Time Tunnel Monster Movie Show

[Barlow]

And yes, the rights to show the movies are secured, so there is no problem with Universal or anyone else. It's a shame that some people just try to ruin the fun for everyone else. If the shows were not so good, I wouldn't be wasting my time telling people about them.

[hammerfan]

Amen Brother!

[hhwolfman]

Hey Gill-MAn  if you dont like it. Stay home. Let those of us who do enjoy the show.

I wish someone would do something like this in Phoenix. HHW

[Barlow]

 

Hey, btw...why do we have two threads about this? Hmmm. 

I for one am just happy to see so much high quality entertainment at such a low price. A lousy $10 gets you into the convention and gives you access to a dozen or so dealers who have tons of cool horror stuff for sale, and you get to see 4 moves. That's like paying $2.50 a movie with the convention free. You can't rent movies that cheap at the library for God's sake!  Plus you're seeing it on the big screen, in a real theater. It doesn't get any better! 

And it's fun talking to all the fans and just being around other monster fans who are enjoying themselves. For monster fans, what better way to enjoy a Saturday than to spend 6-7 hours (an entire evening) viewing numerous cool monster movies, meeting other fans, etc all for $10.

[Toy Ranch]

Now it's one thread.

If you are involved in this show as a promoter, employee, helper, dealer, etc. then you should state that in your post and not suggest that you are a fan who just happened to go.  You guys are welcome to post about your show, but be upfront about it.

If you went to the show and didn't like it, you are welcome to state your opinion, but please do not hurl accusations or insults. 

Carry on...

[Elizabeth]

I think I can understand some of Gill Man's frustration... I was similarly frustrated when I read the posts here back after the April show, and I felt the advertising here was not in line with my personal experience. 

And I was even more disappointed when my earnest and just criticism was dismissed in this thread by one of the show co-hosts with a sexist quip.  It diluted a what I had hoped would be a useful conversation, and set an unfortunate tone to the thread.  (And... it was just lame.  It was also the FIRST time that had ever happened to me in the context of the UMA community.)

That said, I do sincerely respect that moderators do not wish this to erupt into a fight... nor do I.

Ultimately, I think folks in Chicago, who have tried attending and supporting these events, and love monster movies, are disappointed and frustrated when they compare their experience to what is being said here.  When someone expends time and money to attend an event, and leaves unhappy, they are understandably frustrated.  If the only recourse is to not support classic horror film festivals... that does not feel very satisfying.  It is frustrating when you attend an event genuinely WANTING to enjoy and support something, but have had a negative experience doing so.

As the host(s) of these events post and promote their events here, likewise it invites a review of the event after it takes place-- both positive feed-back and negative.

The Portage Theater is a beautiful, historic venue... there is tremendous opportunity there.  Chicago area classic horror fans would be and are happy to support these events, but it would be good to have the organizers similarly respecting the fans who attend these events, and listening to their feed back.

This community has experienced, knowledgeable horror fans in it-- fan opinions have value, and could help a promoter to take a good idea and make it great.

And, with respect to the moderators who keep this place running-- we will seek to find ways to give feedback without putting you all in the position of playing Eliot Ness. ;-)

[Elizabeth]

All the movies I have seen at the various events at the Portage Theater sponsored by Time Tunnel Toys have been fantastic quality prints. For example, when they recently screened Nosferatu (1922), they used the newest Kino DVD release, which is perhaps the highest quality and most complete version of the movie that currently exists.

Nosferatu is a public domain movie, but it gets a little gray when you use a Kino DVD.  They did an extensive restoration of the movie.  I'm not a lawyer... but they may own the rights to this restored version.

[Barlow]

Toy Ranch wrote:

If you are involved in this show as a promoter, employee, helper, dealer, etc. then you should state that in your post and not suggest that you are a fan who just happened to go.  You guys are welcome to post about your show, but be upfront about it.

Just for sake of clarity, I am being up front about just being a fan. I took it upon myself to post and spread the word simply to share the info with other monster fans. I don't work, promote, or have a dealer table there. Just a fan who really enjoys the show. I'm hoping that as it grows in popularity, more people will show up and it'll get bigger and even better.

Elizabeth wrote:

Ultimately, I think folks in Chicago, who have tried attending and supporting these events, and love monster movies, are disappointed and frustrated when they compare their experience to what is being said here.

From my own experience, I can honestly say that everyone I talked to about the show enjoyed it. No, these shows are not huge events like Monster Bash or something. But I think that's the charm of it. It's more personal, more friendly.

Chicago area classic horror fans would be and are happy to support these events, but it would be good to have the organizers similarly respecting the fans who attend these events, and listening to their feed back.

I think they do respect our opinions. But I think some of the criticism is over the top. Yes, some prints being screened aren't perfect quality. But if they don't exist in a perfect form to begin with...

