Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Well at least it looks like they brought down the price point from The Blob promo from last month.

Basically the same as before except you can't add any $24.95 titles unless you buy 5 total.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

Oh, yeah, I remember reading about those before, now that you mention it.

I guess I draw a distinction between those and real commentaries featuring people who were actually involved with the creation of the film.

And this isn't a dig at Redman - I dislike them on other releases like the Matrix films where they have commentaries from people who had nothing to do with the films being discussed. Although I did like the Roger Ebert one on Dark City, but now we're getting way off topic.

Nick Redman is a historian and has done many commentaries before he started his company. So I wouldn't draw any distinction between him and any other commentary by a historian (such as Ebert, although granted his commentaries are some of the best ever).

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

That's nonsense about extras. These days most of the extras from the previous DVD releases are being included, plus TT have been adding a few of their own (mainly commentaries).

I've said in the past and I'll say it again, I don't consider myself a TT lover, but I will say I'm a TT "liker". I think they do a fantastic job considering it's pretty much a three-person operation and the product they put out is by and large excellent. The limited edition thing? Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of that only because I think everyone that wants a copy of a movie should be able to have one and I feel badly for that 3001st person who shows up, though in the two years or so that I've been buying from them I've only missed out on one title I was interested in (The Big Heat) and that was because it was on the verge of sellout right at the time I became aware of it. As for the price, yeah, that's a pain too especially because it's in US dollars so it's even heftier now with the exchange rate so I pick and choose the titles I really want to get. I still count myself among the group of people who are grateful that they're releasing so many of these titles on blu-ray that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day.

I understand your point, if no one else would release a film i want, then i am grateful that at least TT releases it, but it is just that i would prefer it to be released by anyone else.

About the extras, from the films i want they mostly only have trailers and Isolated tracks, granted some of them are Woody Allen films so i know he doesn't do extras, but since those releases are of the same quality of the ones from MGM, i am already spoiled with the low price i was able to get the others.

Also for this price i would expect Criterion quality extras being recorded exclusively for those releases and from what i can see the releases that do have some extras are mostly ported over from dvds.

As for the price I guess if one is used to purchase most of the films on release date, the extra price for TT releases isn't much, but if you tend to wait for best deals (as i usually do, not for being cheap but because i really have to manage my expenses since there is a large number of films i would like to own) they become one of the worst bang for buck in my opinion, if Criterion didn't existed it would be a bit more bearable.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

Oh, yeah, I remember reading about those before, now that you mention it.

I guess I draw a distinction between those and real commentaries featuring people who were actually involved with the creation of the film.

And this isn't a dig at Redman - I dislike them on other releases like the Matrix films where they have commentaries from people who had nothing to do with the films being discussed. Although I did like the Roger Ebert one on Dark City, but now we're getting way off topic.

That's not always better... for every Francis Ford Coppola commentary where he provides enthusiastic insight into the technical and creative aspects of filmmaking, there's a dozen commentaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger blatanly describing the action in front of us on Total Recall, or Tommy Lee Jones on the Fugitive where he sound like he's half-asleep and is describing how good the colour looks, or Anchorman where it's just the cast members cracking jokes and laughing like a bunch of jackasses.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

Nick Redman is a historian and has done many commentaries before he started his company. So I wouldn't draw any distinction between him and any other commentary by a historian (such as Ebert, although granted his commentaries are some of the best ever).

Ebert was (primarily) a critic, but that's besides the point.

I wasn't drawing any sort of distinction between Redman and any other historian. All I was saying is that I don't usually care about hearing commentaries from people who had nothing to do with the films.

Originally Posted by baheidstu

That's not always better... for every Francis Ford Coppola commentary where he provides enthusiastic insight into the technical and creative aspects of filmmaking, there's a dozen commentaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger blatanly describing the action in front of us on Total Recall, or Tommy Lee Jones on the Fugitive where he sound like he's half-asleep and is describing how good the colour looks, or Anchorman where it's just the cast members cracking jokes and laughing like a bunch of jackasses.

But again, this is all about opinions and preferences. One man's trash, and all that. For instance, I'd take the Total Recall commentary (batcrap crazy as it is) over just about any commentary from people who had nothing to do with the film I'm watching. But that's me.

