Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[rock, stone]

Well, I'll be in for The Big Heat. And maybe Journey.

I actually just watched Good As It Gets again a couple weeks ago. I think it is okay, with good performances for the most part. But the tv comparison from earlier isn't unfair. It has that glossy 90's feel good quality that I find hard to take completely seriously. Still, a surprise to see it on the list.

Also, is Quo Vadis that strong a film? I've never seen it, but it has been on my radar for a while.

[benbess]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

Well, I'll be in for The Big Heat. And maybe Journey.

I actually just watched Good As It Gets again a couple weeks ago. I think it is okay, with good performances for the most part. But the tv comparison from earlier isn't unfair. It has that glossy 90's feel good quality that I find hard to take completely seriously. Still, a surprise to see it on the list.

Also, is Quo Vadis that strong a film? I've never seen it, but it has been on my radar for a while.

Do you like big 50s epics of this kind? If so, you'll probably like it. For 7.99--the current price of the blu-ray--I think it's worth taking a chance. Ustinov as Nero is a hoot. Production values are impressive all the way. I like it's better than The Robe.

[Arkadin]

I have been wondering why As Good As it Gets hadn't been released on bd for the past 5 years. I really thought it would have been out in year 2 at the latest. I mean that was a very popular film, although it often gets hit with the "chick flick" label. I'm also kind of shocked Sony won't be releasing it after all, but it's beyond clear that they are basically D..O..N..E with bd catalog except for LOA and who knows what else. just a VERY sad situation.
bd catalog continues to completely baffle me, as a number of great films are coming out with decent regularity, but overall I still worry about the tap being shut off at any moment. As much as I love and adore blu-ray, the constant uncertainty over the fate of literally 100's of incredible films really bothers me. I just wish we knew more about what the majors have planned. All these reports keep saying disc sales continue to go up, but it still feels like a uphill battle to have any strong confidence regarding catalog going forward.
so frustrating.
btw: for people that haven't checked out the international forums recently, check out this insane list of films coming to France in the next few months--
Broken Lance
Warlock
Broken Arrow
Circus World
Garden of Evil
Pork Chop Hill
Bandolero!
The Devil's Brigade
I mean WOW!!!
now will these titles be any good pqwise--who knows?
but still a very impressive list and good examples of the types of films I love to see coming to bd.
Wayward Bus Poster-- http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_V5SReiHuxb...ard+bus+uk.jpg
version 2-- http://www.movieposterbid.com/pics/699sale_119_124.jpg


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[oildude]

Originally Posted by GOMEZFAN69

Looks like we'll also be getting ;

May 8

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959)
THE BIG HEAT (1953)

June 12

JOHN STEINBECK'S "THE WAYWARD BUS" (1957)
AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997)

Saw the May releases and got excited. Best month yet from TT.

Saw the June releases and suddenly feel let down and confused by what Sony is thinking. Unless as part of the deal with TT, they had to include some "sweeteners" for TT to accept the deal. Films that are not high on Sony's list of keepers for releasing soon, but they would have gotten around to one day. This way TT has a few modern cult and medium level hits in the mix.

I saw AGAIG and thought it was okay, but I have never had the desire to rewatch it. If it came out on blu-ray by Sony, it would not be one I would get anytime soon, even if it went on discount.

[Arkadin]

It has been apparent for ages that Sony has little interest in releasing older catalog at this time--except for a few absolute "biggies" like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (which, btw has only taken 5 years+ to get released)
so I'm not sure why anyone would be confused by TT getting AGAIG.
Like I said, I thought that film would have been released years ago, so why would anyone think Sony was suddenly going to put it on the release schedule?
Isn't it just clear that Sony is basically done with catalog?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if LOA is Sony's last older catalog release for a long time if not forever.
seriously, I would not be surprised one bit.
The best thing in the world would be for Sony to just sell the Columbia catalog to an entity that would actually want to release it on blu-ray.
every other week I think how great it would be if they announced it was for sale.
At this point it's just like Disney and Miramax. I mean they weren't really interested in releasing many of those titles on bd, and fortunately they were able to sell it to Lionsgate, who has actually done a very admirable job getting many of those films out in good transfers for very reasonable prices.
Lionsgate has actually surpassed my expectations as far as my hopes for the Miramax catalog.
maybe they could get Columbia also.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

The best thing in the world would be for Sony to just sell the Columbia catalog to an entity that would actually want to release it on blu-ray. every other week I think how great it would be if they announced it was for sale.

The only rub there is the buyer would be doing the Columbia transfers instead of Sony and Sony is awfully good.

At least this way we get the occasional Anatomy of a Murder (and I would of course love more of those - In a Lonely Place comes immediately to mind).

