Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Last Minute Christmas Idea

Just in case you had an extra $500 laying around and were wondering what I would like - I would point you to this:  The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversay Music Box



The music, and often unreleased score from all 13 movies that Danny Elfman & Tm Burton have collaborated on: Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman (1990), Edward Scissorshands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, and Alice in Wonderland...just to name a few.

I think that it is awesome that they are releasing all of this music but I also have some big problems with this boxset.

First of all, $500!  Yikes.  Sure it's 16 CDs worth of music...but that means each CD would cost $30+ each.  Now some of them I would probably pay that for Pee Wee, Nightmare...but Batman Returns, Mars Attacks, and Big Fish would probably not be on that list.  If DVDs of all the movies were actually included also, I could see how this would be worth $500...but just the soundtracks is not too me (which just goes to show how much I have reined in my fanboy ways).

Secondly, I have already spent tons of money on most of these movies.  I've seen most in the theater (at least once).  I currently have many on DVD.  I have had several on more than one format besides DVD - like VHS and Laserdisc...that Nightmare boxset laserdisc was not cheap!  I already own several of the soundtracks and musical scores on CD as well as the Music for a Darkened Theater collection CDs.  I have t-shirts, posters, toys from these movies.  I have literally already spent thousands of dollars on these movies over the years.  Do I really need to spend another $500?  I am a repeat customer, can't I get a 10% discount of something for my loyalty?

Thirdly, this is one of the things that pisses me off the most about the entertainment industry and leads to piracy.  I hate when music companies only release certain tracks through huge expensive box sets or re-releases.  There is only so many times that I will buy an album...but yet, you keep making changes and re-releasing it with new tracks.  Of course I want the new tracks but it's an album that I already have purchased the album on vinyl, cassette, CD...now you want me to pay for it all again for 2 extra tracks?  Why can't I just get the 2 tracks (PS - thank you itunes for helping with this)?  Once again, why can't I get a discount for having already purchased this.  Or even worse, only put the music on a super expensive or limited edition box set that few can afford.  I don't support piracy, I believe in paying people for a job done...but in these situations, how can I not think that piracy is the best option?  I seriously hope that someone takes the fancy little flash drive that this comes with this set and uploads it the day that it comes out.

Finally, that thing is huge!  Where the heck would I put it.  Looks to be over a cubic foot of packaging.  Do I really need the box to be a zoetrope?  No, no I don't.  I would much rather just have everything in a nice and tight little package...in fact, I would be happy just to be able to get the flash drive and save all the expense of the box, the zoetrope, the CDs, etc...  This is just way too bulky to be sitting around my house collecting dust.


http://www.burtonelfman.com/



A very cool idea...but I wish I could just get them music.

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