[klauswhereareyou]

I like scholarly commentaries....not sure why others don't. At least they usually give you insight into the films production history or the films cultural/artisitc impact. I don't know how many times I've listened to a director's commentary hoping for some great info/insights (hello Tim Burton) and all I got to hear was ten minutes of dead space punctuacted by "oh that's blah, blah, blah and they were great to work with."

I have liked the original commentaries I've listened to on the Twilight Time discs, and am glad they do them. The fact that they started doing them shows they listened to criticism and weren't content just to slap a transfer on a disc with the token "isolated score" extra that most people don't care about. Of all the Twilight Time discs I own, I'd say only 5-6 I've actually listened to the isolated scores on...but you know what, they are still nice to have.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

Ebert was (primarily) a critic, but that's besides the point.

I wasn't drawing any sort of distinction between Redman and any other historian. All I was saying is that I don't usually care about hearing commentaries from people who had nothing to do with the films.

To each his own. I like them both. Professional commentaries by historians can be quite informative and entertaining. And Ebert can be a historian and a critic at the same time.

[klauswhereareyou]

Considering now that Ebert is gone we're lucky that he recorded a few commentaries.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Elvis

Forget the limited endtion part. The worst part is that if you get a defective or damaged disc you are SOL if they are sold out and thats a crime! They should be forced to have a small reserve for damaged, defective or lost discs. At least for a few weeks after they are sold out.

I got a damaged disc and they sent me another one, no problem.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Considering now that Ebert is gone we're lucky that he recorded a few commentaries.

Especially considering he lost his voice for the last several years of his life. Like I said, I enjoyed his commentary on Dark City, but that's the only one of his I've listened to.

[ArnieCunningham]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

I'm guessing they mean they won't be home whenever Christine goes up for pre-order and it will be sold out again. If I'm wrong, then I'm confused as well.

Yeah you are correct. thanks

[tallrichard]

TT titles are available for order 25 days before street date....

I have Lenny and To Sir with Love on order and they have not notified of shipping yet.

Last month, I ordered Breaking Away and Fright Night from there. I saw Fright Night was selling for crazy money on eBay and sold my copy for $80....Go figure.

I will order the Journey to the Center of the Earth when ordering opens in a couple of weeks and once in my hands, I will look at eBay again....

[ArnieCunningham]

Originally Posted by tallrichard

TT titles are available for order 25 days before street date....

I have Lenny and To Sir with Love on order and they have not notified of shipping yet.

Last month, I ordered Breaking Away and Fright Night from there. I saw Fright Night was selling for crazy money on eBay and sold my copy for $80....Go figure.

I will order the Journey to the Center of the Earth when ordering opens in a couple of weeks and once in my hands, I will look at eBay again....

And laugh at the insane prices.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

Ebert was (primarily) a critic, but that's besides the point.

I wasn't drawing any sort of distinction between Redman and any other historian. All I was saying is that I don't usually care about hearing commentaries from people who had nothing to do with the films.


But again, this is all about opinions and preferences. One man's trash, and all that. For instance, I'd take the Total Recall commentary (batcrap crazy as it is) over just about any commentary from people who had nothing to do with the film I'm watching. But that's me.

I see where you're coming from and all things being equal, it's preferable to hear a commentary from someone involved with the film IF they're actually committed to it, like Francis Ford Coppola. But for many people, the film itself was just a job like any other and they don't remember much about it, or they had no real creative input apart from their small part of it, or they're too involved in technical minutae that they forget that it's generally laypeople who are listening. A commentary by a well-researched historian with experience in speaking at length about a film without resorting to dead air or overtly techincal talk can be a great experience. I mean, would you rule out buying a book written about a particular film simply because the author did not actually make the film being written about? Same thing.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by WhySoBlu?

I guess I draw a distinction between those and real commentaries featuring people who were actually involved with the creation of the film.

If that's your distinction between "real" and "not real", then a lot of the commentaries on Criterion releases aren't "real commentaries", as they're done by critics or film historians.

Just because one person is involved in the making of a film and another isn't doesn't make the former's commentary more interesting. To use an example from TT, I found the commentary by Nick Redman, Julie Kirgo, and Paul Seydor on The Train more interesting to listen to than the one by John Frankenheimer.

