Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[dumb_dutchman]

For those of us who returned the duplicate items back to Technicolor (or whoever they are)...and this is the paranoid side of me speaking...especially given the "threat" of being billed if the duplicate items were not returned, I wonder if we will receive any confirmation once the returned items are received? Per my UPS tracking number, my package was dropped off on Monday. It would be nice to receive some sort of feedback to insure me that the item was received and I don't have to worry about being unnecessarily charged.

Based on Twilight Time's response here, where they are laying all the blame on Technicolor, I don't see them being much help in all this.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by mja345

One of his most overlooked comedies is "Small Time Crooks", where he gets back to his early slapstick roots and plays an ignorant moron, as opposed to the neurotic intellectual he usually plays.

The only thing about "Anything Else" that I recommend is Woody Allen's performance in it. It's not a good movie, but instead of playing the lead neurotic character, he plays a sidekick who is basically a loud angry jerk. I remember it being the funniest performance he's given in a loooooong time, because he could just be funny, he didn't have to carry the movie at all. I'm actually with you on "Hollywood Ending" too, for similar reasons; not a great movie, maybe not even a good one, but really nice to see Allen himself being so goofy.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Page14

I guess there's one in every crowd but ...

I love Everything You Always Wanted to Know..... That and Sleeper might be my 2 favorite Woody Allen movies. It might be the first Woody Allen movie I ever saw on the big screen (not sure about Bananas or What's Up, Tiger Lily?, or even Play It Again, Sam ... too long ago for my old brain to remember without a doubt). But I think it's the first one I saw after his name gained some popularity (back in the 70s).

Other thoughts on Woody Allen:

• I think Woody Allen might be an acquired taste ... like martinis or beer or cigarettes or coffee. (Gee, are any of those things good for a person?)

• Even though I never seem to get a roaring belly laugh out of any Woody Allen movie, I can usually count on them for an unexpected guffaw or 2.

• You would think that at some point, all of these releases will be available on blu-ray in one big box set, no? (Even though, I don't like waiting for "what might be").

EDIT: Maybe I overreacted in saying that I *love* Everything You Always Wanted To Know...... It has been so long since I've seen it. I did like it at the time, and am very anxious to revisit it.

Everything You Always Wanted... does get pretty puerile at times. It doesn't have that same air of intellectualism that his later films do. But there's some really good laughs. Maybe low brow stuff is simply more memorable or has better replay value for me. I mean I remember really liking Hannah and her Sisters, and Crimes and Misdemeanors but I don't have any desire to watch them again any time soon. But give me Lou Jacobi prancing around in a blouse and skirt and I'm game for another viewing at any time.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

Everything You Always Wanted... does get pretty puerile at times. It doesn't have that same air of intellectualism that his later films do. But there's some really good laughs. Maybe low brow stuff is simply more memorable or has better replay value for me. I mean I remember really liking Hannah and her Sisters, and Crimes and Misdemeanors but I don't have any desire to watch them again any time soon. But give me Lou Jacobi prancing around in a blouse and skirt and I'm game for another viewing at any time.

I forgot all about that scene. And the movie is filled with that level of humor. (Makes me laugh just thinking about it all).

[Akibiyori]

Originally Posted by Page14

• You would think that at some point, all of these releases will be available on blu-ray in one big box set, no? (Even though, I don't like waiting for "what might be")

Well, it's not ONE big box but...

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=844

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=877

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=897

Over 300 pages of liner notes, 160+ actual text, and vastly cheaper than the Twilight Time discs collectively (literally over 50% cheaper unless you got everything with sales and additional discounts to bring the TTs down to $10-$15 each.) They're Region B and limited, although Arrow was nice enough to make the solo releases of each film non-limited.

[hammer99]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

I'm lukewarm to him myself, but I do enjoy most of his "earlier, funnier ones". The porno mag scene in Bananas had me in stitches the first time I saw it.

Yep. He's made a lot of interesting movies, but I think Sleeper is his last great one.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by Akibiyori

Well, it's not ONE big box but...

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=844

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=877

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=897

Over 300 pages of liner notes, 160+ actual text, and vastly cheaper than the Twilight Time discs collectively (literally over 50% cheaper unless you got everything with sales and additional discounts to bring the TTs down to $10-$15 each.) They're Region B and limited, although Arrow was nice enough to make the solo releases of each film non-limited.

Nice! Thank you. I'm thinking there must be some kind of rights issue going on that those aren't available in Region A ... no?

[Caseyscott]

Originally Posted by Page14

Nice! Thank you. I'm thinking there must be some kind of rights issue going on that those aren't available in Region A ... no?

Twilight Time has the rights to most of them.

[BagheeraMcGee]

Originally Posted by Page14

Nice! Thank you. I'm thinking there must be some kind of rights issue going on that those aren't available in Region A ... no?

I could be wrong on this, but I think it's simply a case of TT having the rights to all the titles in the box sets (which were United Artists or Orion releases) except Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters and there's still a few titles that they haven't gotten around to releasing just yet. Although, it seems like they've been releasing one every other month, so I imagine they'll be caught up with what Arrow's released so far pretty soon.

I think they also have the rights to Husbands And Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery as well (these were Sony/TriStar releases), but again, I could be wrong.

