Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[Sporkies]

Originally Posted by tommynorcal

Oct '14 is at least a specific date. My trigger finger will be itchy til then.

To be clear, it releases in October 2014, so the preorder will presumably be in September 2014.

Originally Posted by jlk5844

The preorder won't even go up until sometime in September then, right?

Correct.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

Originally Posted by JoeDeM

I agree, even the scalpers know they can make money on these titles, I will be very surprised if this doesn't sell out during the pre-order.

I'll do my best.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the excellent Drums Along the Mohawk, and am about to start the Becoming John Ford documentary. I'll write a review of the disc tomorrow.

For now, this is a good time to mention that I've always liked the "swish" sound that accompanies the cursor when one is navigating the main menu of Twilight Time discs. Laugh if you will, but it's the little things, I always say.
(As one might guess, it did not take much for my parents to keep me entertained when I was a kid.)

[cramped_misfit90]

Since someone reported me for not having their same opinion a little bit ago... let me rephrase what I said.
I personally do not like Twilight Time's limited releases. I, Myself, Would much prefer Twilight Time to release the movies with no limited pressings... Is sugar coating what I said earlier good enough? Oh, maybe I'm still a "Troll". Yeah right...

[mspar009]

Originally Posted by cramped_misfit90

Since someone reported me for not having their same opinion a little bit ago... let me rephrase what I said.
I personally do not like Twilight Time's limited releases. I, Myself, Would much prefer Twilight Time to release the movies with no limited pressings... Is sugar coating what I said earlier good enough? Oh, maybe I'm still a "Troll". Yeah right...

I read an interview posted on another forum with TT co-founder. He basically said the Limited 3000 release was how they had to approach the movie studios. TT is sort-of a Petri dish for Fox's archive film's. Plus, it is an accounting nightmare for the studios to determine how many copies they have sold,etc. They write a check up-front for the movies and the studios don't have to stay on top of them.

I'm feel the same as you do. Also, I don't get involved with Internet bashing; this supposed to be fun.

[oildude]

Just finished Drums Along the Mohawk.

One word: Superb.

The whole movie is a great lesson in film craft from a masterful director. One scene that really grabbed me is when Claudette Colbert stands on a hill in the foreground with her back to the camera, watching the militia, including her husband, march away into the distance on their way to fight the Tories and Indians. You can feel her anguish and worry without having to see her face. After a moment, she slumps to the ground, never taking her eyes off the militia as they tramp into the distance. Very powerful and iconic scene, staged magnificently by Ford. It is made all the more striking by the beautiful technicolor presentation.

Be sure to also watch the supplemental film Becoming John Ford, directed by Nick Redman. Really well done peek into the mind and world of Ford, and Darryl F. Zanuck also. It isn't a retrospective of Ford's films (Stagecoach is only mentioned in passing, and no mention at all of The Quiet Man or The Searchers); rather, it is more of a character study emphasizing the man, his volatile temperament, the various influences on his life and career, and the themes and body of works he created out of them. This is accomplished with film footage, behind the scenes shots, voiceovers, and insights and stories from movie industry insiders, including Peter Fonda. An interesting influence that the documentary highlights is the impact of German expressionism, and especially F.W. Murnau, on Ford's developing style. Also discussed is Ford's relationship with Zanuck, which became almost symbiotic. Both were highly intelligent men with uncompromising personalities, yet one needed the other to achieve the greatness of the films they made together. World War II changed this relationship and afterward they parted ways. The documentary includes Ford's years spent in the OSS during WWII as a combat film maker, and contains some startling color footage of the Battle of Midway and the campaign in North Africa.

[oildude]

Drums Along the Mohawk is discussed briefly in Becoming John Ford. It was Ford's first color film. To put technicolor into perspective in the late 1930s, the major studios only released one or two a year. DATM also is an example of Ford's vision of America: rough, brawling, beautiful, filled with promise, and ethnically diverse. These were themes he would return to again and again. Becoming John Ford points out how different Ford's post-WWII films were compared to those made before the war. His experiences in Europe and the Pacific with the OSS were translated into the fabric of his later films, which were often darker and more nuanced while maintaining their quintessential Ford vision.

I would love to see restorations and blu-ray releases of some of the early Ford films covered in the documentary, especially The Iron Horse (1924 silent epic, which has survived), The Informer (1935), and Pilgrimage (1933). Criterion has Young Mr. Lincoln, so I hope that gets an upgrade to high definition soon. Sadly, almost all of Ford's silent films are lost, including some titles with clips shown in the documentary.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by cramped_misfit90

Since someone reported me for not having their same opinion a little bit ago... let me rephrase what I said.
I personally do not like Twilight Time's limited releases. I, Myself, Would much prefer Twilight Time to release the movies with no limited pressings... Is sugar coating what I said earlier good enough? Oh, maybe I'm still a "Troll". Yeah right...

It's kind of beating a dead horse to complain about TT's way of doing business but whenever I hear of a title I want being released by them I am filled with a combination of joy AND dread. Joy that another movie I want is finally coming out, dread that I have to play the game of waiting by the computer at 2 p.m. local time on pre-order day making sure I get my order in lickity-split to avoid potential sellouts, plus the fact that I'm paying $30 per title minimum.

I am NOT looking forward at having to go through that whole rigmarole in December for these Sinbad titles.

[Pirate King]

Oildude: Thanks for the Review of Drums Along the Mohawk. Will definitely add this title to my TT collection. Thanks !

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by oildude

Just finished Drums Along the Mohawk.

One word: Superb.

OK, you talked me into it.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Pirate King

Oildude: Thanks for the Review of Drums Along the Mohawk. Will definitely add this title to my TT collection. Thanks !

