They posted this on facebook today-

New releases for Jan/Feb 2014:

KHARTOUM (1966) BLU-RAY - Jan 21st (from the 65 mm elements)

ZULU (1963) BLU-RAY - Jan 22nd (on the 50th anniversary of the film's premiere, and the 135th anniversary of the battle of Rorke's Drift)

TITUS (1999) BLU-RAY - Jan 21st

MAN IN THE DARK (1953) 3D - Jan 21st

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989) BLU-RAY - Feb 11th

THE FRONT (1975) BLU-RAY - Feb 11th

THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT (1974) BLU-RAY - Feb 11th

THE BLUE MAX (1966) BLU-RAY - Feb 11th

THE EDDY DUCHIN STORY (1956) - Feb 11th

Thunderbolt & Lightfoot is supposed to be released by another company in U.K.... I wish there were a thread that was dedicated to avoiding Twilight Time releases w/ imports.

Mmm. Not too excited by these titles.

I can't see anyone paying $30 for any of those. Not that all of these are bad (I haven't even heard of some of them), but these aren't exactly marquee titles.

Titus better look epic on BD.

Well the Thunderbolt & Lightfoot dvd was not anamorphic, so ordinarily it would be on my upgrade list. I haven't watched Khartoum in years, but it is a Charlton Heston epic, so that would have been on my list as well.

As I'm sure anyone interested already knows, Zulu has been long available from the UK in an all region release. It's a great looking transfer too despite some DNR. The TT release would have to be pretty amazing to get me to pony up $30 for it. Wouldn't mind having Titus.

Crimes and Misdemeanors for me.

I'd say there are actually some pretty major titles in that lineup - particularly Zulu and Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The Front and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot are also both really good (if not as well known). I'll probably buy The Front.

Instant buy for Man in the Dark, though being a Columbia movie Sony should've put it out themselves on THEIR format. It was rushed into production to beat House of Wax as the first major-studio 3D movie.

I'm really excited with the release of Khartoum

Titus dvd had some good, solid extras. I wonder if they'll be ported over.

As a Woody Allen fan, I'm in for Crimes and Misdemeanors.

so apparently I'm ruffling someone's temper over at Twilight Time's facebook regarding the upcoming pre-order for Oliver!

ME: for an Oscar winning Best Picture - only 3,000 copies in the US - sad, just sad.

TT: Why is it sad? We will probably have 2,000 of the 3,000 in our possession for years!

ME: oh my god I can't believe you said that - alright for underestimating the appeal of a musical for your consumer base... you really don't think this will sell well? so why release it in the first place? Granted Sony isn't the best studio when it comes to releasing catalog titles (on their own), your less than enthusiastic response is illuminating.

(OTHER COMMENT) I'm in for one of the 3K!

TT: We release things purely because we want to release them, despite the generally terrible sales of catalogue titles. What is especially sad is your misunderstanding of the market.

(OTHER COMMENT): Sounds like TT is still sitting on copies of Bye Bye Birdie

ME: I get that sense too

(OTHER COMMENT): I got one of those copies too

ME: just be happy Twilight that I'm buying your blurays... despite my 'misunderstandings' oh boo-hoo I'm sooo offended - sheesh - who spiked your coffee? The 'sad' comment was directed more at Sony not you Twilight... crikey!

(OTHER COMMENT): OK, count me in for two copies of Oliver then.

TT: We're very happy you are supporting TT, ... , but please understand that sales of your favorite older movies are dropping through the floorboards now, and that is for every studio and independent label...this constant questioning of the 3,000 unit number as if it is paltry is ludicrous, when all labels and studios would love to sell 3,000 copies of any title! This is just the reality of the world we live in...

ME: yet I don't see the studios complaining when their 'horror' catalogue titles are the cash cows and buck the downward trend... guess it depends on the genre and certain directors.

~

Anyhow I found this dialogue pretty entertaining.

Can't say I'm excited on any of those titles. I've got my British import blu of ZULU from Paramount, and anyone interested can get it for a lot less than $30 on Amazon right now (used copies at $10.98).

What happened to THE BLOB ('88) and MINDWARP that we were promised earlier in the year. I'm sure *they* will sell out quickly.

is this not "Galaxy of Terror"?