[dumb_dutchman]

Originally Posted by Akibiyori

Well, it's not ONE big box but...

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=844

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=877

https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/in...product_id=897

Over 300 pages of liner notes, 160+ actual text, and vastly cheaper than the Twilight Time discs collectively (literally over 50% cheaper unless you got everything with sales and additional discounts to bring the TTs down to $10-$15 each.) They're Region B and limited, although Arrow was nice enough to make the solo releases of each film non-limited.

Right. And these are perfect for anyone jumping into the Allen films. I think I paid around $160.00 for the 19 films in the 3 box sets. And with the money you save buying the box sets, you could purchase a region-free player...which in turn opens a whole new world of collecting/spending.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by hammer99

Yep. He's made a lot of interesting movies, but I think Sleeper is his last great one.

You really think "Sleeper" is his last great film? That's like saying Altman's last great film was "The Long Goodbye" or Kubrick's last great film was "Dr. Strangelove" or Scorsese's last great film was "Taxi Driver".

[hammer99]

Originally Posted by mja345

You really think "Sleeper" is his last great film? That's like saying Altman's last great film was "The Long Goodbye" or Kubrick's last great film was "Dr. Strangelove" or Scorsese's last great film was "Taxi Driver".

It all depends what you're looking for with him. IMO Bananas and Sleeper are his greatest, with Take The Money And Run a close 3rd. Love and Death has some laughs, but that's when he started losing me. I remember seeing it opening night and being very, very disappointed with how mediocre it was. His movies after that have almost always been interesting, but to me, there's very little replay value. I like him better when he was funny lol.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by dumb_dutchman

For those of us who returned the duplicate items back to Technicolor (or whoever they are)...and this is the paranoid side of me speaking...especially given the "threat" of being billed if the duplicate items were not returned, I wonder if we will receive any confirmation once the returned items are received? Per my UPS tracking number, my package was dropped off on Monday. It would be nice to receive some sort of feedback to insure me that the item was received and I don't have to worry about being unnecessarily charged.

Based on Twilight Time's response here, where they are laying all the blame on Technicolor, I don't see them being much help in all this.

It's unknown if Technicolor will respond with a confirmation, but I would keep the tracking information showing the package was received by them.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

It's unknown if Technicolor will respond with a confirmation, but I would keep the tracking information showing the package was received by them.

My item reached them, but I still have the tracking information from UPS saved just in case. I printed a second return label just so I would have the tracking number on hand.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by BagheeraMcGee

I think they also have the rights to Husbands And Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery as well (these were Sony/TriStar releases), but again, I could be wrong.

I've heard they have those, as well the other TriStar title that Sony hasn't released, Sweet and Lowdown.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by hammer99

It all depends what you're looking for with him. IMO Bananas and Sleeper are his greatest, with Take The Money And Run a close 3rd. Love and Death has some laughs, but that's when he started losing me. I remember seeing it opening night and being very, very disappointed with how mediocre it was. His movies after that have almost always been interesting, but to me, there's very little replay value. I like him better when he was funny lol.

Yes, I suppose it does matter what you're looking for. Most people prefer the "earlier, funnier movies" (Allen himself even uses that remark in Stardust Memories).

Me, I prefer the the middle ground, where he deftly juggles character drama and comedy, making movies that are either dramas with a thin veneer of comedy or comedies with a thin veneer of drama. I used to think that Annie Hall and Manhattan were his best, but I've found that I've watched them so many times, they don't have the impact on me that they used to have. I think he hit the height of his career in the 1980s with an unbroken run of excellent movies from Stardust Memories through Crimes and Misdemeanors, the latter currently being my favorite film of his.

The best film of his that he didn't direct was Play It Again, Sam, written by and starring WA, but directed by Herbert Ross.

[donidarko]

Bring on "Husbands and Wives." That one has several hilarious moments.
it's one of Woody's most underrated efforts. Judy Davis, Sydney Pollack, Liam Neeson, and Lysette Anthony really stand out.

Twilight Time have the rights to this one?

[anthonyls]

Woody Allen is one of the luckies directors alive. He gets to work with just about anyone he wants, and gets to put out a new movie just about every year with little studio interference .

[mja345]

Originally Posted by anthonyls

Woody Allen is one of the luckies directors alive. He gets to work with just about anyone he wants, and gets to put out a new movie just about every year with little studio interference .

One of the most overlooked aspects of Allen's career is how he churned out high-quality films at an incredibly high rate during the 70s, 80s, and into the 90s while many other great filmmakers take 4-5 years between projects. Not saying that either way is wrong or right, but being able to make good to great films at that pace is remarkably difficult.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by donidarko

Bring on "Husbands and Wives." That one has several hilarious moments.
it's one of Woody's most underrated efforts. Judy Davis, Sydney Pollack, Liam Neeson, and Lysette Anthony really stand out.

Twilight Time have the rights to this one?

It's a joke that Judy Davis didn't win the Academy Award for her performance in "Husbands and Wives". She's ludicrously good in that. Not that the Oscars mean much, but how anyone can think that Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny" was better than Judy Davis is beyond me. And I enjoy "My Cousin Vinny", but come on.