Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by oildude

I am trying to decide which of these choices I find the least annoying:

A) Having my nads pounded flat with a mallet.

B) Reading another post on the Twilght Time thread about how much laserdiscs cost back in the day.


I choose A.

What about C) Reading people still complain in Twilight Time threads about their pricing structure?

[jetthead]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

What about C) Reading people still complain in Twilight Time threads about their pricing structure?

Bingo!

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by Aclea

And some of us don't understand where the disconnect is over the false assumption that every Criterion release has extras and every Twilight Time release supposedly doesn't, even when several of the latter have more extras than the DVD releases. Yet still people keep on trotting out the same claim.

they just don't follow the thread, and only pop-in when there is a title they are interested in, so they spout the same old arguments.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by oildude

I am trying to decide which of these choices I find the least annoying:

A) Having my nads pounded flat with a mallet.

B) Reading another post on the Twilght Time thread about how much laserdiscs cost back in the day.


I choose A.

As luck would have it, I just so happen to have a mallet. What time will you be round?

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Aclea

As luck would have it, I just so happen to have a mallet. What time will you been round?

For English speakers, it's BE around.

Since you are so eager to handle a stranger's nads (eww!!), I will gladly grant you the privilege if you will first shave your legs, dress up like Nurse Mandy, and undergo a Dave's Insanity Sauce enema while singing the theme song to The Way We Were (you know, just to keep the whole experience Twilight Time related). I think you are up to the challenge.

Oh, and also tap your toes together and repeat three times: "I will not discuss laserdisc prices back in the day on the Twilight Time thread."




Of course, all this must wait until I have finished my latest batch of TT movies. Currently halfway through Khartoum, a favorite. It looks magnificent. MGM did a fine job with the transfer.

[cmleidi]

I watched the TITUS blu-ray. it's not the disaster it has been reported as being, but it's also not great. It's a bit better than the DVD. It's sharper and there are more details, but there is a dullness to certain scenes (not the entire movie as some reviewers have indicated). This is especially noticeable in the scene where Aaron and Tamora have their tryst in the woods. The picture should pop at that point, but there's that dullness. The dullness appears to happen in the middle of the frame while the sides of the picture do not always have the dullness.

In other scenes, the image is quite good: a scene where a character spells out someone's name is extremely vibrant. The blu-ray is also better in darker scenes. The dvd can be way too dark. I have the 2 disc dvd set so I compared the two versions (had the dvd and blu-ray playing simultaneously). If someone doesn't have the dvd set, the blu-ray is a fine purchase as the print is solid, and the extras are very enjoyable and interesting. I also do not know if I would have noticed some of the problems if I weren't looking for them. The menus are beautiful compared to the dvd's menus which were a pain.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

I see the scalpers are already out in full force LOL

[Show spoiler]

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

Agree on all your points. And don't forget the Paypal fees, too!

Hey, it's possible the seller was just a HUGE Malcolm McDowall fan and wanted a signed ROYAL FLASH and bought several copies of T&L to get to the $100+ mark, and now is selling them off to make his money back and change. And now he gets a free signed ROYAL FLASH! I doubt it, but you never know...

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

Well if you look he is listing a bunch of twilight time auctions. On each sale he must be getting at least 10 bucks or more. I have sold on Ebay before, none of what you describe takes any real time. I doubt he is living in a mansion off of it but 10-15 bucks a sale and even more if something sells out doesn't sound like an awful deal.

[Imrahil2001]

I've done it for that amount; sell a couple, get mine free.

[felixemartinez]

I watched the Titus blu-ray last week, projected on a 92 inch screen. It's not a new scan; that's no secret. The opticals, in particular, are not clean and the image quality lacks the resolve of a state-of-the-art negative scan. But IMHO it replaces an unwatchable DVD if you have a larger screen set-up and extras have been carried over. The lossless audio is wonderful.

Unfortunately, this is a film that may not be revisited in some time, and I'm glad to have it, as I'm a fan.

This will do just fine until Criterion or Fox do a 4K scan down the road.

P.S. while re-watching the extras, I heard Taymor explaining how she wanted this to be almost a B&W film; that the color palette was very limited by design. I think it was during the post-screening Q&A feature where she also talks about switching DPs. So I'm not sure the expectation of color vibrancy is warranted.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

If you buy about 6 or 8 titles, the shipping is less. I don't think I've ever put in an order to Twilight Time for just 1 movie - due to the inefficiency of shipping costs, I bet my minimum is 4 or 5. My last order was like 6 movies I think (and no, none of them were for "flips").

I've bought extras a few times on "sellout" titles. It literally takes like 2 minutes of my time to set up an auction using the ebay app, and hardly any time to ship it with the label printing right through ebay. I'd say it's easily worth it for *ANY* amount of profit - and like some others my idea is to just pay for my own copies if I'm lucky. Fright Night alone probably paid for about 6 or 7 of my Twilight Time collection. I can live without a signed copy of Fright Night, since as a collectible it means nothing to me. I'd rather just have a nice selection than just one "collectible".

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

If you buy about 6 or 8 titles, the shipping is less. I don't think I've ever put in an order to Twilight Time for just 1 movie - due to the inefficiency of shipping costs, I bet my minimum is 4 or 5. My last order was like 6 movies I think (and no, none of them were for "flips").

I've bought extras a few times on "sellout" titles. It literally takes like 2 minutes of my time to set up an auction using the ebay app, and hardly any time to ship it with the label printing right through ebay. I'd say it's easily worth it for *ANY* amount of profit - and like some others my idea is to just pay for my own copies if I'm lucky. Fright Night alone probably paid for about 6 or 7 of my Twilight Time collection. I can live without a signed copy of Fright Night, since as a collectible it means nothing to me. I'd rather just have a nice selection than just one "collectible".

