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Release of the Year (French Domination)

1. The Earrings of Madame de...
2. Pierrot le fou
3. 4 by Agnès Varda
4. Trafic
5. Vampyr

Best Eclipse Release
Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals

Best Reissue
CLeo

Best Commentary (these two rendered the traditional feature-length commentary irrelevant)
Tie: Tag Gallagher Visual Essay for The Earrings of Madame de...
Gorin selected scene commentray for Pierrot le fou

Best Single Supplement
Anderson's Is That All There Is? on This Sporting Life.

Best Cover
Le Plaisir

Best Package Design
Vampyr

Best (Re)Discovery
Mon Oncle Antoine

Most Disappointing Release
Death of a Cyclist (crap film, crap package)

Forum Member of the Year
Michael B and Zedz

Richard Cranium Award
kevyip

Best Non-Criterion Release
1. Budd Boetticher Box (Sony)
2. Bill Douglas Trilogy (BFI)
3. L’Enfance-nue (MoC)
4. Histoire(s) du Cinema (Artificial Eye)
5. Mizoguchi Films (MoC)

Release of the Year
1. Pierrot le Fou
2. Brand Upon the Brain!
3. Vampyr
4. This Sporting Life
5. Chungking Express

Best Eclipse Release
Series 13: Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women

Best Reissue
Cleo from 5 to 7

Best Single Supplement
Godard, l’amour, la poésie

Best Cover
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Best Package Design
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Best Discovery
Brand Upon the Brain!

Most Disappointing Release
Tie: Patriotism and Antonio Gaudi, both could've been supplements instead of full-fledged releases.

Richard Cranium Award
I think that kevyip's homophobic post/rant is the most memorable WTF moment.

Best Non-Criterion Release
1. Touch of Evil 50th anniversary (Universal)
2. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Second Run)
3. Budd Boetticher box set (Sony)
4. The New World extended cut (New Line)
5. The Last Laugh Restored Deluxe Edition (Kino) However, this is based off of never seeing the MoC edition.

Release of the Year:

1. Patriotism
2. Lubitsch Musicals
3. La Ronde
4. Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women
5. Larisa Shepitko

(honourable mention: "Vampyr" and "Madame de...", of course)

Best Eclipse Release

Lubitsch Musicals


Best Reissue

High and Low


Best Commentary

Though it was a bit tiresome occasionally: Bruce Eder on "The Thief of Bagdad".


Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)

Must go collectively to the amazing array of supplements on both the "Patriotism" and "Mishima" discs. If I had to select one, then I'd go for the BBC documentary on Mishima, but the audio recording of his speech at the university and the interview excerpts with him are equally important. I also found the "Patriotism- Making-Of" documentary fascinating. And the booklets of both releases, too. Apart from "Vampyr" and "Madame de...", these two discs were about the only ones that reminded me of the CC of old.


Best Cover

Miss Julie


Best Package Design

Mishima


Best (Re)Discovery

Wings (Shepitko)


Most Disappointing Release

As I can't name "Fanfan", I have to go for "Postwar Kurosawa". Important films by a very well-known filmmaker, and so the disappointment here is 1) that they didn't get the full treatment and 2) the awful need for double-dipping on one equally good ("I live in fear", BFI) and two obviously better editions (the two MoC films) just to get "One wonderful Sunday" and "No regrets". Of course it's a great package, but just don't do it again, CC.


Forum Member of the Year

Ah well, too many to mention, as usual. I particularly enjoyed Michael Kerpan's conversations on the MoC Mizos earlier this year, and other conversations with denti and Sharphedin on all sorts of subjects (mostly offline). And as always MichaelB and Peerpee should be named, and I'm afraid but Schreck must continue to wear his crown.


Richard Cranium Award

Kevyip


Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)

1. EDIT: was Murnau-Borzage-Fox originally, but as it seems it is decided not to count this one yet (for good reasons), I go for:

Brudeferden i Hardanger (Breistein, Norwegian Film Institute). Technically speaking, this was released late last year, but I suppose everyone here only heard about it when Knappen (?) posted about it in early February. In any case: an absolutely striking discovery, one of the most impressive Scandinavian silents I ever came across, and then from a director I never even heard the name of. Completely entrancing, wonderful images, and a great edition. More please.

2. Berlin/Melodie der Welt (Ruttmann, edition filmmuseum). One of the most comprehensive editions devoted to the work of a single filmmaker I came across for quite a while. Magnificent in every respect.

