Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[Hartley]

Originally Posted by popeflick

It WOULD be fair to say that the age thing might be explained as the amount of disposable income difference would also effect buying habits. That is to say I'd be willing to bet the average 45 year old has more to spend on stuff like this (and thus feels the impact less) than the average 25 year old.

^ This right here. I'm 23 and just finished my BAA, so I have next to no income for blind buys that are this expensive. That being said I tend to blind buy about half of my titles, probably about 90% of them made well before I was born. I determine blind buying by director first, then by film content/special features. I have yet to be burned getting a bad title, however there are some I end up feeling lukewarm about. So blind buying a $30+ title just doesn't happen too often. I've only purchased two Twilight Time titles: Swamp Water (which was a blind buy) and The Big Heat, but there are at least 5-10 others I'd love to grab which would all be blind buys. Ah well, someday...

[Dex Robinson]

I do a HUGE number of blind buys.

Most of the Twilight Time titles I have are ones that I'm familiar with. The two exceptions are THE WAYWARD BUS (which is in the mail to me right now) and HIGH TIME which wasn't really a blind "buy" as it was a gift...but I hadn't seen it before. But FRIGHT NIGHT, PAL JOEY, JTTCOTE, COVER GIRL, THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN, BYE BYE BIRDIE, NOTLD are films I know.

However, in general, I'm a big fan of blind buys. I've got three BDs shipping tomorrow that are ALL blind buys. I ordered two BDs last night that are blind buys.

For me, the blind buy is part of the wonderful discover process of movies. I don't go to theaters anymore. So I like to sit in my home theater and enjoy that same sense of anticipation that I used to get at the theater. I like to know if I'm going to make wonderful discovery or have to suffer through a dud.

As a movie buff, life would be pretty boring if I was familiar with EVERY movie I bought.

Of course, I know my taste and I read reviews so I don't buy things that I obviously won't be interested in. Every once in awhile, I make a mistake...thought I would love CHICAGO and CLOVERFIELD for example...but came this close to just throwing them in the garbage because I hated them . Nevertheless, I still enjoy the process. It's not ALL about money. Yeah, money is one factor but I don't want it prevent me from experiencing movies that I haven't seen before.

[PBR]

Originally Posted by popeflick

It WOULD be fair to say that the age thing might be explained as the amount of disposable income difference would also effect buying habits. That is to say I'd be willing to bet the average 45 year old has more to spend on stuff like this (and thus feels the impact less) than the average 25 year old.

I agree. At this stage in my life I have a lot of disposable funds and at this point I don't think about weather or not I can afford it, I can.
This is why most 25 year old have better things to do their money or just simply don't know the movies anyway, which is a shame!
I look at people's lists of their best movies of all time and when I see nothing on their list older then 20 years old I just kringe! No Citizen Kane, no Lawrence of Arabia, no Maltese Falcon! Unless its in colour and includes aliens or at least one robot then it's no good!
So with over $60,000 in movies and $35,000 in equiptment, yea I'd have to say old age is good and disposable income isn't overrated! lol

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by PBR

I agree. At this stage in my life I have a lot of disposable funds and at this point I don't think about weather or not I can afford it, I can.
This is why most 25 year old have better things to do their money or just simply don't know the movies anyway, which is a shame!
I look at people's lists of their best movies of all time and when I see nothing on their list older then 20 years old I just kringe! No Citizen Kane, no Lawrence of Arabia, no Maltese Falcon! Unless its in colour and includes aliens or at least one robot then it's no good!
So with over $60,000 in movies and $35,000 in equiptment, yea I'd have to say old age is good and disposable income isn't overrated! lol

I'm 30 and it really bothers me as well that younger folks have never even heard of the classics.

[PBR]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I'm 30 and it really bothers me as well that younger folks have never even heard of the classics.

30 huh? Well it's nice to know there's hope for our future!
As for only watching Lawerence of Arabia once, I could watch it everyday!
It like watching Blade Runner only once. You need to realize the influence it has on Sci-FI movies after it or how Fritz Lange's influenced Blade Runner or 2001!
If you don't understand the history of film then your just wasting two hours of your life in a dark room you'll never get back?

[EddieLarkin]

Heh, I'm 24 and you'll be hard pressed to find any film made after 1979 in my top 10. Some of us just grow up quicker I guess

[Yankees0222]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Heh, I'm 24 and you'll be hard pressed to find any film made after 1979 in my top 10. Some of us just grow up quicker I guess

That's because you're a pretentious D-Bag! I kid, I kid

[starman15317]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I'm 30 and it really bothers me as well that younger folks have never even heard of the classics.

