Archived Criterion Forum Awards Discussion and Voting Thread

[JHunter]

Release of the Year
1. SEVEN SAMURAI
2. THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN
3. KIND HEARTS & CORONETS
4. ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
5. YOUNG MR. LINCOLN

Best Reissue - SEVEN SAMURAI

Most Disappointing Release KOKO, A TALKING GORILLA (not that they released the title, but that they did absolutely nothing with it)

Best Commentary Haven't listened to enough this year to justify a vote

Best Single Supplement - TOKYO-GA

Best Package Design - THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN

Best Surprise - CLEAN, SHAVEN

[Saarijas]

Release of the Year

1. Seven Samurai
2. Brazil
3. Clean, Shaven
4. Viridiana
5. La bête humaine

Best Reissue: Seven Samurai
Most Disappointing: The Children Are Watching Us- (loved the film, but I was disapointed with the transfer at times, and the supplements were poor)
Best Commentary: The Comentary on Clean, Shaven
Best Single Supplement: The "Love Conquers All" film on Brazil
Best Package Design: 3 Films by Louis Malle
Best Surprise: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm

[JabbaTheSlut]

The Best

1. Spirit of The Beehive
2. 3 Films by Louis Malle
3. Six Moral Tales
4. A nos amours
5. The Fallen Idol

...and of course loved the wonderful Seven Samurai and Playtime rereleases. A good year, I think.

[Matt]

Does "best surprise" have to refer to the film?

Yes, it does.

And I would like to take this opportunity to remind people (though it's probably too late) that when voting for "Most Disappointing Release" you are not judging the quality of the film but for the quality of the DVD release as a whole (primarily the supplements, transfer, packaging). For the purposes of this category, nobody cares if you didn't like the movie (I'm eyeing you all you Grey Gardens haters). But I must say, I was sorely tempted to vote for Metropolitan before I reminded myself of this.

[Matt]

Release of the Year - Mr. Arkadin (I'm pretty cold on the film, but what a package!), and then Viridiana (because finally)

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Koko: A Talking Gorilla (because its tacked-on supplements and shocking transfer just smack of contract fulfillment)

Best Commentary - Ian Christie on A Canterbury Tale (because I don't even like this film but he made me admire it)

Best Single Supplement - "Listen to Britain" on A Canterbury Tale

Best Package Design - Equinox (which I bought almost solely for its cover)

Best Surprise - The Fallen Idol

Forum Member of the Year - Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)

Richard Cranium Award - YilmazGuney (seriously, the most deserving of this award since before we even started these awards)

[Matt]

Also, I see we forgot to include Best Multiple Title (i.e. Boxed) Set in the voting, but I think its pretty obvious what would win. Unless there are ardent admirers of the Louis Malle set that I'm unaware of.

[Subbuteo]

Release of the Year
1. Six Moral Tales - who would have thought these gems could look this good
2. La bête humaine
3. À nos amours
4. A Canterbury Tale
5. 3 Films by Louis Malle

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Haven't bought a disappointing release, then again I haven't bought many Criterion's this year

Best Commentary – no opinion

Best Single Supplement – Tokyo Ga

Best Package Design - Six Moral Tales

Best Surprise - Kicking and Screaming

Forum Member of the Year – Peerpee (also special mention: Bikey, HerrSchrek and davidhare.

Richard Cranium Award – Yilmaz Guney

[SHOCKMASTER]

Release of the year:

1. LATE SPRING
2. SIX MORAL TALES
3. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
4. COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN
5. YI YI

Best Reissue: PLAYTIME

Best Commentary: Richard Pena on LATE SPRING

Best Supplement: TOKYO-GA

Best Package Design: THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN

Best Surprise: CLEAN, SHAVEN

[bjeggert82]

Release of the Year
Mr. Arkadin
Seven Samurai
The Fallen Idol
Three Films by Louis Malle
La bête humaine

Best Reissue
Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release
Dazed and Confused

