Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[CinemaBlu]

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

[krasnoludek]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

"Dread" is too strong a word with me. It's more of a mixed feeling. On the one hand, I'm shocked sometimes at the movies they are able to get, starting with As Good As It Gets and continuing into recent announcements like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Judgment at Nuremberg. I would think for sure that the studios would have released them themselves, or that some other boutique label like Criterion might have picked them up. These seem too "mainstream" or "culturally important" to be limited to a 3000 unit pressing.

On the other hand, I am always really excited too, because there's invariably a good number of films in the announcements that I have never heard of. They've been picked because of the personal interest of the principal owners of TT, rather than some large committee. Thus, they've got that imprimatur of personal recommendation, kind of like what you would get from a small mom-and-pop video rental. I've bought a number of movies blind from them now and rarely have I gotten something I really regretted (some, like Radio Days, which I just watched last night, might have been better as a rental, but it wasn't a bad movie either). So, the announcements can be like a gift: a set of recommendations for discovery. And I guess that's why in the end I've supported TT so much and bought so many of their titles.

[stephenwilson04]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

Not really. I find their releases far from mediocre, and for me, I don't find them expensive, since we used to pay (almost) as much for barebones dvds not so long ago.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by stephenwilson04

Not really. I find their releases far from mediocre, and for me, I don't find them expensive, since we used to pay (almost) as much for barebones dvds not so long ago.

DVDs were bound to become cheaper for the most part, though, whereas these stay exactly the same.

[ArnieCunningham]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

I worry i wont be around again when Christine gets re released. Or a new film i want. And i loose out again.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by ArnieCunningham

I worry i wont be around again when Christine gets re released. Or a new film i want. And i loose out again.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

No, I think they do a great job with their releases - many of which, contrary to urban legend, have more extras than the DVD versions - and release plenty of interesting titles that other labels would overlook. Scarcity has nothing to do with either the price point (which is due to paying the royalties upfront) or influencing what titles I want: if they were to release The Hottie and the Nottie I wouldn't want it at any price, regardless of scarcity.

[BobbyB]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

I know there are a bunch of TT apologists around, but I agree completely. I've bought more of their releases than I'd like to admit--can't NOT have certain movies like Fright Night and Crimes & Misdemeanors--BUT they cost way more money than being released by the original studios. The scant availability, single online retailer, and lack of any sale is something that I loathe.

And now they are even making the situation more undesirable by re-issuing titles with newer features or improved video (eg. Fright Night, Journey to Center of the Earth) after they already artificially inflated their value by limiting them to 3,000 units.

I paid under $10 for Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and "Annie Hall", issued by MGM, yet need to pay a whopping $30 each (plus shipping) if I want Broadway Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Love & Death...

I know the situation. I understand the studios are the ones licensing these titles. Spare me the TT apologies. But media companies have released licensed products for decades on various formats...Criterion, Image Entertainment, Elite Entertainment, Screamhouse--and never have they been limited to a single online distributor with no opportunity for a sale. Criterion titles might retail for $40 as well, but there are sales often that enable me to buy them for as little as $15. PLUS, I don't have to worry about buying a Criterion disc immediately because it will be sold out in hours and end up on ebay for $100!

[ArnieCunningham]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Whats so confusing about that?

Like you were never out when a film was released and it sold out.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by BobbyB

I know there are a bunch of TT apologists around, but I agree completely. I've bought more of their releases than I'd like to admit--can't NOT have certain movies like Fright Night and Crimes & Misdemeanors--BUT they cost way more money than being released by the original studios. The scant availability, single online retailer, and lack of any sale is something that I loathe.

And now they are even making the situation more undesirable by re-issuing titles with newer features or improved video (eg. Fright Night, Journey to Center of the Earth) after they already artificially inflated their value by limiting them to 3,000 units.

I paid under $10 for Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and "Annie Hall", issued by MGM, yet need to pay a whopping $30 each (plus shipping) if I want Broadway Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Love & Death...

I know the situation. I understand the studios are the ones licensing these titles. Spare me the TT apologies. But media companies have released licensed products for decades on various formats...Criterion, Image Entertainment, Elite Entertainment, Screamhouse--and never have they been limited to a single online distributor with no opportunity for a sale. Criterion titles might retail for $40 as well, but there are sales often that enable me to buy them for as little as $15. PLUS, I don't have to worry about buying a Criterion disc immediately because it will be sold out in hours and end up on ebay for $100!

Nobody is forcing you to buy them. I'm sure there are many other titles on your wish list that are at your preferred price point. Go buy those instead. Just pretend the Twilight Time movies don't exist. Problem solved.

