Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[*PREACHER*]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

If it's Disney, then I want "Something Wicked This Way Comes"!

+1

[Dex Robinson]

Let's be honest...

There is only ONE question on the mind of home theater fans everywhere:

"Where the heck is the Blu-ray of XANADU?!"

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Let's be honest...

There is only ONE question on the mind of home theater fans everywhere:

"Where the heck is the Blu-ray of XANADU?!"

Universal is probably giving it the Weird Science treatment as we speak.

[thecalm_7]

So, SAE emailed me back about the May preorders. WOW, prompt, courteous emails. Apparently, they didn't get all of the signed Garcias and are waiting for them the reason my order hasn't shipped yet.

A+ response time and manner as compared to a few months ago.

[kimg1453]

Need "The Black Hole" as well.

[Monty70]

Originally Posted by kimg1453

Need "The Black Hole" as well.

That movie really creeped me out as a child. Such a dark film, and I still feel bad for Old B.O.B.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Twilight Time mentioned they are working on a deal with another studio...wonder if it's Universal or Paramount? Disney also licensed out to Anchor Bay at one time, so maybe Disney live action

The question was in regard to monthly releases and increasing titles. It implied studio negotiation which could mean new studio or re-negotiation with more Sony or Fox titles each month. Personally, I rather not have another Studio and would like the Sony titles to increase. They have so many titles and no distribution of them other than the 1 a month Twilight Time and occasional Criterion. Mill Creek and Image have not been strong in releasing Sony titles.

[Musicguy]

Here is the quote from their Facebook page:

Twilight Time DVD Label:
Fox is clearly slowing down, as evidenced by their output so far in 2014, and we have a whole raft of titles coming from them -- yes, you are right about Sony and likewise we have a bundle of big titles planned over the course of the next three years...we are currently scheduling MGM/UA titles through 2017, and in the process of signing deals with 2 new studios, as well as bringing in a lot more from overseas...so catalogue lives on, at least for a while longer!

[JoeDeM]

If it is Disney, my most wanted title would be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Here is the quote from their Facebook page:

Twilight Time DVD Label:
Fox is clearly slowing down, as evidenced by their output so far in 2014, and we have a whole raft of titles coming from them -- yes, you are right about Sony and likewise we have a bundle of big titles planned over the course of the next three years...we are currently scheduling MGM/UA titles through 2017, and in the process of signing deals with 2 new studios, as well as bringing in a lot more from overseas...so catalogue lives on, at least for a while longer!

Yikes! I don't know what to make of this. I like Twilight Time, I really do, but the same old argument, the prices and limited availability do get bothersome. Hopefully as they continue to carve out a greater niche they will become more flexible vis-a-vis re-releasing out-of-print titles, increasing their runs on certain more popular titles, offering more sales, etc.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Here is the quote from their Facebook page:

Twilight Time DVD Label:
Fox is clearly slowing down, as evidenced by their output so far in 2014, and we have a whole raft of titles coming from them -- yes, you are right about Sony and likewise we have a bundle of big titles planned over the course of the next three years...we are currently scheduling MGM/UA titles through 2017, and in the process of signing deals with 2 new studios, as well as bringing in a lot more from overseas...so catalogue lives on, at least for a while longer!

I did not see that quote. Since Brian worked for WB for many years maybe he was able convince them to let TT license some titles. That would be a major breakthrough. I know in a posting I made I mentioned Petulia which was enthusiastically mentioned as something they would love to release.

Re: Universal. The PQ from them is not up to the standard of Sony, Fox, MGM etc. TT does not remaster titles themselves, so I would almost count them out.

That would leave Paramount, who has a deal with WB. Unless there is a obscure group of films not part of the WB deal I would say forget them.

Miramax perhaps, there are quite a few titles that Lionsgate has not released including Woody Allen films and there are the now OOP Echo Bridge titles. But this seems quite slim IMO.

Merchant/Ivory ? The now OOP Criterion titles in the M/I library have still not found a new home. Maurice, Heat & Dust, The Europeans etc. They have to end up with someone eventually, if not TT maybe Cohen Media or Kino.

The Studio Canal library that Lionsgate is sitting on. Now that would be a great announcement. It is criminal that they took so many great films away from Criterion and have not done anything with them.

But my big hope is that the old Columbia (TriStar) titles start getting some Blu ray treatment. Sony spent years working of superb HD transfers. There are so many that have never been on the radar as being released by anyone. They have many Bogart films, a great Capra library, 70's Neil Simon comedies, more Harryhausen, A Man for All Seasons, quite a few Woody Allen films, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T. The Awful Truth, Some more Streisand films, Bugsy, Mickey One, Shampoo. The list is endless.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

The Studio Canal library that Lionsgate is sitting on. Now that would be a great announcement. It is criminal that they took so many great films away from Criterion and have not done anything with them.

