Blu-ray and DVD of the Year 2014

"No one can see every release during the entire calendar year - so we hope our lists can introduce and expose some of the many lauded Blu-rays and DVDs that surfaced during 2014. Hopefully you will find a few unique surprises. We don't discriminate based on regional limitations or broadcast standards. Expanding the borders of your digital entertainment horizons has always been the primary goal of this website. We always appreciate your suggestions and contributions."

DVDBeaver

DVDBeaver are proud to announce our voting results for Blu-ray and DVD of the Year - 2014. I would like to give a very appreciative thank you to those 40+ individuals who participated (we published the complete results of only 11 balloters, but everyone's votes were counted in the totals!). This poll would not exist without the film aficionados who support world cinema and the DVDBeaver website. Thank you! We have done our best to help expose some of the important, and often clandestine, digital packages, in both BD and SD, that surfaced in the 2014 calendar year.

Where Criterion always do well in this annual poll - in 2014 we had a nice mix of other production companies adding highly touted releases. Criterion still had the majority of overall votes but it was nice to see other companies rising to meet their high standards. What was notable, and as we anticipated, with the Blu-ray format years ago - was the 'director-themed' packages which dominated our top selections including; Werner Herzog, Jacques Tati, Walerian Borowczyk, Jacques Demy, plus François Truffaut, Lars von Trier, Les Blank, Kelly Reichardt and Alain Robbe-Grillet on even DVD with Jean Epstein! What a great year! Thank you Adam! Thank you also to Negar who did the above banner!

11 Selected Balloters (click name to access votes):

Sean Axmaker Adam Batty Eric Cotenas

Stuart Galbraith Adam Lemke Gregory Meshman

Jonathan Rosenbaum Brian Saur Per-Olaf Strandberg

Gary Tooze James White

The Totals (click to access)

TOP 72 in Total

THE TOP TEN DVDs OF 2014

THE TOP TEN Blu-rays OF 2014

Blu-ray Omissions

TOP LABELS Best Cover Design

'Black' and Blu Notable Rant and Praise

NOTE: Legend:

'' indicates that this is a region-free disc

'' is a clickable link to the DVDBeaver review

'' is a clickable purchase link to Amazon

'' is the purchase link to Barnes and Noble

'' is a clickable purchase link to The Warner Archive

Sean Axmaker
Seattle, WA, USA
http://parallax-view.org

Note that I have only taken Region 1 discs into account for this list. I do own some foreign discs but have not reviewed and 2014 imports.

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2014

1. Show Boat (James Whale, 1936) Warner Archive, R0
2. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
3. Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II - Criterion; R1
4. WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series (1978-1982) Shout Factory, R1
5. Verdun: Looking at History (Léon Poirier, 1928) Kino Lorber, R1

6. Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide (Jake West, 2010) Severin, R1
7. Blonde Crazy (in Forbidden Hollywood: Vol. 8) (Del Ruth, 1931) Warner; R0
8. The Big House: Triple Feature (George Hill, 1930) Warner Archive, R0
9. Dante's Inferno (Harry Lachman, 1935) 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives, R1
10. The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1948) Warner Archive, R0

Top Blu-ray Releases

1. The Complete Jacques Tati - Criterion; RA
2. The Essential Jacques Demy - Criterion; RA
3. Once Upon a Time in America: Ext. Director's (Sergio Leone, 1984) Warner; R0
4. Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari – Masters of Cinema; RB
5. The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies, 1992) Criterion, RA
6. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) Criterion; RA
7. The Mack Sennett Collection: Volume One (various, 1909-1933) Flicker Alley, R0
8. Double Indemnity 70th Ann. Ltd Ed. (Billy Wilder, 1944) Universal; R0
9. Come Back, Africa (Lionel Rogosin, 1959) Milestone, R0
10. Nightbreed - 3-disc Edition (Clive Barker, 1990) Shout! Factory; RA

Adam Batty
Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second (HopeLies.com)
@adamhopelies
Member of the OFCS and CriticWire

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2014
1. Coffret Jean Epstein (Jean Epstein, Various Years) Potemkine; R2, PAL

2. Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1977) Second Run DVD; R0

Notes on DVD. It’s been a dramatically quiet year for DVD and I. Truth be told I didn’t notice this was happening as the year went by. DVD was my first love, home media wise, and I’m quite sad to see it drop off so much in the last twelve months. DVD’s loss is Blu-ray’s gain tho. This year I finally went multi-region for Blu-ray, having stuck with buying locked discs on DVD-only. It was actually Criterion’s much derided decision to go dual-format that pushed me to upgrade. I was buying their DVDs anyway, and the temptation of having copies of their editions just lying around on Blu-ray proved too much!

