2009 Wrapup | Criterion Forum Awards

[Amazing Goose]

Release of the Year (5 choices) (Eclipse titles eligible)
1. my dinner with andre
2. last year at marienbad
3. wings of desire
4. jeanne dielman
5. science is fiction
(sorry, kobayashi)

strange, i thought the forum votes would overwhelmingly go either "the human condition" or "the golden age of television." instead, it's been an interesting variety so far.

Best Eclipse Release
"travels with hiroshi shimizu", with nod to "rossellini's history films" for being quite good and so different.

Best Reissue
"the seventh seal" on blu, but honorable mention to "for all mankind."

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays)
haven't gotten to them yet.

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)
yo la tengo's "sounds of science."

second place to the kindly-included "bergman island" on the "seventh seal" re-issue.

Best Cover
wings of desire

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
"last year at marienbad", also garnering the we-hated-it-then-we-loved-it "mishima award".

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
my dinner with andre

there were a lot for me this year. i loved "marienbad", loved "jeanne dielman", enjoyed "the human condition", dug painleve and rossellini's eclipse set. but i had never seen "my dinner with andre" until all the forum buzz got me to rent the cruddy new yorker edition and i loved it.

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
the choice to not use the superior leaked cover art for "my dinner with andre."
and for the loss of the painleve digipack. (both of which would have had my vote in their categories)

runner up: "bergman island", for the same reasons as everyone else.

also sad to see "le jour se leve" in the EA line, making me happy that i had picked up the EA 50 box set.

Forum Member of the Year
matt and the mods for keeping this place together like kermit backstage at the muppet show.

honorable mention to swo17 for general awesomeness and to zedz for his comments about the forum newbies on his ballot (not that i'm counting myself among them).

Richard Cranium Award
taking matt's suggestion of "you": everyone who complained of this being the worst year ever.

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
1. mtv's the state: the complete series
2. "the general" on blu-ray from kino
3. "casablanca" released on blu-ray without that extraneous box set.
4. more pixar films coming out on blu.
5. "sunrise" on blu-ray from MOC, at the bottom only because i'm not region-free.

wow, this really was a solid year.

[perkizitore]

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
1. mtv's the state: the complete series
2. "the general" on blu-ray from kino
3. "casablanca" released on blu-ray without that extraneous box set.
4. more pixar films coming out on blu.
5. "sunrise" on blu-ray from MOC, at the bottom only because i'm not region-free.

wow, this really was a solid year.

But, Sunrise IS region-free.

[Lemmy Caution]

Release of the Year
1. Pigs, Pimps and Prostitutes
2. Science is Fiction
3. the Golden Age of Television
4. The Human Condition
5. Dusan Makavejev, Free Radical (though I haven’t watched this yet)

Travels with Hiroshi Shmizu -- left off only because I also could have picked up the Japanese edition.
And I love Gen. Della Rovere, but already owned the Italian version.

3 of my Top 6 releases were from the Eclipse line.
I thought CC put out an interesting selection of films in '09, many of them were worth seeing, but nothing great (The Hit, El Norte, Eddie Coyle, Wise Blood, etc)

Best Eclipse Release
Nikkatsu Noir (because I have watched this)

Best Commentary
No Comment

Best Cover
Science is Fiction

Best Discovery
Hobson's Choice
(could have been Generale Della Rovere, but I already had the Minerva Italian dvd)

Most Disappointing Release
Downhill Racer

As for other 2009 releases ...
I know what I bought in the last year, but not when they were actually released.
Second Run, MoC and BFI continue to do good things

Member of the Year
Colin(###)

Richard Cranium
Everyone who got banned in 2009
Though SwimmingHorses managed the feat twice, so I guess he wins.

[willoneill]

Release of the Year (5 choices) (Eclipse titles eligible)
Last Year At Marienbad blu-ray
Magnificent Obsession
Dusan Makavejev eclipse set
Seventh Seal reissue on blu-ray
Friends of Eddie Coyle

Best Eclipse Release
Dusan Makavejev

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays)
Homicide

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)
the earlier version of Magnificent Obsession

Best Cover
Repulsion

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Golden Age of Television

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
Friends of Eddie Coyle

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
Z not on Bluray

Bluray Upgrade of Catalog Title:
Seventh Seal

[eljacko]

Release of the Year (5 choices) (Eclipse titles eligible)
Exterminating Angel
Last Year at Marienbad
Nikkatsu Noir
Pigs Pimps Prostitutes
Repulsion

Best Eclipse Release
Nikkatsu Noir

Best Reissue
Seventh Seal

Best Cover
Human Condition

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Golden Age of Television

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
the Science is Fiction release

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
changing the cover of My Dinner with Andre

Forum Member of the Year
domino harvey

[Amazing Goose]

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
1. mtv's the state: the complete series
2. "the general" on blu-ray from kino
3. "casablanca" released on blu-ray without that extraneous box set.
4. more pixar films coming out on blu.
5. "sunrise" on blu-ray from MOC, at the bottom only because i'm not region-free.

wow, this really was a solid year.

