Archived Criterion Forum Awards Discussion and Voting Thread

[ByMarkClark.com]

My votes are as follows:

Release of the Year - 1. THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN, 2. SEVEN SAMURAI, 3. PLAYTIME, 4. ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS, 5. EQUINOX.

Best Reissue - SEVEN SAMURAI

Most Disappointing Release - KOKO

Best Commentary - PLAYTIME

Best Single Supplement - Miles Davis, ELEVATOR THE GALLOWS

Best Package Design - EQUINOX (gloriously trashy)

Best Surprise - FALLEN IDOL

Forum Member of the Year - Kerpan

Richard Cranium Award - No vote in this category

[zedz]

2006 had a pretty slow start, with several months in which few titles were released and many of those were delayed, further hampered by a ho-hum vibe to several releases: a half-dozen titles being versions of films already available in decent editions elsewhere, a release schedule heavily weighted towards the usual suspects – Renoir, Kurosawa, Bergman, Bunuel, and – sorry Malle fans – what must be the most perfunctory box set Criterion have ever released apart from their ‘collectors' set' repackagings (three bare-bones movies plus a filler-ish bonus disc). Plus this was compounded by some wonky design and production decisions – those awful ‘figure 8' cases (which seem to be still with us) and the windowboxing controversy (which frankly passed me and my overscanning TV by).

But what a second act! The initially unpromising ‘US indies' strand that characterised the year (as Japanese testosterone had been the signature scent of 2005) eventually yielded some bold and unexpected choices, and the collection grew to embrace several major filmmakers new to Criterion: Pialat, Yang, Erice, Ford, Rohmer (Pabst and Kieslowski optional). It's particularly heartening that the class of 2006 goes some way to redressing the temporal, national and gender biases of the existing roster: Finally, some films from Spain, Mexico, Taiwan, and more films from the last 30 years (13; 19 titles being post-1970), and more films by women (um, 2), than in any previous year. Hey, we even got a black guy on board at the last minute! The diversity was impressive.

I actually found 2005 a disappointingly safe year compared with 2004. In the final analysis, I think we got more top quality releases this year (and probably more dispensible ones), but 2004 is still the year to beat.

Unfortunately, this might also end up being remembered as the year Quality Control left the building. Apart from the issues mentioned above, there were outsized Moral Tales boxes, missing booklets, and the appalling Jigoku authoring glitch. The company also earnt black marks for the way in which they handled some of these problems, e.g. silent correction of the M glitch and only very belated implementation of a replacement policy, their ‘like it or lump it' attitude to the non-U.S. stiffed (which might be gradually eroding, sicne they sent me a corrected Rohmer box).

But onto the bouquets:

Release of the Year

My top five were:

Yi Yi – a great DVD package doesn't need to be full to the brim with different features. In this case it just needs an exquisite transfer of an exquisite film, an excellent commentary (consistently engaging and informative for its marathon length), a fine, concise featurette providing some useful context missing from the commentary, and beautiful, sympathetic packaging.

Harlan County, U.S.A. – I can't believe this film could have got better treatment. The diverse extras fit together with jigsaw satisfaction, building up a detailed picture of the film's various contexts with a minimum of overlap. Practically a model of contrapuntal DVD production.

Spirit of the Beehive – A package that fully lived up to the gorgeousness of the film. The extended interview with Erice was particularly enlightening.

A nos amours – It's well past time that Pialat got some credit in Anglophone territories, and this was a great way to start that ball rolling. Once again, it's not the width of the extras, but the quality, and the avoidance of redundancy. In this respect these discs provide an informative counterpoint to the feature-rich but insight-poor Dazed and Confused of the same month.

Six Moral Tales – Obviously

Special mention: Mr Arkadin is a textbook example of the right way to create scholarly editions of films on DVD. It's hard to imagine a better release of this material. It didn't make my list simply because, even in the best of all possible worlds which Criterion built around it, the film doesn't really work for me.

Best Reissue
I'm most grateful for Playtime, but Seven Samurai probably outweighs it. Apart from the round-robin commentary, which I thought was a terrific innovation, I didn't think the release broke any particular new ground, but it's nevertheless impeccable.

Most Disappointing Release
Koko – for those missed opportunities. Seems like someone was sleeping at the wheel on this one.

