Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:58 pm
only a couple releases left so it's probably time to start cobbling this year's lists together?
An interesting year (though 2008 is so far shaping up to be even better! Especially if Criterion releases Face To Face!) It was very exciting to see a number of big films enter the collection, even if at the same time there could be an argument that it might have been at the expense of a number of the lesser known titles. Luckily the new Eclipse line helped a little and I think Criterion took advantage of the new line to bring out a few more ‘populist' releases under their main label this year. There have been a number of Criterion releases I have not had the chance to pick up or get to watch so far this year, so I can't speak about the quality of Two-Lane Blacktop, Drunken Angel, the two Jim Jarmush sets, Mala Noche, The Milky Way, Sawdust and Tinsel, Cria Cuervos and Ivan's Childhood yet, but I should be picking these up as soon as I can afford them!
Release of the year
1. Berlin Alexanderplatz
2. The Threepenny Opera
3. La Jetee/Sans Soleil
4. Ace In The Hole
5. Breathless
I am only about halfway through Berlin Alexanderplatz but already it feels like the only choice for the top spot! (I got a little overwhelmed by RWF when the Criterion and the two boxsets of the 15 films I hadn't yet seen released by Arrow Films all arrived in the same week! I don't think the postman was too happy about the weight of them either!)
Best Boxset
This was very hard to choose between. The Hiroshi Teshigahara set was of the best films overall; the Monsters and Madmen set included the most exhaustive amounts of information about every aspect surrounding the four films – almost absurdly too much information for the lightweight sci-fi films but it was an excellent chance to commit these details and anecdotes to disc; and Paul Robeson: Portraits Of An Artist was the most archivally important set, bringing an eclipsed figure into wider recognition again, despite the films Robeson was involved with varying in quality (a testament to the control any actor has over the finished film?) I think the Paul Robeson set would be my choice but while there were no particularly poor boxsets this year I do not think either of the three reached the standard of the very best boxsets such as the BRD trilogy or Six Moral Tales sets. At least there was some choice this year compared to the one boxset of 2006!
(I've limited my boxsets choice to collections of films given equal weight in their treatment – I consider a release like Berlin Alexanderplatz or the Fanny and Alexander set to be an individual, though enormous, release with alternate cuts or additional films added as extras rather than to be thought of as completely different films on their own. The equivalents of the two Killers or Lower Depths films or the alternate cut of Brazil being judged together rather than apart.
The Eclipse releases could also count in the boxset consideration but since all the Eclipse releases are boxsets, and bare bones except for the liner notes at that, I felt it best to consider them in their own separate category)
Best Eclipse release
This was tight as all the sets so far have provided films I had yet to have in my collection. The Raymond Bernard set was of course the most important but I was extremely happy to pick up the Late Ozu set after having held off picking up the films for a long time (and to finally get to see the longer French version of Phantom India!). So my vote goes to Ozu, as I am sure Bernard will get a lot of other supporters!
Best Reissue
The Lady Vanishes!
The Hitchcock is such a favourite film even Third Man has to come second!
Most Disappointing Release
The only disappointing release I can think of this year would probably be Vengeance Is Mine, and that is only for not including the Tony Rayns commentary from the Masters of Cinema disc.
Best Commentary
The David Robinson and Malcolm McDowell commentary on If… just beat out the Tom Weaver and Stuart and Richard Gordon commentaries on each and every film in the Monsters and Madmen set.
Best Single Supplement
Volcano: An Inquiry Into The Life and Death Of Malcom Lowry almost took it but I'll have to go with the inclusion of the 1931 version of Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Package Design
Difficult – So many great covers this year: the Monsters and Madmen set, When A Woman Ascends The Stairs, La Haine, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Under The Volcano, Green For Danger and the Dusan Makavejev films. I decided to go for one of the matching pairs of covers – and while I liked The Burmese Harp and Fire On The Plains' covers a lot I thought Brute Force and especially Naked City were my favourites this year.
Best Surprise
Lots of different surprises to choose from this year: the first Paramount film in If…, the first Terence Malick, and Under The Volcano. The Two Of Us was also an interesting “I've not heard much about that filmâ€