2010 Wrapup | Criterion Forum Awards

[mfunk9786]

It's always funny to see what categories people bastardize/add/remove - as if seeing what some guy's Favorite UPC Code Art or top 20 rather than top 5 is really vital information. That being said, I'm going to try to stick to the main categories:

Top Five (excluding reissues, otherwise Black Narcissus would be on the list)
01. Night of the Hunter
02. Bigger Than Life
03. Stagecoach
04. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
05. House

Best Eclipse: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue: Black Narcissus

Best Commentary: Adrian Martin on Vivre Sa Vie

Best Supplement: Charles Laughton Directs Night of the Hunter on Night of the Hunter

Best Cover Art: The Magician (hon. mention to Stagecoach)

Best Packaging: Crumb (hon. mention to Stagecoach)

Best [Re]Discovery: Revanche

Best Rescue: Night of the Hunter

Most Disappointing Release: The piss-soaked L'enfance nue

Forum Member of the Year: swo17

Richard Cranium Award: James Mills

[skuhn8]

*votes for only one title throughout*

Good lord

how else can i vote? and i gotta vote, just gotta

[Harmonov]

Best Release (top 5)
1. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
2. The Thin Red Line
3. Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy
4. Night of the Hunter
5. Vivre Sa Vie

Best Eclipse
Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue
Walkabout

Best Commentary
The Night of the Hunter

Best Supplement
Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter

Best Cover
Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu

Best Packaging
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Best (Re)Discovery
The Fugitive Kind

Most Disappointing Release
None

[Tom Hagen]

Top Five
1) Rossellini's War Trilogy
2) Night of the Hunter
3) The BBS Story
4) Bigger Than Life
5) The Thin Red Line

Best Eclipse: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue: The Red Shoes (thanks Marty!)

Best Commentary: Haven't made it through enough to give this a fair vote

Best Supplement: Tag Gallagher's War Trilogy video essay

Best Cover Art: Paris, Texas

Best Packaging: The BBS Story

Best [Re]Discovery: Revanche (a vote primarily thanking Janus/Criterion for distributing this last year when I initially saw the film)

Best Rescue: The Thin Red Line

Most Disappointing Release: I really can't say I was disappointed in anything; a few titles were a big light on supplements, but I'd hardly call them disappointing. Maybe Ride With the Devil is a disappointment, on the grounds that Criterion felt compelled to spend time on it at all.

Forum Member of the Year: Jeff

Richard Cranium Award: There were a few brilliant flameouts, but nothing really rises to the top here.

[swo17]

Best Release (not reissue or Blu-ray upgrade)
01 Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa
02 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy
03 Paths of Glory
04 Vivre sa vie
05 Paris, Texas
06 by Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes 1 and 2
07 Che
08 Antichrist
09 Close-up
10 Bigger Than Life

Best Eclipse Release
Presenting Sacha Guitry

Best Reissue
The Red Shoes/Black Narcissus (sorry, can't pick just one)

Best Blu-ray Upgrade
in theory, Days of Heaven, but actually, Yojimbo

Best R1 Rescue
Close-up

Best Supplement
Kiarostami's early film The Traveler

Best Cover
Close-up

Best Packaging
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Best (Re)Discovery
Summer Hours (my appreciation for it grew immensely after rewatching the Criterion)

Most Disappointing Release
War Trilogy and von Sternberg box not being on Blu-ray (though the transfers still look great, and Criterion seem to have gotten the hint now to put everything on both formats)

Forum Member of the Year
mfunk9786, for making me a new avatar, unearthing domino's secret identity, admitting we were right about Community, faking his death, and for making an honest woman out of LQ, in that order.

Richard Cranium Award
domino harvey, for not posting enough
...or actually, the degenerate layabouts that hacked the forum a few months ago

Best Non-Criterion Release
01 Profound Desires of the Gods [MoC Blu] - I might actually take this over all my Criterion picks from this year
02 Sherlock Jr. [Kino Blu]
03 The Frantisek Vlácil Collection [Second Run]
04 City Girl [MoC Blu]
05 Diamonds of the Night [Second Run]
06 Make Way for Tomorrow [MoC Blu]
07 Apocalypse Now [Lionsgate Blu]
08 Battleship Potemkin [Kino Blu]
09 The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series [Shout! Factory]
10 Morgiana [Second Run]

[swo17]

Tribe, somehow the first post in this thread doesn't include Days of Heaven as a Blu upgrade.