But, Sunrise IS region-free.

that's a mistake i'm happy to have made. thanks for the tip!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Release of the Year
1. Nikkatsu Noir
2. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
3. Homicide
4. Simon of the Desert
5. The Golden Age of Television

Best Eclipse Release
Nikkatsu Noir

Best Reissue
For All Mankind

Best Commentary
I was going to say 2 or 3 Things I Know About her, but I know that it's licensed from elsewhere. I will instead have to say The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David Fincher can talk a movie.

Best Single Supplement
The BBC documentary on Charles Laughton included on Hobson's Choice

Best Cover
Wise Blood

Best (Re)Discovery
Hiroshi Shimizu

Best Blu-Ray Upgrade
Pierrot Le Fou

Most Disappointing Release
A Christmas Tale. At least when I saw Monsoon Wedding I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good, but it's worse when you go in with high expectations and are left severely disappointed.

Favorite Non-Criterion Release
1. Tora-San set from Animeigo
2. Husbands from Sony (Fucking finally)
3. Dr. Mabuse set from MoC
4. Magick Lantern Cycle from the BFI (It was hard to pick this or some of the great titles being released via their Flipside label; all with Blu-Ray editions no less!)
5. The Exiles from Milestone

Hopes for 2010
All I want at this point is an Eclipse set of Oshima's sixties work already. I've seen so many on beat up VHS's, or one time playings at the American Cinematheque, or through bootlegs with fan subtitles. I want the real deal now.

[Peacock]

Hopes for 2010
All I want at this point is an Eclipse set of Oshima's sixties work already. I've seen so many on beat up VHS's, or one time playings at the American Cinematheque, or through bootlegs with fan subtitles. I want the real deal now.

It'll take several sets to release all they have!

[Mark Metcalf]

Several Oshima films I've been trying to see for 30 years.

[Saarijas]

Best Titles
The Last Metro
Z
2 or 3 Things I know about her
Last Year at Marienband
Wise Blood

Best Contemporary Films to Enter the Collection
Homocide

Best Overall Criterion Treatment (irrespective of the film's quality or lack thereof)
Science is Fiction

Best Eclipse Release
17 Nikkatsu Noir

Best Blu Upgrade
Pierrot Le Fou

Best Single Supplement
David Mamet comentary, Homocide

Best Film by Akira Kurosawa (in honor of his centenary)
Ran

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
Wise Blood

[geoffcowgill]

Something I just remembered--my simultaneous vote for Best Theoretical Criterion Cover and Most Befuddling Abandonment of Superior Artwork goes to My Dinner with Andre and this lovely little napkin drawing:

That cover would have been my second all-time favorite CC cover - after Chungking's - I really hate that they abandoned it. But I try (very hard) not to think about it.

Don't be too sad, folks. This is still available:

[LesRoches]

Release of the Year
1. Last Year at Marienbad
2. The Exterminating Angel
3. Z
4. Repulsion
5. Wings of Desire

Best Eclipse Release:
Travels with Hiroshi Shmizu

Best Reissue:
The Seventh Seal

Best Supplement:
Magnificent Obsession (1935)

Best Cover:
Wings of Desire

Best Package Design:
Last Year at Marienbad

Most Disappointing Release:
Monsoon Wedding

Forum Member
zedz

[HistoryProf]

Release of the Year (Eclipse titles eligible)
El Norte blu - I am utterly shocked no one else has posted this...a revelation and truly important film.
Rossellini's History Films (Eclipse)
Repulsion blu
Empire of Passion
Friends of Eddie Coyle

Best Eclipse Release
Rosselini's History Films

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays)
Haven't listened to any!

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)
The Rolling Stone piece on Bob Mitchum in Friends of Eddie Coyle booklet...pure awesome!