Top Blu-ray Releases
1. The Complete Jacques Tati - Criterion; RA
2. The Essential Jacques Demy - Criterion; RA
3. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959) Criterion; RA
4. Les Misérables (Raymond Bernard, 1934) Masters Of Cinema; RB
5. Hail Mary (Jean-Luc Godard, 1985) Cohen; RA
6. Alain Robbe-Grillet Collection (Alain Robbe Grillet, Various Years) BFI; RB
7. Judex (Georges Franju, 1963) Criterion; RA
8. Sundays And Cybele (Serge Bourguignon, 1962) Criterion; RA
9. Twin Peaks - The Entire Mystery (David Lynch) Paramount; R0
10. Nightbreed - 3-disc Edition (Clive Barker, 1990) Shout! Factory; RA

Notes on Blu-ray. It’s been an incredibly strong year for Criterion. We’re lucky if we get one box-set that’s the calibre of The Complete Jacques Tati or The Essential Jacques Demy in a year, but to be offered two seems almost greedy! It was tough to call a preference between the two for the purposes of this list, but the complete nature of Tati pips the slightly confusing nature of how the Demy set is assembled (the problematic Lola transfer is frustrating too).

The highlight in cult was easier to call, with Scream Factory’s miraculous 3-disc edition of Nightbreed head and shoulders above the competition. I caught the infamous Cabal Cut during it’s festival tour a few years ago and it was in pretty bad shape, with sections sourced from VHS and all manner of places. I never dared dream that it would ever look so good. The supplementary material, headlined by a newly-produced hour-long documentary makes it clear how much of a labour of love this project was for those involved, while the presence of the Warner-licensed theatrical cut in HD on a third disc pleases the completist (honourable mention to 88 Films’ Trancers, which looks to be a repressing of the US release from Full Moon Features).

For my money Pickpocket is the greatest film of all time, so to see it upgraded and to such a high standard was pretty much my highlight of the year. It’s a straight upgrade of the Criterion DVD from 2005, with supplements including Babette Mangolte’s The Models Of Pickpocket, an excellent film in itself. It was also nice to see the first Bresson Blu-ray released in the UK in 2014, in the shape of the (excellent) Mouchette, even if it was nigh-on two years late! Hopefully the long-promised Au hasard balthazar will finally be released in 2015: I’ve had my pre-order locked in since December 2012.

I fear my list of ten films doesn’t reflect the fantastic job Eureka Entertainment and their Masters Of Cinema imprint have been doing in the UK (I deliberately left their Violent Saturday off of my own list as I worked on it). The final half of the year, in which they focused their attention mainly on silent and early cinema was unequalled in that area. A personal highlight from this run includes Fritz Lang’s often-underrated Spione.

Briefly
Sundays And Cybele reminded me of how valuable are for when it comes to introducing one to filmmakers they’ve never heard of before. My favourite blind-viewing of the year. Judex reminded me of their “film-school-in-a-box” origins, with nary a corner unturned between the extensive supplements and lengthy notes. Twin Peaks, while only technically “The Entire Mystery” for a couple of weeks thanks to Lynch and Frost’s wonderful announcement, is as good as television on Blu-ray gets.

Eric Cotenas

CineVentures Blog

Sacramento, CA, USA

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases

1. Silent Night, Bloody Night/Invasion of the Blood Farmers (Th. Gershuny, 1974) Code Red; R0
2. A Jester's Tale (Karel Zeman, 1964) Second Run DVD; R0 PAL
3. Bicycling with Moliere (Philippe Le Guay, 2013) Strand Releasing; R1
4. Birds, Orphans and Fools (Juraj Jakubisko, 1969) Second Run; R0 PAL
5. Evil Come, Evil Go/Oh! You Beautiful Doll/Widow Blue (1970-1973) Vinegar Syndrome; Region
6. Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1977) Second Run DVD; R0
7. In the Name of… (Malgorzata Szumowska, 2013) Film Movement; R1
8. Salamander Season One (Frank van Mechelen, 2012-2013) Arrow Films; R2 PAL
9. Paradise: Faith (Ulrich Seidl, 2012) Strand Releasing; R1
10. Hero of the Day (Edward Conna, 2012) Cinema Libre; R0

Top Blu-ray Releases

1. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB
2. Pretty Peaches (Alex de Renzy, 1978) Vinegar Syndrome; R0
3. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965) Kino Lorber; RA
4. Prom Night (Paul Lynch, 1980) Synapse Films; RA
5. Stage Fright (Michele Soavi, 1987) Blue Underground; R0
6. The Demons (Jess Franco, 1973) Redemption Films; RA
7. Eden and After (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1970) Redemption Films/Kino Lorber; RA
8. The Slave (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1969) Mondo Macabro; RA
9. The Final Terror (Andrew Davis, 1983) Scream Factory/Shout! Factory; RA

