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Fox classics. com gone !!

post #1 of 32
5/20/09 at 10:52am
Thread Starter 
With all the talk of the Egyptian, I thought I would check Foxclassics.com, hoping for an update. Looks like that web site is now gone as it reroutes to fox store.
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post #2 of 32
5/20/09 at 11:06am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

As if we couldn't hear it before, the message from Fox is received loud and clear...
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post #3 of 32
5/20/09 at 11:17am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

I hope this does not mean we will not be getting A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN , Betty Grable Volume II and more Noir films.
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post #4 of 32
5/20/09 at 11:28am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Well it was grand while it lasted. I guess we should be thankful we got as much as we did while the going was good.
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post #5 of 32
5/20/09 at 2:40pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

It really is the end of an era. It's as if the studios have completely given up on pre-2000 product and now with the focus shifting to re-releasing everything to Boo-ray, older films don't stand a chance. There hasn't been a single title announced in over 6 months worth getting excited about.
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post #6 of 32
5/20/09 at 4:07pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Why did they ever have multiple sites for their home video division?
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post #7 of 32
5/20/09 at 4:12pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Not sure this time, but twice when Fox re did the Classic site this happened. But I really think this is the end.
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post #8 of 32
5/20/09 at 4:12pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito34
It really is the end of an era. It's as if the studios have completely given up on pre-2000 product and now with the focus shifting to re-releasing everything to Boo-ray, older films don't stand a chance. There hasn't been a single title announced in over 6 months worth getting excited about.

Man Hunt doesn't impress you?
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post #9 of 32
5/20/09 at 6:27pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Fox has impressed me in the past, The Charlie Chans, Mr. Moto's, Ford at Fox, their horror collections, their Film Noir series Betty Grable, Carmem Miranda, Alice Faye, Tyrone Power sets.

Man Hunt looks like the end of the line. It was announced as a Film Noir, but the package mentions nothing of it being a Noir, which I do agree. I makes me believe that they only released it because of Valkyrie release. The Dairy of Ann Frank does not excite me and that is the end of the anouncements. If the closing of the Fox Classics website means what it means, then there is not A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Stars and Strips, A Box of Ritz Crackers, the hope of Mr. Belvedere, more Betty Grable, more Sonja Henie or more of those great cinemascope films in the future. Someone mentioned a suggestion for Fox to do a box set of many of the unreleased Cinemascope films this holiday like their Ford At Fox. I thought that was a great idea and would support it. I guess it will never come to past.

I can not write of Fox at this time, for we do not know anything and all is just suspect. Please Fox do not abandon us as Paramount has.
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post #10 of 32
5/20/09 at 6:51pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Miles Krueger told me he did a commentary for STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER more than a year ago. You think FOX would go ahead and release this one. Hopefully this is not the end of the line for FOX classic films.
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post #11 of 32
5/21/09 at 5:12am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this is simply a web-site re-development.

I'll press the panic button when this stays as is for closer to a month.

Times certainly do seem bleak for classic DVD lovers though.
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post #12 of 32
5/21/09 at 8:12am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Posted by John Hodson: As if we couldn't hear it before, the message from Fox is received loud and clear...

Quote:
Posted by Luisito34: It really is the end of an era. It's as if the studios have completely given up on pre-2000 product and now with the focus shifting to re-releasing everything to Boo-ray, older films don't stand a chance. There hasn't been a single title announced in over 6 months worth getting excited about.

I guess they think they are catering to their audience (not us). I was on the AVS Blu-Ray Player Forum yesterday, and the subject of upconverting SD DVDs on Blu-ray came up. two memebers posted that they had sold of or given away their entire SD DVD Collections. "Nothing but HD for me, baby!" was their mantra. There is no freakin' way I'd dump my SD DVDs in favor for Blu-ray's limited selection.
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post #13 of 32
5/21/09 at 8:35am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Personally I think we are in a slow down from Warner and Fox that will last another year. In the second half of next year I think releases will go back to normal as the U.S. and world economy picks up.

