Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[The Great Owl]

Last night, I watched my Twilight Time Blu-ray of Cowboy.



Delmer Daves was such an underrated director. His output, which included film noir (The Red House, Dark Passage) and westerns (Jubal, 3:10 to Yuma), may lack some of the more grandiose photographic flourishes of the most famous movies of the respective genres, but the payoff in each instance is a more intense focus on relationships, character bonding, and immediacy with regard to realism.

Cowboy tells the story of Frank Harris, a hotel clerk played by the great Jack Lemmon, who embarks on a cattle drive led by the tough and weathered Tom Reese, who is played by Glenn Ford. At first glance, Jack Lemmon does not seem like the type of actor who would realistically work in a western story about cowboys, but that's the whole point in this instance, since his character starts off as a naive tenderfoot, only to develop an inner resilience, along with an emotional hard shell.

There are a few unexpected turns in Cowboy that eschew typical movie tropes in favor of realistic interactions. A prank involving a rattlesnake goes horribly wrong early in the film, but the perpetrators are never punished, because the act of doing so would take the concentration off of the cattle drive. Jack Lemmon's Frank Harris also comes off a surprisingly unlikable during a handful of scenes, instead of merely being an endearing underdog, as most viewers might expect. Finally, Glenn Ford's portrayal of a tough-as-nails cowboy has a few uncanny quirks thrown in, one of which is his affinity for dressing up and attending operas in the big city. One of my favorite character actors, Brian Donlevy (Hangmen Also Die, Kiss of Death, Woman They Almost Lynched), is featured as a lawman whose presence in the story leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes.

Like the two other more famous Daves westerns, Jubal and 3:10 to Yuma, the nature of male bonding, the slow development of friendship and mutual respect, and the effect of women on the male psyche are main players behind the curtains.

This is a really good movie, and it receives an impressive Blu-ray presentation courtesy of Twilight Time.

I started to watch the movie a second time late last night to listen to the commentary track, but the sleep monster got me. I'm looking forward to enjoying the commentary after work today.

[StingingVelvet]

Just pre-ordered Russia House and threw in State of Grace and Romeo is Bleeding. Don't tell my wife.

[Martin_31]

Missed out on the sale. Really wanted to get Mysterious Island. Thought I'd try eBay because Amazon is expensive as f***. Never bought anything off there though. What do you guys think? Is this dude legit? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mysterious-I...oAAOSwQjZXQU48
I'd be interested if anyone on here is selling a new one.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Missed out on the sale. Really wanted to get Mysterious Island. Thought I'd try eBay because Amazon is expensive as f***. Never bought anything off there though. What do you guys think? Is this dude legit? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mysterious-I...oAAOSwQjZXQU48
I'd be interested if anyone on here is selling a new one.

Looks legit to me. If you actually plan on watching it, though, and are looking for a deal, wouldn't you rather just get an opened one? That's not a bad price, though, you'd only be paying like 7 bucks more than you would have non-sale.

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Looks legit to me. If you actually plan on watching it, though, and are looking for a deal, wouldn't you rather just get an opened one? That's not a bad price, though, you'd only be paying like 7 bucks more than you would have non-sale.

I would get an opened one if it was another label like Criterion or Arrow. I'm not so sure for Twilight Time since there's been talk about some being bootlegs. I remember rdodolak helping me find out if The Driver that I bought off Amazon was legit--it was. I got it for around the same price as the eBay one.

[cinerama]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Missed out on the sale. Really wanted to get Mysterious Island. Thought I'd try eBay because Amazon is expensive as f***. Never bought anything off there though. What do you guys think? Is this dude legit? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mysterious-I...oAAOSwQjZXQU48
I'd be interested if anyone on here is selling a new one.

He has 100% postive feedback on 2253 items so he's legit.

[The Great Owl]

When I got home from work yesterday, I watched Cowboy with the audio commentary track, and then ended up sitting through the movie a third time after that.
Don't you just hate it when a movie turns out to be genuinely great, and it causes you to get further behind with other movies in your unwatched stack?
No, me neither.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

I would get an opened one if it was another label like Criterion or Arrow. I'm not so sure for Twilight Time since there's been talk about some being bootlegs. I remember rdodolak helping me find out if The Driver that I bought off Amazon was legit--it was. I got it for around the same price as the eBay one.

I thought the only bootlegs were all those editions from Spain?

[Widescreenfilmguy]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I thought the only bootlegs were all those editions from Spain?