[Tribe]

Tribe, somehow the first post in this thread doesn't include Days of Heaven as a Blu upgrade.

Thanks for pointing that out. First post has been corrected.

EDIT: And is it still the case that the America Lost and Found box does not have a spine number independent from the individual discs?

[Lemmy Caution]

Best Release
1. Bigger Than Life
2. Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
3. Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu
4. Louie Bluie
5. Paths of Glory

Best Eclipse Release
Presenting Sacha Guitry

Most Disappointing Release(s)
So many CC films already available -- and owned by Lemmy C --on Dvd.
Otherwise, Dillinger is Dead.

Richard Cranium Award
mfunk9786

Best Non-Criterion Release
World on a Wire

[jbeall]

Best Release (in no particular order)
1. Dillinger is Dead
2. Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy
3. Summer Hours
4. Night of the Hunter
5. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Best Eclipse Release
The Actuality Dramas of Allan King

Best Reissue
1a. The Red Shoes
1b. Black Narcissus (Both are essential. Hallelujah!)

Best Blu-Ray Upgrade
Alas, I'm not blu... yet, so no vote here.

Best Supplement
Charles Laughton Directs Night of the Hunter

Best Cover
The Magician. I thought Criterion had a generally excellent year of covers, but this one wins it going away.

Best Packaging
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story[/]i

Best (Re)Discovery
Louie Bluie

Most Disappointing Release
Night Train to Munich. Mainly b/c I didn't care for the film. Great cover art, like the director, looking forward to seeing it, and the film just bored/annoyed me.

Forum Member of the Year
Revealing where my priorities were this year, I'm voting for mfunk9786 primarily for his contributions to the beer thread. Honorable mention goes to Person for channeling the spirit of Blake.

Richard Cranium Award
zachh. I say, what an odious fellow! [/intentionally trying to sound elitist]

Best Non-Criterion Release
1. MASTERS OF CINEMA'S Metropolis
2. The František Vlácil Collection (Second Run)
3. Morgiana (Second Run). Too trippy, man!
4. The Beekeeper (Artificial Eye). Hey Criterion, you could release some Angelopoulos any day now...

[swo17]

And is it still the case that the America Lost and Found box does not have a spine number independent from the individual discs?

Correct. The box has no spine. The seven individual films take up spines 544-550.

[Finch]

Best Release (top 10)

1. Sternberg set
2. Louie Bluie
3. The Thin Red Line
4. Stagecoach
5. The Red Shoes
6. Night of The Hunter
7. Black Narcissus
8. Mystery Train
9. Days of Heaven
10. Night of The Hunter

honorary mention: Make Way for Tomorrow, House, Cronos, The Magician, Walkabout, Seven Samurai & Yojimbo (for the reference quality transfer)

Best Eclipse:

n/a (this year was the opposite of last year: no Eclipse purchase and plenty from the mainline)

Best Reissue:

The Red Shoes

Best Commentary

Jim Kitses (Stagecoach)

Best Supplement:

Janet Bergstrom's Sternberg video essays & the tour of Guillermo Del Toro's office on the Cronos disc (tie)

Best Cover:

The Magician & Make Way For Tomorrow & The Thin Red Line (tie)

honourable mentions: Mystery Train & the Ozu double bill (it's been a strong year for their covers)

Best Packaging:

Mystery Train

Best (Re)Discovery:

Louie Bluie

Most Disappointing Release:

Night Train to Munich for the film itself and L'Enfance Nue for the presentation (Rossellini's War Trilogy, while generally excellent films really angered me with their inexcusable homophobia)

Member of the Year:

Cold Bishop for his film noir posts (zedz a close second)

Richard Cranium Award:

Tark

Weakest monthly line-up: April

Best-looking disc of the year (Criterion): The Magician (b/w) + The Thin Red Line/The Red Shoes (colour)
Best-looking disc of the year (non-Criterion): City Girl (b/w) + French Cancan (colour)

Best Audio of the Year (Criterion): The Thin Red Line
Best Audio of the Year (non-Criterion): Saving Private Ryan

Best non-Criterion discoveries: There's Always Tomorrow (MoC), Errol Flynn War set (Warner), French Cancan (Carlotta) & Gallants (HK DVD); honourary mention for the trio of the French Borzage Blu's and the BFI's Ozu releases

[Tribe]

