Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[WJWS Channel 13:Amity]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I noticed these at Amoeba as well. They stock imports / used / etc, so I just assumed they bought them from SAE for their customers and marked them up to make a profit.

Yeah the manager said they have some sort of arrangement in place.
And they are always out on the shelf release day.

In regards to imports i like going to them for imports because they are usually right on mark with Amazon uk or any of the other international retailers in terms of price, but with the TT titles they are 10 bucks more (or I guess 5 bucks more when you factor in shipping)

[Tom Monahan]

I wish we could have a separate thread for TT BD talk only and one for complaining about shipping. This thread has gone into the crapper.

Tom

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by WJWS Channel 13:Amity

Yeah the manager said they have some sort of arrangement in place.
And they are always out on the shelf release day.

In regards to imports i like going to them for imports because they are usually right on mark with Amazon uk or any of the other international retailers in terms of price, but with the TT titles they are 10 bucks more (or I guess 5 bucks more when you factor in shipping)

Well, the store has to make SOME profit off of the sale... and Twilight Time makes most of the profit directly with SAE, right? I guess the markup is so Twilight Time makes the usual amount of profit and the store makes some.

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Maybe Twilight Time will end up releasing Screamers (1996) from Columbia Pictures.

They made a film about this thread, huh.

You know what's too bad? So many of the complainers are basically ignoring the fact that this mom and pop operation is making good on their potential and succeeding in carving out a space in the face if strong competition from elsewhere. It's a nice little "boy who made good" angle but it's ignored because you have to wait some extra time due to their growing pains, and now the complaint du jur is turning to the liner notes "on flimsy paper" (you want them etched on marble?) simply because they complain about eveything cuz haters gonna hate.

It's sad really.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the Twilight Time Blu-ray of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. This film is just as fun and meaningful as I expected from the acclaim that I've read, and this was just the first of a great many future viewings. I love the balance of quiet reflection and intense gunfighting. Peckinpah's trademark edge with respect to the violence is at its best here. Warren Oates starred in some great scrappy flicks back in the day...Two-Lane Blacktop, Race with the Devil, In the Heat of the Night, this film, and, of course, The Wild Bunch.

The Blu-ray is no demo disc, but it looks true to how I would imagine that a Peckinpah film from 1974 is supposed to look. This is not one of those releases that demands meticulous scrutiny of transfer quality, and I love the rough-around-the-edges vibe of the presentation.

The booklet essay for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is excellent, as are all of the Twilight Time booklet essays that I've read through so far.

Well done, Twilight Time. Well done.

[davidthenikonuser]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Maybe Twilight Time will end up releasing Screamers (1996) from Columbia Pictures.

That would be great. Love that flick. Add the sequel as a bonus.

[Twilight Time]

To those asking about Amoeba: The store buys directly from SAE at full retail and marks the prices up at their own discretion -- the extra 10 dollars is Amoeba's profit!

To those still worrying about The Blob:
If you get online when the pre-orders go live you have no danger whatsoever of missing out.

[Twilight Time]

And additionally, as Blu Titan stated, the differences that TT had with BR.com have been ironed out and the site is receiving screeners again.

[thompsonjohn]

Oddly enough I have no problems with SAE, ever really. Always got my pre-orders in a rather timely fashion. My problem is with Twilight Time and their in-house liner notes writer Julie Kirgo. Gets a little predictable when Nick Redman is on every commentary too aside from ones already recorded that they port over. I'm just saying change it up, hire some other personalities/critics once in awhile, if they have the money to.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by popeflick

They made a film about this thread, huh.

Funny, I admit that got a chuckle out of me.

Originally Posted by popeflick

You know what's too bad? So many of the complainers are basically ignoring the fact that this mom and pop operation is making good on their potential and succeeding in carving out a space in the face if strong competition from elsewhere. It's a nice little "boy who made good" angle but it's ignored because you have to wait some extra time due to their growing pains, and now the complaint du jur is turning to the liner notes "on flimsy paper" (you want them etched on marble?) simply because they complain about eveything cuz haters gonna hate.

It's sad really.

What can you say, it's only natural for people to complain about things that they're passionate about and people are passionate about Twilight Time and the films they release.

When did they start to use flimsy paper?

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by popeflick

They made a film about this thread, huh.