I'm 17 and I feel the same way. Of course, I'm still discovering many of these movies for the first time, but I've seen more of the classics than most people my age. Of course, the fact that I'm in love with film certainly helps.

[Yankees0222]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Damn, I have kids older than you, but one of the nice things about having my discs in the house is when my younger wants to pull out Metropolis or the original King Kong or Maltese Falcon/Treasure Sierra Madre or any number of Hitchcocks -- they're right there and he has done it several times.

Now sad thing is he hated Metropolis, but he watched it. He has this unnatural thing for Wes Anderson movies, but he speaks Kubrick and Welles and Hitchcock and Woody Allen as well as Peter Jackson and Harry Potter.

Next time he's home I'll try to get him into Kurosawa (he did think Hausu was "interesting") though I think Berman/Fellini might be a bit much to ask from an 18yo.

I was 19 (now 24) when I watched my first Bergman (the virgin spring) and thought it was amazing. He's now one of my favorite directors. Point of the story? Don't underestimate!

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Yankees0222

That's because you're a pretentious D-Bag! I kid, I kid

Even my closest friends assume I'm putting on some sort of elitism act when I mention some of my favourites are foreign or black and white films. Woe is me

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Damn, I have kids older than you, but one of the nice things about having my discs in the house is when my younger wants to pull out Metropolis or the original King Kong or Maltese Falcon/Treasure Sierra Madre or any number of Hitchcocks -- they're right there and he has done it several times.

Now sad thing is he hated Metropolis, but he watched it. He has this unnatural thing for Wes Anderson movies, but he speaks Kubrick and Welles and Hitchcock and Woody Allen as well as Peter Jackson and Harry Potter.

Next time he's home I'll try to get him into Kurosawa (he did think Hausu was "interesting") though I think Berman/Fellini might be a bit much to ask from an 18yo.

I can't wait to have my own brood so I can force feed them classic cinema from day one! By the time I'm in my 30s my collection should be 3000 titles strong, so they'll have one hell of a library to experience. If all goes well for me they'll have the use of a 12ft screen and state of the art sound system too!

But yeah don't underestimate the young, I watched and loved The Seventh Seal at 15/16!

[Blu Titan]

My apologies, but what I disagree with is the reference to the younger generations not willing to spend $30 for a title as that statement appears dismissive...specially when the facts indicate otherwise. Fright Night 1985 the current fastest sellout soon to be replaced by NOTLD 1990, Enemy Mine 1985 will also be right there. JTCOTE and Mysterious Island both appeal to younger generations from 80's and 90's...Any musicals selling out? Who is spending the money to purchase the titles? Btw, I am in my late 30's.

[PBR]

Love the debate guys! I love the fact that the best of cinema isn't lost on the young. I'm 49 this year and I don't think of my self as an old fart but I love classic movies, new ones too but please please please Hollywood enough of the remakes! Especially the bad ones. Remaking them isn't gonna improve a bad idea!
Yea I can see it now The Third Man - The new Breed in 3D!
THUD! (the sound of me having a stroke and falling down on the floor dead)
That's another discussion for another post!

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

My apologies, but what I disagree with is the reference to the younger generations not willing to spend $30 for a title as that statement appears dismissive...specially when the facts indicate otherwise. Fright Night 1985 the current fastest sellout soon to be replaced by NOTLD 1990, Enemy Mine 1985 will also be right there. JTCOTE and Mysterious Island both appeal to younger generations from 80's and 90's...Any musicals selling out? Who is spending the money to purchase the titles? Btw, I am in my late 30's.

In a way, I think your statements may actually work to reinforce the point that some of us old fogies are making (though I haven't specifically commented on this as such).

The sold out and soon to be sold out titles are definitely in the popular horror and adventure genre. FRIGHT NIGHT and NOTLD have been cable staples for years. I've seen JTTCOTE on the tube many times.

Any musicals selling out? No way. I've got all Twilight Time musicals myself. Your right...they don't seem anywhere near selling out.

If, as you logically state, these are titles which " appeal to younger generations from 80's and 90's", then it would appear that the said generation is buying recent titles with which they are already familiar. They like the work of Tom Savini and Tony Todd.

They aren't buying those musicals. The haven't bought HIGH TIME, COVER GIRL, PAL JOEY or BYE BYE BIRDIE. They are not exposing themselves to the works of many artists from previous generations. They don't seem interested in watching Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Ann-Margret or Bobby Rydell.

I own the BD of FRIGHT NIGHT and I have NOTLD on pre-order because I enjoy them too. But I also have THE WAYWARD BUS in the mail because I'm interested in seeing the work of people I haven't seen on film before. And tonight, I watched PAL JOEY again (last night, I watched TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2).