Best Commentary
The following have stayed with me, which I guess is a good sign: Clean, Shaven, Seven Samurai, Yi Yi. I'll vote for Clean, Shaven, since the others have already rated a mention.

Best Single Supplement
I'm generally happiest to see proper films in support, and this year has seen another few Criterion-worthy directors sneak in by the back door (Wenders, Jennings, Leacock). So it's a toss-up between the Campion shorts and Listen to Britain. Heads: Campion wins, because of their stronger relevance to the feature.

Best Package Design
Pandora's Box, for its period elegance, and for being the only one of the new-look releases to get the Cs on the individual discs right, but I was also impressed by the minimalism and texture of Seven Samurai and the Blue Note homage of Elevator to the Gallows. Yi Yi had the best cover.

Best Surprise
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm. It's always a surprise when Criterion deigns to release an experimental film, so this disc was probably the most heartening release of the year.

[colinr0380]

That was a great read zedz, I wish I could have written as eloquently about my own choices!

I'd agree with you that 2004 struck almost the perfect balance of classics and surprises, while 2005 felt more of a consolidation year for adding to already introduced filmmakers body of work. I thought that was a good idea and, in hindisght, it felt like a preparation for some of the more daring choices made in 2006, from the early introduction of Louis Malle and John Ford to lesser known names such as Edward Yang and Maurice Pialat, to the most daring inclusion of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm (which I only ordered a couple of days ago, so sadly there was no way I could vote for it, but I'm really looking forward to its arrival). From the looks of the first couple of months of 2007, it seems that it will probably be just as interesting (and perhaps as divisive) a year as this one was, but that's part of the fun!

[sskeats]

Release of the Year - The Complete Mr. Arkadin
3 Films by Louis Malle
Six Moral Tales
Hands over the City
A Canterbury Tale

Best Reissue - Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release
Sólo con tu pareja

Best Commentary
on Mr Arkadin

Best Single Supplement -
Neapolitan Diary

Best Surprise - For a film which you knew little or nothing about before the CC release
The Children Are Watching Us

Forum Member of the Year - For the member who contributed best
David Hare

[porquenegar]

Release of the Year
The Bad Sleep Well
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Viridiana
Clean, Shaven
The Fallen Idol

Best Reissue Seven Samurai,

Most Disappointing Release

Elevator to the Gallows

Best Commentary

Soderbergh/Kerrigan - Clean, Shaven

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary

A Girl's Own Story (Short) - Sweetie DVD

Best Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

The Complete Mr. Arkadin

Best Surprise -

Clean, Shaven

Forum Member of the Year - For the member who contributed best

David Hare

Richard Cranium Award

The Invunche

[kinjitsu]

Release of the Year:

The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Hands over the City
Late Spring
Seven Samurai
Viridiana

Best Reissue:

Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing release:

Koko, A Talking Gorilla

Best Commentary:

Roundtable/Seven Samurai

Best Single Supplement:

Neapolitan Diary/Hands over the City

Best Package Design:

Seven Samurai

Best Surprise:

Hands over the City

Forum Member of the Year:

zedz

Richard Cranium Award:

YilmazGuney

[GringoTex]

Submission Deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 20 at midnight EST.

[Dylan]

From the titles I really wanted to see, I didn't get around to "Pandora's Box" (has a very long wait at Netflix) or "Playtime" (also has a wait), but since the deadline is approaching and these won't be available before Wednesday, I'll rank what I have seen:

Release of the Year

1. Amarcord
2. Six Moral Tales
3. The Double Life of Veronique
4. The Virgin Spring
5. Solo con tu pareja

Best Reissue Amarcord

Best Commentary The Double Life of Veronique

Best Package Design The Double Life of Veronique

Best Surprise The Double Life of Veronique

[soma]

I haven't seen anywhere near all the entries but based on what I have:

Release of the Year
1) Seven Samurai
2) Brazil
3) Spirit Of The Beehive
4) The Bad Sleep Well
5) Playtime

Best Reissue
Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release
Yi Yi

Best Package Design
Brazil (3 disc re-release)

Best Surprise
Spirit Of The Beehive

Forum Member of the Year
zedz


EDIT: Had to add Spirit Of The Beehive here, after just seeing it on the big screen. Damn, this film is amazing, such a great find considering I'd never heard of it before the Criterion release.

