Anyone care to speculate what big title Paramount might release on Aug 27?? (1 Viewer)

[Peter Overduin]

When I say that horror movies like My Bloody Valentine, or any horror movie for that matter, is not a 'big' release, I say it from the view point of the studio. If that horror title is considered 'big,' than Paramount is in a whole lot more trouble than I imagine it to be. By all means, I hope they release the horror titles you guys want - personally I have no interest in them but can appreciate that others do. But to even mention SNF in the same context as horror, is, well, horrifying! In the context of this thread - where we are vainly trying to figure out the 'big' one from Paramount (okay...SNF) I merely wanted to point out to the young'uns here whatever horror stuff comes out in September can't possibly be the 'big' one. Studios used to make good films, now they just make movies. I'm sure the big one will be a film. Some of you will know what I mean.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Gentlemen,

I don't want this turning into a

bashing thread over Paramount's Horror

films.

You will be happy to know that EVERYONE

is going to be happy about August & September's

releases.

 

[Michael Martin]

I'm a bit confused by the people who are saying "stop complaining!" Having just re-read this thread, I see very little complaining or whining -- simply movie fans stating their preferences.
I posted above that I am very disinterested in SNF. However, I do realize that is my opinion. I am quite happy for fans of the movie who will, it seems, be able to have the movie in a digital format. I did not moan and gnash my teeth at Paramount. Nor do I recall anyone else doing so. I have far less interest in seeing any of the Friday the 13th movies again than SNF (which I have never seen in its entirety), but am not gainsaying Paramount whatever its choices. Sure, I'd love for a great release for Young Sherlock Holmes, but if memory serves, it was neither a critical or popular success, so I can understand why Paramount would go after movies that have made money and are more likely to turn a profit as DVDs.
Ron's posts have me quite curious (and hopeful!), but that doesn't mean we're not allowed to politely voice our preferences. I agree it should not degenerate into bitter and childish complaints, but it hasn't, at least not in this thread.

 

[Jay E]

Hey, I'm a fan of both My Bloody Valentine and Saturday Night Fever but there's no way that MBF would be as big a DVD release as SNF. It's definitely more of a cult film. I'm just hoping that both films make it on DVD this year.
I would also like to thank Jodee for bringing up the film Targets. I forgot that Paramount owns that title. I would really be excited if that ever came out on DVD. Boris Karloff's last great role and a real sleeper.

 

[Claire_B]

Me and my husband adore alot of films. SNF brings back some great memories, As does My Bloody Valentine
The way I see it, Certain movies mean more to some people than others. SNF may have made alot more but MBV also has a big fan base on video.
Ron,
Paramount do a great job on the visual and always give us WIDESCREEN. On most releases, Horror and other genres, We only get a trailer.
I was wondering, Could you tease us some more and give a "Yes" or "No" answer to the following question.
Do any of the horror releases, Have anything besides a trailer ?
Thank You

 

[Ron Reda]

My apologies, but I have no interest whatsoever in SNF. Personally, I'd rather see "Better Off Dead!"

 

[Chuck L]

Out of basic curiosity, when we will begin hearing the titles for this 'mystery' list?

It does seem that if some of the titles would be a delight for people that Paramount would be happy to go ahead and say and get people to stop asking about them...

 

[Sean Patrick]

mmm....The Keep. what an awesome dvd this would be. It's the ultimate niche horror title and won't appeal to the masses but at least they could promote it as "from the director of HEAT, THE INSIDER and ALI..."

and Don't Look Now. that would be INCREDIBLE to get these two titles!

 

[Raymond Johnson]

Why is everyone taking all the posts out of context just because a horror movie happened to mentioned along with another classic film?
I'm not saying this is better than that as some people seem to be/think.
It was just a very simple opinion on what the 'big' August title may be...Saturday Night Fever. A great movie & all time favorite of mine & i also love the soundtrack as well!
That should'nt be that controversial of a opinion.
My Bloody Valentine is not the 'big' August title. That should be easy to see(& i can't belive some are so defensive trying to put it down since they read the posts all wrong) ,even Ron mentioned that the first week of September would make horror fans very happy..not August! He then said ALL the releases(from all genres,whatevers being released)..will make EVERYONE happy!
So i'm really looking forward to August & September..it just may really be something to remember. & to all the 'closet' film fans out there..theres nothing wrong with liking horror/cult/camp movies.
I proudly own some great camp classic,some serious films(& they're displayed side by side!) and love plenty of stuff from the 30's-today from ALL genres! I'm not ashamed of it,don't put it down & am open minded enough to like a huge variety of films..but some seem to think thats a sin & you either like only serious 'real' films or nothing at all!. Well i say,forget that,thats really boring & i choose what i like/watch,not what others think...and as long as it's good thats all that matters
I'm sure some would laugh at my collection(which only goes to show your maturity level) when i would'nt laugh at yours btw! But in the end..who cares what they think,i have a great collection,love a variety(+keeps things very intersting) of films & thats what matters most.
...and to all the naysayers out there...if it happened to be a fully restored uncut release(or two) of previously heavily censored films. That is a BIG deal & we should be happy it was finnaly done(at least open minded people & real movie fans would)...because i'm sure you would'nt like seeing your favorite films in butchured form only..or would you from the comments i've seen?
I'd love a uncut My Bloody Valentine,it's a classic...and ..i'm a huge fan of All Quiet on the Western Front as well(gasp!)
This is all i have to say on the topic & i hope everything gets straightened out as it was obviously taken way out of context.