The fact that gore and sci-fi (which I also buy) dramatically outsells classic musicals causes me to suspect that people aren't being open to things outside of their generational comfort zone.

[Page14]

I could very well be wrong, but I think the TT titles that sell well are directly related to the age of the generation of people buying that title. In my mind, the people that grew up using the internet will buy movies over the internet much more readily than people of older generations (... especially movies from their own generation). It's the newest TT titles that have sold out very quickly and the oldest titles that don't seem to be in jeopardy of selling out too quickly.

If this is overly obvious, then I'm embarrassed I said it.

EDIT: Of course this theory might not hold true for films like Steel Magnolias or As Good As It Gets. (No offense intended. )

[MrClarke]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

I think it's more what Rock was saying--many people buy what they're familiar with. I just don't believe in the $30 blind buy.

Exactly. And I like classic movies too... But paying $30 for not only a movie I've never seen, but in a lot if their cases never even HEARD of. Get them to release Penny Serenade. I'll buy that one just to show that I appreciate their older catalog efforts. But all these obscure films. I'm glad they exist for the people who know and want them. I just can't justify that expensive of a blind buy.

[Truewitt]

Originally Posted by PBR

30 huh? Well it's nice to know there's hope for our future!
As for only watching Lawerence of Arabia once, I could watch it everyday!
It like watching Blade Runner only once. You need to realize the influence it has on Sci-FI movies after it or how Fritz Lange's influenced Blade Runner or 2001!
If you don't understand the history of film then your just wasting two hours of your life in a dark room you'll never get back?

I don't know if this is how you meant it, but is there really no way to simply enjoy watching a movie? Must there always be a mental discourse going on that breaks down a movie while watching, so that all enjoyment other than the intellectual is lost? I think almost all the creators of those great films you love would disagree on that point.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

So is the expression "so last <whatever>"

All teasing aside octagon, I never said that this was the only valid business model for Blu-ray...but it sure has been a lock-cracker on the Fox vault! In 30 years of home video, most of TT's deep, deep catalogue titles have not been available at all, or if so, were crudely panned and scanned on VHS-only. No one - not the studio - not another licensee - was doing this stuff. History is the only evidence I need on that point.

At the other end of the scale, you do have a point. Enemy Mine would have no doubt found another home...eventually.

That's the thing about some movies, they grow on you. I used to dislike Roman Polanski's THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, but then I bought, on speck, the laserdisc of it when the letterboxed, director's cut was released (I think it was 1993). At first I was still like, "Did I need to spoend the money on this?" but I watched it again, then months later watched it again, and over the years I began really liking it. Now, it's one of my favorite movies to the extent that I actually spent over $700 for an original 1-sheet poster, and then spent a couple hundred more having it linen-backed. Now, that's movie love!

Same thing with THE SAND PEBBLES. I saw it theatrically in 1969, on a double-feature with the dreadful CHE!, and I liked it, and it remained a favorite, but it wasn't until I had it letterboxed, first on LD, then on a couple DVD versions, and finally on Blu-ray (and who knows on what future format) that it really became a top ten favorite of mine -- and, yes, I do have an original 1-sheet.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

I think it's more what Rock was saying--many people buy what they're familiar with. I just don't believe in the $30 blind buy.

I have a pretty strict rule of thumb when it comes to collecting movies on whatever home video format you're into, and it is this....

NEVER, EVER, EVER... BUY A MOVIE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE!

99.9% of the time, you're going to regret the purchase, and even if you liked the movie, chances are still good that you'll never or very rarely watch it again. It'll most likely just become another dust collector on the shelf. Of course, as I just related in a previous post, there are the cases when a movie will grow on you with repeated viewings, but those are the rare cases. In most cases you'll just want to get rid of the thing. Those are the tapes or discs that you trade or sell off.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by Rory

I have a pretty strict rule of thumb when it comes to collecting movies on whatever home video format you're into, and it is this....

NEVER, EVER, EVER... BUY A MOVIE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE!

WORST RULE EVER !

I can't imagine denying myself the opportunity to enjoy the sense of discovery that comes from sitting down to watch a new movie in my collection. It's like buying a ticket to movie.

I wouldn't be into home theater if my movie buying consisted of only acquiring those things that I'm familiar with. That would be boring beyond tolerance.

I thinks it's the saddest thing about this hobby that so many people just stick to what they know.

[CinemaScope]

I've blind bought films I thought I might like, but they've been DVD's from Amazon Marketplace for a couple of pounds. I wouldn't blind buy something for $30-$40 (plus p&p), I wish I had the finances to do that, but unfortunately I don't.