2 0ast 2 2urious: The Other Label Awards

[therewillbeblus]

That's a good question, since it only became available outside Severin's website last January. However, it was technically released in December of 2021, and more importantly, we already awarded it a bunch of stuff last year (4th best release, 2nd best boxset, best collection of short films, best booklet). So it's not eligible this year

That’s why the extension of nominations through the first ~three months of the year was key last round, since most sales are long gone and it gives time to gather and parse through end-of-year releases. I’ll nominate that box for best late discovery though since I only picked it up recently

[Yakushima]

Thank you, Swo and therewillbeblus! Good point. In this case I will second All the Haunts Be Ours for BEST LATE DISCOVERY.

[Yakushima]

I'll second Cutter's Way (FCE) for best upgrade.

[swo17]

Well, my intent in creating the Best Late Discovery category was to be able to honor something that we'd all missed when it came out (and to that end, let me go ahead and second Re:voir's Fruhauf release). Note the instruction "For a title released prior to 2022 that did not receive enough support to be eligible in 2021, 2020, or 2019"

[Penti Mento]

I'll second Cutter's Way (FCE) for best upgrade.

Really? The Twilight Time disc was very good, the new encode/scan is noticeably better, but not a stellar improvement considering the existing disc.

[beamish14]

I'll second Cutter's Way (FCE) for best upgrade.

Really? The Twilight Time disc was very good, the new encode/scan is noticeably better, but not a stellar improvement considering the existing disc.

I didn’t feel too bad over missing the FCE disc when I have TT’s, which looks pretty solid and has a number of the same features

[therewillbeblus]

Well, my intent in creating the Best Late Discovery category was to be able to honor something that we'd all missed when it came out (and to that end, let me go ahead and second Re:voir's Fruhauf release). Note the instruction "For a title released prior to 2022 that did not receive enough support to be eligible in 2021, 2020, or 2019"

Thanks for the clarification, swo - makes sense, to draw more attention to new stuff underdiscussed rather than significantly discussed films a few folks picked up later on sale

[Maltic]

Nominated for best release

Dersu Uzala (imprint)

Seconded for best release

The Draughtsman's Contract (BFI) Edit: Oh, I guess this was nominated for upgrade (despite a ton of extras)

[Yakushima]

Maltic, I agree that The Draughtsman's Contract (BFI) is a better fit for Best Release category. I'll gladly second it for Best Release.

[swo17]

OK, I've moved it there

[bottlesofsmoke]

Nominate, Best Upgrade:
The Clock (WAC)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (WAC)

Second:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ‘31 (WAC)
Nobuhiko Obayashi's 80s Kadokawa Years (Third Window)
When Tomorrow Comes (Kino)
Little Man, What Now (Kino)
Tavernier: The Essential Collection (SC)
Come Drink With Me (Arrow)
Married to the Mob (FCE)

[therewillbeblus]

All FCEs should really get a best upgrade nomination so I'll do that (though I think just these qualify): Born to Win, Coca-Cola Kid

Also that Married to the Mob slipcover rules, so I'll nominate that too

Edit: I mean the UK one

Spoiler

[Maltic]

I'll second The Clock and Gold Diggers if twbb doesn't feel like it

[Therewolf]

A few nominations for best overall release:

The Farmer (Scorpion Releasing)
The Mob (Canadian International Pictures)
Rogue Cops and Racketeers (Arrow)
Contraband (Cauldron Films)

[therewillbeblus]

Nominate Cinema of Discovery: Julien Duvivier in the 1920s (Flicker Alley) and The Essential Film Noir Collection vol 3 (Imprint) for best overall release/box set

Nominate A Reflection of Fear (Imprint) for best late discovery

Nominate Apocalypse After (Mondo Macabro) for collection of short films

Nominate Eastern Promises (Kino 4K) for best upgrade

[swo17]

The Duvivier set was eligible and awarded last year

[therewillbeblus]

The Duvivier set was eligible and awarded last year

Oh okay, I was wondering why it hadn't been nominated yet. I'm just using blu-ray.com's street dates as I struggle to recall when things I own were released, and Duvivier had been listed as Jan 4, 2022

[Yakushima]

I'll second A Reflection of Fear (Imprint) for best late discovery.

[alacal2]

BEST OVERALL RELEASE
The Ballad of Tam Lin (BFI)

BEST COVER

Dog Soldiers (Second Sight)

WORST COVER

Licorice Pizza

Did you overlook my nomination for Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010) for Best Bonus Film?

[ryannichols7]

Dragon's Return (Second Run)

BEST BONUS FILM

It's Not Always Cloudy (Second Run - twice!)

BEST OTHER ON-DISC EXTRA

On Dragon's Return (Second Run)

BEST BOOK

Remember the Night (Indicator)

seconding these.

BEST OVERALL RELEASE:
Vampyr (Eureka/MOC)
The Most Dangerous Game (Eureka/MOC)
Pastor Hall (Indicator)
The Pemini Organization (Indicator)

after the Criterion ballot (and concurrent 1969 project) ends this weekend I intend to go through the commentaries and extras on a lot of these discs and put forth nominations. I will nominate two now that I've heard already for BEST COMMENTARY:

The Round Up (Kino, Michael Brooke)
Come Drink With Me (Arrow; Tony Rayns)

excited to go through a few of the Kino tracks, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, The War Trilogy, and a few of the Indicator ones too

BEST ALTERNATIVE TO A CRITERION RELEASE:
Vampyr (Eureka/MOC)
The War Trilogy (Second Run)
The Party and the Guests (Second Run)

[swo17]

Did you overlook my nomination for Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010) for Best Bonus Film?

