The Non-Criterion Boutique Label Battle Royale: There Can Only Be (202)1

[alacal2]

BEST COVER

Bleak Moments (BFI)
Madchen In Uniform (BFI)

Apologies in not being able to download pictures!

[Finch]

I'd like to second a vote for Second Sight's Raw (I'd thought it'd been released in 2020).

Agreeing with feihong's "these should be on Blu-Ray" list, would add the 2010 film Gallants which technically is out on BD, but only in non-English friendly German, Japanese and French versions. I subsequently suggested it to Frank Djeng for Eureka if they can get the BD license (I forget who has/had the DVD UK rights).

Would be glorious if we could add Children of Paradise and Madame de to the "Great UHD, poor BD" tier (though the BFI Madame de is at least serviceable)!

[therewillbeblus]

The "should" be on blu-ray stuff is getting a bit confusing in a thread that currently holds a primary purpose of seconding actual releases for eligibility, especially with so many titles getting thrown out there with no clear structure, embedded in paragraphs or under banners, etc.. Is this just a 'me' thing, or is this thread for wish lists too?

[swo17]

I'm not going to be a dictator over the content of this thread, and I can glean what I need from all the posts so far, but for the record, if you want to make life easier for me, I would suggest the following steps:

1. Read the first post. Make note of anything you think should be eligible that isn't already.
2. Read everyone else's posts. If someone else has nominated something you agree with that isn't already eligible, post "I second ___________" and then I will add it to the first post as eligible.
3. If no one else has mentioned the thing you'd like to be eligible, post "I nominate __________"
4. As you're reading through everyone else's posts, make note of things you haven't experienced yet (particularly commentaries, shorts, booklets, and other extras) and consider giving them a chance, so that you can second them if you end up agreeing with the nomination. In other words, give other people's recommendations the same consideration you would hope they would give yours.

The purpose of this thread is to explore and honor the work actually done by all sorts of different labels during the year. I'm not going to tabulate a category for wishes for the future, though I suppose it doesn't hurt to post those

[swo17]

Nominate for best packaging: Her Smell

[Maltic]

Seconded:

BEST OVERALL RELEASE

Thunderbolt (Kino)

BEST FORMAT UPGRADE

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Kino)
The Plainsman (Kino)

Nominated:

BEST FORMAT UPGRADE

The Last Sunset (Kino)
Unconquered (Kino)
Objective, Burma! (Warner Archive)
Party Girl (Warner Archive)
Angels with Dirty Faces (Warner Archive)

I haven't actually checked the last two, but they're major films and I'm sure WAC nailed it as usual...

[Maltic]

How could I forget, a nomination for...

BEST FORMAT UPGRADE

The Howling (Studio Canal)

[Yakushima]

BEST OVERALL RELEASE - seconded

All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror (Severin)
Beauty and the Beast (Second Run)
The Assassination Bureau (Imprint)
Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li (Imprint)
Shawscope Vol. 1 (Arrow)
Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (Second Run)
Twentieth Century (Indicator)
Viy (Masters of Cinema)
World of Tomorrow: The First Three Episodes (Bitter Films)
Roy Andersson Collection (Artificial Eye)

BEST OVERALL RELEASE - nominated


Kin-dza-dza! (BILDSTÖRUNG) (I hear that the Japanese Blu-ray has a better quality, but I don't have it and can't verify).
Things Change (Indicator)
Ragtime (Paramount) (includes the director's cut workprint).
Future Boy Conan (by Hayao Miyazaki)
Filmworker (Kino Lorber)


BEST FORMAT UPGRADE - seconded

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4K (Kino)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 4K (Disney)
Deep Red 4k (Arrow)
Bird with the Crystal Plumage 4k (Arrow)
Millennium Actress (4K UHD) (Anime Limited)
Dune 4K (Arrow)
The Straight Story Blu-ray (Imprint)
The Howling (Studio Canal)

BEST FORMAT UPGRADE - nominated

Die unendliche Geschichte (Neverending Story) - German Cut / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Constantin Film
Clockwork Orange (Warner Brothers)
Celia (Second Run)
The Addams Family (Extended version) 4K (Paramount)
Misery 4K (Kino Lorber)
The Hot Spot Blu-ray (Kino Lorber)
The Last Wave Blu-ray (Umbrella)
Il Grande Silenzio (MOC)
Columbia Classics Volume 2 4K (Sony)
Piccadilly Blu-ray (BFI)
Human Nature Blu-ray (Shout Factory)


BEST BONUS FILM(S) - nominated

Crying Blue Sky on All the Haunts Be Ours (Severin)

BEST OTHER ON-DISC EXTRA - nominated

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (Sam Weiss, USA 1972) on All the Haunts Be Ours (Severin)
and pretty much everything else in this set.

BEST COVER - nominated

The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch Blu-ray (Arrow)
All the Haunts Be Ours (Severin)
The Kindred Blu-ray (Synapse Films)

BEST PACKAGING

Shawscope Vol. 1 (Arrow) - seconded

BEST LATE DISCOVERY

The Revenge of Frankenstein (Indicator) - seconded

nominated:

Housebound Blu-ray 2015 (Germany, Ascot Elite Home Entertainment)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Blu-ray (Kino)
Ijon Tichy Raumpilot Seasons 1 & 2 DVD (Eurovideo) (2016?)
Abominable Blu-ray (2018) MVD Visual - I did not realize that they have done a new transfer from the original 35mm film for this edition. What a stunning difference it made!