[Andre Jurieu]

It won't affect the outcome of the voting, but I would like to acknowledge the efforts of a few specific forum members who I believe have been slightly under-appreciated. I would like to take this opportunity to thank tryavna, Steven H, toiletduck!, Jeff, Gregory, and colinr0380 for their contributions to the forum over the past year.

What I admire about these members is their genuine enthusiasm not only for film, but also towards the discussion of film, which is abundantly displayed in their posts. Instead of frantically craving attention like the typical internet forum-member, all of these members have consistently proven themselves to be knowledgeable, intelligent, rational, respectful, honest, modest, and reasonable. It also helps that they (well, most of them) have a great sense of humor. I actually sometimes feel guilty at not having enough time to finish reading some of their posts.

Essentially, if I were to have a conversation with a total stranger at the theatre after watching a movie, I would hope that the discussion occurred with people with similar dispositions and personalities as the forum members I've mentioned above rather than the all too common obnoxious, arrogant, loud-mouth snob screaming at you to validate his own opinions and desperate for you to be astounded by his depth of knowledge, without providing a single notably interesting observation. Quite honestly, if these members didn't post on the forum, I doubt I would return so often (well, maybe just for the humor that toiletdcuk!, Matt, and The Invunche still provide).

I would also like to thank Mr_Sausage and Jun-Dai for their series of posts in the Art with a Capital "A" thread. Within a few thorough and thoughtful posts they made the rest of us look like junior high students and they reminded me why I joined this forum in the first place.

[Steven H]

It won't affect the outcome of the voting, but I would like to acknowledge the efforts of a few specific forum members who I believe have been slightly under-appreciated. I would like to take this opportunity to thank tryavna, Steven H, toiletduck!, Jeff, Gregory, and colinr0380 for their contributions to the forum over the past year.

Thanks for the kind words Andre. In my humble opinion, there are at least ten outstanding posts a day here, which outweighs any blog, email group, magazine (online or print), or other message boards I can think of. And for the record, toiletduck has the best sense of humor.

[filmghost]

Release of the Year

1 The Double Life of Veronique
2 The Spirit of the Beehive
3 Pandora's Box
4 Clean, Shaven
5 Jigoku

Best Reissue Playtime

Most Disappointing Release Koko: A Talking Gorilla

Best Commentary The Double Life of Veronique

Best Single Supplement Kieslowski docs on Double Life of Veronique

Best Package Design Equinox

Best Surprise Equinox

[Andre Jurieu]

And for the record, toiletduck has the best sense of humor.

Agreed! We should really have an award category for that valuable trait.

[Jeff]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank tryavna, Steven H, toiletduck!, Jeff, Gregory, and colinr0380 for their contributions to the forum over the past year.

Thanks, Andre; right back at 'ya. There are enough thoughtful, cogent, intelligent, and interesting posters here that I visit a few times every day. There are not many other places on the web that I'm interested in visiting more than once a week.

Also, a very belated thanks to Matt for delivering us from the Land of Pop-Ups, many years ago. The forum he built has become a haven for cinephiles, critics, film students, and industry folk. Many of them don't post, but there are plenty of them lurking here. Kudos too, to cdnchris for carrying the torch so admirably.

[toiletduck!]

You guys apparently haven't seen me on an off-streak. My failed jokes are the sort that cause much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Many thanks, though, and the sentiment is very much mutual.

Speaking of ego-polishing...

Since anyone with a slice of wit about them is avoiding the filesharing fracas like the plague, I'm gonna go ahead and repeat my appreciation of vogler, a true gentleman and a scholar and a strong runner-up for my member of the year (mainly because I'm pretty sure zedz is a much better duellist than I am -- self-preservation is key).

-Toilet Dcuk

[vogler]

Thanks very much Dcuk - It's nice to be appreciated. You definitely deserve a mention yourself for always providing more than your fair share of both humour and intelligence. I think very special mention, for various reasons, should also go to MichaelB, Gregory, Tommaso, La Clé du Ciel, Matt, The Invunche, Michael Kerpan and Mr_Sausage (For putting up with my ridiculous grammatical quibbling. Removing Schreck's link to the Britney Spears upskirt was just too much though - there's nowt wrong with posting a bit of Britney porn! ).

[colinr0380]

Thank you Andre. This forum is one of the things that keeps my enthusiasm about films up and has become an invaluable resource for finding out so much about films - from Criterion to all the other DVD releases to films that we just want to chat about, as well as getting into deeper discussion on themes; and I'm sure the reason the place has become popular is because we have so many different types of discussions going on! I know I'll be visiting for as long I'm still allowed to be a member!

