My aptitude for missing dates by a day and years by a year, at least thinking off the top of my head, led me to announce this anniversary yesterday on Facebook, where it was met with a very warm reception from satisfied readers going all the way back to this humble but signal beginning:
"You helped create a whole culture and the canon of that culture. Bravo!" - critic Adrian Martin
"I bought this off the stands on my first date with my wife and told her how important this stuff was to me! Your mag was sharp and smart and she thought well of me because it elevated this type of stuff to literary consideration. Thanks, Tim - for this, the best of its kind mag in my life!" - comics legend Kelley Jones
"I started reading VW with the FIRE WALK WITH ME issue, and then quickly bought all the back issues, as this was the genre magazine I'd been waiting for my entire life. The moment I started writing for film magazines, I realized that I was unconsciously employing VW's house style. Getting invited to be a regular contributor was seriously one of the highlights of my life." - VW's own John-Paul Checkett, now writing regularly for SCREEM
"[I have] every single issue in binders... a magazine that completely changed how we view fantastic cinema." - Dave Kosanke
"It's the gold standard of magazine quality, the magazine all other magazines wish they could be. Still have all mine. Invaluable!" - Wayne Shellabarger Fox
"It would be impossible to overstate how much I've learned and how many films, directors, actors, genres, etc. I've discovered via this amazing magazine. Thanks for the long run, it was a pleasure with every new issue."- Tim Spears
There were dozens more along similar lines, but these are happily representative of the great feeling that still endures for VIDEO WATCHDOG out there, for which Donna and I remain eternally grateful and appreciative.
Of course, we're no longer publishing but most of our back issues remain available. If you are missing back issues, if you've lost some to flood or fire or covetous "borrowing" friends, or if you happen to be one of those unfortunate millennials who came along too late and missed the boat, Donna and I would like to make it easier for you to experience our legacy of publishing the best available writing and thought about international genre cinema. In commemoration of this 30th Anniversary, we're making all extant print back issues - and all digital back issues, with their additional bells and whistles - available at half the usual cost.
That's right, 50% Off!
Just check the Back Issue details on our webpage and use the special coupon code 50MINT at checkout. It's easy as that.
I have made this claim before, but I was so energized and inspired by yesterday's outpouring of affection and respect that I want to devote more time to keeping this blog more active. I do a lot of writing on my Facebook wall that never gets shared here, which is frankly bass-ackward. It should appear here first and linked over there. And I should be more attentive to sharing notes here on the new and old discoveries I'm making - not just in video but in the ancillary areas of books and music. I am also going to invite some former VW contributors to make guest appearances here in the near future. So bookmark this page, subscribe, or just check back with some frequency.
As ever, we aim to engage your interests and to please.
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| Leonard Maltin as "The Movie Police" in GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH. |
(c) 2020 by Tim Lucas. All rights reserved.
