Forum Awards - Non-Criterion DVD of the year

[jt]

To run side by side with the CC poll you can also vote for your favourite DVDs of the year from all round the world.

There are no region restrictions, any non-criterion film from any country can be voted for as long as it was released in 2007.

Please vote for any of the following:

Non-CC Release of the year - Up to ten films. Either simply list them or if you want to order them, annotate them, split into regions etc. go right ahead but each film mentioned will get only one point.

Best Non-CC Commentary

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary

Best Non-CC Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

Overall DVD of the year - Only ONE vote, but you CAN choose a criterion if you like.

Results are up here

[MichaelB]

OK, I'll start the ball rolling:

Non-CC Release of the year

In alphabetical order, and deliberately excluding BFI titles for conflict-of-interest reasons:
Anthology of Polish Animation (PWA)
Class Relations (Edition Filmmuseum)
Droopy - The Complete Collection (Warner)
Elegy of a Voyage (Facets)
The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay)
The Jazz Singer (Warner)
Marketa Lazarová (Second Run)
Nosferatu (Masters of Cinema)
Pier Paolo Pasolini Volume 2 (Tartan)
Sansho Dayu/Gion Bayashi (Masters of Cinema)

Best Non-CC Commentary

The Jazz Singer (Warner)

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary

A collective vote for Masters of Cinema's books, which set an enviable standard that very few rivals have even tried to match.

Best Non-CC Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

A collective vote for Second Run's 2007 output - as you can see, their recent covers have been getting increasingly stylised, beautifully capturing the essence of the films while at the same time achieving a consistent feel across the collection as a whole.

Overall DVD of the year

Marketa Lazarová (Second Run) - yes, it would have been wonderful if it had been the longed-for HD restoration off the original negative and crammed with extras, but finally getting a good English-subtitled transfer of this astonishing film into the marketplace is achievement enough. And the price makes it the bargain of the year.

[Tommaso]

As has been variously pointed out, this was an especially strong year for dvd releases in general, and my actual list would be much longer. Sorry, MichaelB, that I didn't include any BFI disc this time, although they would generally have very much deserved it for unearthing beauties like "The Open Road" and more Mitchell&Kenyon in particular (perhaps I should have waited until "A throw of Dice" has arrived here). So here's my list:

1. The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay/Tartan) . Probably one of the most desired sets ever, and although there are problems with the transfer of "Fando", the other films look so incredible that this really is a minor point. Great audiocommentaries and nice extras as well. And don't get me started on the films themselves.... Jodorowsky's inventiveness and imagination (and esoteric knowledge, for those who care) seems unparallelled to me.

2. Nosferatu (MoC): A glorious restoration with more than excellent packaging and extra materials. This film never looked and sounded so good before. Supposedly Kino and Transit deserve the same praise for their similar editions.

3. The Shakespeare Collection (Warner): Two of the best Shakespeare films ever made (perhaps THE best), Branagh's "Hamlet" and especially Reinhardt/Dieterle's "Midsummer Nights Dream" in almost CC-style transfers. The Reinhardt film was probably the most joyful and utterly entrancing thing I watched this year. Oh, and great versions of "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" as well.

4. Jean Renoir Box Set (Lionsgate): seeing the early shorts by Renoir, especially "La petite marchande d'allumettes", as well as the mostly rather little known other films was a true revelation. Almost all fine transfers and ridiculously cheap as well.

5. Inland Empire (Absurda): Lynch's most striking film, a true cinematic highpoint of the last years. Flawless disc, unsurprisingly.

6. Three Films by Germaine Dulac (arte/absolut medien): Went somewhat unnoticed here, probably because it doesn't have any subs, but these three silents are essential viewing for their sheer poetry and visual style. And finally a good version of "La coquille et le clergyman". A very fine disc indeed.

7. New Babylon/Odna (arte/absolutmedien): Okay, actually two different discs, but they form a nice package together. "Babylon" is wonderfully restored, "Odna" at least taken care of with regard to the sound (though this only existing print is incomplete and looks extremely worn), and especially "Odna" is among the most enchanting films that the Soviets ever produced. English subs available on both of them, so no excuse for not having them, really.

8.A Throw of Dice (BFI). Osten's Indian saga is THE major discovery in silent film this year, if you ask me. This film is utterly, utterly beautiful and comes in a CC style transfer. Wonderful music by Nitin Swahney, too.

9. Tabu (MoC): probably not quite as spectacular for many as "Nosferatu", but it's another glorious package of CC standard.