You know what's too bad? So many of the complainers are basically ignoring the fact that this mom and pop operation is making good on their potential and succeeding in carving out a space in the face if strong competition from elsewhere. It's a nice little "boy who made good" angle but it's ignored because you have to wait some extra time due to their growing pains, and now the complaint du jur is turning to the liner notes "on flimsy paper" (you want them etched on marble?) simply because they complain about eveything cuz haters gonna hate.

It's sad really.

Your comments are very interesting considering this 'mom and pop operation' have NO competition in this region. Their releases are exclusive to them, and frankly as many others have pointed out, if you want one of their releases, you have no where else to purchase but them. How is that a 'boy who made good' story, when they have NO competition in this region? In most facets of business, that's called a monopoly, but I digress and will change tone..

Personally, I appreciate TT posting on this thread trying to explain what is going on. Unfortunately, patience is what is asked for, which is a hard pill to swallow when customers hard earned money is involved. I enjoy most of the releases and think they put out a nice product. The price point is a little high considering the market, but their situation is unique. Consistency is what drives success and appreciation but frankly, that has been lacking recently on their and SAE's end. Christine was their hottest release and I do not remember many complaining about their wait time. From then on, things have really slowed down and people want to know what is going on. Hopefully they right the ship and get back to serving their customer and providing releases somewhere near their release day and not a week+ later...

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by thompsonjohn

Oddly enough I have no problems with SAE, ever really. Always got my pre-orders in a rather timely fashion. My problem is with Twilight Time and their in-house liner notes writer Julie Kirgo. Gets a little predictable when Nick Redman is on every commentary too aside from ones already recorded that they port over. I'm just saying change it up, hire some other personalities/critics once in awhile, if they have the money to.

I've enjoyed Julie's liner notes so far. Not sure they need to bring on anyone else for those since they've been well written so far.

I haven't listened to any commentary tracks with Nick Redman yet so I can't comment on the quality of his comments. But they have brought on other people, for Khartoum they brought on Lew Dobbs, a screenwriter, and The Blue Max has John Burlingame, a writer. Redman is still part of the commentary tracks but at least it's an additional voice. Both are recent releases so they are trying to address part of your complaint. I'll have to give them a listen when they come in the mail in April or May (they were ordered with Used Cars, fortunately I'm a patient person). It is odd to have someone outside of the film doing a commentary track since they likely won't be as informed as someone who worked on the film. Either way, it's better than nothing for those who crave extras. Personally, if they somehow found a way to have John Carpenter and Kurt Russell do their commentary tracks, that would be most excellent, I could listen to them talk about whatever they want haha.

[popeflick]

Honestly can't tell if your serious or being intentionally obtuse. They have level playing field when approaching studios for the licensing of these titles. They offer the studios a deal the studios prefer over Olive or Mill Creek.

Which film is available via more than one producer? If there's a film -for instance- available via both Mill Creek and Shiut for instance please point it out because I believe it would be a first.

So in short you're using an example that doesn't exist elsewhere: releases are exclusive across the board. TT doesn't get every film they want I'm sure, they've no doubt lost titles to ohters just as Shout! lost NOTLD to them.

And if you're referrring to a monoploy via SAE, then you've forgotten TCM and the amazon store front which carries all titles that didn't sellout before release day, which is a VERY short list given TTs output. And you can buy them brick and mortar now in Los Angeles. What a monopoly... :/

Originally Posted by jcs913

Your comments are very interesting considering this 'mom and pop operation' have NO competition in this region. Their releases are exclusive to them, and frankly as many others have pointed out, if you want one of their releases, you have no where else to purchase but them. How is that a 'boy who made good' story, when they have NO competition in this region? In most facets of business, that's called a monopoly, but I digress and will change tone..

Personally, I appreciate TT posting on this thread trying to explain what is going on. Unfortunately, patience is what is asked for, which is a hard pill to swallow when customers hard earned money is involved. I enjoy most of the releases and think they put out a nice product. The price point is a little high considering the market, but their situation is unique. Consistency is what drives success and appreciation but frankly, that has been lacking recently on their and SAE's end. Christine was their hottest release and I do not remember many complaining about their wait time. From then on, things have really slowed down and people want to know what is going on. Hopefully they right the ship and get back to serving their customer and providing releases somewhere near their release day and not a week+ later...

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by Twilight Time

With regard to SAE and TT, we just wanted to clear up some ongoing confusion and misunderstandings about the relationship between the two companies.

