Movie Marathon Night at the PCC. Arnie Vs Sly

I recently had the bright idea to delve into the world of movie marathons and decided to start with a nice easy one. Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone.
No brain cells needed. Just turn up, sit down and let the ridiculous explosions and Oscar worthy acting wash over me.

I am now 90% more man.

I picked the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester square as my venue and hopped on a train to meet with my impending sleep deprived breakdown.
On arrival I stood outside with all the other fools prepared to take on this monstrosity of a night, some of which had obviously had a full day of drinking before this and were stood in the doorway swaying and looking like extras from the second Lord Of The Rings film occasionally shouting out random Arnie or Sly quotes.
I was starting to get excited.
The cinema itself was lovely, we were in the downstairs screen and there were brilliantly comfy large leather seats that you could flip the armrest up if you needed to drop onto the other seat for a moment between films.
The downstairs bar was open but I opted to stay away from the drink as I'd of probably spent the first three films going for wee breaks and then the rest of the night asleep.
The compere guy came out and gave us a few quick words and introduced the cinema to us. What I loved was although there were nice new leather seats there was also an old vibe and along with the big curtains draped around the place and the choice of films I was starting to feel queasy with nostalgic excitement.

elegant!

From the minute the opening credits of Commando rolled I knew how the night would pan out, laughter, funny quips from the other viewers and the occasional quote along from the majority of the cinema. Its hard to remember just how brilliant Commando is without hearing a cinema full of men roar and scream with joyous glee as Arnie rips a telephone box out of the ground with a man inside, lifts it above his head and throws it on the floor. OR just pulling a padlock and chain off with just his bare hands!
"stick around Bennett!"
Next up was Rambo - First Blood and the least said about that the better, it's not as I remembered it and when it finished there wasn't the feel good factor that came with the Arnie Films. Was the night taking a nosedive already!?
Although that said one particular highlight of Rambo was an unintentionally homoerotic conversation between Rambo's mentor and the chief of police that had me crying with laughter. (Well I think it was unintentional!)
Total Recall kicked off and suddenly the mood was lifted straight away, there was no denying who the favourite was here and of course there were plenty of cheers at that moment on Mars with the lady at the bar.
Next up was Rocky and it managed to maintain the level of enthusiasm from the previous film. An obvious crowd pleaser and nice to remember that Stallone wrote the film as well, I had completely forgotten!
The fifth film was Predator and as much as I love that film the time had become an issue and people had started to drop out, and heads were beginning to drop between the seats. Light weights!
The last film was Demoliton Man and I think it was about 7am. I started to wobble a bit and started to do a head nod here and there only to be consistently woken up by the sound of the fine system going off every time Sly or Wesley Snipes swore.. It was annoying. Or was I just tired and getting grumpy?
I was starting to lose the plot a bit.
As the experience came to an end we were once again greeted by another slightly more demure/tired/afraid of all the newfound Arnies in the audience member of staff. He told us we would pop upstairs for a "survivor photo" and a quick vote to see who has won. I had nothing left to give I was spent.. I assume Arnie won and would be bitterly disappointed if he didn't. I made a sharp exit!
I felt strange, weak and confused in the light of day and the empty Leicester Square had a very 28 Days Later feel about it. I thought a coffee would help sort me out, only for it to come straight back up. This was a level of exhaustion I hadn't felt in a while!
I made my way home, slept for a few hours and have spent the remainder of the day laying on the sofa talking like Arnie and telling people to "open your mind, open your mind... Oppppeeeennnn yourrrr minnnnnnd"
Was it worth it? Definitely.
Was the cinema good. Definitely.
Would I do it again.. Yes but I think I'd be more prepared next time!