[Doctor Sunshine]

Release of the Year
Seven Samurai
Six Moral Tales
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Harlan County USA
Pandora's Box

Best Reissue
Seven Samurai, roundtable - come on. I mean, come on

Most Disappointing Release
The Beales of Grey Gardens - I love the Maysles and really I don't know that anything else was necessary for this release but I include it here as it's more the addition of a supplement than a film. Otherwise it would have been Keane, Sweetie or Solo good but kind of ehh.

Best Commentary
Seven Samurai - really... COME ON!

Best Single Supplement
Pandora's Box, track selection - this is classy, every silent film should do it this way.

Best Package Design
Equinox

Best Surprise
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm - holy shit!

Forum Member of the Year
Peter Becker

Richard Cranium Award
Jonathan Turell - (I kid)

[GringoTex]

VOTING IS CLOSED.

Results coming shortly.

[GringoTex]

Notes on awards:

-There's been a lot of talk about this year being an off year for Criterion, and while it may have lacked in depth, but I'll put those top 10 discs against any ten discs in any other year (except 2004, which is the standard setter).

- Arkadin edged out Six Moral Tales by 6 points (points- not votes).

- Spots 3, 4 and 5 were separated by 10 points.

- The packaging was the most closely contested category,after Best Release.

- The vast majority of people only put one re-issue in their top 5, and most of those were for Seven Samurai. I have no doubt that Amacord and Playtime would have made the top 10 if they had not been re-issues, as I can't see there being any doubt that they are better dvds than Viridiana, Late Spring, and La bête humaine.

[domino harvey]

9. La bête humaine
10. A Canterbury Tale

These charting at all were the big surprises to me.

[exte]

Being the commentary nut on this board, may I/we please have a countdown of the best criterion commentaries of 2006? I'd really appreciate it. Thank you very much in advance...

[HerrSchreck]

All I can say is "phew" and thanks to whoever voted for me early on and thanks to those who I may have influenced to NOT vote for me (I don't hafta create a Sacheen Litttle Feather account to turn down the award on behalf of the poor treatment-portrayal in the cinema of Folks Who Burn Themselves With Cigarets). David has been here losing his mind over film inna most genuinely psychotic and good-taste kinda way and deserves it (despite the fact he'd see a gay subtext inna nativity scene on a Minneapolis lawn.. gotta roast the winner).

Heh heh I'd kill to see the Passing of the Rhinestone Tiara Ceremony between Andre J & Dave.. teeth and broken drink glasses flying. Haw haw haw.

And major props to the righteous Honorable Herr Graf zedz. If this gent doesn't make a living writing for something-- even if it's Easy Bake Oven Instruction Booklets-- something's just not right inna world.

[soma]

You bunch of self appreciating, mushy ass, anal retentive, film loving motherfuckers...

Haha. Merry Xmas! This is as good as any place to say it. And strangers or no, that I had to pick one best forum member and voted for zedz or no (although serious, serious props for knowledge, written eloquence, filmic diversity and above all diplomacy)... thanks to everyone here for making this a RIVETTING place to be. Informative, passionate and thankfully entirely self-justificating when glancing at the large DVD collection behind me. If it strikes you it strikes you, and here's to many of those it seems to have struck most.

Lastly, where the fuck is the Invuche? I came on to this forum encountering this brutally blatant but entirely infectious in-your-face sarcasm from some Danish dude cutting ever-so-nicely through the inevitable elitist high-brow wankery. Get the feeling he's copped a bit of abuse and semi-retreated. Hope this is a vacation, not a retirement. As the moderators once put it - Invuchingly good.

Most importantly, here's to more great film in '07...

[zedz]

I can't believe David forgot to thank his lawyer!

Well, I'd like to thank everybody who has introduced me to new / unknown / unseen films (however directly or indirectly) that have continued to change my understanding of films and filmmakers: David, Schreck, Denti, Backstreet, Steven H, Orphic L (I took the plunge on that Clavis set), yoshimori, all those Michaels, Dylan, Putney, Lino (Warhol arrived yesterday - yikes!), Gordon, and everyone who contributed to the Lists Project. And most of all to the admins, who keep this place useful.