Firstly, SAE is one of the most reputable (online) retailers in the business. Around since 1976

And apparently their website hasn't changed since. Yous till have to email them to cancel an order. Orders sometime aren't shipping for weeks, why isn't there an order cancel button for easy cancellations? The fact is that at some point shipping late, website crashes, poor customer service is on you and not SAE because at the end of the day it's your product that is being mishandled. If people get tired of the BS then it's your product that they will abandon.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by Twilight Time

To those asking about Amoeba: The store buys directly from SAE at full retail and marks the prices up at their own discretion -- the extra 10 dollars is Amoeba's profit!

Wait so they just do what guys on Ebay do?

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by popeflick

Honestly can't tell if your serious or being intentionally obtuse. They have level playing field when approaching studios for the licensing of these titles. They offer the studios a deal the studios prefer over Olive or Mill Creek.

Which film is available via more than one producer? If there's a film -for instance- available via both Mill Creek and Shiut for instance please point it out because I believe it would be a first.

So in short you're using an example that doesn't exist elsewhere: releases are exclusive across the board. TT doesn't get every film they want I'm sure, they've no doubt lost titles to ohters just as Shout! lost NOTLD to them.

And if you're referrring to a monoploy via SAE, then you've forgotten TCM and the amazon store front which carries all titles that didn't sellout before release day, which is a VERY short list given TTs output. And you can buy them brick and mortar now in Los Angeles. What a monopoly... :/

I figured you would miss the point, especially since you always come to their aid. Comparing Mill Creek with TT?? Figure it out.. I guess that happens when you drink the Kool-aid though....

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by PuppetMasterBlu

And apparently their website hasn't changed since. Yous till have to email them to cancel an order. Orders sometime aren't shipping for weeks, why isn't there an order cancel button for easy cancellations? The fact is that at some point shipping late, website crashes, poor customer service is on you and not SAE because at the end of the day it's your product that is being mishandled. If people get tired of the BS then it's your product that they will abandon.

Very few sites have an order cancellation button.

Amazon is not an average website.

Out of the dozen or so boutique-style sites I order off of regularly that aren't Amazon, not a single one does. In fact, a lot of them don't offer cancellations, period.

It it really happens often enough to bother you, you might want to question why you are placing so many orders that need to be cancelled.



I think this is the overall issue folks have about the TT complaints - so many of them are simply based on unrealistic expectations.

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by jcs913

I figured you would miss the point, especially since you always come to their aid. Comparing Mill Creek with TT?? Figure it out.. I guess that happens when you drink the Kool-aid though....

Oh please, enlighten me.

And I ask again, since it seems the point you were making: where is one film released by two different manufacturers? They're ALL monopolies according to your view if you cannot find an example.

And I'm not coming to their aid as much as I'm over the "complain simply to complain" crowd that essentially bogs this thread down.

[Blu Titan]

Once again gents there's no need to go "at each other's throats" . Some people are more patient than others. There are delays and TT is aware of them. From what I read, they are adding additional resources at SAE.

As you gents know we allow all opinions, but personal back and forths between members will be removed. Complaints about slow shipping are normal in every forum and not something exclusive to this thread.

Members come to the forum to interact with individuals that have a similar interest. Heck my RARO order is being returned to them as they apparently shipped it to an incorrect address. Second time this happens. They are nice to deal with and I am sure this will be settled, but it is frustrating none the less.

Did I tell me wife about this? Not at all...she is a great wife but my order of "old Italian movies" does not interest her nor its fate . Bottom line collectors will vent about shipping delays...it's part of the forum experience.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by popeflick

Oh please, enlighten me.

And I ask again, since it seems the point you were making: where is one film released by two different manufacturers? They're ALL monopolies according to your view if you cannot find an example.

And I'm not coming to their aid as much as I'm over the "complain simply to complain" crowd that essentially bogs this thread down.

Just to use 2 examples, Criterion and Olive have released films that have already been released. The fact is that TT has a 3 year exclusively on their titles, who knows what others have with the studios. Kudos to them for releasing titles that others may never release, that is the beauty of their company. But frankly, to call them a 'mom and pop' company is not accurate. They will release 50+ titles this year at $30 a pop. On average they sell at least 1000 of each. This is just their blu-ray releases. Seems they are a little bigger than 'mom and pop.' Music Box or Cohen are more of that term. I would be willing to bet their releases are available on release day. I don't disagree that the complaining is a little much, but when a company delivers a title weeks after release day, frustration is expected. Again, I hope TT rights the ship, as they have some nice titles upcoming.