Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[trombone dixie]

anyone know when they are going to start the pre-order of Christine? that is of course if they haven't already.

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I believe 4PM EST Friday the 15th

found it, nevermind.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Christine will outsell The Fury by 2 to 1 or even 3 to 1.

I don't even hear anyone talking about The Fury. Maybe when Christine sells out in like 2 days people will finally remember it exists.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Aclea

at the time was regarded as Carpenter's worst film.

The Thing, released the previous year, was (according to common cultural consensus now, but I don't have specific reviews in front of me to cite) absolutely lambasted by critics and made $19.6 million, ranked 42nd for the year. Christine made (slightly) more money, $21.01 million, and ranked 35th for the year. How could anyone at the time have regarded Christine as the inferior film, as it made more money and garnered more favorable notices?

[kngtmat]

What. How about look for yourself like I had to do.

Here is a few things and many more places online as well as some old magazines too.
http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter....ges/press.html


Also being in Theaters at the same time as Scarface & Sudden Impact plus a few others which were a bit bigger didn't help Christine.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

The Thing, released the previous year, was (according to common cultural consensus now, but I don't have specific reviews in front of me to cite) absolutely lambasted by critics and made $19.6 million, ranked 42nd for the year. Christine made (slightly) more money, $21.01 million, and ranked 35th for the year. How could anyone at the time have regarded Christine as the inferior film, as it made more money and garnered more favorable notices?

The summer of '82 was loaded with sci-fantasy-horror movies, yet coughed up several massive B.O. hairballs: John Carpenter's The Thing, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Disney's Tron, and Paul Schrader's Cat People...all of them spectacularly underperforming relative to their budgets, and when you factor in prints, promotion, and exhibitor cuts, without exception, huge flops. And yet all of those movies (except for CP) were eventually rediscovered on home video and went on to become solid cult hits, racking up millions in revenue from releases and re-releases in every home format to date. Blade Runner and The Thing in particular must hold some kind of record for generating more profit from home video than first run exhibition.

Same basic thing happened to Christine a year later, only the budgetary stakes weren't as high, so its balance sheet looked a bit better before going to video. But think about it...until the introduction of the Blu-ray format, this movie has never been out of release during the entire 30 year history of home video! How many network and cable broadcasts? How many VHS rentals? How many Laserdisc and DVD sales? In that context, it's not difficult to understand why some fans are perplexed by Sony's disinterest in releasing this title again themselves, preferring to license it to TT instead on a limited 3000 run. Even the most conservative math would show Christine has more life in it than that...probably not in the tens or hundreds of thousands Sony would need via retail, but substantially more than 3000.

So how well or how poorly any of these cult movies originally performed theatrically doesn't really tell the whole story anyway NoirFan. It's what happened to them after they hit home video and found more substantial success in the digital realm. In that context, I think we could see one wild feeding frenzy this Friday...

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

So how well or how poorly any of these cult movies originally performed theatrically doesn't really tell the whole story anyway NoirFan.

I agree completely, I was questioning Aclea's assertion that 'at the time' Christine 'was regarded as Carpenter's worst film' which was not the case either critically or financially.

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

I agree completely, I was questioning Aclea's assertion that 'at the time' Christine 'was regarded as Carpenter's worst film' which was not the case either critically or financially.

Well I can't speak for back then, but in retrospect Christine is his weakest film from the 1976-1988 period. The car stuff is good, but the characters are kind of bland/cookie cutter. Whatever depth may have been there in the novel must've gotten flushed in order to make a two hour movie. I still like it, but just not as much as his others from then, but only In the Mouth of Madness and Vampires (thanks mostly to James Woods' performance) are the only post-88 films that I'd say are better then Christine.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

I agree completely, I was questioning Aclea's assertion that 'at the time' Christine 'was regarded as Carpenter's worst film' which was not the case either critically or financially.

Yes it was: go back to the original reviews and they're pretty scathing. Carpenter's supporters in the press had been disappointed by The Thing at the time - one of the major criticisms was non-existant characterisation and an over-reliance on shock effects - and many just took Christine as confirmation that he was burning out, though this time citing an absence of shocks. As I said, it did okay in the US but internationally was a disaster, even in territories where Carpenter films usually did well, pretty much coming and going unnoticed, unlike The Thing which had a much bigger marketing campaign and a lot more anticipation which made its theatrical failure seem a much bigger deal.

[tellybox]

I know I'll feel a lot better once my preorder is in!

Good chances we'll see an early release again, similar to Night of the Living Dead?

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Yes it was: go back to the original reviews and they're pretty scathing. Carpenter's supporters in the press had been disappointed by The Thing at the time - one of the major criticisms was non-existant characterisation and an over-reliance on shock effects - and many just took Christine as confirmation that he was burning out, though this time citing an absence of shocks. As I said, it did okay in the US but internationally was a disaster, even in territories where Carpenter films usually did well, pretty much coming and going unnoticed, unlike The Thing which had a much bigger marketing campaign and a lot more anticipation which made its theatrical failure seem a much bigger deal.

Hmmm.... I'm not to sure about all of that. I'd like to see posts to links you're talking about. A quick look at Siskel/Ebert from that time shows they split.

But characterizations missing in The Thing does not sound like valid criticism.

