I've looked locally both yesterday and today and cannot find Tideland. Wal-Mart doesn't have it, though it's listed on their website and there is an empty bin marked "Tideland" at the store (they didn't sell out --they never got it in).

Target doesn't carry it.

Best Buy lists it on their website but the local store says they're not going to carry it.

I haven't made it to Hastings yet --my last possible option locally.

Is there a distribution problem with this DVD? Is stocking it supposed to be controversial? Anyone else have a problem actually buying this DVD in a local store?

The Blockbuster I work at during the weekends got it in. I think they just got it in today.

I dont have a problem finding it. I just have a problem avoiding it. Heard it was one of the worst movies of the year.

i just saw it at wal mart for $15.96...
but i just got it in the mail from Amazon today....Unfortunately the first disk was loose and was all scratched up...

All about threadcraps (please read)

"i just saw it at wal mart for $15.96..."

That's the price on the empty bin at my local Wal-Mart, but they still don't have it. Abe's reply seems to indicate a possible distribution problem.

"Heard it was one of the worst movies of the year."

I haven't seen it, but I've "heard" a lot of things about a lot of different movies: sometimes they turn out to be right, sometimes they turn out to be wrong. I have intially passed on any number of movies because of bad "reviews" only to find out later that the reviewers were either clueless, passing off an agenda of one kind or another, or simply have quite different tastes in movies. These days I pretty much ignore bad reviews of movies by director's I respect; or bad reviews of movies I'm interested in for one reason or another.

Yeah, go to Wal-Mart, I saw it at one Wal-Mart. Apparently it's not a sure bet, but it seems to be at least probable.

And yeah, I too heard it was horrendous from just about everyone. Disappointing, I love Gilliam, but I will wait and see what some other people I know think of it before getting a copy for myself.

Personally it's my favorite Gilliam film. I couldn't find it at Best Buy when I was there for the B1G1 deal/glitch. I'll probably end up getting it from DDD, they've got a great price.

Just arrived from Netflix, I will watch it tomorrow.

LOVE Gilliam but hated Brothers Grimm. Hope he redeems himself.

Yeah, I first went to Best Buy, and had one of the drones look for it, and he said that they only had it on their website and not in stores (he didn't understand why himself).

So I went across the street to Boarders, where they had a few copies on sale for $19.

As far as it being the worst movie of the year, even Gilliam says in his intro that "there's a good chance that you might not like this movie" - it's very polarizing, but it's all subjective. What's not subjective is how packed this 2-disc set is. Great transefer, commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes, documentary on Gilliam, etc....

There's a simple trick, which involves not clicking in the only thread that has ever (or will ever) discuss the film, on this site. Follow similar steps and you'll never have to read about it or watch it. It really is that simple. No need to crap on a movie you didn't see, even putting aside the fact that it's the best movie of the year and in some ways the best thing Gilliam's ever done (certainly the most cohesive as a whole film). It's not an "easy" movie to watch, but it's a horror film, so why should it be? 'Tideland' ruined 'Pan's Labyrinth' for me, what with it dealing with all the same themes in a much more subtle, better defined way.

If Miramax ever releases the Gilliam cut of the movie, you'll like it more. It certainly wasn't perfect, but unlike the released version, it had Gilliam's fingerprints all over it and felt like a Gilliam movie. It was really, really funny. Unfortunately, they cut out all traces of the comedy and moved elements of the story around so there would be no mystery, which just left a rather generic fantasy film. 'Tideland' has problems, but its problems are too much Gilliam, not too little.

Judging by the deleted scenes on the Brothers Grimm DVD, there was nothing that could be added back to the movie that would make it any less awful. The whole project was just profoundly misconceived from start to finish.

Besides which, Gilliam has stated on multiple occassions that the theatrical cut was his director's cut. After all the fighting with the studio, he eventually got his way and put everything into the movie that he wanted there. It just doesn't work, and never will.

Having watched many many movies and read many many professional and non-professional reviews, and heard many many personal opinions, from the buzz on Tideland, that is what I suspect --it's not "easy" to watch. Frankly, unless I'm deliberately choosing to watch a popcorn movie, and drinking a martini, I don't want a movie to be easy to watch. I doubt that there is a truly intelligent, challenging, or superior movie that wasn't intially panned as "awful" or "boring" or "garbage." At least I can't think of any.

I picked it up at Hastings today and will watch it sometime this weekend.

Yeah, this seems to be another Gilliam movie that fell through the cracks. It didn't play in my local theaters and I couldn't find it anywhere locally so I bought it off of DDD since it was cheap. I haven't seen it yet but it's my most anticipated movie in years.

I found One copy at Movie Trading Company in Dallas (GOT IT).

Not to mention that DDD doesn't even have a picture for the dvd on their website and there isn't a dvd review on here yet. It's almost as if this movie didn't even exist.

thanks for the DDD heads up. i ordered it from there. odd that the cover image was not available - i almost bought the soundtrack becasue it was shown with the cover image.

Best Buy and Target didn't have it. Found it at FYE (2 copies).

Just so everyone is aware, the aspect ratio on this DVD is completely wrong. It should be 2.35: 1 but is cropped on the sides at 1.77: 1 or there about. The back of the box reads 16:9 Anamorphic Full Frame. And no, it isn’t open matt it is definitely Pan and Scan. Anyone who saw this in a theater can tell it’s totally off. Compare it to the trailer on Youtube and it’s obvious how much image is cut off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3qsBzGcMMo

Another problem is the deleted scenes can’t be watched without the commentary. There is no way to watch them with just the original audio. As much as I love the film everyone should be aware how bad this release is.

bummer - I wonder if Gilliam is aware of this, and if he would care.

Well, for 15 bucks, it'll have to do, seeing as how there's really no chance of a re-release. Unless a replacement program will be put in place.

I don't care what he said around the time they were promoting the release of the film, I *saw* two versions of the movie. The original test screening (the second in the US, I believe) and the theatrical release. One of them had Gilliam's sense of humor from start to finish, and had the bad pacing and awkward structure that Gilliam tries to make work, to varying degrees. And it was a mess, but it was obviously Gilliam's mess. The theatrical release has virtually none of Gilliam's humor, and becomes a straightforward telling of the boring story (the part of the film that pre-dated Gilliam's involvement with it). If Gilliam won't always admit he was forced to "mainstream" it, which he has also stated on various occassions, I don't blame him; he has a bad enough reputation without going up against Weinstein publicly.

I'm not saying the original cut wasn't a mess, but it was a mess that Gilliam fans would appreciate. The theatrical cut is just a mess. It's not just a question of deleted scenes; every scene of the movie was different, and many were re-arranged to remove mystery.

EDIT: It's also worth noting that, at that screening, Gilliam said that Miramax was demanding that he cut twenty minutes and he had no idea what to do. I can say that the thing I said should be cut down [the sequence at the end, where it's obvious to the viewer he's going to have to destroy the mirror, and it takes him ten minutes to figure it out] was not, but other stuff clearly was.

Can you give a specific example where it pan and scans? The reason I ask is that the chapter stops are 2.35, and I eyeballed Chapter 4, and the frame edges appeared the same. But it might be cropped from the DVD image, that's why I'm curious which scenes you're thinking of. I haven't had a chance to watch the whole disc yet, or hear the commentary where he might explain it.

i rented this at BBV. not good.

The only thing on the DVD in the correct aspect ratio are the studio logos before the film. Once the actual film starts it jumps to the wrong aspect ratio. If you compare the image from the DVD with the trailer I linked to from youtube in my original post, you can see the difference.