3. Goes collectively to the Mizoguchi sets released by MoC this year . Marvellous films and editions (those booklets!!); too bad they don't seem to have sold as well as initially hoped for. Oh my.

4. Vampyr (Dreyer, MoC). According to some reports, image might be ahead of CC's, and of course that booklet and the del Toro commentary make the decision easy.

5. The Phantom Carriage/The Image Makers (Sjöström/Bergman, Tartan). One of the greatest Swedish silents finally on disc, and that Bergman TV film is almost as good. Completely indispensable.

And coming very close to the top five:

Rocco and his Brothers (Visconti, MoC)
L'Argent (L'Herbier, Carlotta or MoC)
La Roue (Gance, Flicker Alley)
Red Desert (Antonioni, BFI)
Salo (Pasolini,BFI)
Nerven (Reinert, edition filmmuseum)
Judex (Franju, MoC)

Release of the Year
1. The Fire Within
2. Larisa Shepitko
3. This Sporting Life
4. The Furies
5. An Autumn Afternoon

Best Eclipse Release
Series 11: Larisa Shepitko

Best Cover
Miss Julie

Best Package Design
Vampyr

Best (Re)Discovery
The Ascent (Shepitko)

Best Non-Criterion Release
1. Bill Douglas Trilogy (BFI)
2. Frau im Mond (MoC)
3. The Long Day Closes (BFI)
4. L’Argent (MoC)
5. Judex/Nuits rouges (MoC)

…if I were allowed 10 choices, the others would be:
6. L’Enfance-nue (MoC)
7. Rocco and His Brothers (MoC)
8. Vampyr (MoC)
9. A Cottage on Dartmoor (BFI)
10. Mizoguchi sets (MoC)

(I have not yet seen the Murnau-Borzage-Fox, of course, otherwise it might be here.)

Best Criterions of 2008
01 Miss Julie
02 Pierrot le fou
03 the Furies
04 Le deuxieme souffle
05 White Dog

Eclipse: Lubitsch Musicals
Commentary: Gorin on Pierrot le fou
Single Supplement: Archival Richard Burton interview on the Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Cover: Miss Julie
Surprise: Blast of SIlence
Disappointing Release: the Model Couple

Release of the Year
1. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
2. Pierrot le fou
3. Walker
4. Chungking Express
5. The Naked Prey

...6-10
6. Bottle Rocket
7. 4 by Agnes Varda
8. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
9. This Sporting Life
10. Trafic

Best Eclipse Release
Series 13: Aki Kaurismäki's Proletariat Trilogy

Best Reissue
High and Low

Best Commentary
Alex Cox on Walker

Best Single Supplement
Is That All There Is?

Best Cover
Pierrot le fou

Best Package Design
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Best Discovery
Cleo from 5 to 7

Most Disappointing Release
Death of a Cyclist

Forum Members of the Year
MichaelB

Richard Cranium Award
kevyip

Best Non-Criterion Release
I really haven't purchased enough dvds to be able to answer this one. I'll try and come back to it.

Release of the Year:

1. Vampyr
2. Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women
3. Pierrot le fou
4. Trafic
5. The Earrings of Madame de...

...6-10
6. An Autumn Afternoon
7.La ronde
8.Twenty-Four Eyes
9. Missing
10.White Dog

Best Eclipse:
Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women

Best Reissue
Salo

Best Commentary
David Bordwell's commentary on An Autumn Afternoon.

Best Single Supplement
Casper Tybjerg's visual essay on Dreyer’s Vampyr

Best Cover
Pierrot le fou

Best Package Design
Vampyr

Best Discovery
Wings (Shepitko)

Most Disappointing Release
Ice Storm
Fan Fan Le Tulipe

Forum Members of the Year
Michael Kerpan

Richard Cranium Award
Grand Illusion for his short essay on Tokyo Story.

Best Non-Criterion Release

1.Budd Boetticher Box (Sony)
2. Bill Douglas Trilogy (BFI)
3. J'Accuse (Flicker Alley)
4. Histoire(s) du Cinema - Godard (Artificial Eye)
5. Satyajit Ray Collection Vol.1 &2 (Artificial Eye)

NOTE: I'll start counting votes at a later date so feel free to edit your ballots until further notice.

QUESTION: Can we agree to save the Borgaze/Murnau set for next year? And by the same measure count the Ford at Fox as a 2008 release, since it was released at the end of 2007? Or is that too much trouble?

