Quickest Way to Get YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH? (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

I have no idea where to put this thread, but since it deals with the best way to get the movie as soon as possible, I'm trying it out here. Please move it if it's not in the right place - sorry.

Francis Ford Coopola's newest movie, YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray on May 13. I saw it in theaters and would like to use a clip from it as a part of a presentation I need to do for my philosophy class. The presentation is set for two days later on May 15 (teacher's choice - not mine.) So, obviously, I need to have the disc in my posession as soon as possible. I remember the film, but I would like to be able to watch it again on the 13th or 14th in order to pick out the scene I want to use, and then of course it needs to be with me when I go to school at around 9am on the 15th. My presentation will be around 10:15am that morning.

Because Youth Without Youth's theatrical gross was extremely low ($244,397 from a super-limited run in 18 theaters), I seriously doubt that it will be listed in any of the major retailers' ads for the week. I don't even know if they will be likely to stock it at all. I also do not think it particularly likely that Blockbuster, Redbox, etc. will be carrying it for rent.

So I thought about buying it online. Normally, I *never* buy things online -- the last time I preordered a DVD was the Star Wars trilogy boxed set in 2004, and to my extreme dismay it took a whole week after the street date to arrive.

I see that Amazon is selling YWY for $18.99 on DVD and $25.95 on Blu-ray. I need one copy of each (the Blu for my own personal collection and the standard def for use in the presentation because my school is not Blu-equipped.) This combined order would qualify for their free shipping offer, but it wouldn't nessescarily arrive in time for me to use it. I have heard that some online stores will ship preorders a couple days early so they can get there on street date, but don't know that Amazon does that.

So what I'm really asking here is, what is my best option for getting this movie as soon as I can? It would be so much easier if the street date were this week...

Any advice is much appriciated. Thanks.

 

[Chip_HT]

The free shipping from Amazon usually adds a couple of extra days to the order. Even if they do ship it early, the only way to have a change of getting it from them in time for your presentation is to choose their overnight option.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I would guess Blockbuster would have it for rent, actually... they end up getting a lot of smaller titles each week in addition to the big ones, it's just a question of how many. You might be served by calling your local Blockbuster and seeing if they have it on order. When I worked there a few years ago, we'd always know in advance not just whether or not we'd be getting something but how many copies we'd be getting as well.

But if you're going the Amazon route, overnight shipping is a must for your time frame. If it were me, and I needed to have a title for a presentation like that, I'd probably pre-order from Amazon with overnight shipping but also check out local stores the day of release to see if I could get a copy sooner. Then, you can always return the Amazon box (less shipping) or return a copy to the store if you don't want an extra, but at least it puts you in the best position to be ready for your class.

Good luck, by the way.

 

[Jimin70mm]

As a college English/film instructor, I certainly understand your position - I've been there myself. Here's another idea for you; the "Hearts of Darkness" dvd includes a 1 hour documentary on the making of "Youth Without Youth." As part of that documentary, there are many film clips. I'm not sure if any of these clips are the ones you have in mind for your presentation, but it might be worth checking out.

By the way, I liked "Youth Without Youth" a lot; it's a shame that it didn't get wider distribution (or media attention). And how can Roger Ebert justify giving it 1 and 1/2 stars? Does that mean that "Over Her Dead Body" and "Gigli" and "Made of Honor" are really, really, better films????

 

[TonyD]

do you think ebert's star ratings really add up that way.

a movie at 2 stars doesnt mean he thinks its a better overall film at 1 1/2 stars.

each film is rated as a separate measure.
you can't compare that way.

all 3 star films aent equal either.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

...not to mention, Ebert has said on many occasions that he's not a big fan of using the star system, but that the paper he works for required him to do so when he started, and he's been using them ever since. I rarely pay attention to his star rating before reading the actual review. While I don't always agree with Ebert, I like that he has no problem with explaining why he liked or didn't like a particular film. Sometimes he'll even concede that it's not a great movie but that he just found it to be a fun watch, or that there's no reason to like a certain film but he does anyway. I don't see that kind of honest reflection in a lot of comparable critics' reviews. Going beyond that, Ebert is one of the few major reviewers out there who actually has taken the time to explain how he goes about reviewing films, and one of the few people who seems to get that a film shouldn't be rated by comparing it to every film ever made, but to measure it against what the film itself is trying to achieve and other works within that genre.