Hint to all business owners: Responding to any and all criticism of your company by lashing at all the ignorant mean stupid heads who don't fawn over your product doesn't really help anything.You know, the people at Twilight Time seem to be under the impression that insulting your potential customer base is a good way of doing business. Yeah, I get that the constant criticisms can get annoying - but when you're appealing to the collector's market, you've kind of got to accept that your business practices are going to be scrutinized. Yeah, not all the criticisms are going to be rational and some of them may be based on ignorance or a misunderstanding of the market (welcome to the internet!) - but, even then, you've just kind of got to suck it up and deal with it. Otherwise you risk alienating and driving away your customers.

Every time they respond like this - and they do it a lot - Nick Redman & co. just come off as a bunch of petulant and childish crybabies who can't handle the fact that not everybody loves the way they do business.

It's rare to see business owners who are so thin skinned, and who are so eager to shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over again.

Why would price gouging negatively affect sales of a product? Though I'm not sure sale is a term that's in Twilight Time's vocabulary seeing as they never have one.

Well, movies on Blu-ray aren't really an "essential" product, so it probably doesn't qualify under the technical definition of price gouging anyways.

But I think it's simple economics: Some people will be willing to buy a movie they like or are interested in at just about any price, but the lower the price the more you'll draw in those "somewhat interested" customers or the customers who have a tight budget (to an extent - sometimes making something too cheap can make it lose "prestige" value.) Of course, some movies that are more obscure are never going to sell many copies - and you of course have to take things like production cost into account too.

Most people, when they choose what to buy, use a sort of mental "algorithm": "How much do I value this product? And how much is it being sold for?" If the sales price is above their assessed "value" of the product, then they won't buy it.

Speaking for myself, there are several titles in the collection that I'm interested in, but which I'm not willing to pay MSRP for. I would be more willing to blind buy titles if they ever went on sale (heck, even offering "free shipping" might push me over on a few of their releases) - as it is, I'm just not willing to pay $35 for something I've never seen or which I only "kind of" like.

At their current price points, the only upcoming titles I'll be buying are Oliver!, The Front, and Crimes and Misdemeanors. If their prices were just a little bit lower, though, I would pick up several others like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Titus, and Man in the Dark.

^^ Very well said, and that echoes my thoughts exactly. When your budget is not unlimited, that "mental algorithm" kicks in pretty frequently. It is a catch-22 situation of wanting to take one for the team. You love catalogue titles and want to support the product to encourage more output. But, you see titles of such obscurity that you question your own motives, can't take the 'risk' of $35.00 per title. And when the releasing company is arrogant, offputting, and insulting this alienates you even further. Ultimately, because of all these ambivalent feelings, you hold out for only a handful of titles, instead of purchasing every TT release, and feel you've done catalogue title releasing a disservice by doing so...

Mindwarp has already been released and can be ordered here. As you can see, it hasn't sold out yet.

As far as The Blob, they have said it will be later in 2014.

I'm very curious as to the price of 'Man in the Dark' since it's a 3D bluray release.

If I remember correctly, Screenarchives had a 10% off around this time last year? Any info on a repeat?

apparently there are some addendums regarding next month's releases of

Oliver!:

"SAE will be adding this info to the Oliver! pre-order page - "PLEASE NOTE: As the separate music stems have not survived, the isolated score track from Oliver! has been prepared from the restored 4.0 MAG M&E -- which means that while the music sounds wonderful, there are sound effects present throughout."

Jane Eyre:

Just as a heads-up, some folk have asked about the disclaimer we have placed on this title: "PLEASE NOTE: WE HAVE BROUGHT THIS FILM TO BLU-RAY USING THE BEST SOURCE MATERIAL AVAILABLE." It is nothing too serious, it is the same disclaimer that Fox put on their own release of the film on DVD, and in good faith we are adding it to the pre-order information. Those familiar with the DVD will know that JANE EYRE is one of the titles for which the original elements no longer exist, and that surviving prints are all that is left to work from...this blu-ray is derived from the same master as the DVD but of course is going to be in 1080p and those who love the film won't be too disappointed.

I may try and nab a copy of THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, as I'm an Eastwood completist.

My biggest problem with Twilight Time releases is that they're "truly" blind buys in every sense of the word - you can't risk waiting for reviews of the transfer, as the title may already be sold out by then.

I really only think that is a problem on the biggest horror movies from Twilight Time. Most everything else is taking years to sell out.