[jayembee]

An interesting (at least it was for me) commentary anecdote:

Back in the early aughts, I was replacing some of my laserdiscs with DVDs, and selling off the LDs on eBay. At the same time, I was working on filling in some of my Criterion LD "holes". I happened to sell my LD of The Year of Living Dangerously to a fellow named Maurice Yacowar, a professor at the University of Calgary. The same week, I received a copy of the first, "Silver Jacket" edition of Criterion's LD of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which had a commentary by -- you guessed it -- Maurice Yacowar (though at the time he did the commentary, he was at a different university). Of course, I immediately had to listen to the commentary, which unfortunately was just "OK".

[WinterLand]

Originally Posted by krasnoludek

Twilight Time Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/twilighttim...type=1&theater

When they say:

"There will be a page just like the other titles to be added to your cart located on the homepage within the TWILIGHT TIME new releases box. This is a first come first serve offer, with a limit of one per customer. YOU MUST HAVE THE QUALIFYING TWILIGHT TIME ITEMS WITHIN YOUR CURRENT ORDER, NO PREVIOUS ORDERS OR FUTURE ORDERS QUALIFY."

So basically qualifying twilight items can be any item including pre-order and other stocked titles, another thing, can you gamble to add four titles to your basket and refresh the site and then hopefully add Heaven and Earth signed edition once it goes live, or does your basket clear out then?

Sorry about the questions I have never ordered like this before.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by WinterLand

When they say:

"There will be a page just like the other titles to be added to your cart located on the homepage within the TWILIGHT TIME new releases box. This is a first come first serve offer, with a limit of one per customer. YOU MUST HAVE THE QUALIFYING TWILIGHT TIME ITEMS WITHIN YOUR CURRENT ORDER, NO PREVIOUS ORDERS OR FUTURE ORDERS QUALIFY."

So basically qualifying twilight items can be any item including pre-order and other stocked titles, another thing, can you gamble to add four titles to your basket and refresh the site and then hopefully add Heaven and Earth signed edition once it goes live, or does your basket clear out then?

Sorry about the questions I have never ordered like this before.

You can add all the qualifying titles to your cart before the promo starts. That way you only have to add Heaven and Earth. Just make sure you add the Heaven and Earth that pops up around 4:00pm Eastern and has a $0.00 price. It will be on the home page towards the bottom where it says "New DVD releases". Once you add it to your cart, just complete your purchase as soon as possible. I don't know how it will take to sell out, but it should be available for at least 10 minutes or so, which will be plenty of time to get your order in. However it's a guessing game as to how long they'll last these days. Good luck.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by WinterLand

When they say:

"There will be a page just like the other titles to be added to your cart located on the homepage within the TWILIGHT TIME new releases box. This is a first come first serve offer, with a limit of one per customer. YOU MUST HAVE THE QUALIFYING TWILIGHT TIME ITEMS WITHIN YOUR CURRENT ORDER, NO PREVIOUS ORDERS OR FUTURE ORDERS QUALIFY."

So basically qualifying twilight items can be any item including pre-order and other stocked titles, another thing, can you gamble to add four titles to your basket and refresh the site and then hopefully add Heaven and Earth signed edition once it goes live, or does your basket clear out then?

Sorry about the questions I have never ordered like this before.

yeah you can add the titles to your cart but must add the free Heaven and Earth after the start time. Their capitalised text is referring to orders made previously not qualifying.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

You can add all the qualifying titles to your cart before the promo starts. That way you only have to add Heaven and Earth. Just make sure you add the Heaven and Earth that pops up around 4:00pm Eastern and has a $0.00 price. It will be on the home page towards the bottom where it says "New DVD releases". Once you add it to your cart, just complete your purchase as soon as possible. I don't know how it will take to sell out, but it should be available for at least 10 minutes or so, which will be plenty of time to get your order in. However it's a guessing game as to how long they'll last these days. Good luck.

Also, it helps to add your payment information to your account so that's one less thing to do before checkout. I usually pay with PayPal, but for the promo I paid by credit card to speed up the process. I then deleted the credit card from my account after I checked out.

Best of luck.