Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 7

[Brian C]

Wow, THE HUMAN CONDITION ... that’s a blast from the Blu-debate past.

[domino harvey]

Oh sure, the one month we don’t open the guessing thread and they finally do Streetwise and Tiny. I see how it is.

If it makes you feel any better, it was 100% personal

[DarkImbecile]

Got him, everyone!

[Feego]

I like the new Pickup on South Street cover better than that for the old DVD, but the color scheme and font make it look like a weird companion film to The Awful Truth.

[therewillbeblus]

Call me simple, but Streetwise/Tiny is my favorite of the pack

[Luke M]

I think the Pickup on South Street cover pales in comparison to the MoC cover art. I'm not thrilled about any of these covers but then I'm not thrilled about any of the releases either.

[swo17]

The Riggs set is epic though

[criterionsnob]

I received the WKW set today. I know most people around here probably don't care about this set, and I don't blame them. I have the old releases, so I'm looking forward to watching the new versions. The packaging is quite convoluted and strange, but still beautiful. At first I thought I received a book where the pages hadn't been cut properly. Each page is printed two-sided in full colour, folded, then bound into the spine, turning each page into a kind of pocket. The art cards are stored in some of these. I was thinking another use for these would be for storing the old Blu-rays.

[cdnchris]

Secrets & Lies
Defending Your Life

[Malickite]

Take the booklet cover for Secrets & Lies, give it to an illustrator, and you've at least got a cover with a modicum of effort behind it.

EDIT: deleted a big jump-to-conclusion

[tenia]

Or it's just a poor cover and the other persons weren't available ?

[Brian C]

Wouldn’t it be kinda weird to have a cover for this film without Marianne Jean-Baptiste on it? I don’t fully understand the basis of the complaint. Or, at least I hope I don’t.

[FlickeringWindow]

Take the booklet cover for Secrets & Lies, give it to an illustrator, and you've at least got a cover with a modicum of effort behind it. Also, I love how Criterion tried to cover for the lack of black films in the collection by taking the lamest screenshot, putting a filter over it and making it the cover because it has a black woman on it. And the only actor they bothered to interview for the release was that actress. It's pretty funny, to be honest.

The published screenplay cover used a similar still (with both looking forward), so it’s probably just what Leigh wanted. Good try, though.

[Malickite]

Just realized a similar shot was used for the poster. Don't know why, but I had a different image in mind. Forgive me for being cynical, but it did appear to me to be somewhat weird.

[Brian C]

...but it did appear to me to be somewhat weird.

But ... why? Have you seen the film or even know what it’s about? I’m really struggling to understand what could possibly seem “weird” about her being on the cover given her role in the film, but I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.

[Malickite]

The cover seems incredibly rushed and unimpressive from a design perspective. Combined with the recent criticism Criterion had received, it's not far off to imagine them trying to amend/appear to amend the lack of diversity with a woman of color on the cover. By all means have her there, but I saw it as just picking a 'boring' frame to be just a bit of a "panic move" in trying to convey the film's diversity. Again, I misjudged the situation.

[domino harvey]

This is a film about the relationship between two women. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is one of those two women. Like, uh

[therewillbeblus]

The shot is also from arguably the most memorable scene in the film, that lays down its themes and expressions of connection/disconnection and vulnerability between them as they struggle to engage while sitting on the same side of the table. If they were going to take any still from the film to use as a cover, this would be the most appropriate one.

[hearthesilence]

I get why the photo was used, but I understand why it would be underwhelming from a simple design perspective. While it's true it's possibly the most important scene in the film, an on-set photo or still of a placid moment doesn't make that context apparent.

[criterionoop]

Yeah I’m confused by what the argument is. The film has many storylines, but the central one is the relationship between a white woman and a black woman (and I won’t add more context for those who haven’t seen the film).

The criticism about diversity was regarding the inclusion of works of living African American directors. I doubt that Criterion would be using Marianne-Jean Baptiste on the cover to gain diversity points. But really, most of the publicity materials for the film use these two actresses. They were both nominated for Oscars for this film.

[Brian C]

Yeah, I completely understand thinking that it’s an uninspired cover in terms of aesthetic design. But the implication remains that just having Jean-Baptiste on the cover at all should somehow raise eyebrows - and that her appearance on previous marketing materials somehow negates the weirdness? - and I don’t understand that part.

[deathbird]

Every Mike Leigh flick should just have a picture of a vacantly miserable Timothy Spall on the cover -- top of the charts, baby!

[dustybooks]

I can honestly say I'd need to watch an actual unboxing video just to see how the fuck that WKW boxset even "works"

So I bought this, because I’m a sucker; I don’t have a strong existing relationship with WKW’s films so the revisionism, while I’m not crazy about it, doesn’t haunt me as much as it should; and I’ve really been loving the other Criterion auteur-oriented sets. But I cannot even describe how obnoxious and clumsy the packaging is on this thing. It couldn’t stop laughing when I opened it. It really feels like an act of trolling, and there’s simply no way to open it and look at it without making a chaotic mess. Compared with the sheer elegance of the Fellini set in particular I am truly bewildered by the way this set is put together.

[feihong]

Céline and Julie Go Boating looks great, especially the interior artwork!

I think this is one of the nicest packages I've seen from Criterion in years. The illustration is so fun, and captures so much the freewheeling feel of the movie.

[deathbird]

Céline and Julie Go Boating looks great, especially the interior artwork!

I think this is one of the nicest packages I've seen from Criterion in years. The illustration is so fun, and captures so much the freewheeling feel of the movie.

I don't remember any scene where they light their farts, though, kind of false advertising