shipping confirmation

Brazil - One of Terry's best works...

- Jon

Well I guess Tuttle better ship me an Empeg then.

We double checked everything at the bank. They have the money.

Some US banking systems are totally amazing - because there are so many small banks, the system appears to be totally manual...

If the money has arrived, check with [email protected] - he will know what is going on. Generally, when we receive transfers we get a fax from our bank, but this has been known not to arrive and we only find out about it later...

Hugo

It has nothing to do with snailmail - if you sent a US personal cheque it would take about 3 weeks to clear AFTER we deposited it into our account.

As I said, some US transfers have taken as long as 3 weeks, although most come through within a few days. The problem isn't at our end - whatever other numerous problems the UK banking system may have, the general level of electronic funds automation is very good. The problem is, the US banking system is so fragmented (thanks to 60 year old legislation) that the hundreds of small banks have, generally, not bought in to international connectivity schemes. There's barely any inter-state connectivity for that matter!

Therefore a US transfer generally involves telexing details for processing by humans, which is slowed up by the time difference and, sometimes, by simple human error or inefficiency.

Just because the funds have left your account, does NOT mean that they are cleared into ours. I often wonder which organisation is benefiting from the interest on all these delayed transactions.

In your particular case, I'll check on Monday whether we have received your funds. A transfer was received just before I left on Friday, so that could be yours. When your goods are dispatched, I'll include a copy of the transfer advice just to prove that we haven't sat on your money for two weeks!

Luckily almost all clients pay by credit card, which can be authorised within minutes.

Rob

Knowing the way banks work, your wired money probably just got routed to the wrong account. Probably to somebody named "Tuttle".

C'mon, banks are not that poorly equiped. I never saw a Fresnel lense in front of their, err, typewriters.

(In better mood already)

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Brazil - One of Terry's best works...

The best, I would say (and the competition is tough).

BTW, for those with wire transfer problems: it generally helps if you pay in a major bank that has direct correspodent relationship with empeg's bank, demand a copy of S.W.I.F.T. slip and fax it to empeg if delay develops. (S.W.I.F.T. is glorified encrypted messaging system used for interbank money transfer.) Banks like to 'play' with other people's money for few days...

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Just because the funds have left your account, does NOT mean that they are cleared into ours. I often wonder which organisation is benefiting from the interest on all these delayed transactions.

It's not restricted to US>UK transfers, either. A friend of mine got a little upset when a UK bank 'lost' 70,000 UKP for more than 10 days transferring it from his UK account to his French bank.

One of the many odd things about this event was that the UK bank had confirmed delivery to the correct French account number, but the French bank hadn't seen a trace of the funds.

It eventually turned out that they had, instead of sending it across the Channel, sent it to another account in the same bank!

Even then, he was suspicious of why it had taken a week to go from one account number to another, and 10 days or so for them to find it. What's the interest on 70 grand per week? Multiplied by however many such 'accidents' occur?

Or am I just being cynical again?

Patrick



Opinions expressed in this email may contain up to 42% water by weight, and are mine. All mine.

C'mon, banks are not that poorly equiped. I never saw a Fresnel lense in front of their, err, typewriters.

It makes me proud to see that the members of this BBS appreciate good filmmaking.

Although I think that Brazil is a cartoonish view of it, you'd be surprised how similar it is to the way bank and government systems really work.

___________
Tony Fabris

Brazil? Terry? Tuttle? Fresnel lenses? Typewriters?

OK, I admit it, I am clueless. What are you folks talking about? (In my defense, I must confess that I haven't set foot in a movie theatre or rented a videotape in the past 20 years or so. Just a grumpy old curmudgeon, I guess)

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Brazil? Terry? tuttle? Fresnel lenses? Typewriters?

Terry Gilliam's masterpiece Brazil. The hero is a small wheel in some kind of cross botween Kafka's Process, Orwell's 1984 and a satire on contemporary bureaucracy. Due to computer error he becomes prosecuted, and is helped by a guerilla plumber... Computer terminals look like ancient Remington typewriters with miniature, open b/w CRT with large Fresnell lenses in front. Be sure to rent it (if possible, European edition, American was considerably watered down).

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Good news. They confirmed that they have the money and will be getting my unit to me shortly. Still so anxious though.

Be sure to rent it (if possible, European edition, American was considerably watered down).

Well, even the ones you rent are the European editions. The "American" edition you refer to was a re-edit (not by Terry) for broadcast television that had a "happy" ending. That one is actually pretty hard to find (thank goodness).

The best way to see it is via the Criterion Collection DVD release. It's a 3-disc set, and it includes both Terry's original edit, and the broadcast television edit that Terry had nothing to do with.