Release of the Year
1. Missing
2. Trafic
3. Pierrot le fou
4. Vampyr
5. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
...
6. 4 by Agnes Varda
7. Le Deuxieme Souffle / Le Doulos
8. Miss Julie
9. Death of a Cyclist
10. Antonio Gaudi

Best Eclipse Release
Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein
tie with
Series 11: Larisa Shepitko

Best Reissue
Salo

Best Commentary
Ginette Vincendeau & Geoff Andrew on Le Deuxieme Souffle

Best Single Supplement
A "Pierrot" Primer with Jean-Pierre Gorin

Best Cover
Vampyr

Best Package Design
Vampyr

Best (Re)Discovery
Patriotism

Best Non-Criterion Release
Judex/Nuits Rouge (MOC)
Emile de Antonio: Films of a Radical Saint (HVE)
Daft Punk's Electroma (Wild Bunch)
Georges Melies/La Roue/J'Accuse (Flicker Alley)
Jerzy Skolimowski/Agnieszka Holland box sets (TVP)
(plus all Polskie Wydawnictwo Audiowizualne releases from this year)
edit: can't believe I forgot to mention the Project X release of Peter Watkin's Privilege!
and the new La Femme Publique set from Mondo Vision is blowing my mind...

GringoTex wrote: QUESTION: Can we agree to save the Borgaze/Murnau set for next year? And by the same measure count the Ford at Fox as a 2008 release, since it was released at the end of 2007? Or is that too much trouble?

I think that would be a good idea

And you people with your six through tens are cheatin'! [-X

I do what I want. :-"

domino harvey wrote:

GringoTex wrote: QUESTION: Can we agree to save the Borgaze/Murnau set for next year? And by the same measure count the Ford at Fox as a 2008 release, since it was released at the end of 2007? Or is that too much trouble?

I think that would be a good idea

Okay, then I'll replace my Murnau-Borzage mention with the NFI's "Brudeferden" disc. Also released late last year

domino harvey wrote: And you people with your six through tens are cheatin'! [-X

Especially considering that I would have had a hard time to name only five from the main collection this year...

GringoTex wrote:QUESTION: Can we agree to save the Borgaze/Murnau set for next year? And by the same measure count the Ford at Fox as a 2008 release, since it was released at the end of 2007? Or is that too much trouble?

Is this exemption to be made just for these two sets? I ask because there were several outstanding releases last December besides Ford at Fox. Even limiting last December's releases to those so large in scope that most would not have formed opinions until well into 2008, I would argue that Kino's Lubitsch in Berlin box would qualify, as would the Ford at Fox subsidiary boxes (e.g. Silent Epics, American Comedies, etc.) and perhaps the variety of Blade Runner releases.

Given the opportunity, I'd surely have Lubitsch in Berlin on my shortlist for non-Criterion release of the year; but by the same token, I'd have Two-Lane Blacktop (released the week after Ford at Fox) on a variety of Criterion "best" lists, but I already voted for it in last year's election.

Sorry; I don't mean to stir up trouble... :-"

P.S. The Beaver keeps a pretty lengthy list of releases by date here, which may be helpful for those considering their non-Criterion (and non-CriterionForum) lists.

EDIT: Added three titles to the Non-CC entries.

Didn't buy too many CCs or MoCs this year so this will be a top three only.

Release of the Year

CC 1) The Furies
CC 2) An Autumn Afternoon
CC 3) Vampyr

Best Eclipse Release

The two Ozu sets since these were the only Eclipse releases I bought in 2008.

Best Reissue

High and Low (did anyone else feel that they might have fiddled too much with the contrast though? I found the whites in the early scenes set in Kingo's home almost blinding)

Best Commentary

David Bordwell on An Autumn Afternoon

Best Single Supplement

Do booklets count? If so, I loved the script/Camilla bundle for CC's Vampyr

Best Cover

The Furies (Vampyr came so close I was tempted to call it a tie)

Best Package

Vampyr (the one area where CC's release towers over MoC's, sorry MoC)

Best (Re) Discovery

The Furies

Best Non-CC Release

1) The Long Day Closes (BFI)
2) L'Argent (MoC)
3) El Cid (Miriam Collection)
4) Mizoguchi sets (MoC)
5) Zodiac Director's Cut (Paramount)
6) Fall of The Roman Empire (Miriam Collection)

Forum Member of The Year:

zedz

Richard Cranium Award:

kevyip

aox wrote:are we allowed to debate, hear explanation, etc... in this thread?