Stuart Galbraith IV

Kyoto, Japan

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2014
1. Sgt. Bilko - The Phil Silvers Show: Complete Collection Mediumrare; R2
2. Show Boat (James Whale, 1936) Warner Archive, R0
3. Marx Brothers TV Collection (various, 1950-1976) Shout! Factory; R1
4. Mr. Magoo – The Theatrical Collection (1949-1959, various) Shout! Factory; R1
5. The Bowery Boys, Volume 4 (1946-1958, various) Warner Archive; R0
6. Invasion (Alan Bridges, 1965) Network; R2
7. Bing Crosby Rediscovered (Robert Trachtenberg, 2014) PBS Home Video; R1

Top Blu-ray Releases

1. The Day The Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) BFI; RB
2. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963) Criterion; RA
3. The Werner Herzog Collection – BFI ; RB
4. Seven Wonders of the World (Tay Garnett & various, 1956) Flicker Alley; R0
5. Pit Stop (Jack Hill, 1969) Arrow Video; R0
6. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965) Kino Lorber; RA
7. Inferno (Roy Ward Baker, 1953) Panamint Cinema; R0 (previously RB only)
8. 55 Days at Peking (Nicholas Ray, 1963) Anchor Bay UK; RB
9. The Mack Sennett Collection: Volume One (various, 1909-1933) Flicker Alley, R0
10. The Vincent Price Collection (various, 1958-1972) Shout! Factory; RA

Adam Lemke www.moviemiser.com

Syracuse, NY, USA

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases

01. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
02. The Last Time I Saw Macao (Joao Pedro Rodrigues, 2012) CinemaGuild; R0
03. Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray Criterion; R1
04. The Dirties (Matt Johnson, 2013) Pulse Films; R2 PAL
05. The People vs. Paul Crump (William Friedkin, 1962) Facets; R0
06. Palo Alto (Gia Coppola) Peace Arch; R1
07. Wrong Cops (Quentin Dupieux, 2013) IFC; R1
08. Lolly-Madonna XXX (Richard C. Sarafian, 1973) Warner Archive; R0
09. Norte, the End of History (Lav Diaz, 2013) CinemaGuild; R1
10. Viola (Matias Pineiro, 2012) CinemaGuild; R0

Blu-Ray
01. The Werner Herzog Collection – BFI – RB
02. The Shooting/ Ride the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1966) Criterion; RA
03. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB
04. Curtains (Jonathan Stryker, 1983) Synapse; RA
05. Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984) Criterion; RA
06. The Swimmer (Perry / Pollack, 1968) Grindhouse Releasing; R0
07. Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (R. Altman, 1982) Olive RA
08. Neon Maniacs (Joseph Mangine, 1986) Code Red; RA
09. Deadly Eyes (Robert Clouse, 1982) Shout Factory; RA
10. Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Anderson, 2003) CinemaGuild: R0

Gregory, Meshman

Atlanta, GA USA

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases

Top 5 SD-DVD Releases of 2014
1. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
2. Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume 8 (various, 1931-1934) Warner Archive; R0
3. Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II - Criterion; R1
4. A Jester's Tale (Karel Zeman, 1964) Second Run DVD; R0 PAL
5. Bill Elliott Detective Mysteries: Five-Films (various, 1955-1957) Warner Archive; R0

Top 10 Blu-ray Releases of 2014
1. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB
2. The Complete Jacques Tati - Criterion; RA
3. Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917) Flicker Alley; RA
4. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977) Criterion; RA
5. Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941), Arrow; RB
6. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947), Warner Archive; R 0
7. The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Arrow Video; RB
8. Hangmen Also Die! (Fritz Lang, 1943) Cohen Media Group; RA
9. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965) Kino Lorber; RA
10. Twin Peaks - The Entire Mystery (David Lynch) Paramount; R0

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Top SD-DVD

1. Celluloid Man (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, 2012) First Run; R0 PAL
2. Fragments of Kubelka (Martina Kudláček, Edition Filmmuseum; R2 PAL
3. Level Five (Chris Marker, 1997) Icarus Films; R1
4. Providence (Alain Resnais, 1977) Jupiter Films; R0 PAL
5. Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II - Criterion; R1
6. Confessions of an Opium Eater (Albert Zugsmith, 1962) Warner Archive; R0
7. Coffret Jean Epstein (Jean Epstein, Various Years) Potemkine; R2, PAL
8. Pintilie, Cineast (Transilvania Films) (PAL)
9. Fritz Lang & L’Amérique – 2 Films de Fritz Lang: While the City Sleeps and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Wild Side; R2 PAL
10. Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray Criterion; R1

Blu-ray

1. Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917) Flicker Alley; RA
2. Judex (Georges Franju, 1963) Criterion; RA
3. Good Sam (Leo McCarey, 1948) Olive Films; RA
4. Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari – Masters of Cinema; RB
5. Pete Kelly's Blues (Jack Webb, ) Warner Archive; R0
6. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (B. Wilder, 1970) Kino Lorber; RA
7. Locke (Steven Knight, 2013) Lions Gate; RA
8. Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995) Criterion; RA
9. Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926) Masters of Cinema; RB
10. Aguirre, Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972) BFI; RB

Comments: It's lamentable that the French Carlotta label was able to do full justice to Orson Welles' MACBETH by including both versions edited by Welles (as well as many important extras) but no justice at all to his OTHELLO by including neither of the two versions that he authorized, in a dual format edition including both films.

