2007 Criterion Forum Awards

[miless]

It should mean option 2 because otherwise the category would have little to do with Criterion and mostly to do with the movie outside of Criterion's participation...and they are called the Criterion Awards after all.

I guess in that case I'll change mine to Days of Heaven... even though the film was not much a surprise, having seen it before and being obsessed with Malick.

[Lemmy Caution]

It should mean option 2 because otherwise the category would have little to do with Criterion and mostly to do with the movie outside of Criterion's participation...and they are called the Criterion Awards after all.

I really don't follow that logic.

A film you were previously unaware of, which CC releases, and it totally wows your socks off seems to be a nice surprise that has everything to do with Criterion's efforts.

But welcome aboard anyway TJ.

[Matt]

As the "originator" of these storied awards, I've always maintained that "Best Surprise" meant a film, released on Criterion DVD, that you enjoyed and that you were heretofore unacquainted with. I've also tried to maintain that "Most Disappointing Release" was not based on the quality of the film but on the total quality of Criterion's work, which is why Diary of a Country Priest and Jules and Jim were the first "winners" of this award. Border Radio might be a shitty film (dunno, haven't seen it), but there's no denying that Criterion put together a hell of a package for it. It's not like it has as its only supplement a totally useless commentary (DoaCP) or has a VHS-quality transfer (KoKo). A more appropriate candidate for this award might have been Mala Noche on account of the transfer screw-up or the Bergman set for the inclusion of the wrong disc and the sense of it cashing in on B's death.

[colinr0380]

A more appropriate candidate for this award might have been Mala Noche on account of the transfer screw-up or the Bergman set for the inclusion of the wrong disc and the sense of it cashing in on B's death.

Yes that is the way I'd see it: major errors first (transfer issues, wrong aspect ratio, or to put it another way the first Playtime release! Or the first Yojimbo), then minor though still important issues when considering whether to pick up the disc (Such as production SNAFUs like the Bergman box. The missing scene from Jigoku and the missing booklets from Clean, Shaven come to mind from 2006. The brief colour shots missing from the first Mala Noche would also fit here), then issues with extra features (quibbles with the quality of what is there: Peter Cowie's Diary Of A Country Priest commentary, and Koko not being put into more than a filmic context for example, or the lack of what seems to be a crucial supplement - i.e. if Criterion had issued Ran without A.K. that wouldn't be an issue with the film but it would be a disappointment that might be worth mentioning)

Then thinking the film was terrible, having a problem with the packaging and thinking the cover art was disappointing all come in a distant fourth, fifth and sixth place!

[Michael]

Crias cuervos was the only 2007 CC release I didn't see before voting because my mom (knowing how much I love Spirit of the Beehive, the DVD she also got me for Xmas 2006) told me she'd get me the DVD for Christmas so I was waiting for that. Finally the package came yesterday and I watched the film immediately.

My god. I'm killing myself for not being able to vote for Crias. The film is AMAZING and just as spectacular and gorgeous as my 2007 fave Mala Noche.

[Thomas J.]

It should mean option 2 because otherwise the category would have little to do with Criterion and mostly to do with the movie outside of Criterion's participation...and they are called the Criterion Awards after all.

I really don't follow that logic.

A film you were previously unaware of, which CC releases, and it totally wows your socks off seems to be a nice surprise that has everything to do with Criterion's efforts.

But welcome aboard anyway TJ.

Well, then explain your lack of following my logic.

Besides, if the award were for a film you'd never heard of before but then you saw it via the Criterion DVD and were like, "hey, that was great!" -- How is that a surprise reaction? Do you go into each viewing of a heretofore unheard of film thinking, "This is going to be pretty bad because I've never heard of it." Post-viewing, you're reaction is, "Hey, now that was surprisingly good!"

If that's what you interpret the word "surprise" to mean in this context, then ok, that makes sense, but judging a film as being bad based on lack of seeing it, and then being pleasantly surprised about the film's quality after you finally do see it...well, that's not my style of filmgoing, but to each his own, I guess. I just don't automatically think of a film I've never heard of as being automatically "bad." I try not to pre-judge a film and to have an open mind about it.

Besides, as I already explained, if surprise were meant to take that connotation for this particular award, as in "surprised about the quality of the film rather than Criterion's presentation of such," then what does that have to do with Criterion, and why then is it a category in a Criterion Awards?

I guess there's an 800 pound gorilla in the room here...in point of fact, we should be ridiculing the ambiguity of the word and the lack of clarification until now.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum, btw.

[domino harvey]

The length of that response greatly outweighed my interest in it

[Jeff]

How about next year we change the name of the category to "Best Discovery?"

[Thomas J.]

The length of that response greatly outweighed my interest in it

So, laziness is the best defense for flippant brevity these days? I expect more from a forum with such a stiff upper lip.

Anyway, I can tell we're going to get along great.

[stroszeck]

Wow, Raymond Bernard won over Ozu?

[ogygia avenue]

Release of the Year:
Overlord
Ace in the Hole
Woman in the Dunes
Les Enfants Terribles
Border Radio

Best Eclipse Release
Early Bergman

Best Reissue:
The Lady Vanishes

Most Disappointing Release:
The fact that they put out Sweet Movie at all

Best Commentary:
Overlord

Best Supplement:
If Guy Maddin's essay on Ace in the Hole counts...

Best Package Design:
Days of Heaven

Best Surprise:
The US release of Overlord, a film high on my holy grail list for god knows how long...

Richard Cranium Award:
ogygia avenue