2016 Criterion Forum Awards

Message

Self · #76 Post by **Self** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:03 pm

Best Release
Inside Llewyn Davis
The New World
A Brighter Summer Day
Blood Simple
In A Lonely Place

Best Box
Dekalog

Best Modern Film
Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Commentary
A Brighter Summer Day

Best Bonus Film
A Short Film About Love

Best Booklet
The New World

Best Extra
Coens/Sonnenfeld on Blood Simple

Best Reissue
Short Cuts

Best Upgrade
Bicycle Thieves

Best Cover
Inside Llewyn Davis

Worst Cover
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words

Best Packaging
Dr. Strangelove

Best Discovery
The Executioner

Most Unnecessary
Brief Encounter

Most Flawed
The Exterminating Angel

MichaelB · #77 Post by **MichaelB** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:11 pm

TMDaines wrote:2) Arrow Academy - Three Films by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani: Bit of a joke how the Cohen release managed to finish so much higher up the Beaver poll.

Well, I laughed! It's a classic example of what happens with US-centric polling - the Cohen set (no. 21) outpolled the Arrow set (no.40) even though the Arrow set contains absolutely everything in the Cohen set plus another four hours of extras and a 100-page book with original Pirandello translations. But it's also locked to Region B, so...

(Although, credit where it's due, Cohen did the restorations in the first place.)

9) MaNDA - Everything from the Hungarian label MaNDA is a highlight. All dirt cheap and English friendly. Anyone with an interest in Eastern European cinema needs to import.

Very much seconded - I must own the vast majority of their output because even if I already have the main feature the chances are the extras will offer me something new for so little money that it's worth a punt. For instance, Szindbád has the same transfer as the Second Run disc, but throws in a couple of rare Zoltán Huszárik shorts. (I'm writing a review of MaNDA's 2016 output for the next Sight & Sound, by the way).

10) SFI - All the Slovak Blu-rays looks brilliant. Great to see more countries releasing the cream of their cinema in affordable, HD editions.

Again, very much seconded. I'm still working my way through their two five-film box sets, but I've yet to be disappointed so far in either the films or the presentations. The fully bilingual books are an advance on the old SFI DVDs as well.

Jean-Luc Garbo · #78 Post by **Jean-Luc Garbo** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:46 pm

Are there any UK retailers that sell SFI and MaNDA discs?

MichaelB · #79 Post by **MichaelB** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:50 pm

The BFI Filmstore occasionally sells Eastern European DVDs, but with a shocking mark-up. You'd be much better off importing from the relevant countries.

rossen · #80 Post by **rossen** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:14 pm

Best Release
Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy
La Chienne
A Brighter Summer Day
Dekalog
The Emigrants/The New Land

Best Box
Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy

Best Modern Film
Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Commentary
A Brighter Summer Day

Best Bonus Film
A Short Film About Love

Best Booklet
The New World

Best Extra
Short Film About Love

Best Reissue
Night and Fog

Best Upgrade
Bicycle Thieves

Best Cover
La Cnienne

Worst Cover
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Best Packaging
Dr. Strangelove

Best Discovery
One Eyed Jacks

Most Unnecessary
The In-Laws

Most Flawed
The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum

MEMBER OF THE YEAR: swo

aewb · #81 Post by **aewb** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:54 am

TMDaines wrote:Bought more stuff this year because of Criterion UK, but virtually all of them feel like releases that should have come from elsewhere. Criterion, like MoC, feel so conservative and unambitious for the most part nowadays, althought at least it feels as if Criterion are putting more films out first on Blu-ray.

TMDaines wrote: LABEL OF THE YEAR
We're pretty spoilt in the UK right now, and when you consider the ease of importing from the rest of Europe, it increasingly feels as if they're are fewer and fewer reasons to be envious of the US. That said Arrow are on another level right now and are comfortably label of the year.

Is this a pisstake? Almost every Arrow Academy release was or is available elsewhere and yet Criterion had an underwhelming year? Who care about A Brighter Summer Day finally appearing on home video, I was able to upgrade my Woody Allen dvds!

MichaelB · #82 Post by **MichaelB** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:34 am

He said Arrow as a whole, not Arrow Academy. Although I have to say that I think that the BFI very comfortably deserves every 2016 Label of the Year award going: they've had an unbelievable run of late.

TMDaines · #83 Post by **TMDaines** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:07 am

Indeed, Arrow as a whole, but even just Academy may have taken it for me. BFI were a close second for me.

Bit odd to try and sway me by highlighting what one would opine is Criterion's best release with Arrow's worst, but when upgrading a load of films to world first Blu-rays is your supposed worst release, then you've had a banner year.

