The 24 Hour Movie Marathon

A few weeks ago, my manager asked me if I’d be interested in “watching a lot of movies?”  Since I’ve always enjoyed going to the movies and the longest I had ever watched movies nonstop was about eight or nine hours (It was for a “Star Wars Trilogy” marathon back in university), I figured it was time to see if I could up my personal record.  Additionally, this event was for a great cause in that if I could survive twenty-four hours of movie watching,  I could donate $10,000 SGD to the charity of my choice.  With all these incentives in motion, it was time to hunker down and watch some flicks!

After playing some tennis in the morning, I rolled on down to Plaza Singapura at 3 PM to  meet the press and start the event with a total of ten celebrities including Wong Li Lin, Jimmy Taenaka, Adele Wong, Alaric Tay, 98.7 Radio DJ’s, and members from the Singapore Slingers basketball team…

Once we were all interviewed and given the rules for the event…

…it was time to watch some movies!

While the ten celebrities were competing for charity, one hundred people had already been invited a few days earlier to watch ONE HUNDRED HOURS of movies for a chance to win $10,000 SGD and a trip for two to Hollywood!  If 24 hours isn’t hard enough, I can’t even imagine watching over four days of movies nonstop!

During the competition, no one was allowed to leave their seats while the movie was playing, which includes going to the bathroom.  After the end credits had ended at the end of each film, we were given a five minute break to “do as we please.”  When three movies had been played, there was a fifteen minute break, and some of the contestants used that “extra” time to try and rest a bit…

One by one, the contestants started dropping out.  By the following morning, only two celebrity contestants remained, Alaric Tay and me.  With the sun coming up, we had to contend with watching a movie with a major glare too…

If you look closely at the top right-hand corner of the screen, you will notice the running timer for the entire event.  The celebrities started the competition at 46 Hours while the other contestants began all the way at “Ground Zero.”  Although I did have bouts throughout the evening to doze off and fall asleep, I still felt pretty good at the 21 (67 minus 46 = 21) Hour mark…

Now, it’s time to take a look at the final three competitors seated behind me…

While the two guys on the side still seemed alert and lucid, the poor guy in the middle was struggling a bit…

Can you even imagine watching almost THREE full days of movies continuously?  Here’s a closer look…

I really have to hand it out to all of these guys.  Starting out in a competition of one hundred people, these were the last three standing…or sitting.  With 10,000 Dollars at stake, they definitely had the motivation and determination to press on…no matter how tired they must have felt.  Actually, having the contestants around was a great inspiration for me too.  Anytime I felt like giving up or falling asleep, all I had to do was turn around and see how well they were doing to get my psyched up.

Once the 24 Hour mark rolled around, I definitely had my “fill” of movies for one day…

Thanks again for such a unique and amazing experience, Nescafe!  Not only was I able to donate money to the Casa Raudrah charity organization, I even got my own certificate!

Now, I’m just wondering which of the last three remaining challengers won the $10,000?