Top Five Releases:
01-3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
02-Red Desert
03-Letters From Fontainhas
04-The Night of the Hunter
05-Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

Re-Issue:
The Red Shoes

Best Eclipse Release:
Chantal Akerman in the Seventies

Best Box Set:
3 Silent Classics by Josef Von Sternberg

Best Commentary:
Jim Kitses (Stagecoach)

Best Supplement:
Emotion (House)

Best Cover:
By Brakhage, An Anthology, Vol. 2

Best Packaging:
America Lost and Found

Best (Re)Discovery:
Everlasting Moments

Most Disappointing Release:
Ride with the Devil

Member of the Year:
Cold Bishop (those noir reviews were absolutely top notch)

Richard Cranium Award:
Nothing

[Titus]

Top Five Releases:
1. Stagecoach
2. The Night of the Hunter
3. 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
4. Close-Up
5. Bigger Than Life

Re-Issue:
Black Narcissus

Best Eclipse:
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Blu Upgrade:
Seven Samurai

Best Supplement:
Ford interview on Stagecoach

Best Commentary:
Adrian Martin for Vivre Sa Vie

Best Cover Art:
Make Way for Tomorrow

Best Packaging:
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Forum Member of the Year:
Sloper

[Tommaso]

I take it that like in the last years Eclipse releases are eligible for the Top Five, so here goes:

Best Releases
1. Sternberg Silent Classics
2. Rossellini War Trilogy
3. Oshima's Outlaw Sixties
4. Lola Montes
5. Antichrist

Best Eclipse
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue
The Red Shoes

Best Commentary
Peter Bondanella on "Rome, Open City"


Best Supplement
Janet Bergström's video essay in the Sternberg set, and also that incredibly beautiful book that comes with the set.


Best Cover
Antichrist

Best Packaging
Sternberg Silent Classics

Best (Re)Discovery
Sternberg silents

Most Disappointing Release
No real disappointments this year!

Member of the Year
Michael Kerpan


Richard Cranium Award
Some flameouts, but they were all taken care of by the mods before things could get really interesting

And I want to add:

Worst Cover:
Modern Times

EDIT: Now that after a six weeks wait I finally received my B&N order, I had to change my choice for best cover from "The Red Shoes" to "Antichrist". I was not sure about the lettering before, but I have to say: it looks great (also the inner cover and the back). Sorry, Moira.

[willoneill]

Best Releases
1. Night of the Hunter
2. Thin Red Line
3. Paris, Texas
4. Darjeeling Limited
5. Bigger than Life

Best Eclipse
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue
Walkabout

Best Commentary
All the folks on The Thin Red Line

Best Supplement
Charles Laughton directs Night of the Hunter

Best Cover
The Magician

Best Packaging
By Brakhage anthology

Most Disappointing Release
All the ones I got were pretty good.


Member of the Year
you're all awesome ...

Richard Cranium Award
... except for anyone who writes "If anyone doesn't pick up [name any release], they should be banned/tortured/ashamed of themselves". That's just ignorant.

[dad1153]

Best Release:
1.- THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
2.- House
3.- Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy
4.- Vivre sa vie
5.- The Thin Red Line

Best Eclipse Release:
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Blu-ray Upgrade:
Walkabout

Best Supplement:
Charles Laughton Directs Night of the Hunter

Best Commentary:
Adrian Martin on Vivre sa vie

Best Cover:
Walkabout

Best Packaging:
Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu: The Only Son, There Was A Father

Best Re-discovery:
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Most Disappointing Release:
Ride with the Devil (seriously, why is this a Criterion?)

[Peacock]

Best Release (not reissue or Blu-ray upgrade)
1. Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy
2. Close-Up
3. Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa
4. Stagecoach
5. The Thin Red Line

Best Eclipse Release
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue
Walkabout

Best Blu-ray Upgrade
Seven Samurai (haven't yet watched any of them, sitting in my kevyip, but going by review grabs and my memories of the film)

Best Supplement
Tag Gallagher's Video Essay on Stagecoach

Best Cover
Lola Montes

Best Packaging
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Best (Re)Discovery
All the ones i've seen before are sitting in my kevyip or I'm still waiting to be delivered from Barnes and Noble!
So no vote.