Bloody Benten wrote: Most Disappointing Release (for releases that Criterion dropped the ball on: bad transfer, poor supplements, etc.)
Ice Storm
Last Emperor

I assume that the cropping issues are what will lead to the otherwise wonderful The Last Emperor set being derided, but what was wrong with The Ice Storm dvd?

All my choices for disappointing releases have to do with the fact that Criterion even released those movies at all.

GringoTex wrote:NOTE: I'll start counting votes at a later date so feel free to edit your ballots until further notice.

QUESTION: Can we agree to save the Borgaze/Murnau set for next year? And by the same measure count the Ford at Fox as a 2008 release, since it was released at the end of 2007? Or is that too much trouble?

It's too much trouble. Let's stick to January through December.

Bloody Benten wrote:All my choices for disappointing releases have to do with the fact that Criterion even released those movies at all.

Matt wrote:"Most Disappointing Release" is not meant for films you just don't like. It is meant for those films you do like but feel that Criterion dropped the ball on (in terms of transfer, supplements, etc.)

Categories:

Release of the Year (5 choices) (Eclipse titles eligible)
447 Le doulos
448 Le deuxieme souffle
437 Vampyr
439 Trafic
426 The Ice Storm

Best Eclipse Release
Series 11: Larisa Shepitko
Best Reissue
Salo

Best Cover
Vampyr

Best Package Design (including DVD menus)
Vampyr

Best (Re)Discovery (for a film you knew little or nothing about before the Criterion release)
447 Le doulos

Forum Member of the Year
zedz

Richard Cranium Award
Kevyip

Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)
The Dark Knight
There Will Be Blood
No Country For Old Men
Mad Men Season 1
The Wire Season 5

[edit: Changed best Eclipse from Klein to Shepitko]

Release of the Year:
1. The Thief of Bagdad
2. Before the Rain
3. The Furies
4. The Naked Prey
5. Blast of Silence

Best Eclipse Release:
Series 11: Larisa Shepitko

Best Reissue:
(tie) Salo and High & Low

Best Commentary:
Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese on The Thief of Bagdad

Best Single Supplement:
Behind the Scenes in Macedonia documentary on Before the Rain

Most Disappointing Release:
The Small Black Room

Best Cover:
Brand Upon the Brain!

Best Package:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Best Discovery:
Before the Rain (Mafioso almost made it a tie)

Best Non-CC Release:
Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition (Warner)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (Weinstein)
Man of the West (MGM)
Dario Argento 5 Films Box Set (Anchor Bay) - I don't know if re-releases of previously released films count
A Passage to India: Collector's Edition (Columbia/Sony)

No opinion on either Forum Member of the Year or the Richard Cranium Award. I apologize for this lack of opinion.

I feel like this year the main line of Criterions was a little lackluster but the ongoing Eclipse line and addition of Blu-ray leave me quite happy.

Release of the Year
1. 4 by Agnès Varda
2. Vampyr
3. Chungking Express (I bought a PS3 just for the excitement of Criterions on Blu-ray. This will easily be the first!)
4. Brand Upon the Brain!
5. Earrings of Madame de...

Best Eclipse Release
Series 10: Silent Ozu—Three Family Comedies
(Although Kaurismäki in the Eclipse line made me happy. Hopefully we'll get a few more current directors I admire soon)

Best Commentary
I have enough people talking through films as it is...

Best Single Supplement
What's a supplement? (I almost put the PT Anderson intro for fun but thought better of it)

Best Cover
Chungking Express

Best Package Design
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (It could seduce anyone into buying it and then never watching it again)

Best Discovery
Le Bonheur

Most Disappointing Release
The Last Emperor - Not for it being a terrible movie but for how recklessly bloated it is. 4 discs? A longer cut the director didn't care for?
I'm also firmly entrenched in the camp that says Patriotism and Mishima should be in the same packaging.

Best Non-Criterion Release (A who's who of DVD companies...sorry but the movies are good)
Syndromes and a Century (Strand)
Still Life (New Yorker)
Flight of the Red Balloon (IFC)
Chop Shop (Koch)
Wayward Cloud (Strand)
Fireworks Wednesday (Facets)

Release of the Year

4 by Agnes Varda
Le plaisir / Madame de...
Vampyr
Brand Upon the Brain!
White Dog

Best Eclispe

Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women

Best Reissue

Cleo From 5 to 7

Best Discovery

Le Bonheur / Le plaisir

Best Package

4 by Agnes Varda

Best Cover

4 by Agnes Varda / Le plaisir

Forum Member of the Year

zedz

Best Non-CC Releases

Murnau, Borzage & Fox
Ford at Fox
Demy Boxset
Psycho

Release of the Year
1. The Furies
2. The Naked Prey
3. An Autumn Afternoon
4. Le bonheur
5. The Fire Within

Best Reissue
High and Low

Best Eclipse Release
Postwar Kurosawa

Best Commentary
David Bordwell on An Autumn Afternoon

Best Single Supplement
The interview with Anthony Mann on The Furies disc.