 

[Walt Riarson]

Raymond,

I feel you. For a while I had a strict diet of Kurosawa, Capra, Fellini, Lean, Hitchcock, etc. Anything remotely cultish, sci-fi, horror, or even comedy-related (I told ya, I was a maaaaaaaaaajor film snob) wasn't worth my time. About the closest I would allow myself to get was through Kubrick. You have to understand though, in my early 20's, I really dug all those old horror films and silly comedies. Through college, I had very little time for movies, period, and the ones I saw, I wanted to be "worth my time." So, the 10 or so year span of complete film snobbery began.

It got to the point where I really enjoyed nothing that I was viewing. All I was doing was appreciating films. I could say "That was a good movie. It was really well-made." But I didn't really like them all. That went on for years.

It was only after I sat down and watched some bizarre movie on cable one night with my wife (and I don't even recall the name of the film) that I sort of "snapped out of it". It was, without a doubt, the dumbest movie I have ever seen, but it was also one of the most enjoyable "wastes of time" I had ever experienced. After that, I began renting all the comedies, sci-fi movies, horror flicks, etc. that I'd overlooked for so many years. I spent the remainder of the 90's getting caught up on everything.

Now, I enjoy films of all genres. It's funny, but the more "open-minded" a person proclaims they are in reality, the more "close-minded" they are as a film fan. That's sad.

If you love film, you love film. All film. Not "everything, but..."

That's ol' Walt's spin anyway.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Grease could be August 2003's big title

Silly geese, we all know that August 2003's big title is of course going to be LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS.
Well, in a perfect world it would be, anyway.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Oh, that Mark Heuck and his Fabulous Stains....
Hey, whatever happened to "Don't Look Now" and "The Tenant" coming out in May? Weren't they on that tentative list Ron had to pull?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Mark,

They are both still 2002 releases.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I don't see what all the discussion and speculation is about. It's obvious to me what the only logical "big title" could be from Paramount.
1999: Titanic
2000: Braveheart
2001: Forrest Gump
2002: Popeye
Think, people!
All kidding aside, I'd buy this title on DVD in a split second. So there's one (1) unit sold right there.

 

[David Lambert]

Scott, I'd buy that title in a heartbeat!
Also, Chad Gregory mentioned a million posts ago Urban Cowboy...another big title must-buy for me when Paramount decides to bring it!

 

[Seth Paxton]

Urban Cowboy does seem to also have a strong female following.
I think IMDb votes do have some merit. Obviously it works at least as a rough popularity poll for movies among internet movie fans. Seeing as how film box office currently follows the amount of votes at IMDb and how much of the top 250 there has some strong similarities to the AFI and even the Sight and Sound lists, it's hardly a non-useful site.
No one is bashing horror, and it's not elitist to say that the MASSES aren't being represented correctly because a SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP comes in and sways the vote. I think it was very clear from the beginning (and fair to say) that if Martin had polled a HORROR site and the thread at that horror site had been linked over at the Cusak fansite so that the top vote getter ended up being Better Off Dead despite the fact that before that poll thread about 1% of the members mentioned the film normally, people at that site would be a little bent out of shape.
A snipe vote like that feels a lot like being taken advantage of by a bunch of people who could have cared less about HTF till there was something in it for them, and something that might have countered the regular membership's desires.
It's great to bring in new members, but how many people came in, skewed the vote, and then left for good? And how does that represent a vote at HTF, or what I assume Paramount thought was a cross-section of DVD buyers?
It had NOTHING to do with being anti-horror, but any specialty group being overrepresented SCREWS the other specialty groups. The arrogance about it is "horror deserves it's spot" even if it costs some other genre's cult films. So if getting that 10th horror film in the works kept Top Secret out of the loop, then maybe the cult comedy people really have a legitimate gripe rather than just being "elitist".
This is obviously a hot-button topic with me and tweeks me to no end. Especially the "you're snobs" attitude because everyone else doesn't share the same passion for your cult film...yet in the eagerness to get out your genre's cult films you'll easily push aside some other "inferior" genre's cult films. That's the true elitist attitude.
Horror has it's fans. They were represented at HTF long before that poll. For about a week we had 5 times that normal number of fans here, then it went back to almost the original number. BTW, I do enjoy horror flicks as well, but not more than any other genre.
The reason everyone complained then and might be voicing a few complaints now was that before that poll was listed many other Paramount cult films were regularly discussed. Sadly many of those were shoved out of the way once the poll was linked by a specialty site.
However, it sounds to me like Martin and the crew took all of that into account when making their decisions. I feel certain that we will all be pleased with the results. But worrying about being pushed aside is NOT being elitist.