Brian Saur
www.rupertpupkinspeaks.com

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2014

1. Test Pilot (Victor Fleming, 1938) Warner Archive, R0
2. Magic Boy (1959; Daikuhara), Warner Archive, R0
3. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
4. The Dr. Kildare Movie Collection - Warner Archive; R0
5. Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988) Warner Archive; R0
6. Alex & the Gypsy (John Korty, 1976), Fox Cinema Archives; R1
7. Lolly-Madonna XXX (Richard C. Sarafian, 1973) Warner Archive; R0
8. Dear Heart (Delbert Mann, 1964) Warner Archive; R0
9. Shirt Tales - The Complete Series Warner Archive; R0
10. Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973) Warner Archive; R0

Top Blu-ray Releases
1. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947), Warner Archive; R 0
2. The Train (1964; Frankenheimer), Twilight Time, R0
3. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) Criterion; RA
4. The Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989) Arrow; RB
5. Phantom of the Paradise (1974; De Palma) Shout Factory; RA
6. Used Cars (Robert Zemeckis, 1980) Twilight Time; R0
7. Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941), Arrow; RB
8. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977) Criterion; RA
9. The Mechanic (Michael Winner, 1972), Twilight Time; R0
10. Deadly Eyes (Robert Clouse, 1982) Shout Factory; RA

Per-Olof Strandberg

Helsinki, Finland

Top SD-DVD Releases

1. Caesar Must Die (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012) Atlantic Film; R2

Blu-ray Releases
1. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB
2. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013) Artificial Eye; RB
3. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) Criterion; RA
4. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 2014) Artificial Eye; RB
5. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) Lions Gate; RA
6. Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2013) Atlantic; RB
7. The Past (Asghar Farhadi, 2013) Artificial Eye; RB
8. A Touch of Sin (Zhangke Jia, 2013) Arrow; R0
9. The Lunchbox (Ritesh Batra, 2013) Scanbox; RB
10. About Time (Richard Curtis, 2013) Universal Pictures; R0

Gary Tooze

Toronto, Canada

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases

1. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
2. Birds, Orphans and Fools (Juraj Jakubisko, 1969) Second Run; R0 PAL
3. Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray Criterion; R1
4. The Brave Don't Cry (Philip Leacock, 1952) Panamint Cinema; R2 PAL
5. Night Song (John Cromwell, 1947) Warner Archive Collection; R0
6. Noose for a Lady (Wolf Rilla, 1953) Network; R2 PAL
7. The Changes (TV-mini-series, 1975) BFI Video; R2 PAL

Comments: Only 7 selected but I still watch a lot of DVDs, however Blu-ray is consistently eclipsing SDs growth and collectability. The above are just some films I greatly appreciated seeing in 2014... and were, unfortunately, not offered on Blu-ray.

Top Blu-ray Releases

1. L'avventura (Antonioni, 1960) Criterion; RA
2. Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995) Criterion; RA
3. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013) Artificial Eye; RB
4. The Complete Jacques Tati - Criterion; RA
5. The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Arrow Video; RB
6. Kelly Reichardt Box Set (Kelly Reichardt, 1994-2010) Soda Pictures; R0
7. Locke (Steven Knight, 2013) Lions Gate; RA
8. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB
9. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947), Warner Archive; R 0
10. My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) Criterion; RA

Comments: I liked so many titles this year that I feel ashamed to only include the above. Without even researching too deeply, I could have added; Arrow's Brute Force and Sisters (Brian De Palma) among many from that label, Artificial Eye's The Woman Next Door (and most of the AE Truffaut Blus), the region FREE Polish edition of Wojciech Has' Saragossa Manuscript (I think that was 2014), the German Blu-rays of The Andromeda Strain or titles like Tarantula and The Monolith Monsters or Campion's Angel at My Table. Also OOP Twilight Time titles resurrected in Germany like Fright Night and Christine. I loved Panamint Cinema's Inferno, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, Bava's Planet of the Vampires, Kino's The Quatermass Xperiment, Terence Fisher's Island Of Terror and what about Criterion's Les Blank - Always For Pleasure? Unreal value. It was obvious that Blu-ray would extend to the more eclectic and important cinema that we appreciate leaving the mainstream to Netflix, streaming or download. Suits me just fine. Let’s have another great year in 2015.

