NitrateVille.com

It's that time of year again for me: renewal of my subscription to the bible of the Old Fogies Film Network, Classic Images.

I've been a subscriber for over 20 years, and now I'm thinking of calling it a day. Before I do so, however, I'd like to hear from others out there.

The one-year subscription fee is now an astounding $78. Even with the Canadian dollar at par, unlike in most previous years, this is a humungous expense. Putting it in perspective: I read 3 daily newspapers -- real newspapers, not giveaways or tabloids or on-line journals -- and the total cost of the 3 of them per month do not equal the monthly Classic Images rate. And, yes, I do read a hell of a lot more of the content of those newspapers than I do of CI.

In recent years, my avidity for CI diminished to just two regular columns: the book review section, and the "What's Out There" update. Over the past year, the latter column has become useless for me, because now it seems to list only VOD and cheap dupes, neither of which are ever captioned. So only Laura Wagner is left to interest me.

CI presents great write-ups about the festivals ... two months after the same authors have already posted the same write-ups on NitrateVille. (I'm looking at you, Mike!)

CI presents articles about obscure bit-players that no one else writes about. Well, no one else writes about them for a darned good reason: they're generally not interesting performers or people. Plus, although the articles may be fairly well-researched, they are almost always poorly written, which is an irritant for someone who cares as much about good writing as I do.

The letters column has always been a joke. Old farts doing the eternal old-farts thing of negatively comparing today's stuff with the good old days, and demanding to know why CI doesn't do an article about their own particular favourite, and maundering on about the time 80 years ago when they met Famous Actress and discovered She Was Just A Nice Person Like Me. Ugh.

I have no interest in tech matters, so all the "new" tech columns don't get even a skim from me.

All in all, it sure sounds like I don't want to renew my subscription, doesn't it? But then again, CI is the only magazine we've got left on our beloved passion, and there's a moral obligation to support it on those grounds.

I'd love to hear what others think of it. Can't say if it will sway me one way or the other, but I'm pretty sure a lot of you have very strong opinions. Let's hear 'em!

Jim

Before shattering your 20-yr tradition, economize by scrapping the three dailies...then read the NY Post in your library.

entredeuxguerres wrote:Before shattering your 20-yr tradition, economize by scrapping the three dailies...then read the NY Post in your library.

Sorry, that's dumb advice. Not least because I don't live in New York.

Do you read Classic Images? More to the point, do you subscribe to it? Enjoy it? Think it's worth the $78? That's what I'm interested in hearing from you.

Jim

I was a CI reader for maybe a decade before dropping it at least fifteen years ago, motivated mainly by the internet usurping a huge amount of material as found here and other websites. I don't recall the sub price years ago, but $78 sounds like it really escalated! I'd find it very hard to justify that expense for such minimal return nowadays.

I like your comment about the letters column. I pray I don't evolve into such types!

Jim, how is the one year renewal $78? I just renewed mine at it is only $36 for one year.

vitaphone wrote:Jim, how is the one year renewal $78? I just renewed mine at it is only $36 for one year.

You don't live in Canada.

Robert W wrote:

vitaphone wrote:Jim, how is the one year renewal $78? I just renewed mine at it is only $36 for one year.

You don't live in Canada.

That's right. And those prices are in US dollars! In case you're wondering, the 2-year subscription is $156, and the 3-year is $234. I've got mortgage payments that cost less than that!

I would like to apologize for calling entredeuxguerre's suggestion "dumb". It was ungentlemanly of me, and an undiplomatic choice of words. I should have explained that my job and my personal interests/life both require me to keep tabs on news and information at the local, provincial, and national levels of Canada (I run a national organization with provincial chapters), which is content I would never find in the New York Post. There are other reasons why the suggestion is impractical and/or undesirable for me, too.

In any case, I will repeat that my interest is in the opinions of others about Classic Images, not advice as to whether or not I should renew my own subscription.

Thanks for your indulgence.

Jim

Thanks, Jim, but no offense taken whatsoever! (ME, who grew up working in a Texas oil-field, where "you stupid sorry MF' was about the most gentle remark one heard in a day's work.) But the NY Post crack was supposed to be a joke. Can't beat their covers, however!

I live in Canada too and see your point Jim. Looks like a one year renewal to Canada is now $108 which is about 3 times as much as in the US. I think the Classic Images folks should seriously consider an online pay platform to sustain or perhaps increase subscribers. The next generation of enthusiasts will be less inclined to need a paper version when they can view content on a tablet, etc.

I've only read a couple of issues of Classic Images, which I received as I contributed with an article about a year ago. Never read it cover to cover before, only occasional articles, but my impression from the ones I received is that it provides some info on obscure things that are interesting as well as some info on obscure things that are not *that* interesting. I don't know if I'd consider a permanent subscription personally (I even live in Europe) but it seems to be worth to pick up if the chance comes.

I had an idea for you, Jim. It seems like most of the subscription cost for Canada
is in postage, and it costs less to send items in bulk then individually. If time
wasn't of the essence in how you accessed CI, and you had a friend in the states
that would enjoy reading it, maybe you could pay for a subscription for them, and
then they could send you the issues in bulk, which would only cost about $10 for
about two or three pounds of newsprint.

Alas, for me in the UK - no. I didn't renew a couple years back. I sometimes miss it because we have nothing like it here.

Remember, folks, it's not just the price -- it's the content that has me glumly thinking I won't renew my subscription.

I rip open the envelope to read Laura Wagner's book review column, but after that, there usually ain't much to keep me going. Some of the profiles/biographies could be interesting if it weren't for the atrocious writing and if the subjects had only led lives that consisted of something more than being a movie extra and then finding Jesus once their career ended. Occasionally, there is a video review column, but that seems to have died out (I think there was only one such column in 2012). The rest of the content is ... I guess best left unmentioned.

Do other people feel the same way?

Possibly it's just because I'm a guy who likes reading columnists. The late Sam Rubin, RIP, kept up an entertaining column almost until the day he died. A couple of people had monthly video review columns. Before Wagner, Anthony Slide wrote even more entertaining book review columns. Blackie Seymour had a regular column of profiles that could occasionally rise to good standards. Nowadays it's Wagner and that's it, unless you're interested in Bob King's personal ramblings-on about tech matters.

Okay, I'm on my third glass of Saturday night wine and it's time to stop typing and shift over to the couch for the weekly Family Movie Night At The Roots Household... (Hey, if you had 4 kids, you'd be aiming for 4 glasses of wine, too!)

Jim

The late John Black had a Film Collecting column in CI. Has anybody taken this on since Black's passing or is the magazine totally devoid of any cine now?