Best Cover
Empire of Passion

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Golden Age of Television

Best (Re)Discovery
Friends of Eddie Coyle

Most Disappointing Release
Z not on Bluray - i'm still pissed about this, it is the ONLY reason I didn't put it in the top 5

Bluray Upgrade of Catalog Title
Seventh Seal[/quote]

ETA: I forgot

Best Non-Criterion releases
1. Films of Michael Powell - Age of Consent/Matter of Life & Death
2. Let the Right One In (blu)
3. North By Northwest (blu)
4. Inglourious Basterds (blu)
5. John Adams (blu)

[lacritfan]

Release of the Year

• Wings of Desire
  The Human Condition
  Dodes'ka-den
  My Dinner with Andrè
  Last Year At Marienbad

Best Eclipse Release

• Nikkatsu Noir

Best Reissue

• The Seventh Seal

Best Commentary

• Tony Rayns - In the Realm of the Senses

Best Single Supplement

• It Is Wonderful to Create - Dodes'ka-den

Best Cover

• Dodes'ka-den

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)

• Last Year at Marienbad

Best Discovery

• Last Year At Marienbad

Most Disappointing Release

• Le Jour Se Lève relegated to Essential Arthouse

Forum Member of the Year

• Domino Harvey

Richard Cranium Award

• You

[JAP]

Since Wu.Qinghua's question about the voting deadline went unanswered may I assume that ianungstad's suggestion ("till the end of January") was tacitly accepted? [posts on page 3]

[domino harvey]

Since I'm the one counting, I say okay on the end of January

[skuhn8]

<rant>
Well, I'm going to take this opportunity to sound off. I have no complaints about the lineup of films put forth by the CC but certainly do about the manner. I purchased a total of four (4!) '09 CC's (including the reissue of For All Mankind and that begrudgingly). By far the least since I started purchasing them in 2001. And this because of their lousy Region A locked policy of Blu-ray. I've heard people bitching about MOC and BFI but the fact of the matter is that those labels only region lock when they absolutely have to due to rights. Given a choice between releasing locked or not releasing at all I agree with going locked. But truth be told this is no longer 'my label'. I've reserved my precious shekels for MOC's and BFI's and will continue to do so as they seem to care more about getting great films into the hands of the most people in the best possible quality. I know it's a business, but this policy strikes me as simplistic and customer-hating, and perpetuates a stupid practice besides. I understand that most of these releases would probably be Region A-locked even if they did struggle with the licensers, but it's the dismissive attitude behind it that pisses me off. Over 200 CCs in my collection...and they done me wrong. Sorry, I know this probably isn't the place but I've kept it in all year.
</rant>

Release of the Year (5 choices)
1. My Dinner with Andre
2. Hobson's Choice
3. xxx
4. xxx
5. The Last Days of Disco

Best Reissue
For All Mankind (though I probably would've gone for Seventh Seal if I had bought it)

Best Commentary
None. The one on Hobson's Choice turned me off half way through

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)
Baumbach interviews on My Dinner with Andre

Best Cover
they all seemed fine.

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Didn't get the super deluxe packaged releases this year

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
My Dinner with Andre--first/last saw this when I was 19 and it didn't do anything for me. This time Andre's last lines nearly brought tears to my eyes. Really took the wind out of me. Hobson's Choice is a close second--never heard of it before CC released and I thought it was fabulous.

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
Any blu release that may have been unnecessarily A-locked (look, I've kept my mouth shut on the topic all this past year). To be honest I'm surprised that Magnificent Obsession didn't steal this category considering the many pages of rant and argument over aspect ratio.

Forum Member of the Year
Peerpee/MichaelB--for being really great sources for information on MOC and BFI respectively. Honorable mention goes to the MODS for making this such a great place to hang out.

Richard Cranium Award
Noone on the forum--but an honorable mention to the xxxx who made the call to region lock all the blu's at the CC. I know: I should shut up about this

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)--by far the most exciting category of '09
1. Daisies (Second Run)--absolutely wonderful release. My daughters get a kick out of it too.
2. La Gueule ouverte (MOC)--may very well be the greatest collection of extra features
3. GPO Collections Box(es) (BFI)--absolutely essential
4. Sony Film Noir Collection
5. Woodstock Blu--I bought the UK edition without the crap. I get a lot of mileage out of this set

Honorable mention to BFI's flipside sublabel for having the balls to put out some wonderful films on blu--Winstanley and Bed Sitting Room are a couple favorites

[Harmonov]

Releases of the Year
1. The Friends of Eddie Coyle
2. The Last Days of Disco
3. Jeanne Dielman
4. Repulsion
5. The Hit

Best Eclipse Release
Nikkatsu Noir

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Single Supplement
“My Dinner with Louis”

Best Commentary
The Hit w/ Frears, Hurt, Roth, et al

Best Cover
Wings of Desire

Best (Re)Discovery
The Friends of Eddie Coyle & The Hit

Most Disappointing Release
Howard's End

Forum Member of the Year
jaredsap

Non-Criterion Release
1. Husbands (Cassavetes)

[aox]

Best Classic Films/Sets of Films to Enter the Collection
1. The Human Condition
2. My Dinner with Andre
3. Simon of the Desert
4. Last Year at Marienbad
5. Jeanne Dielman

Best Contemporary Films to Enter the Collection
Gomorrah
El Norte

Best Overall Criterion Treatment (irrespective of the film's quality or lack thereof)
The Human Condition

Best Eclipse Release
Travels with Shmizu

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Blu Upgrade
Pierrot le fou

Best Cover
Pigs Pimps and Prostitutes

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
The Golden Age of Television

Best Film by Akira Kurosawa (in honor of his centenary)
The Bad Sleep Well

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
Jeanne Dielman

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
Bergman Island

Richard Cranium Award
Whoever was behind Criterion losing the rights to The Third Man

EDIT: So called film-enthusiasts who pretend to love this visual medium but insist on not seeing a film in the best reasonable presentation; specifically, Blu-Ray.