James White
Head of Technical Services and Restoration,
Arrow Films and Video, UK

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2014
1. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0
2. A Jester's Tale (Karel Zeman, 1964) Second Run DVD; R0 PAL
3. Out of the Unknown (Various, 1965 – 1974) BFI; R2
4. Transport from Paradise (Zbynek Brynych, 1962) Second Run, R0 PAL
5. Illumination (Krzysztof Zanussi, 1972) Second Run, R0 PAL
6. The Promised Land (Andrzej Wajda, 1974) Second Run; R0 PAL
7. Celluloid Man (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, 2012) Second Run; R0 PAL
8. Red Shift (John Mackenzie, 1978) BFI, R2 PAL
9. The Changes (TV-mini-series, 1975) BFI Video; R2 PAL

Top Blu-ray Releases 2014
1. The Gang's All Here (Busby Berkeley, 1943) The Masters of Cinema; RB
2. The Werner Herzog Collection – BFI – RB
3. Violent Sunday (Richard Fleischer, 1955) Eureka; RB
4. The Shooting/ Ride the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1966) Criterion; RA
5. The Day The Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) BFI; RB
6. The Swimmer (Perry / Pollack, 1968) Grindhouse Releasing; R0
7. The Essential Jacques Demy - Criterion; RA
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974) Second Sight, RB
9. Dead of Night (Various, 1945) Studio Canal, RB
10. Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977) Warner, R0

Comments: My contributions to Camera Obscura:The Walerian Borowczyk Collection (Arrow) and Withnail and I (Arrow) were my own two personal highlights of the year. Regardless of my input on this project, I feel the Borowczyk set is one of most important releases of the year, for resurrecting so much long-unseen and unavailable work by this incredible but much-neglected filmmaker and artist. At this stage no cinephile really needs convincing of the genius of say, Tati, Herzog or Demy (the other celebrated box sets this year) but Borowczyk was in great danger of being forgotten. Thanks to the efforts of all who contributed directly and indirectly via our Kickstarter campaign that's now very unlikely to happen.

TOP SELECTIONS IN ORDER - Discs with 16 or more votes:

	Votes
1. The Werner Herzog Collection – BFI – RB	693
2. The Complete Jacques Tati - Criterion; RA	448
2. Camera Obscura: Walerian Borowczyk Collection - Arrow; RB	448
4. The Essential Jacques Demy - Criterion; RA	378
5. Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari – Masters of Cinema; RB	364
6. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947), Warner Archive; R 0	252
7. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952) Warner Archive; R0	188
8. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) Criterion; RA	170
9. Twin Peaks - The Entire Mystery (David Lynch) Paramount; R0	156
10. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) - Criterion; RA	145
11. Birds, Orphans and Fools (Juraj Jakubisko, 1969) Second Run; R0 PAL	132
11. Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II - Criterion; R1	132
11. A Jester's Tale (Karel Zeman, 1964) Second Run DVD; R0 PAL	132
14. The Swimmer (Perry / Pollack, 1968) Grindhouse Releasing; R0	128
15. Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984) Criterion; RA	124
16. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) Criterion; RA	116
17. The Day The Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) BFI; RB	104
18. Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917) Flicker Alley; RA	99
19. Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray Criterion; R1	92
20. L'avventura (Antonioni, 1960) Criterion; RA	87
20. Les Blank - Always For Pleasure Criterion; RA	87
20. Show Boat (James Whale, 1936) Warner Archive, R0	87
23. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013) Artificial Eye; RB	81
23. Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995) Criterion; RA	81
25. The Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989) Arrow; RB	78
25. The Gang's All Here (Busby Berkeley, 1943) The Masters of Cinema; RB	78
25. Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977) Warner, R0	78
28. All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955) Criterion; RA	76
28. Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941) Arrow; RB	76
30. Once Upon a Time in America: Ext. Director's (Sergio Leone, 1984) Warner; R0	75
31. Celluloid Man (Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, 2012) Second Run; R0 PAL	72
31. Coffret Jean Epstein (Jean Epstein, Various Years) Potemkine; R2, PAL	72
31. Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1977) Second Run DVD; R0	72
31. Out of the Unknown (Various, 1965 – 1974) BFI; R2	72
35. The Shooting/ Ride the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1966) Criterion; RA	69
36. Alain Robbe-Grillet Collection (Alain Robbe Grillet, Various Years) BFI; RB	60
36. L'eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962) Criterion; RA	60
38. Judex (Georges Franju, 1963) Criterion; RA	57
39. Locke (Steven Knight, 2013) Lions Gate; RA	54
39. Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965) Kino Lorber; RA	54
41. 55 Days at Peking (Nicholas Ray, 1963) Anchor Bay UK; RB	51
42. The Changes (TV-mini-series, 1975) BFI Video; R2 PAL	48
42. Double Indemnity 70th Ann. Ltd Ed. (Billy Wilder, 1944) Universal; R0	48
44. Test Pilot (Victor Fleming, 1938) Warner Archive, R0	40
45. Nightbreed - 3-disc Edition (Clive Barker, 1990) Shout! Factory; RA	39
46. Magic Boy (1959; Daikuhara), Warner Archive, R0	38
46. Transport from Paradise (Zbynek Brynych, 1962) Second Run, R0 PAL	38
48. Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (R. Altman, 1982) Olive RA	36
49. The Brave Don't Cry (Philip Leacock, 1952) Panamint Cinema; R2 PAL	34
49. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963) Criterion; RA	34
49. Othello (Orson Welles, 1952) Carlotta Films; RB	34
49. Providence (Alain Resnais, 1977) Jupiter Films; R0 PAL	34
53. Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988) Warner Archive, R0	32
54. Confessions of an Opium Eater (Albert Zugsmith, 1962) Warner Archive; R0	30
55. The Past (Asghar Farhadi, 2013) Artificial Eye; RB	30
56. Blonde Crazy (in Forbidden Hollywood: Vol. 8) ( Del Ruth, 1931) Warner; R0	28
56. A Touch of Sin (Zhangke Jia, 2013) Kino Lorber; RA	28
56. Lolly-Madonna XXX (Richard C. Sarafian, 1973) Warner Archive; R0	28
59. Sundays And Cybele (Serge Bourguignon, 1962) Criterion; RA	26
59. True Detective – Season One (Nic Pizzolatto), Warner; R0	26
61. Ali; Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974) Criterion; RA	24
61. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Andersen, 2014) 20th Century Fox; R0	24
61. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (B. Wilder, 1970) Kino Lorber; RA	24
61. Y tu mama tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001) Criterion; RA	24
65. The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1948) Warner Archive, R0	22
65. Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973) Warner Archive, R0	22
67. Kelly Reichardt Box Set (Kelly Reichardt, 1994-2010) Soda Pictures; R0	21
68. All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979) Criterion; RA	20
68. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977) Criterion; RA	20
68. The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Arrow Video; RB	20
71. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) Criterion; RA	18
72. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) Criterion; RA	16

