Archived Criterion Forum Awards Discussion and Voting Thread

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Soothsayer
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:54 pm

#126 Post by Soothsayer » Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:18 pm

Release of the Year -

(trying to do this in order)

1. The Double Life of Veronique
2. Pandora's Box
3. A Canterbury Tale
4. The Virgin Spring
5. Playtime

I know there were plenty of other boxsets and efforts put forth this year which were much more coveted/slaved-over to release, but their chosen titles weren't really to my taste this year(not complaining, I accept that this has to happen sometimes, also not into Malle and Rohmer). Starting off next year with Mouchette is certainly a good sign, as far as I'm concerned, hehe.

Best Reissue - Eligible titles: Playtime(Sorry folks, I know Seven Samurai *should* win this one on effort, but the Playtime reissue won my heart)

Most Disappointing Release- Metropolitan(probably was the release that had me saying "what the hell?" more than any other).

Best Commentary- Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane on Pandora's Box.

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary- The "Kieslowski Dialogue" interview on The Double Life of Veronique(look folks, I'm a huge Kieslowski fan, it's a great interview, and I think Criterion did do a great job for what they could on a "first title from director" perspective).

The 4 different musical scores on Pandora's Box came very close, always have to admire that much effort.

Best Package Design - This is a very hard one, CC's really going all out with their new packaging, it seems. I'm gonna keep going and say The Double Life of Veronique. Loved the colors and the way the case opens(with the face shot).

Best Surprise - Seeing CC release Hands Over the City

Not going to answer the ones about the forum members, I don't read/post here enough. Also, I would like to note that this is one of the most informative message boards I've ever seen and most of the contentiousness is based in serious opinion(i.e., you don't find a lot of trolls on this board, just people passionate about film, which is great). So kudos to all of you!

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denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
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#127 Post by denti alligator » Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:39 pm

Does "best surprise" have to refer to the film? Biggest surprise for me this year year was Yi Yi, not because I didn't know the film, but because I never thought Criterion would release it, and because it needed a proper release so badly. It would also be a big surprise if the Eisenstein box set showed up.

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Cinephrenic
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:58 pm
Location: Paris, Texas

#128 Post by Cinephrenic » Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:44 pm

Release of the Year
Pandora's Box
Seven Samurai
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
The Double Life of Veronique
The Spirit of the Beehive

Best Reissue - Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release - Koko: A Talking Gorilla

Best Commentary - Amarcord

Best Single Supplement - Tokyo-ga

Best Package Design - Sólo con tu pareja

Best Surprise - Sólo con tu pareja

Forum Member of the Year - HerrSchreck

Richard Cranium Award - Yilmaz Guney (most humane way to reward him and his ideas)
Last edited by Cinephrenic on Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:01 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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nick
grace thought I was a failure
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:42 am
Location: Rochester, NY

#129 Post by nick » Wed Nov 29, 2006 1:56 pm

Release of the Year:
1. Six Moral Tales
2. Late Spring
3. Ã

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pauling
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:04 pm
Location: St. Paul, MN

#130 Post by pauling » Wed Nov 29, 2006 1:58 pm

Release of the Year

The Spirit of the Beehive
The Double Life of Veronique
Seven Samurai
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Six Moral Tales

Best Reissue - Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release - Koko: A Talking Gorilla

Best Commentary - Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore on Arkadin

Best Single Supplement - Neapolitan Diary (Hands Over the City)

Best Package Design - The Spirit of the Beehive (barley beat Veronique)

Best Surprise - Clean, Shaven

Forum Member of the Year - zedz

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Musashi219
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:19 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

#131 Post by Musashi219 » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:15 pm

Release of the Year

1. The Complete Mr. Arkadin
2. Seven Samurai
3. Elevator to the Gallows
4. Late Spring
5. Six Moral Tales

Best Reissue - Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release - Metropolitan

Best Commentary - Naremore/Rosenbaum on Mr. Arkadin

Best Single Supplement - Tokyo-Ga

Best Package Design - Pandora's Box

Best Surprise - Yi Yi

Forum Member of the Year - SncDthMnky (for making my desktop, and many more folks', a more attractive place)

Richard Cranium Award - Yilmaz Guney (self-explanatory)

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criterionsnob
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:23 am
Location: Canada

#132 Post by criterionsnob » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:43 pm

Release of the Year
1. Six Moral Tales
2. Seven Samurai
3. À nos amours
4. Yi Yi
5. Spirit of the Beehive

Best Reissue - Seven Samurai (Playtime a close second)
Most Disappointing Release - None
Best Commentary - Haven't listened to any yet.
Best Single Supplement (non Commentary) - Too many still unwatched.
Best Package Design – Amarcord
Best Surprise – À nos amours

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JHunter
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:47 pm
Location: Philly

#133 Post by JHunter » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:49 pm

Release of the Year
1. SEVEN SAMURAI
2. THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN
3. KIND HEARTS & CORONETS
4. ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
5. YOUNG MR. LINCOLN