For the next year, most classic releases from those two companies will be reissues of major titles on Blu-ray. Films like Ben Hur, North By Northwest, and the ones we already know about, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind.

I have absolutely no idea what has happened at Sony, but I like it and I will be supporting them by buying the Film Noir and Sam Fuller boxes.
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post #14 of 32
5/21/09 at 9:06am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Simon I admire your optimism but I just can't see things going back to the way they were before.
If it turns out I'm wrong and you're right I'll be very happy of course.
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post #15 of 32
5/21/09 at 9:25am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Howson
I have absolutely no idea what has happened at Sony, but I like it and I will be supporting them by buying the Film Noir and Sam Fuller boxes.
They got new personnel that cares about classics, and they won a format war. Those royalty checks do pay off.
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post #16 of 32
5/21/09 at 9:32am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Livius
Simon I admire your optimism but I just can't see things going back to the way they were before.
If it turns out I'm wrong and you're right I'll be very happy of course.
When the world economy was booming, say for the first five years of the decade, surely WHV and Fox Home Entertainment were making a profit from their classic releases. I can't see how they were releasing a lot for those years as a charity.

So all we need is for the world economy to start growing (which it is expected to do next year) for them to start releasing stuff again. I can't see how these two big companies will leave all that Wallmart and Best Buy shelf space to Sony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
They got new personnel that cares about classics, and they won a format war. Those royalty checks do pay off.
Sony have always had Grover Crisp who has knows how to make good releases, the green light for the flood of new releases coming this year must've come from above him.

I just hope the slow U.S. economy doesn't mean that these releases don't sell as well as predicted, which then kills off another flood of releases next year.

I'd rather have consistency rather than stop / start release schedules.
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post #17 of 32
5/21/09 at 11:06am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

I understand that TCM and Sony signed a deal middle of last year for several 100 films to appear on the channel. The quality of the films that TCM requires may be the roots of Sony starting to release films from their vaults. It has been said before that Warner had economical reasons to refurbish their vault assets due to the TCM outlet for their product.

Mr. Crisp has always been a supporter of classic films and always has a project in the works. It is he that we can thank for the past dvd releases such as "A Walk On The Wild Side" and "Major Dundee" I am sure he and Mr. Schlesinger are the ones to thank now.

I hear the Paramount has just recently signed a deal. Hope this works the same way.
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post #18 of 32
5/21/09 at 12:28pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Howson
When the world economy was booming, say for the first five years of the decade, surely WHV and Fox Home Entertainment were making a profit from their classic releases. I can't see how they were releasing a lot for those years as a charity.

So all we need is for the world economy to start growing (which it is expected to do next year) for them to start releasing stuff again. I can't see how these two big companies will leave all that Wallmart and Best Buy shelf space to Sony.

Yeah, but people keep saying the market just isn't there any more for DVDs in general, let alone classics. The bad economy doesn't help any but the fact is that many people (even film buffs) will tell you they've bought as many titles as they want. Personally, I'm nowhere near exhausting my wish list, but there you go.

While better economic conditions would likely encourage more releases from the studios, I'm not holding out too many hopes for a new golden age.
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post #19 of 32
5/21/09 at 1:40pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by David_B_K
I guess they think they are catering to their audience (not us). I was on the AVS Blu-Ray Player Forum yesterday, and the subject of upconverting SD DVDs on Blu-ray came up. two memebers posted that they had sold of or given away their entire SD DVD Collections. "Nothing but HD for me, baby!" was their mantra. There is no freakin' way I'd dump my SD DVDs in favor for Blu-ray's limited selection.

Wow, that reminds me how some people were unwisely dumping their entire Laserdisc collections before even knowing for sure all of it would actually come out on DVD. Some people never learn!
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post #20 of 32
5/21/09 at 7:15pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverWook
Wow, that reminds me how some people were unwisely dumping their entire Laserdisc collections before even knowing for sure all of it would actually come out on DVD. Some people never learn!
No kidding. Seems fairly excessive.
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post #21 of 32
5/22/09 at 2:00am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
No kidding. Seems fairly excessive.
It's kind of like certain sections of audiophilia: some people reach a point where the hobby form them is the latest hardware rather than the content of the software (i.e the films).

