Big Lots Sale (2 Viewers)

[BobO'Link]

Yep, it's TGG. I see now... well, not sure of the quality vs the original releases.

I thought the Dr. Goldfoot titles looked pretty good. I have the MM version of Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine but haven't compared the two releases. I picked up both of the Movies 4 You - Sci-Fi titles but haven't watched them yet. I've read they're not quite as good as the original MGM MM versions but I picked them up for the never-before-on-DVD titles and two others that have questionable releases as I already own the MM versions or other good quality releases on the others. I only paid $5 each for them and the risk is worth the low cost.

 

[Radioman970]

I have the first releases of Angry Red Planet, Reptilicus and Man from Planet X. I remember those looking very good. I watched Planet X last year. Very fine film. the others are great for laughs.

 

[BobO'Link]

My wife and I went to BL last nigh on a "scouting trip" to decide what, if anything, we wanted to purchase during the F&F event tonight. They actually had a few "new" $5 DVDs. Sadly, nothing really stood out. None of those $3 titles I listed earlier or Halloween titles have made an appearance but some Christmas DVDs were out (again nothing of note so I didn't bother with a list) in the $5 section. Many of those I saw were $3 last year. The checker commented I'd not purchased any DVDs in a while so I mentioned that they've not really had any "new" stock in months, the $5 price tag on most new stock is just too high, I already own any title they currently have out I'd even remotely be interested in, and that I've actually had better luck lately at the WM dump bin.

If I spot anything worth mentioning while in the store today I'll make notes.

 

[Radioman970]

^^ that's a shame. I'll definitely not be making a special trip up there.

 

[BobO'Link]

Went back in today for a couple of things we forgot yesterday. Since I went in alone I could take time to actually look at the DVDs. Still no Halloween DVDs but I made a list of the Christmas titles. They are *all* $5/each.

$5 Christmas DVD:

Beethoven's Christmas AdventureBells of St. Mary's, The (the OOP release - new DVD & BR releases are coming from Olive Films)Blues Clues: Blues Room: Holiday WishesCricket on the HearthDonkey's Christmas ShrektacularFour Christmases (proudly indicates both FS/WS on the disk)Home Alone 2
Home for the Holiday'sMr. Bean's Holiday (WS)Munster's Scary Little Christmas, TheOpus 'n Bill: A Wish for Wings that WorkPolar Express, ThePrancer ReturnsRudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July (Rankin/Bass)Stealing Christmas
a couple of multi-film sets for $5 each:

A String of Family Favorites: Tom & Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale/'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Rankin/Bass)/The Polar Express (WS)Double Feature: Four Christmases/Fred Claus (both WS)

and *one* Blu-Ray for $5Fred Claus

I've been somewhat interested in Four Christmases and The Polar Express in the past so picked up the 2 multi-film sets because the other titles lessen the impact of the newly inflated prices. I've never read or heard reviews for Fred Claus so it's a mystery. I already own 'Twas the Night... on another Rankin/Bass set so the Tom & Jerry title is the sole extra. The grandkids like them so I figure it'll go over OK. And honestly I'm really on the fence about Four Christmases & The Polar Express as reviews seem fairly mixed.

The gem in the bunch IMHO is The Bells of St. Mary's with Bing Crosby and INgred Bergman. That's one I'd never gotten around to purchasing before it went OOP and prices rose. I was glad to see it get a new release from Olive but will absolutley take the original release at $5 so a copy of that one came home.

I'm *still* trying to figure out why Mr. Bean's Holiday is in a Christmas grouping as it's about a *vacation*! I'm thinking it must have been someone from the US that doesn't understand British vernacular so read it as a American would, see "Holiday" in the title so think it's about Christmas, and included it in the batch.

 

[Radioman970]

That is funny about "holiday". lol I bought the Mr. Bean box set yeas ago. Excellent collection. Watched Holiday not long ago and thought it was fantastic, despite mixed reviews. I was wishing for a blu ray.

I need to give Polar Express another go sometime. My mother loves it, but it just wasn't my thing at the time. I was in a bad mood that Christmas and wasn't merry at all.

 

[BobO'Link]

^Bean is a favorite character. I love all the Bean movies and "live" TV episodes but haven't seen any of the animated ones. I've avoided them as I generally don't care for live action stuff that's transformed into animated features/TV shows. I should look and see if any are available on youtube to get a true idea so as to not shortchange myself if they turn out good.

The trailers, etc. I've seen for Polar Express look a bit creepy to me but Ebert gave it 4 stars and I generally like films he likes. I'm also not much of a fan of that style of animation (a similar [identical?] style kept me from enjoying Beowulf more - it looks too much like a video game). Still, for $5 with another couple of films, it seems worth it.

 

[Radioman970]

That's a common complaint for Polar Express. It doesn't bother me a whole lot. Although I much prefer characters that look different. Doing all that just because it's Tom Hanks... not worth lowering the variety. It's like a Clone Christmas World or something.

Great! I'm in the Bean club too. And I just remembered, the Holiday dvd that came with the set is FF. So I guess I"ll be upgrading. That's cool. I'll give mom the old one. ... I haven't watched the cartoons either. Not in a great big hurry on that. Although I'm dying to start watching the old shows again. Can't see those too much, not possible.

 

[Scott Burke]

I have always found Fred Claus hysterical . I've seen it several times and the jokes don't get old for me.

 

[BobO'Link]

I have always found Fred Claus hysterical . I've seen it several times and the jokes don't get old for me.

I've read a few reviews that give me hope it'll be one that's good to re-watch a few times rather than a once-is-good-enough thing. At the very least it has attractive Rachel Weisz to watch...