10. Battleship Potemkin (Transit/Kino): the definitive resto, I'd say. The Meisel score blows away any other soundtrack for this film, and the image quality is also far better than I ever expected this film could look.


Best Non-CC Commentary : R.Dixon Smith and Brad Stevens on MoC's "Tabu" disc.

Best Non-CC Single Supplement – David Lynch cooking "Quinoa". I literally fell off my sofa watching this. This guy (and his way of speaking) is beyond belief, really. Almost worth the price for the "Inland Empire" disc alone.

Best Non-CC Package Design – MoC's "Nosferatu".

Overall DVD of the year – "Nosferatu" again.

EDIT: I really had to update my list in order to get "A Throw of Dice" in (thankfully now there's at least one BFI disc in). Too bad MoC's Mizoguchi had to go for this....

[yoshimori]

1. Kluge set [r2de]
2. 23 Frederick Wiseman DVDs
3. Lynch, Inland Empire
4. Jodorowsky set
5. Straub and Huillet, Klassenverhältnisse [r2de]
6. Loach, Looks and Smiles
7. Yamashita, Linda Linda Linda
8. Antonioni, Red Desert [r4au]
9. Tian, Go Master [r3hk]
10. Resnais' Muriel and Haneke's Castle (for the movies themselves)

[domino harvey]

Red Desert was a 2006 disc

[vogler]

Non-CC Release of the year

Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films (BFI)

Piotr Kamler - A la recherche du temps (aaa)
I couldn't believe my luck when I found this for sale at chaletfilms.com. Collection of short films by Polish experimental animation genius Piotr Kamler. In my opinion the greatest of all Polish animators. Absolutely mind blowing stuff. Discovering worlds within worlds within worlds within worlds…or something.
heeza.fr - chaletfilms.com

Frans Zwartjes - The Great Cinema Magician (Filmmuseum/Moskwood Media)
Another unexpected release from an avant-garde film genius. Stunning.

The Films of Kenneth Anger Volume 1 (Fantoma)

The Films of Kenneth Anger Volume 2 (Fantoma)

The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay)

Avant-Garde 2 - Experimental Cinema 1928-1954 (Kino)

The Party and the Guests (Second Run)

The Third Part of the Night (Second Run)

The Sexual Story of O (Severin)
I don't care what anyone else says - Jess Franco is great. This is not quite as good as Franco's best from the late 60s and early 70s but wild and visually stunning. These Severin DVDs are incredible. Now bring on Sinfonía erotica, Gemidos de placer, Eugenie (1980) etc.

Best Non-CC Commentary

Didn't listen to any.

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary

Les Chimères des Å vankmajer

Best Non-CC Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films

Overall DVD of the year

Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films

I've waited years for a dvd set like this and it's everything I could have hoped for and more. In my opinion Å vankmajer is one of the greatest artists of the 20th (and 21st) century. Everyone in my family is getting one of these for christmas whether they like it or not.

[jbeall]

Perhaps we should wait until we're a little further into December?

[Tommaso]

You may be right. I guess "Ford at Fox" will be everyone's No.1 by then.
Still struggling with my credit card over this...

[jt]

Perhaps we should wait until we're a little further into December?

I'm not going to tabulate till the end of December, so if people want to edit their lists as they buy more discs this month, they're more than welcome.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

Here's my top 5. #1 can be considered my "Overall DVD of the year".

1. Histoire(s) du Cinema (Gaumont)
2. Bigger Than Life (BFI)
3. Battleship Potemkin (Kino)
4. Muriel (Koch Lorber)
5. Stavisky (Optimum, as part of the JPB boxset)

[Subbuteo]

Histoire(s) du Cinema (Gaumont)
Jan Svankmajer (BFI)
Nosferatu (MOC)
Renoir (Lionsgate)
Sansho Dayu/ Gion Bayashi (MOC)
Anthology of Polish Animation (PWA)
Phantom Lady (Carlotta)
Jean Painleve (BFI)
Naruse (BFI)
The Party and the Guests (Second Run)

Best Non-CC Commentary: Tabu (MOC) R.Dixon Smith and Brad Stevens

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary: Without a doubt MOC booklets

Best Non-CC Package Design: Histoire(s) du Cinema (Gaumont) loved the packaging design of this.