THE WINNERS - DVD

First Place with 188 pts – is Nicholas Ray's The Lusty Men from The Warner Archive - The titular Lusty Men are rodeo riders in this modern-day western, assembled with a touch of the offbeat by director Nicholas Ray. Former rodeo star Robert Mitchum, disabled by a series of accidents, hobbles back to his Oklahoma hometown in hopes of replenishing his bank account. Aspiring bronco-buster Arthur Kennedy hires Mitchum to train him for an upcoming rodeo, promising that they'll split the winnings. It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that Mitchum will soon fall hard for Kennedy's wife Susan Hayward; she can take Mitchum or leave him, but decides to take him so that he'll continue to train Kennedy. After a falling out, Mitchum quits his job and enters the rodeo himself, hoping to win the prize from the arrogant Kennedy. He proves he still has what it takes, but does so at the price of his life. The Lusty Men was co-adapted by one-time cowboy David Dotort from a Life magazine story by Claude Stannish.

Tied for Second Place with 132 pts is Juraj Jakubisko's Birds, Orphans and Fools from Second Run in the UK – Shot immediately after the Soviet invasion of 1968, Jakubisko's long-repressed feature focuses on the the three-way relationship that develops between two male friends and a female Jewish orphan as they travail a world ravaged by death and destruction, a war-torn landscape of bombed-out churches and wrecked homes occupied, it seems, only by themselves and birds. Their triangular relationship recalls Truffaut's Jules et Jim, but Jakubisko's heroes have no romantic ideals - they are all orphans, products of an absurd world in which their parents killed each.

With references from Shakespeare to Rabelais, key episodes in Slovak history, and recalling the anarchic air of Vera Chytilová's DAISIES, Jakubisko's exhilarating, experimental film is turn playful, surreal and increasingly nightmarish.

Tied for Second Place with 132 pts is Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II – Hugely popular in his home country of Japan, Keisuke Kinoshita worked tirelessly as a director for nearly half a century, making lyrical, sentimental films that often center on the inherent goodness of people, especially in times of distress. He began his directing career during a most challenging time for Japanese cinema: World War II, when the industry’s output was closely monitored by the state and often had to be purely propagandistic. This collection of Kinoshita’s first films—four made while the war was going on and one shortly after Japan’s surrender—demonstrates the way the filmmaker’s humanity and exquisite cinematic technique shone through even in the darkest of times.

Also Tied for Second Place with 132 pts is Karel Zeman's A Jester's Tale – The legendary, visionary Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman has been a profound influence on whole generations of filmmakers from Jan Svankmajer to Tim Burton, the Quay Brothers to Terry Gilliam. His ground-breaking innovations in the use of live-action and animation mark him as one of the great masters of 20th Century fantasy cinema. A JESTER'S TALE is one of his most renowned and celebrated achievments. Described by Zeman as a "pseudo-historical" film, it is a bold anti-war black comedy following the adventures of a plowboy and a mercenary, press-ganged into service on the battlefields of the Thirty Years War of 1618 - 1648.