The hero is a small wheel in some kind of cross botween Kafka's Process, Orwell's 1984 and a satire on contemporary bureaucracy. Due to computer error he becomes prosecuted, and is helped by a guerilla plumber...

... played in a cameo role by Robert DeNiro: "Remember, we're all in this together."

Actually, to clarify, the hero is a clerk who discovers the error after the victim of the error is already dead. It turns out that the very person they were trying to prosecute is the guerilla plumber. The error comes up because of a typo: the last name "Buttle" gets swapped for "Tuttle", and a man loses his life because of it. I have a co-worker named Tuttle who's never seen the film, and has been queried by more than one Gilliam fan about it.

There's a neat commentary track by Gilliam on the Criterion DVD. He describes how he originally wanted that "typo" at the beginning of the film to come about. His vision was to have a huge special effects shot of a tiny beetle in the Brazilian rain forest. The beetle is disturbed by these huge machines which gobble up the trees. The camera follows the beetle into the air, while it flies by the factory which processes the trees into paper. Then it follows the paper to where it's turned into a printed newspaper. Then the newspaper is delivered to the office where the teletype machine is running. The beetle flies into the office, where a man kills it with the newspaper, it falls into the teletype machine, and the typo is generated. Only the very last part actually made it into production (they didn't have the budget for that special effects shot).

___________
Tony Fabris

The best way to see it is via the Criterion Collection DVD release. It's a 3-disc set, and it includes both Terry's original edit, and the broadcast television edit that Terry had nothing to do with.

Thanks for the pointer. It's on its way from amazon.com.

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Thanks for the pointer. It's on its way from amazon.com.

You did get the Criterion release, right? There's a standard DVD release as well that's not the special 3-disc set. Assuming you got the right one, definitely check out the commentary track by Gilliam. Very interesting.

My only complaint about both DVD releases is that they're not anamorphic.

___________
Tony Fabris

"The "American" edition you refer to was a re-edit (not by Terry) for broadcast television that had a "happy" ending."

If I may just Geek-out here for a second. This is not entirely true. There was the "love conquers all" version made for TV, that had a happy ending. But there was as well an American theatrical release version that was only subtly different than the UK version. Namely the credits with Sam fading into the clouds at the end... Oh, and the "My God, it works" punchline. I bought the Criterion Collection version of Brazil (possibly my favorite movie ever) and have to agree. It's a must for any fan.

In fact the clincher for me was in the inclusion of the "love conquers all" disc. In college, I had a small party to celebrte the airing of my favorite movie on broadcast TV. Imagine my horror to discover that not only was it edited for TV, they added huge sections of plot! Changing the whole story! Arggg!

For years afterwards I was livid over that. Many I have told of this attrocity, but few have witnessed it. Now, thanks to Criterion, I have 3 DVD's of Brazil history... The only thing that would have made this collection better would be the inclusion of the US theatrical release version, but perhaps that would have been overkill...

Now if they would just start releasing the David Lynch catalogue...

{/geek-out}

Brian H. Johnson
MK2 36GB Blue
"Soy un perdedor..."

You did get the Criterion release, right? There's a standard DVD release as well that's not the special 3-disc set.

Yes, you mean this one, right?

Assuming you got the right one, definitely check out the commentary track by Gilliam. Very interesting.

Of course, that's why I bought it (at $52 including standard shiping). 'The 'ordinary' one is available in my local video store.

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Funny that so many people here are also Brazil nuts. Wonder what makes so many geeks fans of Gilliam-esque movies... Have you guys checked out Caro and Jeunet's catalog as well? They made movies like "City of Lost Children" or "La Cité des enfants perdus" and "Delicatessen". Very Gilliam-esque (visual in that sort of way).

If you haven't, I recommend it.

- Jon

Have you guys checked out Caro and Jeunet's catalog as well? They made movies like "City of Lost Children" or "La Cité des enfants perdus" and "Delicatessen". Very Gilliam-esque (visual in that sort of way).

By all means! However, as in music, my cinematographical tastes are quite ecclectic. Pitty we will have to wait several years for storage to grow large and cheap enough for video version of some of empeg's OEM projects...

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Yes, you mean this one, right? ...Of course, that's why I bought it (at $52 including standard shiping). 'The 'ordinary' one is available in my local video store.

Yup, that's the one. Among the first things I bought to go with my DVD player.

From the other tangent on this thread: I haven't stumbled across "City of Lost Children" in a video store yet, I may just have to break down and order it from Amazon. Being a Gilliam fan, I'm very interested in seeing it.

___________
Tony Fabris

Ok, this thread has taken a serious tangent, but I have one more recommendation... NETFLIX!!!

Nuf' said.

- Jon

no kidding.... i never thought my post would turn into this!

Good news is I got my Empeg. Now the fun!