Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[oildude]

Originally Posted by lcummins

Almost all TT releases are $29.95 but you list $35+ in several posts.

Most of the Sony releases from last year are $34.95 plus SAE shipping, which adds $4.xx for the first item. Add that shipping cost to the $29.95 titles, and you still get a rounded cost of $35. TCM appears to charge an additional $5 above SAE. So, yeah, Pro-b and others are correct.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I agree. With the threat of streaming and downloads overtaking physical media I think we all should be happy about what we are getting. This may be the last time we will ever see any of these titles on a disc form.

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

There is no such threat of one taking over the other. The future of the market will be one of multiple choices for the consumer and multiple revenue streams for the content owners.

Pro-B

There might not be a threat on streaming or downloads overtaking physical media, but finding the physical media in the first place, seems to be getting more difficult. I'm talking about the way the B&M stores are dwindling their bluray selections and quantities. Personally, I'd rather shop in a physical store than buy (or even find out where to buy it) online.

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by Page14

There might not be a threat on streaming or downloads overtaking physical media, but finding the physical media in the first place, seems to be getting more difficult. I'm talking about the way the B&M stores are dwindling their bluray selections and quantities. Personally, I'd rather shop in a physical store than buy (or even find out where to buy it) online.

I love browsing through racks of blu-rays, one of the good things about it is, you may come across a title that you didn't even know was released or slipped through the radar, sadly like you mentioned most B&M have a poor or dwindling selection.

[bluknight1]

Originally Posted by JoeDeM

I love browsing through racks of blu-rays, one of the good things about it is, you may come across a title that you didn't even know was released or slipped through the radar, sadly like you mentioned most B&M have a poor or dwindling selection.

ALL retailers seem to have a poor or dwindling selection. Costco sometimes has a decent selection of classics, but lately in my experience it's been hit or miss.

[larrys]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

An amazingly honest and candid interview by Redman, which does answer many long-running questions about Twilight Time.

His insight into the inner workings of Hollywood's home video departments is illuminating but not unexpected.

What caught my eye reading that interview was his explanation of the MGM/UA deal:

"Years ago Ted Turner purchased the rights to the MGM library pre-1986, a back catalogue that included hundreds of titles. These became the cornerstone for his cable empire known as TCM – Turner Classic Movies – and Turner eventually sold the rights to Warner Bros. who are now the custodians of this vast library. The deal Twilight Time has made with MGM/UA has nothing to do with this catalogue, but in fact contains a fairly impressive collection of movies – all the United Artist catalogue, MGM titles from 1986 to the present and all of the titles released through Cannon, Polygram, and, Orion."

"All the United Artists catalogue"....that's absolutely fantastic....I double checked on Wikipedia last night....just from the 50s through the 70s, there are dozens of UA titles that haven't been released on Blu yet that I would buy if TT announces them. The UA catalogue is enormous. Yes, many great UA titles are already on Blu, but I didn't remember how huge their output was in their heyday of the 60s and 70s. Smile (1975) w/ Bruce Dern is a UA title. Equus w/ Richard Burton is as well.

However, personally, I couldn't care less about MGM titles from 1986-present or Cannon titles. Orion and Polygram titles don't do much for either.

[Member-222782]

There's something I'm still not clear on. Mr. Redman states, " ...all the UA catalogue, MGM titles from 1986 to the present and all of the titles released through Cannon, Polygram and Orion" but just before that he says "the deal TT has made with MGM/UA has nothing to do with that catalogue" (presumably pre-'86). So does the deal include just the MGM post-86 library or all of the sublabels (UA, Cannon, Orion, etc) post-'86? To be completely honest I can't think of very many post-'86 titles that would fit TT's criteria.

[larrys]

Originally Posted by cine74

There's something I'm still not clear on. Mr. Redman states, " ...all the UA catalogue, MGM titles from 1986 to the present and all of the titles released through Cannon, Polygram and Orion" but just before that he says "the deal TT has made with MGM/UA has nothing to do with that catalogue" (presumably pre-'86). So does the deal include just the MGM post-86 library or all of the sublabels (UA, Cannon, Orion, etc) post-'86? To be completely honest I can't think of very many post-'86 titles that would fit TT's criteria.

I'm sure many people will correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read Mr. Redman's comments is that he states a timeframe only for the MGM titles, 1986-present. He mentions that specifically. No timeframe for the UA, Cannon, Orion and Polygram titles. All means all. If it is only from 1986-present for UA and the others, then I can't think of ANY titles that I would want on Blu that I don't already have....None.

If it is all UA titles, as I would understand Redman's comments, I just remembered that would also include Last Embrace (1979) w/ Roy Scheider. It's never been released on DVD...I haven't seen it in decades. I would hope that means that TT would have it available for Blu.

[CrazyHorse42]

Last Embrace would be most welcome on Blu. A great score from Miklos Rozsa too.

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by cine74

There's something I'm still not clear on. Mr. Redman states, " ...all the UA catalogue, MGM titles from 1986 to the present and all of the titles released through Cannon, Polygram and Orion" but just before that he says "the deal TT has made with MGM/UA has nothing to do with that catalogue" (presumably pre-'86). So does the deal include just the MGM post-86 library or all of the sublabels (UA, Cannon, Orion, etc) post-'86? To be completely honest I can't think of very many post-'86 titles that would fit TT's criteria.