Overall DVD of the year: Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films

[criterionsnob]

Still too many to watch, but so far:

Non-CC Release of the Year
1. The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 2 (Fantoma)
2. The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1 (Fantoma)
3. Histoire(s) du cinema (Gaumont)
4. Phantom Museums – The Short Films of the Quay Brothers (Zeitgeist)
5. Viva Pedro – The Almodovar Collection (Sony)
6. The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay)
7. Killer of Sheep – The Charles Burnett Collection (Milestone)
8. I Am Cuba – The Ultimate Edition (Milestone)
9. The Chantal Akerman Collection (Cinart)
10. Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (Sony)

Best Non-CC Single Supplement
Interviews on Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (Sony)

Best Non-CC Package Design
Histoire(s) du cinema (Gaumont)

Overall DVD of the Year
The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 2 (Fantoma)

[Morandi]

Non-CC Release of the Year
Coffret Chantal Akerman , les années 70 -*- Carlotta
David Perlov - Diary 1973-1983 -*- Editions Re-voir
Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films -*- BFI
Terrence Davies - Distant Voices, Still Lives -*- BFI
Mikio Naruse Collection -*- BFI
Barbara & Winfried Junge - Kinder von Golzow Box 3 -*- absolut Medien
Huillet & Straub - Klassenverhältnisse -*- edition Filmmuseum
Kenji Mizoguchi - Sansho Dayu/Gion Bayashi -*- MoC
Luchino Visconti - Bellissima -*-MoC
FrantiÅ¡ek Vlácil - Marketa Lazarová -*- Second Run

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary
MoC books

Best Non-CC Package Design
Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films -*- BFI

Overall DVD of the year
FrantiÅ¡ek Vlácil - Marketa Lazarová -*- Second Run

edit: Overall DVD, Marketa is the best movie i've seen for a while.

[zedz]

Top Five

Pasolini Vol II (Tartan) – They're coming piecemeal, but at long last we're getting excellent editions of the work of one of the greatest of modern filmmakers. Volume One was fine enough, but only Accatone was essential; Volume Two had three essential titles, including my favourite, Pigsty. I hope we'll see more definitive discs complete the puzzle in 2008. Obviously this is also the place to give a nod to the BFI's excellent Teorema disc.

Complete Short Films of Jan Svankmajer (BFI) – I never really commented on this release at the time, maybe because it's rare enough that a dream release comes along, and it's even rarer that it exceeds expectations (see also THIS), and I don't look good giggling like a schoolgirl. Ever since I saw Darkness Light Darkness in 1989 (after being wowed by Alice the year before), The Complete Jan Svankmajer Short Films, in whatever form, has been a kind of Holy Grail. Over the years I'd manage to see almost all of the films – one of the greatest bodies of work in the history of short film – but this completed the picture in style.

Films of Kenneth Anger I & II (Fantoma) – These discs should be considered a model release for experimental film: solid transfers with solid contextual material in the form of Anger's (surprisingly restrained) commentaries. A long time coming, but worth the wait, these should be a cornerstone of any self-respecting DVD library.

The Party and the Guests (Second Run) – The only single-film disc to make this list, but what a film! I probably owe Second Run more pathetic gratitude than any other company. Criterion has had a bumper year, but none of its announcements this year excited me as much as this one did, and after twenty-something years of anticipation I was not disappointed.

Anthology of Polish Animation (PWA) – In terms of the quality to cost ratio, the releases from PWA beat everything else in the world hands down. I still need to acquire most of their documentary releases, but this essential collection is the best thing I've seen from them yet.

Plus a couple of late 2006 releases that should have been mentioned in my best of last year but brightened '07 instead:

Warhol Anthology (Raro Video) – A late 2006 release, but I got it too late for last year's list. Whatever the legality of it, or the speed issues on the silent disc, this is a monumental collection, and, moreover, the only collection of an essential body of work. And Raro's typically copious documentation is extremely welcome.

Naruse (MoC) – I don't know if this was 2006 or 2007, but, again, I missed it last year, and it's utterly essential, even if the book could have used another couple of proofreads and a smaller font.

Honourable Mention:

All of these are in the ‘More Please' category:

Film Noir 3 (Warners) – Even triple-dipping and doubling the size, Warner maintained a thoroughly acceptable filler-to-classic ratio, and Crime Wave alone would make this one of the releases of the year.

Treasures III: Social Issues (Image) – I was far less interested in the content this time around, but the presentation is exemplary, there are gems galore, and we've got experimental film coming up next, so keep your fingers crossed that nobody crucial gets struck by lightning in the meantime.