Yes, from Resen... Sadly I bought Mysterious Island and Garden of Evil from them before I found out they were bootlegs 🙄

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by johnny

I talked with someone from Canada Post today, He told Me nothing will be sent back internationally but will be held, so I'm assuming like you said that it will sit until an agreement is worked out. "In" Canada items will not be accepted at the Post Office for Delivery, so only other Carriers (UPS,Purolater,etc.) can deliver.

My last order just showed up today - just under the wire.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

My last order just showed up today - just under the wire.

When did it ship ?

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

I would get an opened one if it was another label like Criterion or Arrow. I'm not so sure for Twilight Time since there's been talk about some being bootlegs. I remember rdodolak helping me find out if The Driver that I bought off Amazon was legit--it was. I got it for around the same price as the eBay one.

I havnen't read up much on the bootlegs, but unless they paid the money to get them pressed, then it is pretty easy to spot a bootleg and get your money back from buyer protection.

If they paid the money to have them pressed, you would see them selling quite a few copies of it in their history as that isn't a super cheap process.

Do you not realize it is far cheaper for someone to get access to a shrink wrap machine than it is to get the discs pressed?

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

It was a blanket statement for all titles. They seemed to get too many, relatively speaking, complaints from some folks complaining that their limited copy was no longer limited and how it wasn't fair that they could no longer enjoy their movie.

I see both sides of the coin.

I do think it is odd that they say limited of 3K even on the 2nd runs though, as if the Big Heat + Mysterious Island don't have 6K copies out there.

I have the re-issue version of both and glad they did the re-issue so I could have them as I didn't find out about the label until both were sold out of the 1st run.

As a collector who is paying a fairly high price for a movie, with the limited run nature, you do pay that price with the expectation that eventually it should retain and eventually gain value.

I should have about 11 TT titles by the end of next week assuming Screen Archives fills my order properly.

[BixmanJ]

Received an email from TT this morning saying that the July titles are now shipping and that John Carpenter's Vampires has less than 650 copies remaining:

We now have fewer than 650 copies of John Carpenter's Vampires remaining and Screen Archives is completely sold out on this title. If you have been wanting to add it to your collection, now is the time as it will most likely sell out in the next few weeks and this title will not be re-issued.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by 78deluxe

I see both sides of the coin.

I do think it is odd that they say limited of 3K even on the 2nd runs though, as if the Big Heat + Mysterious Island don't have 6K copies out there.

I have the re-issue version of both and glad they did the re-issue so I could have them as I didn't find out about the label until both were sold out of the 1st run.

As a collector who is paying a fairly high price for a movie, with the limited run nature, you do pay that price with the expectation that eventually it should retain and eventually gain value.

I should have about 11 TT titles by the end of next week assuming Screen Archives fills my order properly.

I'm grateful for the re-issue of The Big Heat as well as that sold out before I heard about Twilight Time. I like TT but they do have a history of getting a little ornery in the face of criticism, so I'm hoping that the blurb (and it was just a blurb, they didn't really make a press statement as such) about no longer re-issuing titles was just another one of those knee-jerk reactions and that once they realize the more reasonable consumers appreciate the occasional re-release of a popular title they'll change their mind.

[78deluxe]

When did they switch from Blue cases to the Clear ones?

[warrian]

Originally Posted by 78deluxe

When did they switch from Blue cases to the Clear ones?

A little over a year ago.

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by warrian

A little over a year ago.

Thank you!

[warrian]

Originally Posted by 78deluxe

Thank you!

No sweat! They started out with regular non-eco Viva Elites but when their manufacturer went all Viva-eco, they switched to the hard-edged aqua Chinese style cases. These sucked, but they were definitely better than the eco-cases. After sometime, they started showing up in the clear ones, which I think greatly compliments their artwork.

Whichever case they were using when each title was originally released is what you get.

I would still skip the cool clear cases and the booklets for a $10 reduction on the asking price out of the gate, but such is life...

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by BixmanJ

Received an email from TT this morning saying that the July titles are now shipping and that John Carpenter's Vampires has less than 650 copies remaining:

Down to less than 600.

Just a heads-up that we are now down to fewer than 600 copies remaining of JOHN CARPENTER'S VAMPIRES (out of 5,000 pressed) and those are only available at http://www.twilighttimemovies.com - SAE is completely SOLD OUT of the title - thanks all, for making this release a resounding success!