Archived Criterion Forum Awards Discussion and Voting Thread

[Tribe]

Are we doing the nominations thing again this year?

Tribe

[Narshty]

All anyone really wants to do is to post a "Top Five" end of year list anyway. I vote to just keep it as an informal thread.

[mmiesner]

what are the usual categories you do for year end awards? i mean, a single 'best disc/set' would be cool, but different discs are better for different reasons. forgive me for this being my first year, but i sort of looked forward to participating in this. could we find something not as extensive as before but with more than just one category?

[Tribe]

We used to have several categories: Best Extra, Best Box Set, Best Cover, Worst Release, etc. But Matt is right....it could be a pain in the ass to keep track of.

How about we do a Best Release, a Worst Release, and a Best Cover categories...each person can post their top three, we keep it all in the thread and then we add em all up by a date certain?

[zedz]

I haven't bothered participating before, but of the categories covered last year, the ones that seem to be easiest to manage and most interesting are:

Best release
Worst (most disappointing) release
Best package design
Best commentary
Best single supplement
Best surprise

I find the last three interesting because they're probably the most likely to draw my attention to an overlooked title.

Not much point voting on the best multi-title set this year, and I certainly couldn't be bothered reading the fine print to single out producers and designers. The forum-related awards don't bother me one way or another (though I'd gladly nominate the MIA poetwarrior for the Richard Cranium award).

[GringoTex]

I liked the categories from last year. I'll volunteer to compile this year's list. It should be interesting just because there's no killer boxset (Cassavetes) to sweep the awards. I await Matt's blessing.

[Andre Jurieu]

what are the usual categories you do for year end awards?

Here's the thread

[justeleblanc]

Is there a list of all the 2005 Criterion releases?

[Jeff]

Is there a list of all the 2005 Criterion releases?

Youth of the Beast
Fighting Elegy
Casque D'Or
Touchez Pas au Grisbi
Kagemusha
Night and the City
Thieves Highway
My Own Private Idaho
La Commare Secca
Tout Va Bien
Jules and Jim
L'Eclisse
The River
The Sword of Doom
Young Torless
Wajda: Three War Films
F for Fake
Divorce Italian Style
Hoop Dreams
The Phantom of Liberty
Burden of Dreams
The Life Aquatic
Au Hasard Balthazar
Heaven Can Wait
The Browning Version
Crazed Fruit
Unfaithfully Yours
Le Notti Bianche
Gate of Flesh
Story of a Prostitute
Boudu Saved from Drowning
Harakiri
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Bad Timing
Naked
An Angel at My Table
Samurai Spy
Samurai Rebellion
Sword of the Beast
Kill!
Wages of Fear
Le Samouraï
Masculine Feminine
Ran
Ugetsu
Pickpocket
The Tales of Hoffmann
Shoot the Piano Player
Forbidden Games

[analoguezombie]

Best release: Ugetsu
Worst (most disappointing) release : Sword of Doom
Best package design : The Man Who Fell to Earth
Best commentary : Jules et Jim
Best single supplement : Ugetsu
Best surprise : Burden of Dreams

[Gregory]

Why start this now when few will have the chance to see the Forbidden Games DVD for two more weeks?

[GringoTex]

I'll start an official voting thread later on. In the meantime, let's shore up the categories. Here's what we had from last year:

• Criterion Release of the Year
  Criterion Producer of the Year
  Criterion Designer of the Year
  Most Disappointing Release
  Best Commentary
  Best Single Supplement
  Best Package Design (includes menu screens)
  Best Surprise (for a few film you knew little or nothing about before seeing the dvd)
  Member of the Year
  The Richard Cranium Award in Memory of B.Y. Anderson

I doubt there are any meaningful categories to add to this list, but if anybody else has any ideas for more, let us know.

[Andre Jurieu]

I guess we should re-iterate that voting should be based upon the DVD package as a product, not the film itself (though, that's kind of inevitable).

[godardslave]

Best Single Supplement.

why does it have to be best "single" supplement. Surely the more meaningful and comprehensive category is:

"best group of supplements".

[zedz]

Best Single Supplement.

why does it have to be best "single" supplement. Surely the more meaningful and comprehensive category is:

"best group of supplements".

Unless people are voting on the strength of the feature alone (naughty naughty), I'd assume that "best group of supplements" would be pretty much synonymous with "best release." Last year, the winner of this category was Eyes without a Face, if I recall, a disc that wouldn't really have been in the running otherwise.

This year, my pick, off the top of my head, would be the interactive map on Boudu - a terrific, innovative surprise.

[Tribe]

Last year, the winner of this category was Eyes without a Face, if I recall, a disc that wouldn't really have been in the running otherwise.

No, it was single supplement...Blood of the Beasts.

Tribe

[zedz]

Last year, the winner of this category was Eyes without a Face, if I recall, a disc that wouldn't really have been in the running otherwise.

No, it was single supplement...Blood of the Beasts.

Tribe

Uh, yeah, which was on Eyes without a Face. So Eyes won the Best Single Supplement category, right?

Further to Langlois' request, I'm indifferent to the producer and designer awards (owing to laziness), but if somebody's prepared to do the research of who did what and announce the contestants here it's got my vote.

[GringoTex]

After looking through the DVD production credits on my discs, I've decided to axe the "Designer of the Year" category. The same two people at Criterion share art direction duties for all the dvds now, and they appear to farm the production design out to a different firm for each one. By default, the best packaging and designer of the year would go to the same disc.

I've compiled a list of DVD producers for most of 2005, but need some help for others. These are:

F for Fake
Divorce Italian Style
Hoop Dreams
Burden of Dreams
The Life Aquatic
The Browning Version
Crazed Fruit
Unfaithfully Yours
Gate of Flesh
Story of a Prostitute
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Bad Timing
An Angel at My Table
Ran
The Tales of Hoffmann
Shoot the Piano Player
Forbidden Games

[Tribe]

I'm indifferent to the producer and designer awards

As am I, I suggest they be done away with.

Tribe

[Andre Jurieu]

I think the producer award has some merit, but I agree that the designer award might feel redundant given Langlois' research into the matter. The producer award tells us which producer has consistently delivered quality material throughout the year, while the "Best Disc" category might just be an anomaly.

[justeleblanc]

What about worst cover?

[jcelwin]

What about worst cover?

Do we really need that? I thought it had already been decided...

[Andre Jurieu]

What about worst cover?

Do we really need that? I thought it had already been decided...

For 2005? I know we have a serious contender for the 2006 award.

[jcelwin]

Ah. My thoughts are blinded by the rays from her head. Every other cover looks fantastic in comparison anyway.

I also think that one problem with doing this is that people always do vote on the film, and not the entire material. There isn't really any way around that though, except to include 'best film entered into the collection' and 'worst film entered into the collection'. And, I'm not sure they would be good categories.

[GringoTex]

Would it make sense to have voters pick their top 5 discs (instead of forcing them to vote for one) for Release of the Year? I know nothing about statistics, but it seems this would make for a more accurate ranking.