 

[Chuck L]

QUOTE:

It had NOTHING to do with being anti-horror, but any specialty group being overrepresented SCREWS the other specialty groups.

-------------------------------------------------

If you return to the original poll that Paramount requested, they asked for B-Title films. I am sure that with the money and respect that some films that Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Titanic and such have, they all fail in being considered B-Titles.

I have a hard time believing that if word got out that say Paramount wanted to know what titles were longed for on a A-List film selection that there would not be certain people that would come to the site only to cast there votes.

Whether or not the people stayed after casting their votes is up to them....that does not lessen their vote. It is their voice and they have the right to be heard if only for one time.

Ron has said that mostly everybody will be pleased in regard to the titles. If My Bloody Valentine does make the list of upcoming titles, say a A-Title, their will be people that will be upset. If Friday The 13th part 7 was to arrive uncut, like what has been asked for since 1988, their will be a group that will say why not Saturday Night Fever. You must realize, it hasn't simply been in the past year that people have been asking and pleaing for their horror unedited and unbasterized by the studio and the MPAA, it has happened since many of the films releases. (Would you like for me to post again how much the Friday series made for Paramount? Adjust it for inflation and they made a crap load of money for the studio both during it's theater time and home video...and keep in mind that it was CLEAN profit...take a 2 to 3 million dollar movie to produce and walk away with total over 50 million, the case of the first and fourth in the series, and that is a lot of cash for such 'horrid' films. )

It is a no win situation. Though my DVD collection may contain more horror-cult titles than anything else, please believe me that their is an equal share of mainstream A titles from Paramount as well that sit proudly.

Again, Ron said that almost everybody will be pleased. Whether it is your pet film project or mine, they should all get the same respect.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Chuck,
Seth's point was simply that if Martin Blythe was looking for an opinion of a cross section of the forum, then diluting that with the opinions of a bunch of people with no interest in the forum was counter to his intentions.
The reason it is not worth arguing about is that Martin is more than intelligent enough to understand that he was getting the opinions of two forums and is savvy enough to know, as Ron's hints suggest, that Paramount will make money by catering to both. It's not like Martin just counted votes and concluded that Four Flies on Grey Velvet would be more popular than Saturday Night Fever with HT enthusiasts.
Those who joined the forum due to the poll and continued to participate are more than welcome. My annoyance was limited to those who were just passing through to skew the results, and they are long gone anyway.
Regards,

 

[Will K]

My annoyance was limited to those who were just passing through to skew the results, and they are long gone anyway.

Most are, true, but I think some are lingering about under new guises, but not smart enough to alter their posting styles and grammatical shortcomings to truly masquerade.
Regarding the issue of thread, I'm happy that the majority of us will be pleased with Paramount's offerings this fall, whatever our taste in cinema.

 

[rhett]

I joined the forum to cast my votes for Friday the 13th Part VII and My Bloody Valentine, as did many, but I really don't think that there were THAT many people who joined solely to vote for their title and leave. Granted, horror pioneers like Wes Ray and Ricky f were banned and thus no longer post on the board, but there are still a large number of horror fans that joined during the time of Mr. Blythe's poll that have stuck around. And who is to say the people that haven't posted much after registration have left the board completely. I roam around on several other boards without posting (much like I did on this board before the Paramount poll finally got me to register), so saying that people joined solely to post is for the most part ignorant. It wasn't just horror films that caused people to join, so directing it mainly at the horror demographic isn't a fair assumption either.
I think regardless of the outcome of the Paramount poll, horror titles are still going to be the minority of Paramount releases and comedy fans and the like shouldn't worry about not seeing their favorites released on DVD. I attribute the dominance of horror titles in the Paramount poll to the fact that, for the most part, horror titles have been the most neglected genre in Paramount's library. Had the Airplane or Naked Gun films not yet been released, then chances are that they would be at the top of that list.
If Mr. Epstein's posts are any indication, I think horror fans will finally have their day, and I think that is great. I'd want to see Top Secret! released on DVD just as much as most horror titles on that list, but Zucker films have got a lot more representation in terms of films released on DVD and supplements wise compared to the forgotten 80's slasher films. It's a huge pie, and everyone deserves an equal sized piece.