[duggie walker]

At least TT are largely releasing classic films that are NEW to Blu-ray - the admittedly annoying double dips aside.

As a UK importer, I'm a bit frustrated with the merry-go-round of titles getting released on both sides of the pond. And whilst business seems to be good for people into 80s schlock, my wants list inclines a little more to the quality studio product of the 20th Century, which seems to be in little demand.

TT are expensive, for sure, but a) they're accessible to other nations (unlike TCM) and b) they're usually good quality, some now coming with quite a few extras. If the price of getting these movies out is a little elevated, so be it.

I understand a lot of people struggle to afford the discs they want but there are also a lot of people out there who are just cheap, constantly whining for their favourite titles to be released and then - when they are - stridently posting about how they won't buy them until they drop to bargain-bin prices. This is one of the reasons the studios are so reluctant to release their movies or to lay out the cash to restore them.

This is our last chance to own these films on physical media before everything goes digital and we "own" nothing. When that day comes, I'll be cheap as the next guy. For now, just keep releasing the movies.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by BobbyB

I know there are a bunch of TT apologists around

You mean people who like the stuff they put out?

I paid under $10 for Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and "Annie Hall", issued by MGM

Which worked out so well for MGM/UA that they stopped releasing any Woody Allen back-catalogue titles and didn't even release Sleeper or Hannah and Her Sisters outside the US.

media companies have released licensed products for decades on various formats...Criterion, Image Entertainment, Elite Entertainment, Screamhouse--and never have they been limited to a single online distributor with no opportunity for a sale.

You mean like the Disney Club? Scorpion's online exclusives? Studios have gone for store exclusives working on the TT model of paying upfront for a set number of copies with a period of exclusivity almost since the beginning of VHS. At one point you could only buy certain studios' titles via mail order 'video of the month' style companies.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

The two I have (The Blob and Fright Night) are very good releases.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by duggie walker

At least TT are largely releasing classic films that are NEW to Blu-ray - the admittedly annoying double dips aside.

As a UK importer, I'm a bit frustrated with the merry-go-round of titles getting released on both sides of the pond. And whilst business seems to be good for people into 80s schlock, my wants list inclines a little more to the quality studio product of the 20th Century, which seems to be in little demand.

TT are expensive, for sure, but a) they're accessible to other nations (unlike TCM) and b) they're usually good quality, some now coming with quite a few extras. If the price of getting these movies out is a little elevated, so be it.

I understand a lot of people struggle to afford the discs they want but there are also a lot of people out there who are just cheap, constantly whining for their favourite titles to be released and then - when they are - stridently posting about how they won't buy them until they drop to bargain-bin prices. This is one of the reasons the studios are so reluctant to release their movies or to lay out the cash to restore them.

This is our last chance to own these films on physical media before everything goes digital and we "own" nothing. When that day comes, I'll be cheap as the next guy. For now, just keep releasing the movies.

well said!!

[stephenwilson04]

Originally Posted by Aclea

You mean people who like the stuff they put out?

I've been accused of that before! It seems that anyone who speaks up for companies like Twilight Time, are labelled apologists, or fanboys, just because they don't have a problem with the way these conpanies release titles.

[belcherman]

Since this subject comes up so regularly, maybe there should be a separate thread for people complaining about TT's business model. Seriously, as one who has in the past made similar complaints (artificial scarcity, etc), I understand the objections. I also understand that some of these titles will never be released except for companies like Twilight Time. For me, it's always good news/bad news when a film on my wish list gets announced by Twilight Time. The good news is that it's coming out on blu, the bad news is that I'll have to pay much more than I'd like to own it. As a consumer, I can choose to buy it or not. So, for some movies such as Hombre, the choice is yes, whereas for another movie such as The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the choice is no thanks, although I might have picked it up if were in the $15 dollar range.

I could continue to complain, or I could choose not to do business with Twilight Time at all, but it wouldn't change anything. I'd only be denying myself access to some enjoyable movies. The bottom line is, value is in the eye of the consumer. For me some movies are worth $30+ and some are not. That's my choice, just as it's Twilight Time's choice to construct their business model the way they do.

As far as quality, I've yet to be disappointed with the PQ of a Twilight Time release, even if they're just barebones. Sure, I'd rather my favorite titles get the full Criterion treatment, but I'm also glad that they're getting released at all.

Speaking of which, I would be very happy with a TT release of The Last Hurrah.

