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This is the first cover I can honestly say I could have done in half an hour with zero outside help. the font is terrible. I like the image okay, but it's hardly one that evokes the film itself. oddly generic choice given the extra time they put into it.

I'll still buy it of course, but it's not one of their better efforts. Indeed, I'd count it among their worst, and the worst this year by far.

I'm not crazy about the font, but still image is very powerful.

Paths of glory 3/10

Very boring.
Font is awful.

WHERE ARE THE PATHS?!? I don't see any glorious paths on that cover, helloo!

On the other hand, maybe this cover is a clue that Warhol's Blow Job is coming.

I'm OK with it. Not overwhelmed, but not disappointed, either. Kind of, eh. But I think it will look fine in person.

Awful cover. And I just noticed they put Douglas' name on the cover. They don't usually do it, right?

It's probably part of his contract that he be listed on the cover. It's the same reason Ben Button, Silence of the Lambs and others have cast members listed.

IIRC, Mystery Train had a couple actors listed on the cover also.

Terrible font and dodgy placement too, making the left half of the cover look very cluttered.

I actually like it.

Better than the first that showed up, but still not perfect...

matrixschmatrix wrote:It's pretty, but it doesn't really convey anything about the movie to me- it looks sort of static, and as though it's about the physical suffering of Douglas' character.

I like the cover, but your criticism is totally dead on. At least it's better than the other cover.

MyNameCriterionForum wrote: On the other hand, maybe this cover is a clue that Warhol's Blow Job is coming.

Now that you mention it...

Have they EVER done a quote blurb on a cover before? kind of odd choice to break the ice. I do love the inside though....i'll probably get this at the next sale, but I still wish it was just the 2nd disc of the Crumb release, cool as the booklet is...oh well.

Robocop had "Called by Ken Russell "the greatest science-fiction film since Metropolis"". But yeah, it's still a rare practice.

If you're talking about the director approved sticker, they used to do those a lot. Bergman had his with a devil caricature and Chris Marker drew a cat.

They're talking about the Woody Allen blurb on the back, which is the opening to a longer note by him found inside the booklet. I don't know for sure but I think he wrote it for this release since its dated this year and he gets a "Thank you" credit in the booklet.

It's a shame Woody Allen detests commentaries so much, it'd be fascinating to hear he and Zwigoff on both of these releases.

I wonder if anyone's ever asked him to do a commentary for someone else's film. Maybe he has no problem with that.

I can't see him doing a commentary for anyone else's film; from what he's said in interviews about things standing on their own merits, I think he'd have the same problem doing that as he does for refelcting on his own films.

That said, I've always felt that an Allen interview would make a great supplement, and be worth the price of purchase alone, for a Criterion edition of Martin Ritt's "The Front." Hopefully this might show up as part of their ongoing deal with Sony.

-BJ

Black Orpheus Blu-ray

Oh my, that is beautiful.

Superb spine design.

Sigh. That looks so wonderful.