#84 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:23 am

Voting closed, no more editing, results later today

#85 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:20 pm

BEST RELEASE OF THE YEAR
01 “Yes” on Brexit
02 A Brighter Summer Day
03 Dekalog
04 Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams
05 Wim Wenders: the Road Trilogy
06 Chimes at Midnight
06 the Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates
08 the Emigrants / the New Land
08 the New World
10 McCabe and Mrs Miller
11 La chienne

BEST BOX SET
Dekalog & Wim Wenders: the Road Trilogy (tie)

BEST MODERN FILM
Phoenix

BEST COMMENTARY
A Brighter Summer Day

BEST “BONUS” FILM
A Short Film About Love

BEST BOOKLET
Del Toro Set & Dr Strangelove (tie)

BEST NON-COMMENTARY ON-DISC EXTRA
Shooting Blood Simple

BEST REISSUE
Night and Fog

BEST UPGRADE
Bicycle Thieves

BEST COVER

WORST COVER

BEST PACKAGING

BEST DISCOVERY
Bitter Rice

MOST UNNECESSARY RELEASE
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words

MOST FLAWED RELEASE
the Exterminating Angel

BEST THREAD
the All-Time List Discussion Thread

MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Runner Up:

RICHARD CRANIUM AWARD

Drucker · #86 Post by **Drucker** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:40 pm

There's still time for the electoral college to grant A Taste of Honey as best discovery!

#87 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:09 pm

Five Ways Barcelona Can Still Win: Here's How

#88 Post by **swo17** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:59 pm

Like Barack Obama, you should not be able to vote for me anymore, so I support our forum's choice for MOTY.

DarkImbecile · #89 Post by **DarkImbecile** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:02 pm

Term limits for presidents or excellent forum members are anti-democratic. Respect the will of the people!

#90 Post by **swo17** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:06 pm

Plus Donald Trump brought so much more joy to this forum than I ever could (I mean, until he actually won).

colinr0380 · #91 Post by **colinr0380** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:55 pm

Great work domino, although I should note the suspicious number of Russian ballots sent through in the last five minutes before voting closed and I think that you were right to exclude the lobbying for Andrei Rublev as release of the year!

As the previous incumbent, I'm tempted to do what Obama could not and childishly refuse to pass the crown and associated bangles over to someone I didn't realise had a chance of winning until it was too late, preferring to wait until someone else comes along. Which is why I'm glad you included a more acceptable runner up in ol' faithful swo17, even if in doing so we also ran the risk of destroying the democratic process!

Now I must swiftly make away into the night like Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman!

It is also strange to see that almost all of the top Criterion releases this year were about escaping somewhere else, to a fresh and unspoilt new land. Or alternatively about presidential campaign trails.

And the Arthur C. Clarke memorial prize for Best Soundalike goes to...!

movielocke · #92 Post by **movielocke** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:36 am

Should we add a category for best laserdisc upgrade, or include such LD upgrades in the upgrade category in the future? I think in 2016 we would have had more films in the LD upgrade category than in either of the categories we voted on

#93 Post by **zedz** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:24 am

But how many of us are actually familiar with the laserdiscs? To me it seems like a meaningless category unless you're actually comparing with the laserdisc. It would just be a "what is your favourite film on this semi-random list?" Category, and there's an infinite number of those we could have if we really needed them.

TMDaines · #94 Post by **TMDaines** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:40 am

Even Criterion don't seem to recognise their laserdiscs as being part of the Criterion Collection.

colinr0380 · #95 Post by **colinr0380** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:16 pm

I like movielocke's idea being an option for those who were able to make that comparison. Wasn't there a "Best Rescue" award a while ago that laserdisc upgrades (with all their Criterion specific extras) might fit into?

And purely personally I think the "Rescue" category could be expanded to fit those films finally released on disc after only being available through the streaming channels.

movielocke · #96 Post by **movielocke** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:21 pm

zedz wrote:It would just be a "what is your favourite film on this semi-random list?" Category.

im pretty sure that's how almost everyone votes those two categories, it's certainly the primary factor for me.

Most of us aren't familiar with the old dvds, not well enough to make a true comparison, many of us might look at an old feature list to refresh our memory if we own the old DVD or bother to look up the back cover on DVD empire. That's a lot of effort I doubt anyone goes through just as I doubt anyone plays through the old one to make a comparison. Thus comparing to the old dvds is really no different for me than comparing to the old laserdiscs.

And they are currently doing more laserdisc upgrades than DVD upgrades so it seems like their priority is upgrading the LDs

#97 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:30 pm

The Rescue category was disbanded because at least 80% of Criterion's releases are already out in R1/A

#98 Post by **swo17** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:52 pm

The point of Best Rescue was supposed to be that yes, Criterion is putting something out that's already had a release from another company, but it was worth it because of what they added to it. The point of Best Upgrade or Reissue is supposed to be that yes, Criterion could have used their resources to do something new, but it was worth it because of how much they improved on the original release. The moment that any of these categories starts to be "pick your favorite film from this might-as-well-be-random list" they cease to have much value.

#99 Post by **zedz** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:05 pm

swo17 wrote:The point of Best Rescue was supposed to be that yes, Criterion is putting something out that's already had a release from another company, but it was worth it because of what they added to it. The point of Best Upgrade or Reissue is supposed to be that yes, Criterion could have used their resources to do something new, but it was worth it because of how much they improved on the original release. The moment that any of these categories starts to be "pick your favorite film from this might-as-well-be-random list" they cease to have much value.

Yeah, if that's the way those categories are trending, maybe we should just abandon them altogether.

#100 Post by **swo17** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:14 pm

I mean, I'm hoping Night and Fog won because they added a couple hours of additional supplements (in addition to the upgrade in PQ) and that Bicycle Thieves won because it had the most striking difference in PQ from the original DVD, and not both just because they're really famous movies. That's why I voted for them.