September 2014

Gas Station Scene(s): Okay, there's none in sight, really, but by the look of locations it's like always around the corner. It just fits the vibe to well not to include here.

October 2014: I was actually living near a gas station in Kyiv for a few weeks.

31 October 2014: I filmed a gas station from a window myself that day.

Gas Station Scene(s): Another one. On the plus side I filmed a gas station myself on that very day, so...

17 November 2014: A particularly memorable, if minor, moment on a gas station between Kyiv and Irpin.

30 November 2014: A rewatch of the pilot, but a welcome one.

Gas Station Scene(s): The Dark Riders' hideout has their own gas pumps, that counts.

8 August 2017 (I know it's too much of a stretch to include that early of August, but it was kind cold that year and this movie is super relevant).

Gas Station Scene(s): Scenes near beginning and then ending of that movie which occur in a cafeteria of a Shell gas station are not only superb, but also very much relatable. My own visits to a particular shell gas station that year looked virtually identical.

16 August 2017 (Yes, I'm continuing the trend; it's all an approximation anyway)

Gas Station Scene(s): Convenience Store has gas pumps, so it is a gas station on its own. Some of the very memorable scenes are around this structure in this episode.

24-25 August 2017 (Yes, I'm continuing the trend; it's all an approximation anyway)

Gas Station Scene(s): Big Ed's Gas Farm is mentioned and Convenience Store is featured.

24-25 August 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Big Ed's Gas Farm is seen in a terrific end credits scene, which I also find very relatable.

24-25 August 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Convenience Store!

25 August 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): And a tad more of Big Ed's Gas Farm.

28 August 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Convenience Store is mentioned.

30 August 2017 (theatrical screening, no less!)

Gas Station Scene(s): There is at least one in the middle of the movie, where many important character development moments occur before Mexico.

5 September 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Convenience Store appears for the last time, so far.

9 September 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Amazingly unsettling one with one of the protagonists feeling a traveling bag with gasoline on one and being mocked.

9 September 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): An all-service car station, but kinda counts.

14-15 September 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): There is at least one seen faintly in the background in the beginning.

22 September 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): A phone conversation and an explosion occurring on one.

5-6 October 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Seen in the background in some of the city shots.

14 October 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Most of them totally abandoned, but there are a few in this movie.

28 October 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Very similar to previous instance.

12 November 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): This one has stationary pumps in the hideouts, but that counts.

26 November 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): I'm pretty sure I saw some in the background.

30 November 2017

Gas Station Scene(s): Some could be seen in the main title sequence.

2 September 2020: visited the closest gas station I frequent at 10PM, devouring coffee and fries.

3 September 2020: So, I was a tad slow to begin this marathon because it was conceived in mere last days of August and I needed some additional research. As best way to re-check was the IMDb keyword I decided it can't be much better than to start with the earliest title with a gas station I could've find. Georges Méliès is always a pleasure to watch and it's fascinating how many effects and techniques he was able to conceive, effectively propelling cinema to its modern state.

Gas Station Scene(s): Second scene of the short is two drivers visiting the garage, which doubles as a filling station and having as much petrol as they could. They than accidentally run over a policeman and try and fail to reanimate him by pumping air into him, after which he explodes. If it sounds weird and surreal, well... It's a very early silent comedy, so it's entitled.

3 September: I love that movie. It's not really that eventful, but the way things are filmed, edited, acted and set to music are lovely (no pun intended) and superbly suspenseful. A super-solid, stylish directorial debut, if in a tandem and both Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery got good careers afterwards, although latter as a producer. Equally great debut for Willem Dafoe in his first starring and credited role (and he will pop up in this marathon at least twice more, if things go as planned!). Movies like this are primarily what I had in mind for that marathon, but I'm in for surprises in different areas, as well. You never know what is waiting for you in the gas station. Every genre can use it.

Gas Station Scene(s): A lot of those: some of the primary locations include a diner and a rented garage, both of them with handy gas stations attached. That combo of gas station and diner is a kind of iconic image of 1950's Americana.

4 September 2020: Was reminded of that when I discussed on Dino Drac After Dark that Convenience Store from Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) is also a gas station, technically. Such is one depicted in this earlier effort by David Lynch. His commercials are brilliant short films and this one is no exception.

Gas Station Scene(s): Whole commercial is set on one.

4 September 2020: A brief sunset visit to the same aforementioned gas station. A cup of coffee and not exactly the mood to appreciate all of that, sadly.

