The Horrible Cover Art Thread

[AndyDursin]

1941 and E.T. had full isolated stereo scores back in the laserdisc days. THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK was isolated in its original DVD release.

There are some studios that flat out don't allow isolated scores. Paramount I think is one of those. And it's a lot of work AND usually carries some legal components (repayments, contractual stuff, who knows) with it, which is why most studios just won't clear them.

And let's be honest -- it's not a feature that appeals to a lot of people.

You'd think people old enough to have "grown up" on the first three Indy movies would have hated Dial Of Destiny MORE, not less.

It's weird, but it seems to be the case. I think it goes beyond people our age who grew up on those movies though -- we're talking older. Awful lot of elderly or near-elderly folks just seemed happy to watch Harrison Ford again, judging from the (few) places where you see people actually say good things about it.

Either way, there's no accounting for taste!

[Monterey Jack]

It's weird, but it seems to be the case. Awful lot of elderly or near-elderly folks just seemed happy to watch Harrison Ford again, judging from the (few) places where you see people actually say good things about it.

My brother started yelling at me after Dud Of Destiny when a woman who was probably in her late 50s or early sixties asked us what we thought about the movie, and I used the word "wretched" to describe it. Okay, I was maybe a tad rude, and probably should have worded it less harshly, but what, I should have said, "It was fun...!" with a fake rictus grin on my face? This is the problem with modern-day film discussion...if you're not effusively enthusiastic, you're a "hater", and no one's allowed to really say what they feel, whether as a casual moviegoer or professional movie critic (witness the softball RT score for The Little Mermaid, with critics dancing around wanting to say how lifeless and dull it was, but were afraid to really tear into the film, because they'd be branded "racist" if they did ). Twenty years ago, in the wild west days of the internet, people WERE allowed to tear down bad movies, but now everyone's mortally offended by the idea that we'll hurt the pwecious widdle feewings of the people who made them.

[Monterey Jack]

1941 and E.T. had full isolated stereo scores back in the laserdisc days. THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK was isolated in its original DVD release.

Ahhhh yes, I forgot those.

There are some studios that flat out don't allow isolated scores. Paramount I think is one of those. And it's a lot of work AND usually carries some legal components (repayments, contractual stuff, who knows) with it, which is why most studios just won't clear them.

You have to wonder how Twilight Time got to put isolated scores on 95% of the movies they released, then.

[AndyDursin]

Nick worked at Fox so that door was wide open for him. But the remaining majority of TT's releases were licensed thru MGM and Sony, the two studios who have always been most amenable at including isolated scores/music & effects tracks. Since they were easy to deal with, I think that was the major reason they were usually always included. Remember also they also hired Mike Matessino, at additional expense, to handle all of them too -- most any other label would never go to that trouble.

I was told by a few different people with different labels over the years that, in general, isolated scores were more trouble than they were worth -- for a feature that very few people use. And some composers also didn't want them necessarily out there either...many of them preferred selecting what music would be heard outside the movie on their albums, and didn't want "every last note" released.

With DIAL OF DESTINY this isolated score has to be there at Williams' insistence, I can't imagine another reason why it would be included on a Disney release (label which has seldom ever cleared that...the last one I remember was SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES which had a mono isolated score track on the old Image laserdisc).

[AndyDursin]

This is hands down one of the worst covers of all-time.

Good movie though! But if I have to buy it, I'll wait until they release a regular edition with the original artwork as a reverse cover option (which they said they will do).

[AndyDursin]

I actually just received that Universal Monsters "long box" and I am going to have to take back my original opinion -- I actually love it. Honestly, I really do like the artwork and think he's a good artist.

It's contemporary in that it's colorful, but if you really look at the mural-like designs the artist came up with, they're completely retro in nature. You have overlapping movie logos which are the original artwork designs, and a general "collage" like pattern that's attractive. It's one of the first packages I've seen that has a "retro" flavor while putting the photos and poster designs in such a way that it looks modern/unique, adding color but not in an absurdly inappropriate manner.

Everyone can have their subjective opinion on it, but I dig it, and he's obviously a real artist too, has had his work shown and such at the Museum of Modern Art. Maybe that doesn't say much for some but it's a huge step above the usual Vinegar Syndrome/Shout Factory work. VS' stuff in particular -- especially the Cinematographe boxes which I reviewed this week and otherwise think are fantastic -- I don't care for aesthetically at all.

Here's an article on Tristan Eaton which I found interesting as well, explaining his approach:

https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/m ... m-the-dead

Obviously this artwork was based off the murals he did in 2019 for Universal:

[Monterey Jack]

"I have given a name to my pain, and it is the WB art department."

[Monterey Jack]

My most viral tweet ever...!