You betcha, matey! I have a rule that any movie with Ward Bond or Vic McLaglen in a supporting role is a film well worth owning. Drums Along the Mohawk has Ward Bond.

There are quite a few memorable characters, from Henry Fonda's stalwart farmer militiaman called to the colors to defend the homesteads from Tory attacks, to Claudette Colbert as his city raised new wife who must make the tough adjustment to life on the frontier - and life on an isolated front when war breaks out - to the fighting parson who provides spiritual backbone to his flock. The latter character is especially memorable. One of my favorite scenes is when the parson mounts the podium in the church, following a rousing hymn sung to the strains of a hand-pumped organ (what a great historic touch to the film!), and before launching into his sermon, updates the congregation on local news and an advertisement for a hardware store with "newly arrived goods all at bargain prices." One little scene that is pure John Ford and a realistic peek at late 18th Century farming community life.

There are many other great scenes and characters, too many to name and certainly listing them would spoil parts of the film. But one scene in particular makes me think Michael Mann must have been inspired by Drums Along the Mohawk when he made his Last of the Mohicans. It involves a captured militiaman and the Indian's penchant for burning some of their captives alive. It is an emotional scene staged with a particular sense of horror and resolution echoed in Mann's film.

(Incidentally, burning prisoners alive wasn't a made-up or politically incorrect film contrivance from the 1930s - I've read books about the Indians of the eastern frontier during the European colonial period, and it was behavior practiced by some Northeastern tribes with relish on enemies unlucky enough to be taken captive, especially other Indians. An Indian warrior taken captive by another tribe knew he faced a terrible death, and part of the understood ritual was how well he bore up to the ordeal before expiring.)

[The Great Owl]

I can't add much to what has not already been said above, but I'll roll with this...



John Ford's 1939 film, Drums Along the Mohawk, was the first color feature by the iconic director, and the Technicolor production brings out the best in his use of memorable horizon shots. One unforgettable sequence where Henry Fonda's frontiersman character, Gil Martin, is fleeing from Indians is remarkable in its picturesque intensity, and I am inclined to think that Cornel Wilde remembered these moments while creating his 1966 masterpiece, The Naked Prey. Scenes with settlers looking over their shoulder as their homes are burned to the ground behind them or looking out to the wilderness as troops march off into battle effectively showcase Ford's trademark for combining apprehension and wondrous majesty. The forests of Utah stand in well for the upstate New York setting as we watch Gil and his new bride, Lana, work to establish a new home during the upheaval of the American Revolution.

In terms of storytelling, Drums Along the Mohawk is less centered than Ford's most acclaimed motion pictures, but its series of vignettes still makes room for a strong mix of American mythology-building and unflinching examinations of battle. Lana, played by the beautiful Claudette Colbert, is the most dynamic character of this tale with her transition from a sophisticated Albany woman to a toughed settler, but Henry Fonda commands attention in many key moments, especially during a monologue where his wounded and shell-shocked Gil describes the horrors of his first battle. Edna May Oliver is the most prominent of Ford's endearing side characters, and her rants somehow never overstay their welcome.

A 2007 feature-length documentary, Becoming John Ford, is a welcome supplement on this Twilight Time Blu-ray. This film's accounts from multiple sources about Ford's years at Fox are, at turns, amusing and heartfelt. The story of Ford's falling out with Henry Fonda is quite somber, but other anecdotes indicate a joyous sense of adventure that must have been felt by those who worked at Ford's side during those years.

I have no reservations about giving a five-star review to this less-acclaimed, but nonetheless sturdy John Ford epic that transports us back in time to the American Revolution by way of glorious Technicolor that looks beautiful on this high definition presentation.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by oildude

One of my favorite scenes is when the parson mounts the podium in the church, following a rousing hymn sung to the strains of a hand-pumped organ (what a great historic touch to the film!), and before launching into his sermon, updates the congregation on local news and an advertisement for a hardware store with "newly arrived goods all at bargain prices."

I loved the scenes with the parson.

"Any man failing to report to duty will be promptly hanged. Amen."

[Blu Titan]

Great feedback guys. I'll pick up Drums Along the Mohawk in the near future....probably with the Sinbad movies.

[CrushOfTheDark]

Twilight Time is releasing Houseguest and First Kid???

[EffenBlue]

Originally Posted by CrushOfTheDark

Twilight Time is releasing Houseguest and First Kid???

I get jokes.... although I would like Houseguest with the late, great Phil Hartman.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by CrushOfTheDark

Twilight Time is releasing Houseguest and First Kid???

Criterion is releasing The Housemaid, and will probably be releasing Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.

[zeze]

Debating if I should get Mindwarp and The Other. I had not even heard about these titles until they were announced by TT. I do like Bruce Campbell though so I will probably get Mindwarp, and I imagine that title will sell out fast. For The Other, I might wait until November/December when the Sinbad films are up for pre-order to decide as I don't see it selling out right away.

Also I still have to get Blue Lagoon and Steel Magnolias.

[Sporkies]

Originally Posted by zeze

Debating if I should get Mindwarp and The Other. I had not even heard about these titles until they were announced by TT. I do like Bruce Campbell though so I will probably get Mindwarp, and I imagine that title will set out fast. For The Other, I might wait until November/December when the Sinbad films are up for pre-order to decide as I don't see it selling out right away.

Also I still have to get Blue Lagoon and Steel Magnolias.

The Blue Lagoon transfer is phenomenal.

[Blu2u]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Criterion is releasing The Housemaid, and will probably be releasing Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.

He was joking about Sinbad the actor, versus Sinbad the sailor.