In other words, Ebert's the kind of critic who will give a movie like "Batman Begins" four stars because it showed him everything he had ever wanted to see in a Batman movie. A lot of other reviewers would automatically refuse to give a film like that the highest possible rating because it's somehow a less prestigious or important genre. In the case of "Youth Without Youth" (a film I've heard uniformly negative things about but will rent regardless), Ebert probably expects great things from Coppola every time he makes a film, and was disappointed by getting a film he didn't feel was up to Coppola's abilities or that justified the amount of time since his last film.

(I'm generally more attracted to watching films that some people rate very highly and others rate very poorly rather than films that have a critical consensus, particularly when that consensus is that it's merely "good". Sometimes I don't care if I love something or hate it, just as long as it's provoked a response and been something more than disposable, forgettable entertainment.)

 

[TonyD]

I have it so i guess i'll find out for myself if it's any good or not.

 

[Kevin Linke]

Youth Without Youth is a brilliant film. It is one of the five best films that Coppola has ever made.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Thanks everyone.

Before I saw these replies, I came up with an alternative idea. Instead of hassling with this, I've found another clip from the TV show to suppliment a seperate portion of the presentation. I can do the portion which was going to feature YWY without it; the issue is that it's got to be a 15-minute thing and I don't want it to be 15 minutes solid of me talking because that could get boring for the audience. Using a clip will liven it up a bit and ensure I get their attention. But it was more the idea of *a* relevant clip than YWY specifically. Both Eli and YWY are underseen gems which have philosophical content, so the chance to show either of them off is fine with me. (Now we just have to have faith that ABC will actually renew Eli for a second season, which ironically we also find out on the 13th.)

With regard to YWY, I've ordered the Blu for myself from Amazon and we'll leave it at that. No need to get the DVD as well since I'm not using it for school now.

About the film itself: I am really glad that I was taking a philosophy course when I saw it. Otherwise, I would have probably been really bored because a lot of the philosophical concepts might have gone over my head. It's possible that many reviewers were not able to appriciate the philosophy component and the film thus left a bad taste in their mouth. Expecting a lot of Coopola is another possibility, but then I think he delivers in this movie so...yeah. I will need to see it again to discuss this more fully because I don't remember specifically enough from the one time I saw it a few months ago in theaters.

I do think that, regardless of the film's reception, it is a shame that the new movie by Coopola manages to make only a few hundred thousand dollars and he can't get in more than 18 theaters while we've got so much crap getting superwide releases. I'm not sure that Sony really knew what they were doing marketing it and wish it had had more support from them for a larger rollout. Certianly it isn't mainstream, but 18 theaters is low even by arthouse standards (source Box Office Mojo.)

 

[Jake Lipson]

New wrinkle: As I noted already, using it in my presentation is out, and I went ahead and ordered the Blu for myself (I can wait for free shipping on my personal copy.) When the order was placed, it was $25.95. However, Amazon has since jacked that up a dollar to $26.95. The question now is wheather Amazon will make me pay that extra dollar.

I know Amazon has a policy about giving customers the lowest price if the price of an item *drops* between their preorder date and the release date. But what about a price increase? Granted, I still expect Amazon to be cheaper and more convient in the case of this movie than a local store so I will likely go through with the order either way. But does anyone have any experience with this? I generally do not order online.

 

[TravisR]

They'll give it to you at the price that you ordered it at. I've had the same thing happen when ordering DVDs a couple of times and there's no problem.

The only time they cancelled a pre-order on me was when there was a massive difference in prices (if I remember it was about $100 difference) on an art book that I pre-ordered.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I thought so, but still, that's good to hear. Thanks much.

 

[Jon Martin]

Amazon is very good with changing prices.

I once pre-ordered a box set at one price. The day it went on sale, it was $12 cheaper. I was upset, but ok with it. I then got an email (without my even saying anything about it) that I was going to have that $12 credited off my credit card charge.