Fifth Place with 92 pts is Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray – The films directed by the great Satyajit Ray (Charulata) in the last ten years of his life have a unique dignity and drama. Three of them are collected here: the fervent Rabindranath Tagore adaptation The Home and the World; the vital Henrik Ibsen-inspired An Enemy of the People; and the filmmaker's final film, the poignant and philosophical family story The Stranger. Each is a complex, political, and humane portrait of a world both corrupt and indescribably beautiful, constructed with Ray's characteristic elegance and imbued with autumnal profundity. These late-career features are the meditative works of a master.

In for Sixth Place with 87 points - Show Boat Edna Ferber’s classic tale of life and love among a theatrical troupe on a Mississippi riverboat has received many dramatic treatments since its birth over eighty years ago. But none is more satisfying than this 1936 production, widely accepted as the best and most faithful of three screen versions of the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical. A splendid, indeed definitive cast features Irene Dunne as the lovely Magnolia, fated to fall for Allan Jones’ dashing riverboat gambler, Gaylord Ravenal. It is their turbulent romance and Magnolia’s growth from a shy guileless girl to a mature star of the stage that form the core of the story. In her last film appearance, Helen Morgan will break your heart as the tragic Julie, with her songs “Bill” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man.” And there is perhaps no more memorable performance in musical history than Paul Robeson’s moving rendition of “Ol’ Man River.”.

Tied for 7th Place with 72 pts is Shivendra Singh Dungarpur's Celluloid Man from Second Run. Celluloid Man is a tribute to an extraordinary man called P.K.Nair. Mr Nair's fascination with cinema began as a child. He would collect ticket stubs, lobby cards, posters and finally film cans. He grew up to be a great collector of films - and so the Nation Film Archive of India was born. He built the Archive can by can in a country where film preservation was regarded as unimportant. Thanks to Nair's passion, the Archive has been able to preserve precious pieces of film history that would otherwise be lost and many filmmakers now have a place in history thanks to Nair's efforts. He is a living, breathing museum of cinema and he has influenced generations of filmmakers and shown them new worlds through the prism of cinema.

Tied for 7th Place with 72 pts is Coffret Jean Epstein – Jean Epstein died there at age 60 in April 1953. Poet, filmmaker, philosopher, he leaves considerable work that has, perhaps, never generated as much excitement, yet it remains largely unknown, perhaps because of the diversity of his work disconcerting, unclassifiable, very modern, inexhaustible source of inspiration for many filmmakers who followed him...He was in turn author vanguard, art house films, the "blockbusters" or documented maritime fictions. This DVD set includes 14 films, most of which have been preserved and restored by the French Cinémathèque.

Also tied for 7th Place with 72 pts is Andrzej Wajda's Man of Marble from Second Run DVD in the UK – Often described as 'the Polish CITIZEN KANE', Wajda's MAN OF MARBLE is about the attempts of a determined young woman filmmaker Agnieszka (Krystyna Janda) to make a documentary about the Polish national hero Mateusz Birkut, a labourer who, in the early days of the Communist revolution, was hailed for his productivity feats and became as famous as any film star, only to disappear from the record books in 1952. Through interviews with his former wife, colleagues, friends and enemies who knew him, Birkut emerges as a man who believed in the socialist ideals and the workers revolution. Unlike many of his colleagues and compatriots Birkut refused to forgive and forget. His disappearance became, in effect, the unrelenting conscience of the revolution. However, the young filmmaker's hard-driving style and the content of her film unnerve the authorities, who thinks it's getting too close to a political nerve.

Tied for 7th Place with 72 pts is Out of the Unknown (7-Disc DVD Set) - This classic anthology science fiction series, created by Irene Shubik (The Wednesday Play, Rumpole of the Bailey), was one of the most daring, ambitious and inventive series ever created. Intended to display the genre at its best, as parable or metaphor, whether seriously or satirically, the series drew from writers of the calibre of Frederick Pohl, E.M. Forster, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and John Wyndham. This extensive seven-disc DVD box set collects all 20 surviving episodes from the four original series, along with an extensive and comprehensive collection of extra features including one incomplete episode, four episode reconstructions, 11 audio commentaries, extensive stills galleries, an archival interview with director James Cellan Jones, and a newly-created 42-minute documentary with original cast and crew members and rarely seen fragments from lost episodes.

BLU-RAYs OF THE YEAR

First Place with a whopping 693 pts is BFI's The Werner Herzog Collection (8-Disc Blu-ray Box Set) – The Werner Herzog Collection is an extensive Blu-ray box set compiling 18 films from the legendary German director. Features digitally remastered High Definition presentations of classics such as Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972); The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974); Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) plus many of Herzog's hugely acclaimed short films. Extras include Jack Bond's long-unseen South Bank Show on Herzog from 1982 and Les Blank's Burden of Dreams.

