Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

I stopped buying that a while ago...them liking a post YEARS ago and saying virtually nothing about it since is insufficient reason for me to believe they have it.

I have more faith in Kino or Arrow than I do Scorpion at this point.

Well it was 10 months ago if we're being specific. And to be fair to Walt, I understand his reluctance to say more prior to now, as The Mechanic is probably a title likely to get deluxe treatment (new transfer, extras), and so will take longer to appear. He's licenced over 50 titles in this MGM deal so it would be a mistake to reveal them all straightaway, as then he'd get the endless 'When is such-and-such coming?' questions.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Well it was 10 months ago if we're being specific. And to be fair to Walt, I understand his reluctance to say more prior to now, as The Mechanic is probably a title likely to get deluxe treatment (new transfer, extras), and so will take longer to appear. He's licenced over 50 titles in this MGM deal so it would be a mistake to reveal them all straightaway, as then he'd get the endless 'When is such-and-such coming?' questions.

If The Mechanic does indeed get the deluxe treatment from Walt then he'll get my money and apologies...I just remain skeptical.

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

If The Mechanic does indeed get the deluxe treatment from Walt then he'll get my money and apologies...I just remain skeptical.

IIRC the Kino Insider did say another label beat them to it, so we know at least it won't come from them.

[Aclea]

For some reason Donald Sutherland has presided over the demise of several of cinema's previously sure things - the Alistair Maclean thriller (Bear Island), Neil Simon comedies (Max Dugan Returns), Agatha Christie adaptations (Ordeal by Innocence) and, with Eye of the Needle, the WW2 romantic thriller. After frequent demonstrations of his adeptness with a switchblade, his top nazi spy `The Needle' and his bad English accent are shipwrecked on Storm Island, where Kate Nelligan lives with her crippled husband Christopher Cazenove and their badly dubbed child. While Ian Bannen fritters away on the mainland in lukewarm pursuit before his prey can get away with D-Day secrets, the two leads start an affair before things turn nasty. You'd have thought that after the last time Nelligan played a girl called Lucy who fell for a near-drowned stranger turned out (in 1979's Dracula) she'd have learned her lesson...

Sutherland's performance is occassionally problematic but Nelligan and Cazenove are excellent, which is lucky since most of the second half of the film brings the war down to just the three of them. Miklos Rozsa delivers a vividly romantic score that is both full of overpowering dramatic drive and at times in completely the wrong picture (it works better on disc and in the romantic scenes) while Richard Marquand's direction, wildly overrated at the time because the news had just leaked out that he'd been signed to direct Return of the Jedi, fails to elevate the picture despite a good eye for the harsh landscape. The result is one of those films you really want to like much more than it'll let you, entertaining enough but still somewhat disappointingly average when it could have been much better. Very much a rainy day movie (frequently literally) and a sale title.

MGM/UA's old DVD had an unimpressive non-anamorphic widescreen transfer that was particularly poor on flesh tones and has a few wobbles and a horribly botched end title that has the score laid on twice out of synchronisation (so you can hear the middle of the cue playing at the same time as the beginning, making for a confused cacophony). The latter has been fixed for this release and the picture quality is a significant improvement, though it's clearly been taken from an older and inconsistent master. The laserdisc release included an alternate ending (barely different from the one used) that's missing here, though TT's disc does include an isolated track for Rozsa's score (the soundtrack LP was a rerecording). Aside from the usual booklet and film historian commentary the only other extra is the US trailer which goes to great lengths to hide the fact that the Needle is a spy and the film is set in WW2, instead pitching it more as a slasher movie!

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

If The Mechanic does indeed get the deluxe treatment from Walt then he'll get my money and apologies...I just remain skeptical.

And I will happily double dip (triple dip if you count the dvd)....

[Dailyan]

I watched “The Gang’s All Here” for the first time yesterday; what an absolute blast. Even with it’s duped-Technicolor look, this film is definite eye-candy. As a big jazz listener, the isolated score track is a fantastic bonus.

I’m not too familiar with Carmen Miranda but the second I saw her in that Tutti-Fruitti Hat all I could think of was this:

[Show spoiler]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hUIEc8cOZyw

[Aclea]

That film is pure hardcore banana porn.

[The Great Owl]

I ordered...

X, Y and Zee
The Gang's All Here

I've been sitting out this promotion, because I've pretty much accrued all of the Twilight Time titles that I want to date, but I decided to dive in for these.

[oildude]

Per Twilight Time, there will be no new releases in October.

Let's hope November has some goodies for us sad trick-or-treaters.

[AKNewbie]

So many releases, so many sales...
I stuck with the $15 / title and less and ordered these:

THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA (1954)
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1972)
BEAT THE DEVIL (1953)
BLACK WIDOW (1954)
GENGHIS KHAN (1965)
THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT (1977)
THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER (1956)
THE VIRGIN SOLDIERS (1969)

$5 off and media mail - should be delivered on Wednesday.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by oildude

Per Twilight Time, there will be no new releases in October.

Let's hope November has some goodies for us sad trick-or-treaters.

I'm beginning to get a little worried TBH. Hopefully there is some decent holiday sales

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by oildude

Per Twilight Time, there will be no new releases in October.

Let's hope November has some goodies for us sad trick-or-treaters.

That doesn't sound too good since I believe this is a first for TT since they started. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come and they license more product.

EDIT: Someone posed this question to TT a little over a week ago, they were quick to respond about the Oct titles, but note the other questions went unanswered.

Originally Posted by Frank X. Shelley

Thank you for responding! Will there be future new releases?

[Rzzzz]

So we have Olive's output at a couple of discs a year, Kino ceasing production on hundreds of titles and now the future of Twilight Time unknown....shit.

[Aclea]

And the Fox moratorium. But other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

[bdgking]

Low quantity update :

At SAE : 49 X beloved infidel remain then sold out & 18 x world of henry orient then sold out .
Also low are Stormy weather , devil in a blue dress , fat city , the fortune , flaming star & peyton place

at Twilight time 20 or less of sense & sensability and really low on inserts

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

So we have Olive's output at a couple of discs a year, Kino ceasing production on hundreds of titles and now the future of Twilight Time unknown....shit.

It's also possible a lot of labels are holding back for Q4 this year because of the manufacturing delays last year, so they don't want that to happen again.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

I watched “The Gang’s All Here” for the first time yesterday; what an absolute blast. Even with it’s duped-Technicolor look, this film is definite eye-candy. As a big jazz listener, the isolated score track is a fantastic bonus.

I’m not too familiar with Carmen Miranda but the second I saw her in that Tutti-Fruitti Hat all I could think of was this:

[Show spoiler]https://youtube.com/watch?v=hUIEc8cOZyw

Once seen, it's hard to forget this:

[Show spoiler]IMG_1211.jpg

[Aclea]

But oh, how we tried...

[Jobla]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

So we have Olive's output at a couple of discs a year, Kino ceasing production on hundreds of titles and now the future of Twilight Time unknown....shit.

I haven't heard of Kino "ceasing production on hundreds of titles."

What have I missed?

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Jobla

I haven't heard of Kino "ceasing production on hundreds of titles."

What have I missed?

Kino is planning on not restocking "200 to 300" poor selling titles until their licenses for those titles go out. They had revealed some titles earlier this week but the list is "growing".