[NoirFan]

One of the things I find particularly irritating about online discourse is that, invariably, individuals are reduced to one of two extremely limited caricatures - the fawning fanboy and the trolling hater, without any subtle shades of grey between the two. Positive posts are consigned to the former category, while critical ones are dismissed as belonging to the latter. Pointing out compression issues in a particular Scream disc doesn't mean that one insists/believes that all Scream titles are poorly authored, nor does applauding a notably Arrow restoration mean that one can't/won't criticize the same company for not noticing that Shivers was cut. The end result of this knee-jerk, reductive labeling is that everyone is ultimately labeled and rejected as a biased, unreliable crank, regardless of which warring faction they are simplistically stamped as a guilty, card-carrying member of, and any reasonable,valuable, level-headed analysis, whether positive or negative, is lost or ignored in the process.

[BobbyB]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

Nobody is forcing you to buy them. I'm sure there are many other titles on your wish list that are at your preferred price point. Go buy those instead. Just pretend the Twilight Time movies don't exist. Problem solved.

Thanks. I DO buy other movies. In fact, we just saw Sony release "My Best Friend's Wedding" (actually remastered in 4K) and Fox release "Working Girl" last week--2 great catalog titles which I scooped up in a heartbeat.

It's not about price...it's about value! I've dropped over $100 for an individual title many times in the past. I owned a great Japanese CAV LD of Dawn of the Dead with a beautiful gatefold jacket and re-purchased it again by Elite Entertainment. I still own $100 boxed sets of most Disney classics on LD as well. I buy every Blu-Ray 3D version of movies I want which are always more expensive than the standard release. I import Disney 3D's like "Frozen" since Disney has decided to forego their American 3D audience (I suppose that is also "their decision" and I shouldn't be pissed about that one either...).

People waste WAY too much defensiveness regarding this company. The business model SUCKS, plain and simple! I'm sorry if I don't find the same excitement for a company which, by its very business model, creates artificially strong interest and inflated prices for catalog titles which otherwise would cost one-third the price. The history of buying movies never included running to a website and refreshing the page continuously and buying before the scant 3,000 units were depleted.

And as I already mentioned, I HAVE bought several of their discs...it doesn't mean I will defend the idiotic business model. And one of the titles I spent nearly $35 for--"Journey to the Center of the Earth"--is now being re-released with a new mastering after duping folks the first time.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by BobbyB

Thanks. I DO buy other movies. In fact, we just saw Sony release "My Best Friend's Wedding" (actually remastered in 4K) and Fox release "Working Girl" last week--2 great catalog titles which I scooped up in a heartbeat.

It's not about price...it's about value! I've dropped over $100 for an individual title many times in the past. I owned a great Japanese CAV LD of Dawn of the Dead with a beautiful gatefold jacket and re-purchased it again by Elite Entertainment. I still own $100 boxed sets of most Disney classics on LD as well. I buy every Blu-Ray 3D version of movies I want which are always more expensive than the standard release. I import Disney 3D's like "Frozen" since Disney has decided to forego their American 3D audience (I suppose that is also "their decision" and I shouldn't be pissed about that one either...).

People waste WAY too much defensiveness regarding this company. The business model SUCKS, plain and simple! I'm sorry if I don't find the same excitement for a company which, by its very business model, creates artificially strong interest and inflated prices for catalog titles which otherwise would cost one-third the price. The history of buying movies never included running to a website and refreshing the page continuously and buying before the scant 3,000 units were depleted.

And as I already mentioned, I HAVE bought several of their discs...it doesn't mean I will defend the idiotic business model. And one of the titles I spent nearly $35 for--"Journey to the Center of the Earth"--is now being re-released with a new mastering after duping folks the first time.

I too used to waste too much energy criticizing this company. Then I realized it was fruitless to complain about something that was beyond my control and learned to look at it from the glass half full standpoint. Expensive or not, I am just glad they are picking up the slack for the majors and releasing 5 movies per month (which is even more than Warner!). The catalog market for Blu-ray and for packaged media is pretty tough these days.

[canem]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

Does anyone else dread Twilight Time announcements? They do a pretty mediocre job with their releases and depend largely on scarcity to influence people to pay way more than they do for most other Blu-rays.

No, because at the very least I can count on them to (almost) always have decent transfers, OAR, subtitles, a booklet, and some special features. I wish they weren't limited and so expensive, but I'm just glad some of these are available at all. The only label I dread hearing are releasing a movie I want is Olive, because they're the opposite and you can pretty much guarantee complete barebones without even subs but still at an unreasonably high price.