Berlin Alexanderplatz (Criterion) – the ‘more please' in this case being a tidy ‘Fassbinder on TV' set for Eclipse. Also, I hope this does well enough for them to recklessly consider the Out Ones/i].

Avant Garde 2 (Kino) – there was some disappointment with this set compared to the first one, but I'd seen far fewer of the films this time around and aren't experimental film programmes generally mixed bags? As long as Kino keeps them coming, I don't really care.

Possible Release of the Year, with Strings Attached

Ford at Fox (Fox) – On paper, this is the most exciting releases of the year, if only for its potential influence. I dearly hope this milestone release is seen as a hurled gauntlet by Warners and other major companies. And it should also be noted that, in a single blow, Fox released almost as many silent films as the world's premier “series of important classic and contemporary films on DVDâ€

[colinr0380]

Non-CC Releases of the year -

1. Treasures III: Social Issues In American Film 1900-1934 (Image) - I am currently part-way through this but the set has already thrown enough suprising and rare films at me to more than justify its high position. It fully lives up to the standards set by the previous two volumes despite the seemingly more limited focus implied by the subtitle.

2. The Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky - Despite the Fando and Lis problems it was worth it for the Jodorowsky commentaries!

3. Jean Renoir Collection (Lionsgate) - Mostly for giving me the chance to see some of the less celebrated Renoir films

4. The BFI's further Mitchell and Kenyon collections (Ireland and Edwardian Sports) and their Friese-Green discs that take the BBC documentaries and provide the chance for those interested to access some of the films themselves.

5. Inland Empire - the UK disc included a number of excellent features (I particularly liked the Mike Figgis interview with Lynch) and complemented the US discs more 'personal' feeling deleted scenes and cooking features (were they taking a leaf from Robert Rodriguez DVDs and adding his own distinctive Lynch touch?)

6. Edvard Munch (MoC) - For the opportunity to see the longer version of the film and the excellent added material provided in the book.

7. Pier Paolo Pasolini Volumes 1 and 2 (Tartan) - For the opportunity to see Love Meetings and the essential Pigsty as well as letting me update my VHS recordings of the other films, but also for the added inclusion of the novels which made for fascinating reading.

8. Nuri Bilge Ceylan: The Early Works (Artificial Eye) - The completist in me jumped for joy on getting this set of Ceylan's two early films released at the same time as Climates. (This spot could also have gone to Artificial Eye's Leos Carax Collection - the only Carax film I had previously seen was Les Amants Du Pont Neuf so I was happy to get copies of the other films that I had missed!)

9. The Third Part Of The Night (Second Run)

10. Black Test Car (Fantoma) - (with a mention of Yume Pictures release of Kisses and Tattoo in the UK)

Honorable mentions: Le Silence De La Mer (MoC), The Early Hitchcock Collection (Optimum), Bava Volumes 1 and 2 (Anchor Bay), Children Of Men, Science Is Fiction (BFI), volume 5 and 6 of the British Transport Films, Horrors Of Malformed Men and Snake Woman's Curse (Synapse/Panik House), Palms and My Way Home (Second Run), Flanders (Soda), Twin Peaks: The Definitive Box Set (despite the fact it is not definitive! But it complements the Region 2 set of Season 1 I bought years ago that included the commentaries and interviews dropped from this 'definitive' release, so I do not mind too much, and the feature length documentary on the final disc is an excellent supplement in itself!), The Castle (Kino)

Best Non-CC Commentary:

Dr Brian Cox's commentary on Sunshine just beat out Edward Buscombe's commentary on Bigger Than Life

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary:

Any company that added book or booklet material to their DVDs, both MoC's continuing excellence and Tartan packaging Pasolini novels.

Best Non-CC Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens

Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films (BFI). MoC's Nosferatu came a very close second.

Overall DVD of the year

Jan Å vankmajer - The complete Short Films (BFI)

I would also like to mention a couple of discs from previous years that I only managed to view this year but would have voted for otherwise: The Quay Brothers set from the BFI in the UK and the HBO release of Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke series on region 1 (which was an invaluable purchase for the commentary and extra 'act'). Also I would like to mention the ongoing Looney Tunes and Simpsons sets (as I am probably the only person still buying them at this point!)

[Floyd]

I have realized I don't buy very much..