I don't show that anyone has seconded this

[Maltic]

after the Criterion ballot (and concurrent 1969 project) ends this weekend I intend to go through the commentaries and extras on a lot of these discs and put forth nominations. I will nominate two now that I've heard already for BEST COMMENTARY:

The Round Up (Kino, Michael Brooke)
Come Drink With Me (Arrow; Tony Rayns)

Last year, I believe I posted a loosely ranked list of 15-20 commentaries from 2021 I had listened to. So far, I count only about 8 commentaries from 2022. Half of them are by Kim Newman and his various companions. Nominating those feels like endorsing pizza - everyone likes it, knows its great.There's another 20 or so I just haven't gotten around to, including The Round Up.

[ryannichols7]

after the Criterion ballot (and concurrent 1969 project) ends this weekend I intend to go through the commentaries and extras on a lot of these discs and put forth nominations. I will nominate two now that I've heard already for BEST COMMENTARY:

The Round Up (Kino, Michael Brooke)
Come Drink With Me (Arrow; Tony Rayns)

Last year, I believe I posted a loosely ranked list of 15-20 commentaries from 2021 I had listened to. So far, I count only about 8 commentaries from 2022. Half of them are by Kim Newman and his various companions. Nominating those feels like endorsing pizza - everyone likes it, knows its great.There's another 20 or so I just haven't gotten around to, including The Round Up.

I have been behind, between starting a new job and going all in on our forum's respective decade project for the first time, but I plan to play catch up soon with some tracks. Newman and Rayns are two of the more prolific - we all know they always deliver results, and our own MichaelB has gone as far as to say both are close enough to "one take wonders", so it's no shock both labels and enthusiasts love them equally. this was a lighter year for Rayns, but I have Newman down for Get Carter, Madigan, The Most Dangerous Game, and I'm sure a few more. Adrian Martin of course gets a similar reception. with zero bias (just cause I know he'll read this) MichaelB blew away the competition with his Jancso track. Jonathan Owen, Kat Ellinger, and Samm Deighan all did well but there's a clear winner in that set, and the praise has been elsewhere too.

last year was cool cause Irene Gonzalez Lopez was a new entrant and won the award for her Giants and Toys track, I really hope more labels bring her in for Japanese titles, I'd love to hear more from her. I don't know of any "new" entrants that we should be seeking out but I plan to go through a decent bit of these and see - Indicator and Arrow are definitely the two labels bringing in the most new names on that front. and Kino with the most commentaries, but of course they bring in a lot of "regulars" too, which isn't a problem at all...they love Ellinger, Imogen Sara Smith, Alan K. Rode, Nick Pinkerton, etc

[Maltic]

Another outstanding newcomer in 2021 was Nora Fiore (The Criminal Code and especially Tight Spot, both Indicator).

It turns out the Kim Newman ones from 2022 I had gotten around to were all with Barry Forshaw:

Cannibal Holocaust (88)
Sword of Sherwood (Indicator Robin Hood set)
Get Carter (BFI)
Conquest of Space (Imprint)
Creatures the World Forgot (Indicator)

Very much "up their alley" stuff...

MichaelB and Johnny Mains also had an enjoyable and informative chat going on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Arrow)(though of course it could not be as concentrated as Michael's solo efforts).

Same with C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke on A Time for Dying (Indicator).

Josh Nelson and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas did well enough on The Mangler (Arrow), but idunno.. I guess I'm still not convinced we're dealing with an anti-capitalist masterpiece. The release has two new commentaries and two video essays, so you can't say Arrow didn't make a valiant effort to win people over.

It seems I've been lazy and mostly listened to the more relaxed and conversational two-commentator tracks.

I nominate all of the above, if anyone wants to chime in...

[MichaelB]

I was about to flag up Nora Fiore, who's been an absolute delight to work with on the two occasions that I've had that pleasure. As soon as she realised that she was being edited by a fellow perfectionist, she used to send in supplementary audio snippets, some of which lasted only a few seconds and merely changed an emphasis here or there - and she'd carry on doing it until I told her that we were minutes away from sign-off and that she'd really have to stop.

I can also confirm from first-hand experience that she's really meticulous about pronouncing names correctly (Tokyo Joe being the film on which this issue came up most frequently) - some commentators, including some pretty big names, are disappointingly sloppy, as it's really not hard to research this stuff in this day and age.

But all that considerable effort (the bulk of which would have been expended before she let me get my hands on it) really pays off - she's completely mastered the art of sounding completely chatty and spontaneous while at the same time she's clearly meticulously planned everything in advance.

On the subject of commentary debutant(e)s, I've also had the pleasure of editing and mixing the first efforts by Kevin Lyons (Absolution) and Pamela Hutchinson (Escape in the Fog) and it was obvious in both cases that this was unlikely to be the last time they'd have commentaries commissioned. As indeed it wasn't - Kevin in particular has been so prolific that it's hard to recall that Absolution only came out just over four years ago.