I'm not saying that is wrong, but I own a very modest home theatre set up, but 1500 DVDs (and 2 Blu-rays!) whereas others like spending most of their money on the latest and greatest playback equipment.
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post #22 of 32
5/25/09 at 6:37am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Livius
Well it was grand while it lasted. I guess we should be thankful we got as much as we did while the going was good.

Yes it was grand, all those lovely Studio Classics (& that three disc "Cleopatra"), but it looks like Fox is now run by the dead hand of accounts (never a good thing in the long run). So that big box set that I'd like; Fox:The CinemaScope Years, a big box of about 20 unreleased cinemascope films, will just stay a nice idea.
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post #23 of 32
5/25/09 at 3:27pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Livius
Yeah, but people keep saying the market just isn't there any more for DVDs in general, let alone classics. The bad economy doesn't help any but the fact is that many people (even film buffs) will tell you they've bought as many titles as they want. Personally, I'm nowhere near exhausting my wish list, but there you go.

While better economic conditions would likely encourage more releases from the studios, I'm not holding out too many hopes for a new golden age.

Yeah, that's what I find so worrisome - the plateauing and decline of DVD sales even before the economy went in the dumpster. The average DVD buyer I know (in my family and in my office) moved to netflix awhile ago. They just don't buy as many DVDs anymore. They say they own "too many as it is" and there's "no time to watch them anyway." The bloom is off the rose for the average buyer, and I'm not sure we'll ever see a resurgence. I hope so, but...

Anyway, I have a terrific collection (over 2,000) and looking better than they ever have, so I can't complain, even if the flow dribbles and (possibly) stops altogether. I'll be disappointed, but I can't complain. Especially with Fox and Warners. They really hit their classics out of the ballpark while they were at it.
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post #24 of 32
5/25/09 at 6:00pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

there are still many millions of SDVD players out there that need feeding-and putting out just the new stuff just wont cut it-some titles which will be years before they come to BR
(if at all) they will just to have to settle for total annual net of $1 Billion profits instead of $1.1 billion
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post #25 of 32
5/26/09 at 1:06am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

I'm buying a lot of titles that I never got around to buying a few years ago (well, there were so many discs released). In England they're dirt cheap right now; mostly under £4. Yesterday I bought 2 fox, 1 Warner & 1 Paramount, four 40's 50's & 60's classics for under £15! Usually they get this cheap before they get deleted, & deleted discs get very scarce very quick. Oh the good days have gone!
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post #26 of 32
5/27/09 at 7:25am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_TS
there are still many millions of SDVD players out there that need feeding-and putting out just the new stuff just wont cut it

Sadly, that's completely untrue. The top twenty titles at any given time make up the vast majority of DVD sales.
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post #27 of 32
6/1/09 at 3:18pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

I have yet to see anyone from Fox chiming in on these issues. There was a day that studio people would read and participate in these threads to offer some sort of answer if not optimism. Or even the chats. Where have they disappeared to?

I am still working with SDVD and not interested in Blue Ray until prices come down as cheap as SDVD - both players and discs. I also still rather buy than rent.

Eric
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post #28 of 32
6/1/09 at 8:23pm

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

If I remember, there was a rather significant blood-letting at Fox Home Entertainment earlier this year, including people who were friendly to this forum. My guess is Fox's 'stasis' is related to that.
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post #29 of 32
6/2/09 at 5:24am

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

Didn't they drop FOX CLASSICS ages ago, and shifted over to CINEMA CLASSICS line.....
I know at one time "ALL ABOUT EVE" was a FOX CLASSICS, and it morphed into a CINEMA CLASSICS set under the FOX banner ??
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Are the Cinema Classics dead as well ??
Thanks
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post #30 of 32
6/2/09 at 6:03am
Thread Starter 

Re: Fox classics. com gone !!

the point is, any classics upcoming and released were on Classic movies. That website has now dissapeared.
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