Best Reissue - SEVEN SAMURAI

Most Disappointing Release KOKO, A TALKING GORILLA (not that they released the title, but that they did absolutely nothing with it)

Best Commentary Haven't listened to enough this year to justify a vote

Best Single Supplement - TOKYO-GA

Best Package Design - THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN

Best Surprise - CLEAN, SHAVEN

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Saarijas
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:03 pm
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#134 Post by Saarijas » Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:22 pm

Release of the Year

1. Seven Samurai
2. Brazil
3. Clean, Shaven
4. Viridiana
5. La bête humaine

Best Reissue: Seven Samurai
Most Disappointing: The Children Are Watching Us- (loved the film, but I was disapointed with the transfer at times, and the supplements were poor)
Best Commentary: The Comentary on Clean, Shaven
Best Single Supplement: The "Love Conquers All" film on Brazil
Best Package Design: 3 Films by Louis Malle
Best Surprise: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm

JabbaTheSlut
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:37 am
Location: Down there

#135 Post by JabbaTheSlut » Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:48 pm

The Best

1. Spirit of The Beehive
2. 3 Films by Louis Malle
3. Six Moral Tales
4. A nos amours
5. The Fallen Idol

...and of course loved the wonderful Seven Samurai and Playtime rereleases. A good year, I think.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#136 Post by Matt » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:26 pm

denti alligator wrote:Does "best surprise" have to refer to the film?
Yes, it does.

And I would like to take this opportunity to remind people (though it's probably too late) that when voting for "Most Disappointing Release" you are not judging the quality of the film but for the quality of the DVD release as a whole (primarily the supplements, transfer, packaging). For the purposes of this category, nobody cares if you didn't like the movie (I'm eyeing you all you Grey Gardens haters). But I must say, I was sorely tempted to vote for Metropolitan before I reminded myself of this.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#137 Post by Matt » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:34 pm

Release of the Year - Mr. Arkadin (I'm pretty cold on the film, but what a package!), and then Viridiana (because finally)

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Koko: A Talking Gorilla (because its tacked-on supplements and shocking transfer just smack of contract fulfillment)

Best Commentary - Ian Christie on A Canterbury Tale (because I don't even like this film but he made me admire it)

Best Single Supplement - "Listen to Britain" on A Canterbury Tale

Best Package Design - Equinox (which I bought almost solely for its cover)

Best Surprise - The Fallen Idol

Forum Member of the Year - Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)

Richard Cranium Award - YilmazGuney (seriously, the most deserving of this award since before we even started these awards)

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#138 Post by Matt » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:37 pm

Also, I see we forgot to include Best Multiple Title (i.e. Boxed) Set in the voting, but I think its pretty obvious what would win. Unless there are ardent admirers of the Louis Malle set that I'm unaware of.

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Subbuteo
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:10 am
Location: Hampshire, UK

#139 Post by Subbuteo » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:05 pm

Release of the Year
1. Six Moral Tales - who would have thought these gems could look this good
2. La bête humaine
3. À nos amours
4. A Canterbury Tale
5. 3 Films by Louis Malle

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Haven't bought a disappointing release, then again I haven't bought many Criterion's this year

Best Commentary – no opinion

Best Single Supplement – Tokyo Ga

Best Package Design - Six Moral Tales

Best Surprise - Kicking and Screaming

Forum Member of the Year – Peerpee (also special mention: Bikey, HerrSchrek and davidhare.

Richard Cranium Award – Yilmaz Guney
Last edited by Subbuteo on Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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SHOCKMASTER
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:46 pm

#140 Post by SHOCKMASTER » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:14 pm

Release of the year:

1. LATE SPRING
2. SIX MORAL TALES
3. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
4. COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN
5. YI YI

Best Reissue: PLAYTIME

Best Commentary: Richard Pena on LATE SPRING

Best Supplement: TOKYO-GA

Best Package Design: THE COMPLETE MR. ARKADIN

Best Surprise: CLEAN, SHAVEN

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bjeggert82
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:36 pm
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#141 Post by bjeggert82 » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:40 pm

Release of the Year
Mr. Arkadin
Seven Samurai
The Fallen Idol
Three Films by Louis Malle
La bête humaine

Best Reissue
Seven Samurai

Most Disappointing Release
Dazed and Confused

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary
Tokyo-Ga

Best Package Design
Mr. Arkadin

Best Surprise
Au revoir, les enfants

Forum Member of the Year
hammock

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Floyd
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 10:25 pm

#142 Post by Floyd » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:42 pm

Release of the year
1. Viridiana
2. Late Spring
3. The Spirit of the Beehive
4. Fists in the Pocket
5. Kicking and Screaming

Best Reissue: Amarcord
Most Disappointing: KOKO
Best Commentary: Mr. Arkadin with Rosenbaum
Best single supplement: Tokyo-Ga
Best Package Design: The Spirit of the Beehive
Best Surprise: À nos amours
Forum Member: zedz

Cinesimilitude
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:43 am

#143 Post by Cinesimilitude » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:55 pm

Murmur of the Heart was amazing, Infact I should probably make that my surprise vote, but for an overall boxset, Rohmer trumps the others.