I recall The Fog being the least liked of the Carpenter films from that era, not the Thing certainly.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by tellybox

I know I'll feel a lot better once my preorder is in!

Good chances we'll see an early release again, similar to Night of the Living Dead?

Whenever they sell out before release date they simply ship as soon as they get the product rather than wait. If they get it a week or so early then they will ship then. However there was one title where they were actually a little lat and actually missed release date by a few days. I can't remember which one.

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

The summer of '82 was loaded with sci-fantasy-horror movies, yet coughed up several massive B.O. hairballs: John Carpenter's The Thing, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Disney's Tron, and Paul Schrader's Cat People...all of them spectacularly underperforming relative to their budgets, and when you factor in prints, promotion, and exhibitor cuts, without exception, huge flops. And yet all of those movies (except for CP) were eventually rediscovered on home video and went on to become solid cult hits, racking up millions in revenue from releases and re-releases in every home format to date. Blade Runner and The Thing in particular must hold some kind of record for generating more profit from home video than first run exhibition.

Same basic thing happened to Christine a year later, only the budgetary stakes weren't as high, so its balance sheet looked a bit better before going to video. But think about it...until the introduction of the Blu-ray format, this movie has never been out of release during the entire 30 year history of home video! How many network and cable broadcasts? How many VHS rentals? How many Laserdisc and DVD sales? In that context, it's not difficult to understand why some fans are perplexed by Sony's disinterest in releasing this title again themselves, preferring to license it to TT instead on a limited 3000 run. Even the most conservative math would show Christine has more life in it than that...probably not in the tens or hundreds of thousands Sony would need via retail, but substantially more than 3000.

So how well or how poorly any of these cult movies originally performed theatrically doesn't really tell the whole story anyway NoirFan. It's what happened to them after they hit home video and found more substantial success in the digital realm. In that context, I think we could see one wild feeding frenzy this Friday...

Was everyone off watching ET or something? I'd have thought Cat People would have had men of all ages lining up round the block!

[captveg]

Originally Posted by Killer Meteor

Was everyone off watching ET or something? I'd have thought Cat People would have had men of all ages lining up round the block!

Summer 1982 Box Office

[Dex Robinson]

In the category of "Personal Trivia that Nobody Else Cares About" I offer this:

CAT PEOPLE was the very last HD DVD I ever bought before switching to Blu-ray. Ironically, it's still not on BD.

[duggie walker]

Have to say, I saw Christine when it first opened and I thought it was pretty terrible, even as an adaptation of a not very good book. And I can back up the assertion that it was poorly received by critics; as was THE THING, which was seen as quite vulgar in its (then quite extreme) gore - in comparison to Carpenter's earlier films, which relied more on suggestion. Difference being, imo, that THE THING turned out to be a classic whereas CHRISTINE did not. Personally, I just don't think the idea of an "evil car" is in any way scary and I never will. Same goes for cats, dogs or any fluffy mammals.

THE FURY isn't great either - again, not well received at the time - but it's a bit more interesting than CHRISTINE, and has some pretty striking moments.

Of course, I will be buying both, because I'm an *******.

[davidthenikonuser]

From TT facebook page.

Pre-order for Christine and The Fury go on-line Friday the 15 at 4PM EST Available Exclusively from http://www.screenarchives.com

Specs,

Christine (1983) Blu-ray

Director: John Carpenter
Composer: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

Starring: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Christine Belford, Roberts Blossom, Kelly Preston

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Audio Commentary with Filmmakers John Carpenter and Keith Gordon / Fast and Furious / Finish Line / Ignition / Deleted and Alternate Scenes

LANGUAGE: English

VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1

AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA

SUBTITLES: English SDH

1983 / Color

111 MINUTES

Rated: R

REGION FREE

Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

Release Date: March 12th, 2013

Retail Price: $29.95
__________________________________________________ ___________________


THE FURY (1978) Blu-ray

Director: Brian DePalma
Composer: John Williams

Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Original Theatrical Trailer

LANGUAGE: English

SUBTITLES: English SDH

VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 1.85:1

AUDIO: English 4.0 DTS-HD MA / English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

1978 / Color

118 MINUTES

Rated: R

REGION FREE

Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

Release Date: March 12th, 2013

Retail Price: $29.95

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Killer Meteor

Was everyone off watching ET or something?

Yep, pretty much*. Plus Poltergeist. Plus Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Actually, it was a very successful summer (and year) for genre movies in general Killer Meteor...just not the ones mentioned above, at least during their original theatrical engagements.

Originally Posted by Killer Meteor

I'd have thought Cat People would have had men of all ages lining up round the block!

Initially, sure. But for a horror movie Cat People was really expensive, although it probably broke even eventually via cable and home video sales.

* E.T. still holds the record for the most weekends at #1.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

In the category of "Personal Trivia that Nobody Else Cares About" I offer this:

CAT PEOPLE was the very last HD DVD I ever bought before switching to Blu-ray. Ironically, it's still not on BD.

I still have mine too Dex, plus my HD-DVD player. Last count, at least a dozen of the titles in that section of my collection still aren't available on Blu-ray.

[dsman71]

When I have Christine in my hands I will watch that and the Car on the same night as an auto double feature

[kngtmat]

Christine will be my BD. My Friend Bill will get it as well and he would probably watch it in his garage with his real Christine.