So for those that buy all TT releases will it slow you down, now that TT will be releasing 4 to 5 titles a month next year? I know for myself I don't buy everything, but I'm excited that I will have more to choose from.

[klauswhereareyou]

I just hope they don't put out any of Woody Allen's UA/Orion films, because that means we'll never get a blu ray set.

[dumb_dutchman]

Originally Posted by Badas

Just get the Italian version. Save some $$. I have it and it is great.

I was eyeballing this version for a while, but it is no longer listed on Amazon Italia (at least that I could find). For the last few months it had been essentially out of stock, but shipping in 1 to 3 weeks, so I held off. Hopefully it will show up again.

So, now I am looking at the Spanish version and will probably wait until that one is no longer available too.

[lcummins]

Originally Posted by oildude

Most of the Sony releases from last year are $34.95 plus SAE shipping, which adds $4.xx for the first item. Add that shipping cost to the $29.95 titles, and you still get a rounded cost of $35. TCM appears to charge an additional $5 above SAE. So, yeah, Pro-b and others are correct.

Actually, it has been mentioned a few times now, including the latest interview that prompted this latest set of posts, that TT have settled on a price point of $29.95; the last title that was higher than that (excluding Major Dundee being a two disc set) was Bell, Book and Candle, released 4/10/2012, so it has been almost 1 1/2 years since titles were above $29.95.

And to include shipping costs isn't really comparing apples to apples, since shipping is dependent on many things, including where you buy, how many titles you buy, etc. I realize that up until recently, the only choices were SAE and their Amazon marketplace so people had no choices really about shipping, but if you ordered several titles at once (as many here do), the shipping per title is much less.

[tama]

Originally Posted by lcummins

Actually, it has been mentioned a few times now, including the latest interview that prompted this latest set of posts, that TT have settled on a price point of $29.95; the last title that was higher than that (excluding Major Dundee being a two disc set) was Bell, Book and Candle, released 4/10/2012, so it has been almost 1 1/2 years since titles were above $29.95.

And to include shipping costs isn't really comparing apples to apples, since shipping is dependent on many things, including where you buy, how many titles you buy, etc. I realize that up until recently, the only choices were SAE and their Amazon marketplace so people had no choices really about shipping, but if you ordered several titles at once (as many here do), the shipping per title is much less.

At minimum one TT title purchased from SAE will cost 29.95 + shipping which will get you a rounded figure in the ballpark of $35.00. That answers your original question as to why members where stating the $35.00 price point to begin with.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by Badas

Just get the Italian version. Save some $$. I have it and it is great.

I'd rather support Nick and TT. I know the title is coming, so I can wait.

[lcummins]

Originally Posted by tama

At minimum one TT title purchased from SAE will cost 29.95 + shipping which will get you a rounded figure in the ballpark of $35.00. That answers your original question as to why members where stating the $35.00 price point to begin with.

Well if we are doing a minimum of one, then even at importcds.com, an average Olive title will be closer to $18 than $15 or $16 because of the handling fee and shipping charge. Everyplace else will be closer to $20 - $25.

[larrys]

Originally Posted by cine74

There's something I'm still not clear on. Mr. Redman states, " ...all the UA catalogue, MGM titles from 1986 to the present and all of the titles released through Cannon, Polygram and Orion" but just before that he says "the deal TT has made with MGM/UA has nothing to do with that catalogue" (presumably pre-'86). So does the deal include just the MGM post-86 library or all of the sublabels (UA, Cannon, Orion, etc) post-'86? To be completely honest I can't think of very many post-'86 titles that would fit TT's criteria.

To clear up any lingering confusion for anyone, this is from Twilight Time/Mr. Redman himself at a thread on hometheaterforum.com:

"Posted Today, 08:38 AM

That's correct, Matt--just to clarify, this is what is available to license from MGM/UA:

1. The entire United Artists catalogue

2. MGM titles post-1986

3. All Orion titles

4. All Polygram titles

5. All Cannon Films titles

The first wave of titles licensed by Twilight Time are culled from the UA and Orion catalogues.

Best,

Nick."

"The entire United Artists catalogue"....they could release 3 Blu rays a month just from that catalogue for a decade...sadly, physical media probably won't last the rest of this decade.

[dumb_dutchman]

I would love to see Rollerball (1975).

IMDB has it as MGM/UA for DVD. Not certain if that would fall under those guidelines or not.

[HyperRealist]

Originally Posted by JoeDeM

So for those that buy all TT releases will it slow you down, now that TT will be releasing 4 to 5 titles a month next year? I know for myself I don't buy everything, but I'm excited that I will have more to choose from.

There is no way I am buying 5 a month. This will probably cause me to sell the ones I have now and quit collecting them. If they do 4-5 a month I'm done with them. I'll go back to staying up to date on Criterions. Plus I want to get out of the TT game before 3 years is up on the titles, someone else releases them and they are worthless.

[klauswhereareyou]

As far as Orion goes....hows about UHF, Monkey Shines, The Dark Half, Married to the Mob, Prince of the City, The Unbearable Lightness of Being?

[BarnDoor]

Prince of the City is with Warner no? I think it's just Orion stuff that MGM owns.