Twilight Time Says Goodbye; $4-$11 Price Reductions

[jkholm]

RE; THE OTHER

[spoilers...or at least the suggestion of spoilers ahead]

Is it just me, or does the current cover of the DVD, if not outright reveal the major plot twist, at least hint at it? You can see it at Amazon.

And according to some of the reviews on Amazon, the description on the back cover also reveals the twist. I assume Twilight Time won't be so sloppy.

[John Johnson]

Attractive fall roster announced...THE OTHER is a very creepy film. Not something I "enjoy" watching, but a very well made, disturbing little thriller worth at least one viewing.

DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939) BLU-RAY w/Becoming John Ford (2007) - Sept 10th

ALAMO BAY (1985) BLU-RAY - Sept 10th

MINDWARP (1992) BLU-RAY - Oct 8th

THE OTHER (1972) BLU-RAY - Oct 8th

OLIVER! (1968) BLU-RAY - Nov 12th

THE WAY WE WERE (1973) BLU-RAY - Nov 12th

JANE EYRE (1944) BLU-RAY - Nov 12th

Out of all these, I expect Drums Along the Mohawk, The Other and Jane Eyre will be on Intrada's release schedule at some point.

[AndyDursin]

Body Double sold out...but copies still are available at the TCM shop.

[DavidBanner]

I wonder if the Body Double sell-out was similar to what happened with Christine earlier this year.

The Way We Were is the one title that catches my interest from the rest of their slate so far. Twilight Time is always a mixed bag for me. Some of their titles are instantly a must, but a lot of them just generate a "Huh?" from me.

[AndyDursin]

I'm certainly puzzled by ALAMO BAY...can't say I've ever seen it, but I have a feeling that will be a tough sell for Nick and Brian. Hopefully it will pique the interest of movie buffs willing to take a chance on it.

The BODY DOUBLE sell-out certainly shows where the BD format is at and what drives viewers to it. For example, I saw someone on the TT Facebook page utterly puzzled that the far more commercially successful SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE is still available yet BODY DOUBLE is already gone.

It's really simple -- when you have a format that is increasingly niche driven and not selling in big numbers to the mainstream, a movie like BODY DOUBLE has enough fans that will seek it out, while the mainstream audience that SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE appeals to isn't invested in the BD format. Certainly that audience isn't engaged to the same degree a Brian DePalma or John Carpenter fan is in this format.

In many respects, and I've written too many times before, Blu-Ray is becoming an updated version of laserdisc. Certainly for catalog titles, Blu-Ray is MUCH closer to laserdisc than DVD in terms of available catalog titles coming out monthly at this point, not to mention the kinds of smaller labels licensing out titles from increasingly disinterested major studios. That's VERY much like how laserdisc functioned.

[DavidBanner]

I agree, Andy.

Although I think when it comes to new movies and the bright shiny new object stuff, the studios are very happy to milk Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray for all they can. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, in that we're getting some very high quality HD presentations of current cinema, as well as the really big guns of their catalogue. Although I really wish WB would stop it with the quintuple dipping, I'm appreciate that they've given us great Blu-rays of Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, etc.

I do think there's a price point difference between Blu-ray and laserdisc that we shouldn't forget. I remember how expensive laserdiscs were, particularly for the good deluxe editions with all the goodies on them. Part of the reason I've hung on to my laser collection is due to my having invested what was a fair amount for me in the late 90s to pick up those movies... Blu-rays are more expensive than regular DVDs much of the time, but not egregiously so - not when you can skip the big boxes and just get a simple 10 buck release of Wizard of Oz or Lawrence of Arabia in HD.

But the point about the niche market, particularly for the lower end catalogue material, is undeniable. The beauty of DVD was that EVERYTHING was selling, and at a pretty cheap price point much of the time. And I have the cabinet of TV series and obscure movie DVDs to attest to that... With Blu-ray, as you've noted, it's been a harder sell. People already have the TV shows and most of the grail movies they wanted, so it's a lot harder to tell them to buy those titles AGAIN. (I always liked a definition I once read of home video marketing as "How many times can they get you to buy Goldfinger?") And I'm happy we have niche outlets like Twilight Time, Shout/Scream Factory and especially of course Criterion. I used to be a fan of Anchor Bay - and I think their people moved on to start one of these ideas up, but I frankly can't remember the details.

I think there's a definite parallel to be drawn in market penetration between VHS to laserdisc and DVD to Blu-ray. I think Blu-ray has been more successful overall, but when we look back in about 10 years, I bet the parallel will be even more striking.