BEST ALTERNATIVE TO A CRITERION RELEASE - seconded

Days of Heaven (Imprint)
Do the Right Thing (Universal)
Mulholland Dr. (StudioCanal)
The River (BFI)
The Seventh Seal (BFI)
Spartacus (Universal)

Another Year, and Still No Blu Ray - nominated

My Friend Ivan Lapshin - it's been restored and shown in Venice several years ago, but still no Blu-ray anywhere in the world?!
Russian campy SF masterpiece "To the Stars by Hard Ways" (1981) (just don't use the badly mangled "restoration" created by director's son).
Anything by Kira Muratova.
Anything by Georgi Daneliya (now that his Kin-dza-dza is finally on Blu!).

[swo17]

I've added a new category to the first post called "In Limbo" for those titles that have been nominated as both Best Release and Best Upgrade but not seconded as either. These titles will not be eligible in the final vote unless at least two people agree on a category. Personally, I think Dune makes more sense as Best Release because of how much Arrow did with it (even if they did have to drop a significant extra last minute), whereas I think Deep Red and Bird with the Crystal Plumage belong in Best Upgrade because most of Arrow's work on them came years earlier with the BD releases. But I'm not nominating or seconding any 4K upgrades because I'm not yet equipped to appreciate the improvement.

Except, uh, I will second Clockwork Orange because the 4K is supposed to be a huge improvement over the weak BD, eh?

[Yakushima]

Swo17, yes, A Clockwork Orange 4K is a huge improvement over the Blu-ray as far as image is concerned. Unfortunately, they completely botched the sound. Fortunately, they included an old Dolby Digital Mono track, which is perfectly serviceable.
I agree with your reasoning about Dune, and second it for the Best Release category.

[Yakushima]

Also, I would like to nominate HÄXAN (Potemkine Films) for best packaging.

[Maltic]

I almost feel like vetoing the A Clockwork Orange 4k since, apparently, they didn't take the opportunity to upgrade the regular BD as well (like StudioCanal did with The Howling), but simply included the older, flawed BD in the release.

Of course, this will probably be my position only until the day I get 4k capabilities at home (just as today I don't care whether a DVD is included in a BD release).

[swo17]

Nominate for Best Cover and Best Commentary (Michael Brooke):



And I'll second these commentaries:

Stephen Jones & Kim Newman (The Hands of Orlac, Eureka)
Irene González-López (Giants & Toys, Arrow)

[Yakushima]

I second Viy (Eureka MOC) for Best Cover and Best Commentary (Michael Brooke).

[videozor]

Best Release:
Satantango
Best Format Upgrade:
It's a Gift
(Peter Ibbetson is not in the qualified releases list, but it went along the same upgrade path - from DVD in the set down to stand-alone DVD-R then up to Blu)
Best Criterion Alternative:
The Bank Dick
The Worst Cover:
Pretty much every release from Kino deserves this title

[swo17]

I'll second Peter Ibbetson for format upgrade

[Maltic]

Best Release:
Satantango
Best Format Upgrade:
It's a Gift
(Peter Ibbetson is not in the qualified releases list, but it went along the same upgrade path - from DVD in the set down to stand-alone DVD-R then up to Blu)
Best Criterion Alternative:
The Bank Dick
The Worst Cover:
Pretty much every release from Kino deserves this title

Any 2021 release is qualified if someone nominates it and someone else seconds the nomination, as I understand.

On the other hand, if a release has already been nominated and seconded and therefore has been included by swo in the OP (like It's a Gift, Satantango, The Bank Dick), there's no need to nominate/second/third the title again, really.

The Peter Ibbetson BD is undoubtedly an upgrade, and I'm very happy it was released. I didn't mention it here, though, since it was made from an old master, and so many other films have been released in superior presentations, including other 1930s titles from Kino (e.g. Desire!)

[videozor]

Sorry, but I thought swo17's list is sort of a list of possible candidates to select from...

[swo17]

It is but we're still building that list through nominations and seconds. Then in February everyone can vote from among the eligible titles

[Robert Chipeska]

The Worst Cover:
Pretty much every release from Kino deserves this title

Preposterous. Explain your thinking here? 95% of their covers are the original poster art... which 95% of the time trumps anything new.

[domino harvey]

I understand a lot of complaints about KLSC, but they almost never deliver a bad cover for their studio releases. What a bizarre call out

[ryannichols7]

I can understand going against the blandness of the rest of the package from KLSC (the spine, disc, blue case, lack of booklet) but the covers are always okay unless the original poster wasn't. their laziness with packaging is something I can accept if that's what was meant, as that's something that should be called out more (but I understand their argument that we get the discs so cheap in their sale as is and they're focused on putting out as many titles as possible)

[tenia]

Kino doing tons of stuff in a quick-fire and at cheaper prices, it seems understandable their packaging is adequately simple. There's nothing wrong with it but sure it could look more premium, but then again, they're not really a premium label.

[Maltic]

I'll second for best overall release:

The Hands of Orlac (Eureka)

I'll nominate for best other on-disc extra:

Video essay by Daisuke Miyao on Miyagawa's cinematography (Irezumi, Arrow)
Video essay by David Cairns & Fiona Watson (The Hands of Orlac, Eureka)
Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Joe Dante (Explorers, Shout)
Interview with Kim Newman on Harry Carey Sr (Straight Shooting & Hell Bent, Eureka)

I'll nominate for best format upgrade:

The Dead Zone (Shout)
Explorers (Shout)

I'll nominate for best late discovery:

The Mad Fox (Arrow, 2020)

[Maltic]

Looking for extras worthy of nomination, I noticed that not just the McBride commentaries, but also Tag Gallagher's video essays were included in Kino's 2020 release of Straight Shooting and Hell Bent, and the transfers seem to be identical, so I guess I won't be voting for that Eureka package as the best overall release, although they're nice to have in one case. Tag's stuff seemed even lighter than usual, anyway, or maybe it's just diminishing returns for me, personally.

Btw, the extras nominated by TWBB (Tremors) and swo (The Deeper You Dig) appear to have come out in 2020.