 

[Radioman970]

My Fred's Store had a selection of $1.99 flicks.

What I bought for about $10:
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
Robin & Marian
Flatliners
The Runaways
Adaptive superbit


There were others but I can't remember, most I already had. But a good selection.

Of course, I went there to look at big mugs and they really didn't have what I wanted. :p

 

[BobO'Link]

^I'd read about those on another forum. Here's the list of stuff others spotted:

976-EvilAccidental Husband, TheAdaptationAll The King's MenAngels and DemonsBreed, TheCharlie's Angels: Full ThrottleEasy VirtueFlatlinersGildaInformant, TheJane Austen Book Club, TheRachel Getting MarriedRobin and MarionSeventh Voyage of Sinbad, TheUltra-VioletVacancy 2: The First CutVampire EffectWhat to Expect When You're Expecting
The only one I don't already own I'd like to have is Robin and Marion. I just have to decide if it's worth making a trip to Fred's to look for one. Two of the 3 stores here are *way* out of the way and the closest one is a pain to get to and from due to high traffic on the surrounding streets.

 

[Radioman970]

There you go! I remember many of those.

I kind of liked Vacancy. Scary idea. I'm just not sure a second movie will do anything new.
Ultra violent looks like non-stop action instead of a good movie.

Vampire Effect was okay.
Demons & Angels was terrific. I liked it better than the one before it. Da Vinci Code.


I picked up a 2 movie set of vincent Price from walmart's bin. From a whisper to a Scream/Theatre of Blood. That's my 3rd copy of Theatre but I didn't have the other. $5.

 

[BobO'Link]

I thought Ultra-Violet was OK but nothing great. Much like Aeon Flux. They'd make a fair double-feature. They both seem to exist solely to take advantage of the "newness" and technology The Matrix brought to the theater.

I enjoyed Vampire Effect for what it is. I found myself wishing Jackie Chan was in it more since he's featured on the cover. Even so, it was a neat little modern vampire type film. I got my copy at BL a couple of years back.

Is From a Whisper to a Screem the anamorphic WS version? Sony released that some time back in a flippie with WS/FS on reverse sides. I never knew if it got the "drop the WS and just go with the FS version" treatment many of those releases had so I never took a chance on it. If the TGG release is WS I'll double dip on Theatre to get a copy at that price.

 

[Radioman970]

It says...

Whisper... "16x9 1.85 letterbox"
Theatre... "4x3 1.85 letterbox"
if you'd like I can open and preview it. I'm going to hold off watching it since I'm way behind on Price stuff.


That's funny. I thought Ultra violet and Aeon flux were the same film. I'd think one was the other. I've seen neither.

 

[BobO'Link]

^Thanks! That info on Whisper... is good enough - no need to open it unless you just want to watch one of them. I already own Theatre of Blood in a Vincen Price box set. I was in the small WM here today and did a quick look through the top of the dump bin (can't bring myself to actually dig in it like I did years ago) but came up empty. I may go to the other store in a day or two just because. It's about a half mile from Freds so I may use it as an excuse to go looking for a copy of Robin and Marion. It's currently available from a couple of MP vendors at Amazon about what I'd pay at WM if you figure gas into the total cost. I've purchased from all 3 of the lowest price "new" vendors and would order from any again so I may just go that route. Thanks for the "heads up" on that one!

I've seen both Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux and they really do seem somewhat similar even though the plots are different. In all fairness I *did* see them several months apart and truly felt they both sufffered due to the use of Matrix type effects and CGI work. I guess it was/is too easy to make such comparisons rather than judge them on their own merits. I should really re-watch both to see if my opinion changes.

 

[Radioman970]

You're welcome.

Same here about bin diving. There's a 2nd set of 12 1970s/80s exploitation flicks in there somewhere to match the one I already have. :p

 

[BobO'Link]

Had to buy gas today and I do that at SAM's because it's way less expensive than other stations. As it happens, Fred's is about 100 yards away across the street so I dropped in just because. I got the last copy of Robin and Marion so it was worth the effort! There was nothing else of interest to me. They had only about 30 DVDs total although the table top display looked like it could have held a hundred or so when it was put out.

At SAM's the pickings were very slim. The TVonDVD selections they'd had were all but gone with a very small 3' wide section. I *did* see *one* copy of TBH S3 but no PJ at all.

And... in spite of showing "new" titles in the ad there was *nothing* new at BL! I have a couple of things "put back" to decide if I really want copies but it's older stuff. Those are: Sweeny Todd - Johnny Dep version (not a fan of musicals so a friend is going to loan my her copy so I can decide) and Altered States - while a "classic" I recall not caring for it much when it first came out.

Since the Christmas titles went out I'm pretty sure they've not just left it in the back until stuff sells down a bit but other than those Christmas titles there have been *no* new titles here in a couple of months.

 

[Radioman970]

Sweeny is pretty good. But the music might come off awkward if you're not a fan of that. I got it last year. I decided to hold off watching it again this year. But want to watch it again some time for sure.

My store had 2 small shelves. maybe 35+ DVDs. Nothing else there I want either...

 

[BobO'Link]

Sigh... *Another* weekly ad with "new" DVDs listed and *NOTHING* new put on the racks here.

I've practically stopped my weekly "just in case" trip because of the lingering "stale" stock... If I go in during the week it's usually because we need a loaf of bread (they stock the "day old" stuff from the "local" bakeries here for less $$ than at the grocery store). We need another of those "accidental" dumps of TVonDVD seasons @$3 each... I dropped *lots* of $$ during that incident.