Most Disappointing Release
War Trilogy and von Sternberg box not being on Blu-ray (though the transfers still look great, and Criterion seem to have gotten the hint now to put everything on both formats) ©swo17

Forum Member of the Year
zedz (I find he has almost identical taste in film to myself so I always look forward to hearing his thoughts on a film I haven't yet seen)

Richard Cranium Award
Peacock (I've not contributed much, hopefully in the new year i'll join in the list projects and put screen caps etc up)

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
1. French CanCan [Gaumont Blu]
2. Visitors (Hong, Diaz, Kawase) [Korean DVD] - The Diaz film is astonishingly good and the disk has both cuts.
3. Three Films by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet [New Wave DVD]
4. Apocalypse Now [Lionsgate Blu]
5. The World [MoC Blu]


I've not watched a lot of the things i've bought this year yet and am still waiting on a lot more to arrive (such as the Sternberg set which I'm confident would have hit my top 5, or the Demoiselles du Rochefort Blu.. ), but it wouldn't be too different i'm sure.

[swo17]

I'd completely forgotten about the Great Forum Hack of 2010. Did we ever establish who perpetrated that? Surely that guy wins the Rick Crane award by default. (Unless that's just what he wants...)

[Finch]

If those early votes are any indication, the Charles Laughton Directs supplement will win its category by a landslide (I'd forgotten about it completely but am going to stick by my vote).

[colinr0380]

Release of the Year (5 choices) (Eclipse titles eligible)

Letters From Fontainhas: Three Films By Pedro Costa
Antichrist
By Brakhage, An Anthology, Volumes One and Two
3 Films By Josef von Sternberg
Vivre sa vie

Best Eclipse Release

Chantal Akerman In The Seventies - never picked up the French set so it was great that this, along with the previously released Jeanne Dielman, covered all the material.

Best Reissue

Black Narcissus

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays)

Only listened to one so far from this year’s releases, so it has to be David Robinson on Modern Times

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)

All At Sea on Modern Times

Best Cover

Cronos – because this is a film that has long been in need of such a stylish cover

Best Package Design

By Brakhage, An Anthology Volumes One and Two

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

Everlasting Moments

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

L’Enfance nue

Forum Member of the Year

I’ll follow everyone's lead and nominate Cold Bishop this year, also because of the fascinating film noir posts.

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)

Institute Benjamenta (BFI)
World On A Wire (Second Sight)
Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide (Nucleus Films)
Un jeu brutale/De Bruit et de Fureur (Axiom Films)
The Unpolished (Second Run)

Honourable mentions:

The World (MoC)
Women Without Men (Artificial Eye)
Shadows Of Progress (BFI)
Four Lions
Morgiana (Second Run)

[zedz]

An incredibly strong year for Criterion, easily their best to date (and it certainly helps that so few other companies are able to take risks these days).

Best Release (top 5 plus 5)

Top 5:

By Brakhage: An Anthology 1 & 2 – Frankly, the upgrade of Volume 1 to BluRay would have been the release of the year in most other years, but Criterion really upped their game in 2010, with a number of gutsy releases. This set will be a benchmark release for the medium for years to come.

Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties – Film for film, this is conceivably the strongest box set Criterion has ever released. Sure, it would have been nice to get these in HD with copious extras, but the films themselves trump the rest of that stuff every time.

The Night of the Hunter - Exemplary edition of one of the greatest American films. What “the Criterion Treatment” is all about.

Close-Up – This BluRay showed just how great a visually modest film could look in a sympathetic transfer, and Traveller is probably the greatest film ever relegated to the status of a ‘bonus feature.’

Letters from Fontainhas – Just getting these films out was a coup, but the amount of effort that went into contextualising them was phenomenal. Ultimately, I consider only Colossal Youth a masterpiece, and Ossos is rather problematic, but the evolution charted by these three features is a fascinating and important one, and this set is the definitive documentation of it.

Top 5 in any other year:

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg – Simple, flawless execution, from the basic but useful extras to the classy design, of some long-overdue classics. In most years this would be unambiguously the release of the year.

Summer Hours – A great film, powerfully enhanced by the excellent extras. Assayas is as uncommonly perceptive about his own work, and this film’s position within his career, as he is about that of other filmmakers.

Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu – The shine was slightly taken off this release by BFI’s trumping of The Only Son, but the vastly improved There Was a Father more than compensates, and I heartily approve of this twofer format. I’d love to see more films get this more-than-Eclipse / less-than-fullblown-Criterion treatment in future.

Stagecoach and The Thin Red Line – Two co-options of readily available films where the appropriate response is “but of course” rather than “so what?”