5 September 2020: Pleasant evening visit to a gas station for a casual pairing of hotdog and coffee peppered by a myriad of WTF situations on the station itself, which are absolutely going into my film scripts at some point. Also bought myself a specific candy for this challenge: Reese's Nutrageous which I haven't seen anywhere else in Ukraine. Gas station assortments of snack often consist of odd and unique imported stuff.

6 September 2020: I consider it a good sign that I've encountered a music video with a gas station in it as I was thinking about this very marathon/watching project. It was also absent on IMDb and adding some titles with gas stations is them was a crucial aspect I wanted to integrate so this served as a nice jumpstart. Plus, overall I was just glad to encounter that video at that point of my life. It's very "me" in many ways: lo-fi production (this was likely filmed on a camcorder or DSLR with a single lens) which actually manages to look really cinematic, combination of urban landscapes, strategic half-dilapidated structures nature is starting to reclaim, autumn vibes...

Gas Station Scene(s): Mac DeMarco is seen fueling the car at night himself then returning to the car. Earlier shots filmed at this spot might include one where he eats a burger.

8 September 2020: Just a fast snack of coffee and a hot dog on a gas station nearby.

9 September 2020: First regular visit to cinema since quarantine started was very social distanced (I was alone) and well worth it. A great movie, so far the best this year had to offer. A very poetic, masterfully surreal representation of Ukraine's history, which was well worth the wait. And what a wait it was: 7 years in production and 53 (!) years since the inception of the initial idea. It's a bit of a shame on the one hand that this movie got released during the quarantine when it has lesser chances, but on the other hand we might need it exactly now.

Gas Station Scene(s): During the awesome ending, you can notice a gas station in the car window at least once as car passes it. I am absolutely counting this. There's no need to be a concept purist of actually having something important in the movie tied in the gas station. In fact, after a month, I might start to notice them a lot more than I ever did before in anything I watch.

10 September 2020: A hot dog and a coffee on a gas station nearby.

11 September 2020: Another Ukrainian movie and is also a great one. It has a really unique contemporary ostern (as opposed to contemporary western) atmosphere and a very close-to-home Eastern Ukrainian setting.

Gas Station Scene(s): A LOT of those, since movie's main setting is a gas station. It's practically a theme in this movie.

15-16 September 2020: Casual vistis for hot-dog, coffee and inspiration.

18 September 2020: A very pleasant chance encounter with this movie sent me back on track, thankfully! Glad to rewatch it, even as a "background noise" while catching up with some stuff. A very atmospheric, unique mixture of sci-fi, magic themes and horror with shades of slasher still hanging over franchise (and enough killing in the movie to merit an inclusion in that genre too).

Gas Station Scene(s): There are three major scenes set on two different gas stations. One that pop ups in the beginning and the end is an immediate "bookend" memory from this movie, but there is also one in Santa Mira when Dr. Challis and Ellie arrive here.

30 September 2020: Despite I visited a gas station and had some hot dog, fries and a cup of tea, all of that I ate with barely any emotion or enjoyment.

8 October 2020: Amazingly, while I visited gas stations a lot in October, fewer things came up on that front (if any!) in Halloween Marathon. Well, until this great two-part pilot, that is.

Gas Station Scene(s): Particularly great one with KITT and Michael having an important conversation on a Shell gas station, after KITT thwarts an attempt to carjack it.

8 November 2020: Part 2 of the two-part pilot.

14 November 2020: A particularly memorable and inspired visit to gas station in recent memory.

16 November 2020: Amazing music video by Michel Gondry, arguably the king of conceptual music videos. The editing and photography are an impeccably planned job where you can't quite understand how some of the shots were done even if you are well-versed with the technical side.

Gas Station Scene(s): A few very memorable ones midway through an already memorable and unique music video.

20 November 2020: I like commercials (if they're well-made, usually), I like gas stations and I like overthinking. This Ukrainian commercial has all three of those.

Gas Station Scene(s): Whole commercial, which is for a gas stations in Ukraine.

23 November 2020: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) is always great.

Gas Station Scene(s): There's an Exxon gas station in the movie and even moreso in this review/webisode since it's repetead for a joke. And joke's on you, Snob, in 2020 going to a gas station is indeed entertainment. Darned quarantine. Oh, there's also a third one, from Christine (1983)!

26 November 2020: I must admit that a visit to a gas station very late in that day was a very special one since it was arguably the worst day of the year for little to no reason and it cheered me up at least a bit.