What about stuff like the Kino Nosferatu? No one can say that wasn't top-quality. Mad Monster Party was also top quality, as was Invasion of the Body Snatchers, etc. Seems to me that people are trying to nit-pick about little issues.

[hammerfan]

Constructive  criticism and lambasting are two very different things. Obviously Gill-Man felt he had an axe to grind for whatever reason. Perhaps he works for a certain store that feels some sour grapes?  Regardless. I like what Time Tunnel is doing. THey are trying to support the very things this forum is about. Monsters!  Whether someone is disappointed with one showing of a movie, they should be still positive that someone is holding a Monster oriented event in thier home town.  If they have another agenda, maybe they should take it elsewhere.

[Elizabeth]

What about stuff like the Kino Nosferatu? No one can say that wasn't top-quality.

It was excellent quality.  I never said it wasn't.  I own the DVD myself.  Marvelous print.  The extras are fabulous.

The point is... unless I am mistaken, Kino holds a copyright on the Kino copy.  It's their restored copy, their music.  They put a lot of work into restoring it.  If Kino does hold a copyright, screening it in a theater should be cleared with Kino.

It's great to see movies on the Big Screen.  But Big Screen tends to imply film... not projected DVD.  I think a simple note on the ads, or the posts here, about it being a projected DVD would completely solve this problem.

[Barlow]

I agree that we (the attendees) should post both positive and negative reviews as we see fit based on our experience. But we need to be realistic about it. Complaining about stuff like squeaky hot dog heaters is sorta irrelevant, isn't it? And again, people need to realize that the promoters are limited by the availability of quality prints. Back to my example of The Children (1980). Only one print available, and that one is...eh. Nothing they can do with something like that.

There's a huge difference between constructive criticism and pettiness.

[hammerfan]

Wow! I think most Monster kids here would likely give thier eye teeth (or fangs) for a movie show with cool stuff for sale at a reasonable price.  I doubt most would nit pick whether they were seeing a DVD, 16mm or Super 8 as long as it was on the big screen in an old theater with tons of atmosphere. We are lucky that Chicago has a venue like this. I think true fans of Monsters and Sci-fi WOULD support such a venue, rather than find rather petty faults with it.  Unless they have other agendas of course.

[ICEMANN333]

HELLO TOY RANCH IM ONE OF THE THREE PROMOTERS.....ALL MY LIFE AS A KID MONSTERS WAS THE GREATEST TIME OF MY LIFE.........IM TRYING TO KEEP IT ALIVE BY TRYING TO GIVE 4 MOVIES AND A TOY SHOW IN THE LOBBY SO THAT A FAMILY CAN GO OUT ON A SAT NIGHT AND HAVE FUN..ITS NEVER EASY TO PLEASE EVERYBODY......IN 18 MONTHS TWO FANS WHO DONT LIKE ONE MOVIE.!!!!. WELL I WOULD SAY THATS NOT BAD FOR THAT MANY SHOWS..........IM SORRY THAT THIS HAS TO HAPPEN ON YOUR SITE ......I KNOW TWO THINGS AT MY SHOW . TO DO MY BEST TO MAKE MY FANS HAPPY.AND ALWAYS TRY TO DO BETTER AT THE NEXT ONE....AS FAR MY NEXT SHOWS IF YOU DONT LIKE ME OR MY SHOWS STAY HOME AND RENT YOUR OWN MOVIE .....AND THE REST OF US WILL TALK AND .WATCH .AND  MEET NEW MONSTER FANS EVERY  SHOW..AND LOVE OUR MONSTERS ON THE BIG SCREEN  WITH ARE LOVED ONES..... AS I SAID BEFORE WHO WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THIS IN YOUR CITY.....AND I DO ALL THE WORK.......GHOUL BYE.........

[Elizabeth]

Gillman Fan is a professional artist/illustrator who resides in Chicago, and supplies art to the Svengoolie fan group.  He is unconnected to any commercial collectibles enterprise.

My squeaky hot dog machine remark (made back in April) was my effort to make a joke in reply to the lame, sexist remark that was made about me 'necking in the theater.'  Sorry if it fell flat-- the 'joke' I was replying to did not give me much to work with.

When you have a film festival, feed back about the quality of the print is NOT petty feed back.

[Barlow]

Elizabeth wrote:

It's great to see movies on the Big Screen.  But Big Screen tends to imply film... not projected DVD.  I think a simple note on the ads, or the posts here, about it being a projected DVD would completely solve this problem.

This is an example of what I see as an irrelevant complaint. I assume it's a lot cheaper for the promoters to use a DVD copy than to obtain an actual film copy of the movie. If it looks great on the screen, who cares whether it's film or DVD? The bottom line is that I've been at virtually every event they've sponsored, and every film I saw had great quality. Not every film is going to be HD-quality or anything due to limitations on rights and the availability of transfers.