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary
Tokyo-Ga

Best Package Design
Mr. Arkadin

Best Surprise
Au revoir, les enfants

Forum Member of the Year
hammock

[Floyd]

Release of the year
1. Viridiana
2. Late Spring
3. The Spirit of the Beehive
4. Fists in the Pocket
5. Kicking and Screaming

Best Reissue: Amarcord
Most Disappointing: KOKO
Best Commentary: Mr. Arkadin with Rosenbaum
Best single supplement: Tokyo-Ga
Best Package Design: The Spirit of the Beehive
Best Surprise: À nos amours
Forum Member: zedz

[Cinesimilitude]

Murmur of the Heart was amazing, Infact I should probably make that my surprise vote, but for an overall boxset, Rohmer trumps the others.

[Michael]

Best Releases

The Spirit of the Beehive
The Double Life of Veronique
Viridiana
Fists in the Pocket
Yi Yi

Best Reissue

Amarcord

Most Disappointing

Koko

Best Package Design

Amarcord and The Spirit of the Beehive (tie)


Forum Member of the Year

zedz and davidhare

[jbeall]

I agree that Murmur is fantastic, but the other two didn't really do it for me. With Au Revoir Les Enfants it might just have been inevitable disappointment after too much hype, but I thought it was just okay. Same with Lucien.

Thankfully, the discs were available separately, so I got the extras disc on netflix, and then purchased Murmur.

[Mr Sausage]

Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)

Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.

[zedz]

Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)

Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.

Mr Second Run (so most of his posts are in that sub-basement), and a stand-up guy who fronts up when his company pulls off something dubious (e.g. wrong aspect ratio for beloved Polish classics).

[Mr Sausage]

Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)

Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.

Mr Second Run (so most of his posts are in that sub-basement), and a stand-up guy who fronts up when his company pulls off something dubious (e.g. wrong aspect ratio for beloved Polish classics).

I must not go in there very much.

(Really these should be in the discussion thread. It's an accident I can't fix).

[kaujot]

Release of the Year - (no order)

3 Films by Louis Malle
Clean, Shaven
A Canterbury Tale
Yi Yi
The Bad Sleep Well

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Jigoku

Best Commentary - Linklater on D&C

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary - Listen to Britain (Canterbury)

Best Package Design - Amarcord

Best Surprise - YiYi

[Scharphedin2]

Release of the year:

MR. Arkadin (This idea of a scholarly approach to a specific film, presenting all available versions in restoration + book + tons of extras and expert commentaries, presenting a definitive definitive version of a specific film is to me the epitome of what DVD can offer in terms of presenting and preserving a given film).
Six Moral Tales
Late Spring
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Spirit Of the Beehive

(I have ordered but not yet received Seven Samurai and Pandora's Box -- so unfortunately I could not include thes two releases in the consideration)

Best Reissue:

Playtime is a real big improvement, and a very nice reissue. However, had I already been in possession of Seven Samurai, it is very likely that it would have taken the prize for me.

Most Disappointing Release: The roster of films released this year has possibly been slightly less weighty than previous years, but even that is debatable, and then there are always so many back catatlogue films both from Criterion and other labels to invest in. I have purchased 18 of the year's single releases + the Malle and Rohmer sets, and none of these have been anything but a pleasure to me. Basically I can't submit a "most disappointing release."

Best Commentary: I really only had time to listen to snippets of various commentaries this year, choosing to save them for a rainy day and concentrating on viewing the films in what time I have been able to devote to viewing DVDs. The commentary track by Naremore and Rosenbaum on Mr. Arkadin sounds very interesting from brief samplings; and, of course the commentary track on Seven Samurai would appear to be the mother of all commentary tracks based on the many luminaries involved.

Best Single Supplement: Situation similar to above. In general I am overwhelmed by the amount of material that is included by Criterion these days. I find the inclusion of whole separate feature films as on Late Spring and Hands Over The City to be particularly gratifying. And, I am least ecstatic, when documentaries are excerpted rather than presented in their entirety.

