who would you rather be punched in the face by: Lee Marvin, Clint Walker, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Robert Ryan, John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson or Ernest Borgnine – and why? 8. Special Bonus Video Question: Submit the YouTube url to you singing the jingle to the old Charles Bronson MANDOM commercial. (These may appear at BNAT) (Special Bonus means it isn't a REQUIRED component) (Also - if you answered #2 with having friends come - y'all can all sing together if that makes you comfortable) 9. Now Dick Miller is one of this nation’s greatest character actors of all time, though – like his lack of credit in THE DIRTY DOZEN – he goes unrecognized. How do you feel Dick Miller should be honored? What is a fitting tribute to such a god? 10. Director Robert Aldrich teamed up with Ralph Meeker in 1955’s KISS ME DEADLY – if you have seen this movie, tell me your favorite moment in the film & why. (A blank answer here will be frowned upon, so do what you can to see it. I promise – you’ll soon see why it is one of Robert Rodriguez & mine’s favorite films to chat about. 11. THE DIRTY DOZEN get treated to a night of whoring it up before going on their Kobayashi Maru. If sent on a certain death mission, what is the one thing you would have to do, before dying heroically? 12. Obviously LEE MARVIN is a deity. What is your favorite Lee Marvin film & why should it play BUTT-NUMB-A-THON some year? 13. Tell my your Jim Brown fantasy? 14. WHY DO YOU DESERVE ADMISSION TO BUTT-NUMB-A-THON: THE DIRTY DOZENTH? 15. Name your top 3 hopes for a vintage film at BNAT & your top 3 hopes for yet unreleased films you are dreaming of seeing at this year’s BNAT? 16. Your Email Address & Twitter handle 17. Your preferred Shirt Size 18. How many times have you submitted to BNAT, How many times have you attended? 19. Why is SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD the most rewatchably awesome film in the history of 2010? 20. Last Question… How would you humiliate Jeff “the Jew” Mahler this year? Once the submission page goes live – I’ll post – and notify folks via Twitter & Facebook & Myspace – along with a new fresh story on AICN to it going live. But I wanted y’all to have a head start thinking about your answers for a couple days before submitting. They will be due by Halloween – with THE LIST – being announced by me at some point after I recover from my Halloween Party on November 1st. If you’re planning a trip – know that on Friday, December 10th – we’ll most likely be having a great shindig at the fabulous HIGH BALL – and that we have been known to sometimes have screenings around the time of BNAT sometimes on a Sunday night or Monday night. Can’t say for sure yet, that that will be the case, but sometimes… it happens. Just saying. SO – that’s the BNAT process this year. HAVE FUN WITH IT FIRST AND FOREMOST!