Best Eclipse

Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties – Major works in their best-ever home video presentation. I actually found the rest of the year on Eclipse underwhelming, personally. The Shaw set was weak; the Kurosawa for completists only; the Akerman was a downgraded version of something that had already been out for years. I’d been highly anticipating Guitry for years, but found the actual films middling. Which only leaves this and the fine Allan King set.

Best Reissue

The Red Shoes, I guess, simply for the stunning restoration, but none of this year’s reissues brought a lot more to the party in terms of new extras.

Best Rescue

In terms of the importance of the film, the quality of the package and the quality of the previously available R1 version, I don’t see how this could possibly be anything other than Close-Up. The only slight niggle I’d have about that was Soda’s fine recent DVD, but that was R2, and domino specified R1.

Best Commentary

Still plenty I haven’t listened to, but the best so far is Close-Up. The conversation format is a really sensible idea that I wish more commentaries would follow (listen no further than the superb Kalat / Rosenbaum discussion on MoC’s Metropolis for more evidence).


Best Supplement

No contest, even in such a great year. Traveller on the Close Up disc. Since a bare bones release of this film would have been a contender for release of the year for me, this was a foregone conclusion.

Best Cover

The Magician, though Close-Up was mighty fine too.

Worst Cover

The Red Shoes. This looked ugly and lazy when it was announced, but I was hoping it would be better in execution. However, the execution, with that awful too-low-res screen grab, made it even worse. Black Narcissus had similar problems, but the image and design was much stronger to start with.

Best Packaging

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy - Excellent, counterintuitive concept followed through brilliantly in execution, and with every component (images, fonts, booklets) adding to the impact. Actually, Criterion excelled with all of their box sets this year: America Lost and Found is one of the smartest and loveliest designs they’ve ever produced, as were the von Sternberg and Ozu packages.

Best (Re)Discovery

Ride with the Devil – Mainly because my expectations were so low and it turned out to be a decent film. Which is sort of the opposite of Dillinger Is Dead, which had been built up as some kind of life-changing masterpiece and turned out to be. . . a decent film.

Most Disappointing Release

The Fugitive Kind – I’m not a great fan of Tennessee Williams or of 50s / 60s Serious Hollywood Drama, but I took a punt on this nevertheless, and found it thoroughly mediocre. Not even the commentators in the extras – not even the director! – seemed able to work up much enthusiasm for the film, so it really seemed like a box-ticking exercise for Criterion (and if the box they were ticking was the Brando one, why not include Meet Marlon Brando, which they’ve been sitting on forever?)

Zedz’s White Elephant in the Room Award

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story – This has been getting some press as the Release of the Year, but, crikey, surely only if you go by weight, or total running time or something. The films range from good to godawful, and the tautological inherited extras that have been reported are an object lesson in why Criterion is so much better at contextualizing their films than the majors. It’s an important slab of American film history, beautifully packaged and nice to have all in one place, so I can’t really put it up for the worst of the year, but it’s just going to be gathering dust on my shelf.

Member of the Year

I generally weasel out of naming individuals (and didn’t that memo say it was swo17’s turn this year anyway?) and I intend to do so again by giving a collective bouquet (one petal apiece) to all those forum members who insist on making substantial and intelligent posts, against all the odds. Too many to name, but among others I’ve really enjoyed Cold Bishop’s noir advocacy, Tommaso, Sloper and Myrnaloyisdope’s dogged excavation of the 1920s and colinr wherever he pops up. And how about that civil and informative historical discussion (History Prof, MichaelB et al) in the Night Train to Munich thread?

On a completely self-serving note, I’d also like to thank all those forum members who have made me aware of great bargains from all over the world. I think perkizitore deserves the biggest, sloppiest kiss for that amazing misprice on the Joris Ivens box set. I still haven’t got all the way through it: the best 12 euros I’ve ever spent.

Richard Cranium Award

A collective award for the forum’s sad serial homophobes. The exit door’s that way, losers. The revolving thing is a design fault.

(Of course, that was before we found out that the real forum conspiracy was the Oklahomos)


Other Releases


I Love Taipei! Box set – for The Terrorizer, finally looking good, and the concurrent Dust in the Wind BluRay.