I can see the logic in instances like this. I still will not ever do this myself because that's just not how I roll, but I can see the logic.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by Aclea

If you ignore their completely extras-free Eclipse range (often of films that have plenty of extras in other territories) and extras-free releases like Kapo, Gervaise, Sword of Doom, Lights of Variety, Mayerling, Le Trou... Admittedly all DVDs, but some will probably eventually turn up equally barebones on BD. And they've certainly released some dodgy transfers in their time (their about the transfer section in the Tunes of Glory DVD booklet that scrupulously doesn't mention the fact that there's a huge green tramline running through a whole reel of the film.

In some cases they've added extras: several of the featurettes on the Flint films weren't even included in the Ultimate Flint DVD boxed set, as well as extras that weren't on the DVDs of titles like Drums Alonmg the Mohawk, The Disappearance, Nicholas and Alexandra and Major Dundee.




You mean the ones with the same price point as Twilight Time?

I'm not "ignoring" anything, you are basically creating a strawman argument. If you asked me, Eclipse absolutely *IS* barebones (and that is the point of them). But those DVD's work out to about $10 per film even at MSRP. However since they are available AT RETAIL, I've been able to get some of those 4 or 5 film sets for as little as $15-20 brand new. Which is even less than $5 per film. That's a rather apples to oranges comparison I think.

$29 is not out of this world expensive, but it is definitely a premium. Particularly since their model basically locks you into MSRP. In practice, they are essentially the most expensive label - except for maybe Flicker Alley. I'm not saying this is wrong, if I didn't enjoy their work I wouldn't have about 20 or more Twilight Time blu-rays.

Some of the newest Twilight Time releases have had a fair amount of extras - but the early ones did not. Which is why they had a reputation for being "barebones". That was my point. However I admit I was not aware that some of the newer Twilight Time extras were 1080p (newly produced?) - so I will have to check some of those features out (especially the ones I already own).

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

I have bought an extra copy of a title exactly 2 times and I agree, it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by oildude

Since you are so eager to handle a stranger's nads (eww!!), I will gladly grant you the privilege if you will first shave your legs, dress up like Nurse Mandy, and undergo a Dave's Insanity Sauce enema while singing the theme song to The Way We Were (you know, just to keep the whole experience Twilight Time related).

No handling required - the joy of a good long mallet is you just have to lie back and swing away from a good, safe distance (safe for me, that is). After all, you made no mention of requiring the kind of personal services you pay extra for in most respectable red light areas in your original post, so you'll have to make your own arrangements there.

Oh, and also tap your toes together and repeat three times: "I will not discuss laserdisc prices back in the day on the Twilight Time thread."

Compared to the prices you'd pay for a 17-minute Super 8mm cutdown back in the 70s and 80s, let alone a feature, they're an absolute bargain bargain.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not going to judge, because we've all read plenty of that already here, but I cannot help wondering if this is really worth the seller's time and effort.

1. Ordering a Twilight Time Blu-ray for $34.30 (this is what a SAE purchase sets me back, at least)
2. Taking the time to post the above ad on eBay.
3. Dealing with eBay's seller fee.
4. Paying the shipping fee (since the above eBay ad guarantees free shipping).
5. Possibly being hassled with an unsatisfied customer if the item is damaged during shipping or does not arrive.

After buying a $34 Blu-ray, turning it over on eBay for $60, paying the eBay seller fee, and paying for shipping, does this really make any sense from a time-is-money perspective? Maybe if the Blu-ray sold on eBay for $100 or more, but I don't see the profit from a $60 sale being worth the time.

I get that some Twilight Time customers like to buy two copies of a Blu-ray release and sell the extra copy to make their money back for the first one. Maybe I just suck at capitalism, but I'd rather simply buy one single copy for myself for $34, and then relax to enjoy both the movie and my free time.

You see folks doing this stuff on eBay in a lot of categories, and I too just go "was all this really worth it for you?" In some cases they may have had coupons/etc. which reduced their overall cost, but that would not apply to this case.

When looking at an eBay price, the general rule is that 15% of the final auction sale price (including shipping since fees are now charged on that) is a safe bet for eBay/PayPal fees, etc.

But that also does not take into account the time and effort of packaging something, printing labels, mailing it, dealing with over-demanding customers (the ones that email you right away to "be sure to package the item securely" the second they have paid), etc. I've definitely resold stuff on eBay before, but my time is valuable, too - so I really don't find it worth it unless I'm going to make enough to make it worthwhile in those aspects.

To be honest, I generally prefer selling on Amazon these days - but that's going to be dependent on the item you are selling in particular, and personal preference.

[Yojimbo]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

To be honest, I generally prefer selling on Amazon these days - but that's going to be dependent on the item you are selling in particular, and personal preference.

I'm with you on that. I prefer it, as it's much easier. If I do anything with ebay, it's with half.com. It pretty much works the same as selling on Amazon.

[skyofcrack]

It's nice to see they're finally limiting some titles to one per customer. They should do that for all the 3000 titles. Also noticed that you cannot determine how many copies are left any more. No matter what number you put in 50 is the maximum.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by skyofcrack

It's nice to see they're finally limiting some titles to one per customer. They should do that for all the 3000 titles. Also noticed that you cannot determine how many copies are left any more. No matter what number you put in 50 is the maximum.

they've done that for ages. the last 500 or so in stock are limited..