Best Packaging: The design for Six Moral Tales is particularly nice and fitting the quality of the films. The cherry on the icing of course being the image inside the box itself. Great attention to detail.

Best Surprise: There were so many surprises every month, when Criterion announced the next batch (always a day that all of us look forward to with glee). Probably the announcement of Pandora's Box did it for me, purely because I had really given up on it ever being released.

Best Forum Member: Really anyone who contributes to this site being dynamic and informative, and who display an attitude of largesse toward other forum members. Lino, Davidhare, Schreck, MichaelB and zedz in their different ways always make the site interesting, fun and informative. A special thanks to them also for being helpful and friendly toward me personally. Much praise to Bikey and Peerpee! Steven H and Kerpan for providing so much useful info within the specific area of Asian cinema. And, tryavna, whom I admire for general breadth of knowledge and overall classy presence -- very much lives up to the Stroheim character in Grande Illusion.

[ellipsis7]

Release of the Year -

SIX MORAL TALES
COMPLETE MR ARKADIN
LA BETE HUMAINE
LATE SPRING
A CANTERBURY TALE

Best Reissue -

AMARCORD

Best Commentary

RICHARD PENA/LATE SPRING

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary

NEAPOLITAN DIARY/HANDS OVER THE CITY

Best Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

SIX MORAL TALES

Best Surprise - For a film which you knew little or nothing about before the CC release

SWEETIE

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

DAVIDHARE

[Dylan]

When's the deadline? I still have to see a couple of the November releases before I can really feel comfortable submitting a top 5.

[Galen Young]

Release of the Year:

1. Pandora's Box
2. Six Moral Tales
3. The Double Life of Veronique
4. The Virgin Spring
5. The Complete Mr. Arkadin

Best Reissue - Playtime
Best Commentary - Kerrigan/Soderbergh on Clean, Shaven
Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary - Lulu in Berlin
Best Package Design - The Double Life of Veronique
Best Surprise - Jigoku

[Lemmy Caution]

• Release of the Year
  Mr. Arkadin
  La Bête Humaine
  Elevator to the Gallows
  Viridiana
  Harlan County
  
  Best Reissue
  Playtime
  
  Most Disappointing Release
  Young Mr. Lincoln
  
  Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary
  Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report/alternate version
  
  Best Package Design
  Spirit of the Beehive
  
  Best Surprise
  Fists in the Pocket
  (runner up: Seduced and Abandoned)
  
  Forum Member of the Year
  zedz

[Cinesimilitude]

when voting for "Most Disappointing Release" you are not judging the quality of the film but for the quality of the DVD release as a whole (primarily the supplements, transfer, packaging).

I voted for Koko for exactly this reason. I love the film, the transfer is decent for it's age and the fact that it isn't perfect gives it a better feel and texture for a documentary from the 70's. but this disc needed either commentary by Penny talking about Koko's development since then, or an entirely new documentary on a 2nd disc that showed Koko's development since then. I realize this would most likely be impossible financially, as Koko was likely one of the worst selling criterions of 06, but I found myself wanting to know so much more about her.

[domino harvey]

I need to see Symbiopsychotaxiplasm before I can vote, and so does the rest of the board honestly

[Jeff]

Release of the Year
Six Moral Tales
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Pandora's Box
Spirit of the Beehive
Young Mr. Lincoln

Best Reissue
Playtime

Most Disappointing Release
Sólo con tu pareja

Best Commentary
Rosenbaum/Naremore - The Complete Mr. Arkadin

Best Single Supplement
Tokyo-Ga on Late Spring

Best Package Design
The Double Life of Veronique

Best Surprise
À nos amours

Forum Member of the Year
Kristy. For posting only three times, for secretly working for Criterion, and for providing this sausage party with a tiny shot of estrogen.

Richard Cranium Award
Yilmaz Guney - the award should be renamed in his honor