[AndyDursin]

Absolutely David. And I'm just talking about catalog content...obviously for new movies they're happy to participate in the format

I don't mean this either as a doom and gloom scenario for Blu-Ray. It's been adopted enough that it's not going anywhere...and I think for HD-philes, movie lovers and the like, it's going to be supported going forward even if it dries up at retail (then again, a lot of things are "drying up at retail"). It just won't be in the same way that DVD works...which will be a culture shock for the folks used to buying most everything for $5-$10 in Walmart bins.

And as you said, even at $30, the TT titles are priced much LOWER than laserdiscs from two decades ago...people need to remember that and keep it in perspective. I remember the day I graduated high school, one of my big presents from my parents was the Criterion CLOSE ENCOUNTERS CAV edition, which listed for $125. Somehow I can't express any outrage when TT wants $30 for a movie, in high definition, 20 years later...

[Eric Paddon]

How about $250 for that ultimate CAV set of the SW trilogy? (which I still have).

I have no quibble with the price scale, it's the titles that are leaving me cold (and the botch job on one of the earlier releases).

[AndyDursin]

I remember it well -- because I bought it!!

Granted, I was able to get it 50% off because I traded in the old Star Wars Trilogy CBS/Fox lasers as part of the promotion. Sight & Sound up in Waltham Mass. had a good deal going on it...good deal for us, of course, but bad for them because they couldn't get rid of those discs for years afterwards!!

[DavidBanner]

Don't maim me guys for this one, but I picked up that CAV Star Wars Trilogy set about a year and a half ago - for 70 bucks. I had the chance to grab it and thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to have as a part of the collection. And I also have that CAV Criterion Close Encounters, which I picked up used from Dave's Lasers in Los Angeles for somewhere around 99 bucks as I recall. That was in 1998 and Dave is no longer with us to confirm the number, unfortunately. I kept the CAV Close Encounters due to not only it being about 99 percent the original theatrical cut but also for the extra content, which has never been ported over. I see the set as a nice complement to the Close Encounters Blu, which has all the OTHER extra content ever made available for the title.

That said, I'm very happy with the smaller labels working on the various Blu catalogue titles, because they usually give these titles the kind of personal attention and affection you wouldn't normally see from a big studio distributor. I'm particularly pleased with the efforts Shout Factory has been putting in - these guys clearly like the movies and are having fun coming up with additional content. Even when they've been stuck with Roger Corman catalogue stuff, they've really done some fun releases - particularly the stuff for Death Race 2000. TERRIBLE movie, but a really fun Blu-ray. And I continue to be a huge fan of Criterion. As far as I'm concerned, Criterion has pushed all the other labels and the majors to do better work. Yes, they can be a bit sniffy here and there, but it's really hard to argue with their track record.

I'm happy to admit being completely spoiled by the current level of technology in home theater. It wasn't that long ago that I was content to watch movies on a 17 inch square television with the only sound coming from the speakers on the set. And now we've graduated to the mode of HDTVs in widescreen at 1080p - mine is 65" and I can't honestly imagine doing anything bigger at this point. And yes, we go through problems with various labels. Twilight Time in particular has had the issue of these ridiculous mob runs on some titles. Or we see a title where something has gone awry. But I have to remind myself we've come a heck of a long way from when the only way to see a movie on home video was on a worn-out pan & scan videotape or pan & scan on a little TV.

[Eric Paddon]

The extra content in the Close Encounters set I remember most, in addition to being able to program the film to see all footage from both cuts in single sitting, was how in this one you get Spielberg's first version of how he got a reaction from the kid, which is different from the version he told years later in the other supplements!

The SW supplements may have the only mention of the Holiday Special in any Lucasfilm material when someone (I forget who) takes a tour of the costume vault and points out Wookie family costumes from the Holiday Special!

[DavidBanner]

The Close Encounters supplements include a story later told slightly differently by Spielberg about the idea they all had of using chimpanzees wearing alien costumes for the climax. I literally fell out of my chair laughing at the original version, which included them putting roller skates on the chimp and then watching the little guy do a series of ridiculous pratfalls. This culminated with the chimp standing up, ripping the alien head off and throwing it at the camera. Which told them they might want to figure out a different idea.

[AndyDursin]

So BODY DOUBLE isn't sold out...I don't know what in the world is going on right now!

[AndyDursin]

December titles:

RELEASE DATE: December 10th, 2013

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973) BLU-RAY - Dec 10th

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977) BLU-RAY - Dec 10th

ROYAL FLASH (1975) BLU-RAY - Dec 10th

[DavidBanner]

Golden Voyage of Sinbad used to get rerun all the time on local TV in Los Angeles. My recollection is that it was considered a lesser movie to the earlier 7th Voyage, which has been on Blu for 5 years now.