Best Cover
Trafic

Best Package Design
The Furies

Best Discovery
The Naked Prey

Most Disappointing Release
An Autumn Afternoon - one of the supplements (The French TV thing) is only relevant due to its complete misinterpretation of Ozu's work. There's a scene where two guys practice some martial art while the narrator talks about haikus. Ridiculous.

Best Forum Member
zedz

Richard Cranium Award
Barmy (?)

Best Non-Criterion Releases
1. Hiroshi Shimizu boxsets (Shochiku)
2. Budd Boetticher boxset (Sony)
3. L'Enfance nue (MoC)
4. Police (MoC)
5. Ford at Fox (Fox)

Mr Finch wrote:
Best Reissue

High and Low (did anyone else feel that they might have fiddled too much with the contrast though? I found the whites in the early scenes set in Kingo's home almost blinding)

Absolutely my opinion. Of course it's supposed to be bright, but not as much as on this transfer. However, everything else about this set is magnificent (think of the Mifune interview), so I couldn't help naming this as best reissue as well. "Salo" seems to be better from the BFI, and I couldn't care much for the other eligible candidates.

Release of the Year (5 choices)

Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters
This Sporting Life
The Furies
4 by Agnès Varda
Walker

Runners up:

The Thief Of Bagdad
An Autumn Afternoon
The Last Emperor

Best Eclipse Release

Larisa Shepitko

Best Reissue

High and Low

I’m afraid that I have not had the chance to pick up Criterions for the last couple of months, meaning Mon Oncle Antoine, Before The Rain, Trafic, The Small Back Room, the Ophuls and the Melvilles have to be sadly discounted from my vote this year (though if we are counting Criterions from previous years enjoyed again this year, I would again praise Les Enfants Terribles and Playtime!) However I get the feeling that my voting would have been weighted towards titles released earlier in the year anyway, since I was most impressed and excited by This Sporting Life, the Varda set and Mishima.

The release of the year which excited me the most was the Larisa Shepitko set and would have placed in my overall top five if not for my agreement with the nagging feeling expressed by others in the thread dedicated to it that this set of two films meant that there would be no chance of the rest of the director’s work ever getting a proper release on DVD. For that reason, even though I was very grateful for the films that we were provided with the opportunity to see, I couldn’t vote it the best release of the year over comprehensive packages like the Mishima and Patriotism or This Sporting Life.

While I need to see The Furies a few more times to let it sink in, I wanted to place this set high on my list as a show of support for Criterion’s first (non-Eclipse!) western and for the addition of the book.

Since there was only one boxset this year, I wanted to honour 4 by Agnès Varda in the overall category for the well created extras and addition of La Pointe Court and Le bonheur to the reissued films. Being a mix of newly issued films and re-releases I felt it more appropriate to place the set in this category and save my Best Reissue vote for High and Low – a Criterion disc that badly needed updating. To have the addition of the second disc of extras was a pleasant surprise which was more than I had dared hope for.

I thought I would throw Walker in as my number 5 choice, since I was extremely happy to get to see the film (it nicely bookended the year with the other unfairly maligned 80s studio film White Dog), but I added my runners up to also note the wonderful Thief of Bagdad and Autumn Afternoon releases and show that I’m not entirely crazy!

Best Commentary (inlcudes selected scene commentaries and visual essays)

Paul Schrader and Alan Poul on Mishima – the commentary I have played most times this year!

Runners up:

Alex Cox and Rudy Wurlitzer on Walker
Paul Ryan and David Storey on This Sporting Life
Stephen Prince on The Naked Prey

Best Single Supplement (not a commentary)

I really like historical supplements that use the film as a jumping off point to provide more information for the curious to dive deeper into a subject - the Peter Kornbluth interview on Missing just wins out over the Ian Buruma interview on the history of China from The Last Emperor disc.

My other runners up spots for single supplements would be shared between The Last Emperor and Antonio Gaudí for their well chosen packages of features in support of each film.