01. Killer of Sheep (Milestone)
02. Edvard Munch 2-disc (Project X)
03. The Freethinker (Project X)
04. INLAND EMPIRE (Absurda)
05. Twin Peaks: Gold Box (Paramount)
06. Viva Pedro: The Almodovar Collection (Sony)
07. Fay Grim (Magnolia)
08. Thieves Like Us (MGM)

Some things I rented and liked very much but don't own
Kenneth Anger I & II (Fantoma)
The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay)

Best Non-CC Single Supplement: My Brother's Wedding from Killer of Sheep.
Best Non-CC Package Design: Twin Peaks: Gold Box
It sucked package wise really but I did get a special gold card in the box which is rare apparently.
Overall DVD of the year: Killer of Sheep
Even though the packaging is atrocious they admitted it on the board the issues and there is a great collection of films in the package.

[jbeall]

Non-CC Release of the year: (in no particular order)
1. Jean Renoir boxset (Lionsgate)
2. Battleship Potemkin (Kino)
3. Marketa Lazarova (Second Run)
4. Becket (MPI) Phenomenal.
5. Third Part of the Night (SR)
6. 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Dragon Dynasty)
7. Party and the Guests (SR)
8. Killer of Sheep (Milestone)
9. Ford at Fox In all honesty, I've only watched two of these, but if the rest of the set holds up, it's simply an essential for any collection.
10. Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (WB) [It's a pretty bare-bones edition, but this is a personal fave that I'd been waiting on for a long time.]

Best Non-CC Commentary:
I don't know if it counts as commentary per se, but I loved Martin Scorsese's introductions to the Renoir films in the Lionsgate set.

Best Non-CC Single Supplement:
I can only imagine I'll get tarred and feathered for this, but I loved "The Possibility of Hope," the doc that was an extra on Children of Men.

Best Non-CC Package Design:
I have to agree with MichaelB on the recent designs of the Second Run discs. If I had to pick one, the standout would have to be The Party and the Guests, which just looks damn cool.

Overall DVD of the year:
I wouldn't know where to begin...

[colinr0380]

I have realized I don't buy very much..

01. Killer of Sheep (Milestone)
03. The Freethinker (Project X)
07. Fay Grim (Magnolia)

Best Non-CC Package Design: Twin Peaks: Gold Box
It sucked package wise really but I did get a special gold card in the box which is rare apparently.
Overall DVD of the year: Killer of Sheep
Even though the packaging is atrocious they admitted it on the board the issues and there is a great collection of films in the package.

You might not have bought very much but you have me jealous on all these points!

(Though I was glad to get as one of the Twin Peaks postcards one of Dale Cooper sitting with his cup of coffee! I think I might put that up next to my desk at work with a little 'coffee break' sign when I go for a break!)

Best Non-CC Single Supplement:
I can only imagine I'll get tarred and feathered for this, but I loved "The Possibility of Hope," the doc that was an extra on Children of Men

Same here. The only thing that stopped me putting Children of Men or the extra features higher on my list was my slight annoyance at having to double dip to get the two disc set only a couple of months after getting the first release here in Britain.

[rohmerin]

- The Tyrone Power collection, Fox, USA
- Blade Runner 5 discs, UK
- Teorema BFI, UK
- Bellissima, MoC, UK
- Riso Amaro, Impulso, Spain
- Four steps in the clouds, RHV, Italy
- A magnificient Obsession (Sthal), Suevia (and Universal), Spain
- Desire (Borzage), Suevia (and Universal), Spain
- Phantom Lady, Suevia, Spain
- The sign of Venus (Dino Risi), one of my fav.films. Bad dvd by Filmax, Spain

[rs98762001]

DVD of the year:
Marketa Lazarova (Second Run) - I had seen this film a few years ago, but it's only on second viewing that I've come to appreciate just how great it really is. It's on par with the finest of Bergman and Tarkovsky. The Second Run transfer is variable in quality - sometimes superb, sometimes substandard. But kudos to them for having the balls to release this unjustly neglected classic at such an affordable price.

Palms (Second Run) - this was the discovery of the year for me.
Nosferatu (MoC)
Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Anchor Bay)
Le Silence de la Mer (MoC)
Killer of Sheep (Milestone)
Flight of the Conchords (HBO) - for the show itself, an instant classic, not for the disappointingly bare-bones disc.
Jan Svankmajer - the Complete Short Films (BFI)
Twin Peaks: Gold Box (Paramount) and Inland Empire (Absurda/Rhino) - a double dose of Dave.