Is increased output worth rolling the quality dice? I honestly don't know.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

It has been apparent for ages that Sony has little interest in releasing older catalog at this time--except for a few absolute "biggies" like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (which, btw has only taken 5 years+ to get released)
so I'm not sure why anyone would be confused by TT getting AGAIG.
Like I said, I thought that film would have been released years ago, so why would anyone think Sony was suddenly going to put it on the release schedule?
Isn't it just clear that Sony is basically done with catalog?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if LOA is Sony's last older catalog release for a long time if not forever.
seriously, I would not be surprised one bit.
The best thing in the world would be for Sony to just sell the Columbia catalog to an entity that would actually want to release it on blu-ray.
every other week I think how great it would be if they announced it was for sale.
At this point it's just like Disney and Miramax. I mean they weren't really interested in releasing many of those titles on bd, and fortunately they were able to sell it to Lionsgate, who has actually done a very admirable job getting many of those films out in good transfers for very reasonable prices.
Lionsgate has actually surpassed my expectations as far as my hopes for the Miramax catalog.
maybe they could get Columbia also.

It makes no sense that Sony would be done with catalog, they of all studios have the most vested interest in the success of catalog releases. I can see them perhaps waiting until a DVD goes out of stock and then re-issuing it on BD rather a DVD re-issue. Retailers don't help, it's almost impossible to find a new BD catalog release except online, but then I doubt you could walk into many Best Buys and find a DVD copy of AGAIG.

But, as long as they at least keep licensing them out, it's better than nothing. Thank goodness for Europe & multi-region players. I'm really excited about the upcoming MoC releases licensed from Universal.

[Arkadin]

Sony does do great work with the stuff they do choose to release, but I just think their current economic reality means we won't be seeing many more releases. The thing is, even before the earthquake and all these ongoing problems they have had, Sony didn't seem all that interested in catalog bd.
Remember when they released A Passage To India and it was supposed to signal the beginning of the "Columbia Classics" series?
well it remains the only release to have that banner heading across the top. I don't think Sony was ever satisfied with catalog sales when the price point was a lot higher, and now that it is significantly lower they have little reason to even bother anymore. At least that's how it feels to me. The fact that Sony released so few of the great Columbia classics in the first 2 years of the format really sent a pretty strong message imo about the direction they were taking as far as catalog bd. Sony just has too many things to focus on with all the electronics stuff and the PS3 and everything else. bd clearly didn't make the kind of $ they had hoped it would for them as far as sales of individual titles. Hopefully the licensing end is doing better for them. who knows.
EDIT: just read Cochise's post.
well you would think they would have such an interest, but their lack of older releases kind of speaks for itself. Sony has still only released less than 10 films for the 30's, 40's and 50's combined in over 5 years. So if older catalog is such a priority, how can that be explained?

[benbess]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Sony does do great work with the stuff they do choose to release, but I just think their current economic reality means we won't be seeing many more releases. The thing is, even before the earthquake and all these ongoing problems they have had, Sony didn't seem all that interested in catalog bd.
Remember when they released A Passage To India and it was supposed to signal the beginning of the "Columbia Classics" series?
well it remains the only release to have that banner heading across the top. I don't think Sony was ever satisfied with catalog sales when the price point was a lot higher, and now that it is significantly lower they have little reason to even bother anymore. At least that's how it feels to me. The fact that Sony released so few of the great Columbia classics in the first 2 years of the format really sent a pretty strong message imo about the direction they were taking as far as catalog bd. Sony just has too many things to focus on with all the electronics stuff and the PS3 and everything else. bd clearly didn't make the kind of $ they had hoped it would for them as far as sales of individual titles. Hopefully the licensing end is doing better for them. who knows.

+1

Yeah, I think this gets at what's happening.

It didn't pay off for them, but at least they're willing to farm things out to good little companies like TT.

[arcadeforest]

Originally Posted by GOMEZFAN69

Looks like we'll also be getting ;

May 8

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959)
THE BIG HEAT (1953)

June 12

JOHN STEINBECK'S "THE WAYWARD BUS" (1957)
AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997)

Nice - I'm in for Journey to the Center of the Earth and As Good as it Gets.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Sony does do great work with the stuff they do choose to release, but I just think their current economic reality means we won't be seeing many more releases. The thing is, even before the earthquake and all these ongoing problems they have had, Sony didn't seem all that interested in catalog bd.
Remember when they released A Passage To India and it was supposed to signal the beginning of the "Columbia Classics" series?
well it remains the only release to have that banner heading across the top. I don't think Sony was ever satisfied with catalog sales when the price point was a lot higher, and now that it is significantly lower they have little reason to even bother anymore. At least that's how it feels to me. The fact that Sony released so few of the great Columbia classics in the first 2 years of the format really sent a pretty strong message imo about the direction they were taking as far as catalog bd. Sony just has too many things to focus on with all the electronics stuff and the PS3 and everything else. bd clearly didn't make the kind of $ they had hoped it would for them as far as sales of individual titles. Hopefully the licensing end is doing better for them. who knows.
EDIT: just read Cochise's post.
well you would think they would have such an interest, but their lack of older releases kind of speaks for itself. Sony has still only released less than 10 films for the 30's, 40's and 50's combined in over 5 years. So if older catalog is such a priority, how can that be explained?