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Michael
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm

#144 Post by Michael » Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:37 pm

Best Releases

The Spirit of the Beehive
The Double Life of Veronique
Viridiana
Fists in the Pocket
Yi Yi

Best Reissue

Amarcord

Most Disappointing

Koko

Best Package Design

Amarcord and The Spirit of the Beehive (tie)


Forum Member of the Year

zedz and davidhare
Last edited by Michael on Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:09 am, edited 2 times in total.

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jbeall
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
Location: Atlanta-ish

#145 Post by jbeall » Wed Nov 29, 2006 11:05 pm

I agree that Murmur is fantastic, but the other two didn't really do it for me. With Au Revoir Les Enfants it might just have been inevitable disappointment after too much hype, but I thought it was just okay. Same with Lucien.

Thankfully, the discs were available separately, so I got the extras disc on netflix, and then purchased Murmur.

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

#146 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:04 am

matt wrote:Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)
Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

#147 Post by zedz » Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:08 am

Mr_sausage wrote:
matt wrote:Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)
Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.
Mr Second Run (so most of his posts are in that sub-basement), and a stand-up guy who fronts up when his company pulls off something dubious (e.g. wrong aspect ratio for beloved Polish classics).

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
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#148 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:14 am

zedz wrote:
Mr_sausage wrote:
matt wrote:Bikey (because he put up with a lot of grief)
Wait, who is this Bikey? I've never even heard of him--what have I missed? Several members have made mention of him here. I shouldn't be this confused while being this sober.
Mr Second Run (so most of his posts are in that sub-basement), and a stand-up guy who fronts up when his company pulls off something dubious (e.g. wrong aspect ratio for beloved Polish classics).
I must not go in there very much.

(Really these should be in the discussion thread. It's an accident I can't fix).

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kaujot
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#149 Post by kaujot » Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:11 am

Release of the Year - (no order)

3 Films by Louis Malle
Clean, Shaven
A Canterbury Tale
Yi Yi
The Bad Sleep Well

Best Reissue - Playtime

Most Disappointing Release - Jigoku

Best Commentary - Linklater on D&C

Best Single Supplement - Non-commentary - Listen to Britain (Canterbury)

Best Package Design - Amarcord

Best Surprise - YiYi

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Scharphedin2
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 7:37 am
Location: Denmark/Sweden

#150 Post by Scharphedin2 » Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:41 am

Release of the year:

MR. Arkadin (This idea of a scholarly approach to a specific film, presenting all available versions in restoration + book + tons of extras and expert commentaries, presenting a definitive definitive version of a specific film is to me the epitome of what DVD can offer in terms of presenting and preserving a given film).
Six Moral Tales
Late Spring
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Spirit Of the Beehive

(I have ordered but not yet received Seven Samurai and Pandora's Box -- so unfortunately I could not include thes two releases in the consideration)

Best Reissue:

Playtime is a real big improvement, and a very nice reissue. However, had I already been in possession of Seven Samurai, it is very likely that it would have taken the prize for me.

Most Disappointing Release: The roster of films released this year has possibly been slightly less weighty than previous years, but even that is debatable, and then there are always so many back catatlogue films both from Criterion and other labels to invest in. I have purchased 18 of the year's single releases + the Malle and Rohmer sets, and none of these have been anything but a pleasure to me. Basically I can't submit a "most disappointing release."

Best Commentary: I really only had time to listen to snippets of various commentaries this year, choosing to save them for a rainy day and concentrating on viewing the films in what time I have been able to devote to viewing DVDs. The commentary track by Naremore and Rosenbaum on Mr. Arkadin sounds very interesting from brief samplings; and, of course the commentary track on Seven Samurai would appear to be the mother of all commentary tracks based on the many luminaries involved.

Best Single Supplement: Situation similar to above. In general I am overwhelmed by the amount of material that is included by Criterion these days. I find the inclusion of whole separate feature films as on Late Spring and Hands Over The City to be particularly gratifying. And, I am least ecstatic, when documentaries are excerpted rather than presented in their entirety.

Best Packaging: The design for Six Moral Tales is particularly nice and fitting the quality of the films. The cherry on the icing of course being the image inside the box itself. Great attention to detail.

Best Surprise: There were so many surprises every month, when Criterion announced the next batch (always a day that all of us look forward to with glee). Probably the announcement of Pandora's Box did it for me, purely because I had really given up on it ever being released.

Best Forum Member: Really anyone who contributes to this site being dynamic and informative, and who display an attitude of largesse toward other forum members. Lino, Davidhare, Schreck, MichaelB and zedz in their different ways always make the site interesting, fun and informative. A special thanks to them also for being helpful and friendly toward me personally. Much praise to Bikey and Peerpee! Steven H and Kerpan for providing so much useful info within the specific area of Asian cinema. And, tryavna, whom I admire for general breadth of knowledge and overall classy presence -- very much lives up to the Stroheim character in Grande Illusion.

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