They didn't take them away: when the licensing period expired, they reportedly offered Criterion the option to renew at a price that would reflect the cost of remastering previously released titles and Criterion passed because they didn't think remastered editions would be financially viable for them. At the time BD wasn't as big a market and Criterion weren't really into double-dipping on DVD.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Aclea

They didn't take them away: when the licensing period expired, they reportedly offered Criterion the option to renew at a price that would reflect the cost of remastering previously released titles and Criterion passed because they didn't think remastered editions would be financially viable for them. At the time BD wasn't as big a market and Criterion weren't really into double-dipping on DVD.

Another thing I did not know. I was under the impression they lost the rights. Some of the titles Pierott le fou, Last Year at Marienbad, The Third Man, Army of Shadows seem to have beautiful new transfers on Blu ray. So that seems kind off odd.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

Ooooo Come on Disney. "Return to OZ" would be a fantastic fit for Twilight time and a film I'd scoop up immediately.

Good title, but given a preference, I'd rather go with Something Wicked This Way Comes. I'm assuming that Disney would want to hold onto something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

Another thing I did not know. I was under the impression they lost the rights. Some of the titles Pierott le fou, Last Year at Marienbad, The Third Man, Army of Shadows seem to have beautiful new transfers on Blu ray. So that seems kind off odd.

I don't know where Aclea heard that story, but, no I don't think that is right. StudioCanal licensed their entire catalog to Lionsgate and when Criterion's deals expired the rights went over to Lionsgate.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by dwk

I don't know where Aclea heard that story, but, no I don't think that is right. StudioCanal licensed their entire catalog to Lionsgate and when Criterion's deals expired the rights went over to Lionsgate.

That's the way I understand it as well. Criterion was working on a rescanned/remastered version of Ran when their license ran out and they had to cancel it.

But Criterion didn't have a comprehensive deal with StudioCanal like Lionsgate does; they had specific licenses for individual titles. Which is why the various StudioCanal titles that Criterion had didn't go OOP all at the same time. As each title's license expires, it goes OOP.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by dwk

I don't know where Aclea heard that story, but, no I don't think that is right. StudioCanal licensed their entire catalog to Lionsgate and when Criterion's deals expired the rights went over to Lionsgate.

It was in either Variety or the Hollywood Reporter when StudioCanal first announced their remastering program. At the time they hadn't signed with Lionsgate but mentioned Criterion as one of the international licensees who were unwilling to 'partner' with them on the remastering costs (Warners was another) and stated they were looking for a US distributor who would both release more titles and invest more money in an output deal.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Aclea

It was in either Variety or the Hollywood Reporter when StudioCanal first announced their remastering program. At the time they hadn't signed with Lionsgate but mentioned Criterion as one of the international licensees who were unwilling to 'partner' with them on the remastering costs (Warners was another) and stated they were looking for a US distributor who would both release more titles and invest more money in an output deal.

Sounds like what they wanted was the kind of comprehensive catalog deal that Lionsgate was willing to sign, rather than the one-title-at-a-time deal that Criterion had been doing up to that point.

Seems to me that they screwed the pooch on this one, given that in a three-year period (Feb 2010 to Jan 2013), Lionsgate only released seven StudioCanal titles, and hasn't released any since.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Sounds like what they wanted was the kind of comprehensive catalog deal that Lionsgate was willing to sign, rather than the one-title-at-a-time deal that Criterion had been doing up to that point.

Seems to me that they screwed the pooch on this one, given that in a three-year period (Feb 2010 to Jan 2013), Lionsgate only released seven StudioCanal titles, and hasn't released any since.

From their point of view it probably depends on the advance they were paid. Their priority at the time was to fund their restoration program by making new output deals with existing or new licensees to limit their exposure.

It certainly had mixed results: after parting company with Warners in the UK (who released hundreds of their titles on VHS and DVD), for example, they ended up releasing titles themselves anyway. Judging from the excessively high prices they charge in the UK, I'm guessing they're in another of those infamous disputes with Amazon where Amazon's response to any attempt to from a distributor to get better terms is to raise the prices on product from non-favored vendors and claim supply problems and delivery delays, though judging from the disappearance of all Warner pre-orders on Amazon.com that may still have happened if they had stuck with Warners.

[dumb_dutchman]

I'd love to see the Disney live-action stuff, especially the Kurt Russell films, 1,000,000 Duck, No Deposit No return.

But Disney is Disney...the same people that put their films in a vault.