Best Cover

Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters/Patriotism

Runners up:

Pierrot le Fou
This Sporting Life
Miss Julie
The Lovers/The Fire Within

Mishima was my favourite cover, but I think it worked best paired with the restraint of Patriotism (complementing each other, as with The Lovers and The Fire Within).


Best Package Design (including DVD menus)

Salò

Runner up:

The Ice Storm
Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters
Brand Upon The Brain!
Walker
Vampyr

I shuffled all of these around into the top spot at one point or another. Stylish, occasionally dazzling, and appropriate packages for their wildly differing subject matter.


Best (Re)Discovery
Classe Tous Risques

Runners up:

Patriotism
Mafioso

Most Disappointing Release
Twenty Four Eyes - only for not upping the ante on the MoC disc to a great extent!

Forum Member of the Year

zedz for the in depth posts on many different films, which make me desperate to see them myself! I’ve tried to contribute where possible but hopefully a vote for zedz will show that even when there are no comments following his in depth posts they are appreciated!

zedz and david hare (née davidhare!) along with MichaelB in his updates on Eastern European films are doing a great job in showing that there is more to cinema than the canonical, well distributed and well known classics. There are the wonderful and bizarrely overlooked gems but perhaps more important than is the wide range of films that might not have been successful because they were seen as too difficult, or too similar to an even better film, or just not especially standing out from the crowd. These types of neglected films are just as important in building up a picture of cinema in a particular time or place as the absolute classics and can help to build up a better picture of where the ‘great films’ fit into a culture (and modify how truly ‘visionary’ or ‘groundbreaking’ the well known classics films should be seen as being – terms that are often too easily used as if to suggest a classic appeared out of nowhere)


Best Non-Criterion Release (5 Choices)

Histoire(s) Du Cinéma (Artificial Eye)
Radio On (BFI)
Les Vampires (Artificial Eye)
The Phantom Carriage/The Image Makers (Tartan)
Frau im Mond (MoC)

Runners up:
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Second Run)
Zodiac (Director’s Cut)
Rocco and His Brothers (MoC)
42nd Street Forever Volumes 3 & 4 (Synapse)
Terror’s Advocate
Lake of Fire

2008 didn’t seem to be a box set year, and as such a lot of my year was taken up in purchasing bundles of films separately that would normally have been released together. I did not want to have to put more than one DVD package in one place of my ‘best’ of the year list, but these titles deserve further mention so I'll list these groups of films separately while keeping the above list for my favourite 'one off' DVD purchases of the year!

MoC's Mizoguchi double bills were wonderful in building up a larger picture of the director beyond his canonical works, as was Bluebell Films release of Rivette’s Wuthering Heights, Love On The Ground and Gang of Four. The BFI discs of Bill Douglas and Terence Davies trilogies (along with Distant Voices, Still Lives) were also DVD sets that when brought together became even more obviously the standout releases of their year - to choose just one set or the other in the poll wouldn't come close to the cumulative power of seeing all of the films on all the releases.

I was also very pleased to get AnimEigo’s release of Takashi Miike’s 2002 remake of Graveyard of Honor (at last!) and Big Bang Love, Juvenile A, two wildly different films (along with the DVD release of one of the director's theatre productions, Demon Pond) that on their own wouldn't fully represent his range but complemented each other very well.

Similarly it was great to have the BFI disc of Syndromes and a Century released around the same time as Second Run's Tropical Malady. I hope that this (even if it was unwitting) collaboration on filling in the gaps in a director's filmography can continue in the future - I much prefer separate labels working on different films than the MoC/Criterion approach of duelling releases with slight differences in extras (which is one of the reasons why I've blackballed both the Vampyr and Salò releases from anything but nods for differences in packaging design!)

And a quick word of thanks to Tartan for getting out I, Pierre Rivière, Having Slaughtered My Mother, My Sister and My Brother in association with Back To Normandy before they closed down! Without Back To Normandy I doubt the earlier film would ever have received a DVD release in the UK.

Re non-CC releases for this year: how could I forget the Weinstein releases of EL CID and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE?! The Miriam Collection got off to a great start with these Mann titles. Have also added the BFI's DVD of THE LONG DAY CLOSES to my list - the film's a stunner and the package was beautifully put together by the BFI. My most fondly remembered viewing experience of 2008 and my favourite non-Criterion disc of the year. Would have bought a lot more titles if my wallet hadn't been so short on money, so there's a lot of catching up to do. Reading this thread reminds me how many titles I've missed out on, including the French disc of MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW etc.