[swo17]

Richard Cranium Award
Whoever was behind Criterion losing the rights to The Third Man

Hasn't this person made you rich though? Or has your $1000 copy still not sold?

[aox]

Richard Cranium Award
Whoever was behind Criterion losing the rights to The Third Man

Hasn't this person made you rich though? Or has your $1000 copy still not sold?

haha. oh man. I completely forgot about that.

[Doctor Sunshine]

Release of the Year
1. Repulsion
2. Simon of the Desert
3. Pigs, Pimps and Prostitutes
4. Nikkatsu Noir
5. Hobson's Choice

Best Eclipse Release
Nikkatsu Noir

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Commentary
Audio interview with Resnais, Last Year at Marienbad

Best Single Supplement
Multimedia essay by Tag Gallagher, The Taking of Power by Louis XIV

Best Cover
Wise Blood

Best Package Design
Last Year at Marienbad

Best (Re)Discovery
The Golden Age of Television -- Probably the most fun of their "special interest" releases too. The cast and crew's enthusiasm was catching.

Most Disappointing Release
Bergman Island -- The full three-parter would have but nice but mostly for the content redundancy with Seventh Seal. It's nice for those who didn't upgrade but won't anyone think of the completists?

[zachhh]

Release of the Year (5 choices)
Repulsion
Wings of Desire
Z
Magnificent Obsession
The Exterminating Angel

Best Eclipse Release:
Dušan Makavejev Free Radical

Best Reissue
The Seventh Seal

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays):
Yates' on The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary):
Magnificent Obsession's...From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers

Best Cover:
Wings of Desire

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Magnificent Obsession

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release):
The Hit

Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
FOX's Man Hunt
Paramount's Zodiac: Director's Cut
Warner's Northy by Northwest: 50th Anniversary
Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics Vol. 1
MoC's The Complete Fritz Lang Mabuse Box Set

Criterion fantasies for the future

Seconds 1966
Seance on a Wet Afternoon 1964
The Tenant 1976
Victim 1961
Charly 1968

[JAP]

Release of the Year:
1 - Last Year at Marienbad
2 – Wings of Desire
3 - A Christmas Tale
4 – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5 - Homicide

Best Eclipse Release:
- None bought

Best Reissue:
- The Seventh Seal (BR)

Best Commentary:
- Whit Stilmann rambling on The Last Days of Disco

Best Single Supplement:
- The 1935 Stahl version of Magnificent Obsession

Best Cover:
- A Christmas Tale (the suppressed version)

Best Package:
- Last Year at Marienbad

Best (Re)Discovery:
- The Last Days of Disco

Most Disappointing Release:
- Le Jour se Lève being relegated to the Essential Art House line

Forum Member of the Year:
- The Insiders (peerpee; Bikey; drdoros; MichaelB; et al)

Richard Cranium Award:
- The “Everything! Blu! Now!” brigade and the “There's Nothing Like Plastic for Perfect Packaging” lobby

Best Non-Criterion Release: (I'm gonna cheat a little):
- The 4/5 Borzages – BFI
- Treasures from American Film Archives IV - NFPF
- The GPO Film Unit, Vols. 2 & 3 – BFI
- Bardelys, the Magnificent/Monte Cristo – Flicker Alley
- TCM Archives: Forbidden Hollywood 3 – Warner Brothers (once a great DVD label...)

[Dadapass]

Release of the Year:
1) Jeanne Dielman
2) The Human Condition
3) Made in U.S.A.
4) The Last Days of Disco
5) Wings of Desire

Best Eclipse Release:
Dušan Makavejev Free Radical

Best Reissue:
The Seventh Seal

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary):
André Gregory & Wallace Shawn interview by Noah Baumbach

Best Cover:
El Norte

Best Package:
Last Year at Marienbad

Most Disappointing Release:
Bergman Island

Forum Member of the Year:
colinr0380

Best Non-Criterion releases:
From the East - Icarus Films
The Battle of Chile - Icarus Films
La Gueule Ouverte - MOC
Jeanne la Pucelle Part 1: The Battles - Artificial Eye
Philippe Garrel x 2 - Zeitgeist