[What A Disgrace]

Non-CC Release of the year -
Ford at Fox series
Blade Runner: Four/Five Disc Deluxe Editions
Stanley Kubrick Collection
Shoah: Masters of Cinema
The Charles Burnett Box
The Complete Jan Svankmajer Short Films
I Am Cuba: Ultimate Edition
The two Mario Bava boxes
Taxi Driver: Ultimate Edition
Pedro Almodovar Collection

(I'd like to include the Ken Loach boxes, but I don't have them).

Best Non-CC Commentary - Davies' commentary on Distant Voices, Still Lives

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Jarmusch/Rosenbaum on BFI's Bigger Than Life (for Jarmusch)

Best Non-CC Package Design - I Am Cuba (nah, for real, MoC's Shoah)

Overall DVD of the year - Ford at Fox

[Galen Young]

Non-CC Release of the year
1. Histoire(s) du Cinema, Jean-Luc Godard (Gaumont)
2. Les Anges du Peche, Robert Bresson (Gallimard)
3. Varda Tous Court, Agnes Varda (Cine-Tamaris)
4. Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein (Kino)
5. I Am Cuba - The Ultimate Edition, Mikhail Kalatozov (Milestone)
6. Anthology of Polish Animation (PWA)
7. Kenneth Anger Volumes I & II (Fantoma)
8. Jordan Belson: 5 Essential Films (Center for Visual Music)
9. Mario Bava Collection Volumes 1 & 2 (Anchor Bay)
10. Inland Empire, David Lynch (Absurda) & Twin Peaks Gold Box (Paramount)

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary
The Siberian Mammoth, Vicente Ferraz (I Am Cuba box set)

Best Non-CC Package Design - Includes packaging and menu screens
Histoire(s) du Cinema

Overall DVD of the year
Histoire(s) du Cinema

[martin]

Non-CC Release of the year
Leaves out of the Book of Satan (Dreyer, DFI)
Godard Collection 11-disc set (Studio Canal/Universal Nordic)
Chantal Akerman Collection (Cinéart)
Les Silences du palais (Trigon Film)
The Early Hitchcock Collection (Optimum)
Nathalie Granger (Duras, Blaq Out)
Shoah (MoC)
Histoire du cinema (Godard, Gaumont)
I Vinti (Antonioni, Minerva)
Artaud 2-disc set (Quantum Leap/Arte)

I've only considered releases I own.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

1.= Histoire(s) du Cinema (Gaumont)
1.= Jan Svankmajer (BFI)
3.Nosferatu (MOC)
4.Renoir (Lionsgate)
5.Coeur Infidele (Pathé)
6.Anthology of Polish Animation (PWA)
7.Picture of Light (Nordlicht) Peter Mettler (Grimthorpe dvd)
8. Artaud 2-disc set (Quantum Leap) (My avatar's screaming at me to include this despite not being totally convinced by Sami Frey).
9.Ford at Fox (Despite my postman bringing this to me in bits in a sack. Thank you Amazon.com for the most dumbass thoughtless piece of packing ever- A huge split cardboard box twice the size of the contents and three blow up plastic cushions the size of postage stamps does not constitute 'care and attention to customer need').
10.British Transport Collection (BFI) (For the Trainspotting anorak lurking deep within us all)

Best Non-CC Commentary: TBA

Best Non-CC Single Supplement - Non-commentary: MOC booklets

Best Non-CC Package Design: Histoire(s) du Cinema (Gaumont)
Overall DVD of the year: Jan Svankmajer - The Complete Short Films

[fiddlesticks]

1. Sansho Dayu + Gion Bayashi (MoC)
2. La Silence de la Mer (MoC)
3. Naruse box (BFI)
4. Marketa Lazarová (Second Run)
5. Diary of a Lost Girl (MoC)
6. Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (New Yorker/Milestone)
7. Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection (Warner Bros.)
8. Into Great Silence (Zeitgeist)
9. Renoir box (Lions Gate)
10. (honorary) Naruse Vol. 1 (MoC)--would have been #1 on last year's list had I gotten it in time
10. (prospective) Night Mail (BFI)--haven't received it yet, but have very high hopes!

Best commentary: If I can't remember commentaries well enough to remember who has done them and who hasn't, I guess I shouldn't be voting on which was the best!

Best Supplement: MoC Books

Best Package Design: Sansho Dayu + Gion Bayashi, MoC

Overall DVD of the Year: Sansho Dayu + Gion Bayashi, MoC

...it was a good year for MoC and, by extension, all of us!