Well, as I thought about it, pricing may have a lot to do with it. I was kind of surprised when MGM releases so many catalog last spring & summer at only $10, and then Lionsgate flooded the market with so many Miramax releases that can be had for as low as $5.99. Not much incentive to release catalog BD at those prices. And that may be it - studios decided to license out at a guaranteed return, and the specialty distributors like TT can try to command the higher prices. If Sony had released AGAIG on BD they'd be lucky to get $12 for it, but good luck with TT getting $30 for it.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

for people that haven't checked out the international forums recently, check out this insane list of films coming to France in the next few months--
Broken Lance
Warlock
Broken Arrow
Circus World
Garden of Evil
Pork Chop Hill
Bandolero!
The Devil's Brigade
I mean WOW!!!
now will these titles be any good pqwise--who knows?
but still a very impressive list and good examples of the types of films I love to see coming to bd.

Many of those could be the same high quality transfers Fox or SPHE would license to TT. But they could just as easily be the rejects...all those legacy letterbox transfers which TT didn't want to do until better quality masters exist. We don't know at this point.

What we do know is that both of these studios have very aggressive product improvement programs in place and have been quietly upgrading their catalogues in the background. Now, why would any studio do that if they truly felt their catalogues were worthless? They don't. They know there's still money to be made from older movies...just not on Blu-ray. And especially not in the current big box 'race-to-the-bottom' sales environment. With catalogue titles, retail is a lot of work for pennies on the dollar...if you're lucky.

For a studio, the strategic beauty of these Blu-ray licensing windows is that they're for at most 3 years, in very limited runs, and region-contained. During that time, consumers will continue upgrading their players from DVD to Blu, meanwhile fewer and fewer DVDs will be released, and the current warehouses full of DVD stock will eventually be depleted. So the studios have absolutely nothing to lose in the interim by licensing out catalogue titles for limited Blu-ray runs via cottage labels like Twilight Time. They still have their fat revenue stream from VOD, Cable, and Streaming, and they still own the high-def masters. So when the market finally does catch up, and most folks own Blu-ray players, they can just cherry pick the best catalogue sellers from these limited runs, and re-release those titles themselves. By that point though, they might even have their own limited run Blu-ray 'studio classics' divisions, selling directly to consumers via mail-order...thus cutting out all the retail middle men just as TT has done.

Catalogue Blu-ray isn't going away. You just won't find much of it via brick 'n mortar retail.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

EDIT: just read Cochise's post.
well you would think they would have such an interest, but their lack of older releases kind of speaks for itself. Sony has still only released less than 10 films for the 30's, 40's and 50's combined in over 5 years. So if older catalog is such a priority, how can that be explained?

So am I...are we missing a post here?

[benbess]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

...What we do know is that both of these studios have very aggressive product improvement programs in place and have been quietly upgrading their catalogues in the background....

Great post!

Can you tell me more about this? This gives me hope. Any links?

I've seen some of these great HD transfers on netflix. Some of these transfers look perfect, and have been around for years, and yet no blu-ray is in sight--which is where TT and Criterion come in!

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

So am I...are we missing a post here?

No, Arkadin & I have known each for a much longer time on another forum, where my user name was Cochise, old habits die hard I guess.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by benbess

Can you tell me more about this? This gives me hope. Any links?

I've seen some of these great HD transfers on netflix. Some of these transfers look perfect, and have been around for years, and yet no blu-ray is in sight--which is where TT and Criterion come in!

Nothing specific benbess, but the subject of studio Product Improvement Programs (PIPs) crops up from time to time here, usually in sidebar comments, or over on the Home Theatre Forum...generally in Robert Harris or Ron Epstein's references to the work of SPHE's Grover Crisp and Fox' Shaun 'Whatsinanameanyway' (sorry ).

All studios have these programs for preservation and improvement of their core assets...the movies. Some restorations and remasters take years to finish (e.g. Lawrence of Arabia). And many titles will be in various stages of investigation/restoration/production simultaneously.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by octagon

Is increased output worth rolling the quality dice? I honestly don't know.

I do. And it's emphatically "NO"!

IMO, that's what we've experienced too much of already with Blu-ray...too many sloppy or indifferent DVD/HD-DVD ports. Give me high-def treated with some skill and care, and I don't mind paying a premium. Otherwise, why bother?

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by The Duke

No, Arkadin & I have known each for a much longer time on another forum, where my user name was Cochise, old habits die hard I guess.

Ahhh, just testing whether the newbies are paying attention?

But The Duke/Cochise, that's pretty funny.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Thank you for that...

You're welcome. But just a lucky guess. Hoo gnu?

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by CinemaScope

I think you're right. Fox are doing all these HD remasters with various TV showings in mind (it must be getting harder to sell the SD stuff), & if someone wants to license a title out for Blu-ray, then fine, but I don't think Fox are interested in catalogue Blu's. In the UK, Channel4 show a lot of Fox 50's films in HD, & they look great.

Oh well, carry on Warner!

The one I really want to see done right by Warners is the 65mm Todd-AO version of Around the World in 80 Days.