Frantisek Vlacil Box Set (Second Run) – Gets in on the strength of a good transfer of Valley of the Bees alone, with Adelheid and that meh documentary as extra icing. So many great things from Second Run, especially Morgiana and the Isaacs collection (and was Gaea Girls 2010 too?)

Profound Desires of the Gods (MoC) – It cost an arm and a leg to go region-free on Blu, but this single release made it a small price to pay. And City Girl is still a benchmark release on the format. Simply beautiful work from MoC this year.

Lisandro Alonso box set (Potemkine) - Nifty DVD box sets are becoming scarcer and scarcer internationally. This and Potemkine’s Jacques Rozier set were mixed in terms of transfers, but so valuable for their content.

Koji Wakamatsu Volume 2 (Blaq Out) – I don’t rate these films anywhere near as high as Yoshida’s or Oshima’s or many other New wave practitioners, but they’re a crucial piece of the jigsaw puzzle and, for once, a French box set of Japanese New Wave films included English subs, so that alone warrants inclusion

Honourable Mention:

My Shadows of Progress set is still in transit, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t have made this list, and unless that Raul Ruiz Raridades collection doesn’t actually contain the films it says it does, I can’t imagine it wouldn’t have topped it, but alas I have yet to order it.

[artfilmfan]

Top-5 Criterions:

Make Way For Tomorrow
Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu
Vivre sa vie (Blu-ray)

Top Re-Issued Criterion:

Walkabout (Blu-ray)

Top-5 Non-Criterions:

French Can Can (Blu-ray, Gaumont)
Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, Lucky Star (Blu-ray, Carlotta Films)
The Double Life of Veronique (Blu-ray, Artificial Eye)
Doctor Zhivago (Blu-ray, Warner Home Video)
City Girl (Blu-ray, MoC)

[HistoryProf]

Best Release (top 10)
1. The Night of the Hunter
2. Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy
3. Stagecoach
4. Revanche
5. Everlasting Moments
6. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
7. Walkabout
8. 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
9. Modern Times
10. House

Best Eclipse
1a. Oshima's Outlaw 60s
1b. The Actuality Dramas of Allan King

Best Reissue
Walkabout

Best Commentary
The Night of the Hunter

Best Supplement
Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter

Best Cover
1. House
2. The Magician
3. The Fugitive Kind

Best Packaging
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Best (Re)Discovery
Ride with the Devil - Saw it upon release a decade ago and wasn't terribly impressed...seeing it again this year blew me away. The best movie ever made about the Civil War.
For true discovery: Revanche - one powerful film and perhaps the best blind buy I've ever made.

Best Box Set
Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy

Most Disappointing Release
Hunger. Just plain blah.

Member of the Year
cdnchris

Richard Cranium Award
James Mills - an impressive debut month.

[AALFW]

Best Release (top 5)
1. Letters From Fontainhas
2. The Thin Red Line
3. Vivre Sa Vie
4. By Brakhage: An Anthology (Vol. 1 & 2)
5. The Night of the Hunter

Best Eclipse
Series 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties

Best Reissue
The Red Shoes/Black Narcissus

Best Commentary
The Night of the Hunter

Best Supplement
Charles Laughton Directs The Night of the Hunter

Best Cover
Rossellini's War Trilogy

Best Packaging
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Best (Re)Discovery
Seven Samurai

Best Box Set
By Brakhage: An Anthology (Vol. 1 & 2)

Most Disappointing Release
Night Train to Munich

[Quick Billy]

Best Release (Top 5):
1. By Brakhage: An Anthology 1 & 2
2. Letters from Fontainhas
3. 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
4. The Only Son & There Was a Father
5. The Night of the Hunter

(Can't believe I didn't include Close-Up. Or the Rossellini War Trilogy!)

Best Eclipse:
Chantal Akerman in the Seventies

Best Reissue:
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Vol. 1

Best Commentary:
Have yet to listen to one!

Best Supplement:
(Tie) All Blossoms Again or The Rabbit Hunters (both found on Letters From Fontainhas) or Ben Hecht's original story for Underworld

Best Package Design:
Again, By Brakhage: An Anthology 1 & 2

Best (Re)Discovery:
Letters From Fontainhas

(While I'd normally be tempted to vote for Bigger than Life, I have to give Criterion a pat on the back for putting a contemporary filmmaker like Costa into the home video limelight. Hopefully sales encouraged them enough to seek out films by Tsai Ming-liang, Jia Zhang-ke, and other contemporaries of a similar, i.e., difficult, ilk.)