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Topic: STEAL THIS MOVIE

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 06-01-2000 03:12 AM

I just noticed tonight Lion's Gate films is releasing a movie in August titled "Steal This Movie".

Is it me, or would that be an incredibly stupid label to put on the cans? I mean, just think about those cans sitting in the lobby awaiting pickup when some teenagers decide to "steal this movie". I wonder if they will be shipping it under an alias a little less tempting. Say for example: "Ten thousand dollars in cash inside this can!"

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-01-2000 03:22 AM

No...(pause)...That's just what they'd be _expecting_ us to do.

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Tom Ferreira
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 203
From: Conway, NH, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-01-2000 08:22 AM

Steal This Movie is the story of 60's activist Abbie Hoffman, who once wrote a book called Steal This Book. I'm sure it's going to be a limited release, as IME has it listed that way. As far as actually caring about this movie, I have to quote Eric Cartman-"A bunch of tree hugging hippie crap".

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Rob Brooks
Film Handler

Posts: 57
From: NY, U.S.A.
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 06-01-2000 09:05 AM

And "Steal This Book" had the distinction of being the most stold book in history. No kidding. Maybe they'll code the cans with a different name as is often done with pre-released screenings. If they don't, you know they're asking for it.

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 06-01-2000 01:17 PM

"Steal This Book" was a classic. It was a guide to hippie-style activities and survival in the late 60's early 70's. Their little electronic circurt for getting your coin back from a pay phone worked until only a few years ago. How to make a safe Molotov cocktail was another.

I had a copy, but (don't laugh) someone stole it!

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 06-01-2000 02:11 PM

Well, there prints may be VERY limited after it's release. See what happened to John Walsh above!

I hope they have about 20 variations on the CAP code protecting this one. Never heard of the book before.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 06-01-2000 05:39 PM

It will be labelled, "Blue Harvest"

------------------
Better Projection Pays!

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-01-2000 05:54 PM

Mine was labelled 'CHIMERA'...no wait, that was something else...

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Rob Brooks
Film Handler

Posts: 57
From: NY, U.S.A.
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 06-06-2000 03:19 PM

Actually the book prior to "Steal this Book" that Abbie Hoffman wrote in the late 60's said Steal this book on the back cover. It was such a success at people stealing that book(I forget the name) that Abbie Hoffman decided to actually write a book called, "Steal This Book". I know because my brother came home with the prior book one day and told me he was on line to pay for it when he read on the back cover steal this book, so being a good 60's radical that is what he did.

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 06-14-2001 07:30 PM

Brad, you nailed that one on the button. Steal This Movie was a major league FLOP -- in and out of the UA Union Square in 2 weeks!

Just as irritating is the fact that Lions Gate mishandled Jesus' Son AND But I'm a Cheerleader I had to go into Manhattan to find a decent theater showing those 2 movies.

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Barry Hans
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 06-15-2001 01:32 PM

We screened this film awhile back- you'll be begging someone to " Steal this Movie"!BTW- Abbie had said that he would sue if someone made a movie about him and if he died his lawyer was to sue on his estates behalf. Both he and his lawyer are dead.

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Linda Learn
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Tunkhannock, PA, USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 06-15-2001 04:31 PM

Wasn't that called "The Anarchist's Cookbook"?

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Barry Hans
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 06-15-2001 06:48 PM

Linda- I think it was one of his books that he wrote about sueing. Seems to me the tittle was ( for real ) "Soon to be a major motion picture " or " Woodstock Nation "

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 06-18-2001 06:22 AM

I did occasionally get films with a totally different title on the cans and leaders, usually of highly publicised blockbusters. Examples I can remember include Godzilla being labelled 'The Big Fin' and the last Star Wars was 'Perfect Timing'.

I guess the reason for this was so that people would be less likely to 'steal this movie' if a Securicor lorry got robbed or if a print were left in a theatre foyer waiting for collection. It backfired bigtime though - with Godzilla, there were reports up and down the country of cinemas sending their prints back to the depot unopened, assuming that they had been sent the wrong film in error. The only reason I didn't was that we'd been forewarned by another cinema in the chain I worked for.

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Tom Kroening
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 214
From: Janesville, WI USA
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 06-24-2001 08:26 PM

Well, I actually think that someone grabbed one of our Freddy got Fingered cans that had been sitting out for 2 months (they never came to pick it up even when i called them). We now keep our cans locked away during the day.

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