30 November 2020: Not my usual thing to include one title twice in the list, but in this case I'll make an exception, since I saw this again specifically on last day of Autumn and it's a great ending for 2020's installment.

I went to a gas station in the evening that day and got myself fries and a coffee: a minimalist but satisfying ending to an overall Gas Station Autumn. Is it going to be each three years, really? I don't know.

1 September: First Autumn visit to gas station, the usual one. I was still not suspecting that Gas Station Autumn will be the case, but this visit was indeed somewhat special, if brief and only constituted a coffee.

2 September: Rewatch of a special favorite in the night.

Gas Station Scene(s): No gas station in sight, but I assume that is the place where Donnie grabbed a canister to burn Cummings' house down.

6 September: Brandon's Cult Movie Reviews (2011) is my cinephile comfort food.

Gas Station Scene(s): Movie reviewed, Swamp Thing (2018), has a gas station as a location of quite an action scene.

6 September: on a big screen in a retrospective, no less. Really good for a directorial debut, even though it is typically sad as Ukrainian film goes.

Gas Station Scene(s): Quite a large one in an important mid-point in the movie. Getting snacks from one is mentioned although never seen. Quite relatable.

7 September: I've visited the gas station in the night to get myself a chiabata and a coffee after a long walk.

10 September: A hot-dog and a coffee on the very same favorite gas station. Also some sweets.

12 September: Grabbed an ice-cream on a WOG gas station that I frequented in 2017 as I was nearby getting my second shot of the COVID vaccine.

13 September: Some fries and a coffee, plus a chocolate bar.

17 September: Brandon's Cult Movie Reviews (2011), again.

Gas Station Scene(s): A gas canister is prominently featured in a great scene with the slugs attack and a Rude Goldberg explostion that Brandon Tenold never even had to riff, just speeding it up in the edit worked at making it even funnier.

18 September: Another chiabata and coffee.

19-20 September: A really cool movie if themes could have used more fleshing out. I agree with one reviewer who said that it could have used 20 additional minutes.

Gas Station Scene(s): I swore I saw some on the background during the first murder, but I can't find it now. Hm. There are some lights near road that could practically only be gas stations and overall movies is set in place where one should be around the corner, though. I'll let this slide.

20 September: Grabbed a coffee on my favorite gas station.

22 September: Good Bad Flicks (2010) is also comfort food.

Gas Station Scene(s): There is a diner/gas station combo named "Big Pines Lodge" in the reviewed movie. I might end up watching the movie, even though nothing too exciting takes place in the "Big Pines Lodge" itself.

27 September: Terrific documentary with inventive dramatizations.

Gas Station Scene(s): Gas stations are seen twice in the movie: in one of the Spain dramatizations and in one of the passing driving shots of Austin, Texas. So, essentially you can compare (if briefly) American and European ones.

9-10 October: Gas Station Scene(s): Phillips 66 gas station in West Covina is a prominent filming location.

19 October: Gas Station Scene(s): near the end.

23 October: Gas Station Scene(s): gas canister at the very least, plus some in the background.

24 October: Gas Station Scene(s): Pops up a few times.

27 October: Gas Station Scene(s): Offscreen, but that's got to be where Donnie got the gas canister.

30 October: Gas Station Scene(s): Prominent location.

[27 August]: If abundance of gas stations is a sign of turmoil in life every three years or so, then maybe gas station autumns have extra rounds when there are odd years. Anyhow, yes, a third one, in a row. After war erupted (just as it did in 2014, this time in bigger scales) half-a-year seem like three years, anyway.

Maybe this one will be to set it straight? Who knows. Anyway, a major gas station sighting in a movie was near the end of summer, but this movie has so much Esso Gas Station Scene(s), it will be a crime not to feature it.

[28 August]: Gas Station Scene(s) in this episode are yet again so prominent that they're some of the episode highlights. Location is an actual gas station off of U.S. 550 a third of a mile East of Zia Blvd, Zia Pueblo, NM 87053.

5 September: Gas Station Scene(s): From The Lawnmower Man (1992).

5 September: Gas Station Scene(s): From The Lawnmower Man (1992) (placeholder for a specific episode).

7 September: A very pleasant rewatch. Gas Station Scene(s): Quite a few important ones throughout the movie as one of the characters owns one. Particularly memorable is the "The Lawnmower Man is in your brain" one.