Tied For Second Place with 448 pts is Criterion's 25 film boxset of The Complete Jacques Tati – Though he made only a handful of films, director, writer, and actor Jacques Tati ranks among the most beloved of all cinematic geniuses. With a background in music hall and mime performance, Tati steadily built an ever-more-ambitious movie career that ultimately raised sight-gag comedy to the level of high art. In the surrogate character of the sweet and bumbling, eternally umbrella-toting and pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot, Tati invented a charming symbol of humanity lost in a relentlessly modernizing modern age. This set gathers his six hilarious features—Jour de fete, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Mon oncle, PlayTime, Trafic, and Parade—along with seven delightful Tati-related short films.

Tied For Second Place with 448 pts is Arrow Academy's Camera Obscura: The Walerian Borowczyk Collection This groundbreaking collection brings together Walerian Borowczyk's key films from a twenty-five-year period stretching from 1959 through to 1984. This unique release includes five of Borowczyk's provocative feature films: Theatre de M et Mme Kabal, Goto, l ile d amour, Blanche, Contes Immoraux and La Bete as well as his groundbreaking short films from this period. Not only are many of these films available on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time, but also in new digital high definition restorations approved by the director's widow, Ligia Branice. In addition to exclusive documentaries featuring cast and crew, an hour long portrait of Borowczyk is to be included, featuring the director s musings on painting, animation and sex. Accompanying this seminal release is a book edited by Borowczyk experts Daniel Bird and Michael Brooke featuring newly commissioned essays on Borowczyk s films and art, as well as an account of the meticulous restoration process involved.

Fourth Place with 378 pts is Criterion's The Essential Jacques Demy. French director Jacques Demy didn’t just make movies—he created an entire cinematic world. Demy launched his glorious feature filmmaking career in the sixties, a decade of astonishing invention in his national cinema. He stood out from the crowd of his fellow New Wavers, however, by filtering his self-conscious formalism through deeply emotional storytelling. Fate and coincidence, doomed love, and storybook romance surface throughout his films, many of which are further united by the intersecting lives of characters who either appear or are referenced across titles. Demy’s films—which range from musical to melodrama to fantasia—are triumphs of visual and sound design, camera work, and music, and they are galvanized by the great stars of French cinema at their centers, including Anouk Aimée, Catherine Deneuve, and Jeanne Moreau. The works collected here, made from the sixties to the eighties, touch the heart and mind in equal measure.

Fifth Place with 364 pts is The Masters of Cinema's Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari – One of the most iconic masterpieces in cinema history, Robert Wiene's Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari shook filmgoers worldwide and changed the direction of the art form. Now presented in a definitive restoration, the film's chilling, radically expressionist vision is set to grip viewers again. At a local carnival in a small German town, hypnotist Dr. Caligari presents the somnambulist Cesare, who can purportedly predict the future of curious fairgoers. But at night, the doctor wakes Cesare from his sleep to enact his evil bidding... Incalculably influential, the film s nightmarishly jagged sets, sinister atmospheric and psychological emphasis left an immediate impact in its wake (horror, film noir, and gothic cinema would all be shaped directly by it). But this diabolical tale nevertheless stands alone - now more mesmerising than ever in this new Dual-Format special edition.

Sixth Place with 252 pts is Warner Archive's Blu-ray of Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past – Everything you want in a film noir you’ll find in Out of the Past. A Tenacious detective (Robert Mitchum) spinning his wheels to make good. A drop-dead beauty (Jane Greer) up to no good. A moneyed mobster (Kirk Douglas) with a shark’s grin. Plus double-crosses and fall guys. Shadowy rooms and bleak souls. Mitchum solidified his tough- guy persona in this archetypal film noir directed with memorable style by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie). He plays Jeff Bailey, a one-time private investigator walking the straight and narrow of small-town life...until an acquaintance from his past pulls him back into the troubles he’d left behind.

Seventh Place with 170 pts is Criterion's Blu-ray of Ingmar Bergman's Persona - "Heavily artistically infused this chamber piece from Bergman lauded numerous international awards for both the film and the performances. It's beautiful imagery from Sven Nykvist's magnificent cinematography, its high level of pretension and its inability to be comprehensible have given it a unique place in cinema history. "Persona" can causes a myriad of personal reactions. Perhaps its greatest triumph is forcing the viewer to allow "it" to penetrate... to open yourself to its deeply felt expressions and perhaps have it touch upon your own. "Persona" is rife with universal emotions; pain, love, desire, regret, longing. This is a film that can be viewed multiple times garnering more from each visit ... or less, depending on how you allow it to brush your subconscious... that part of you filled with emotions which you rarely, if ever, openly discuss."

Eighth Place with 156 pts is Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery - On stunning High Definition Blu-ray, Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery is a comprehensive collection with every episode from the complete television series; both the U.S. and international versions of the series’ Pilot; the North American Blu-ray debut of David Lynch’s follow-up feature Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me; and nearly 90 minutes of deleted and extended scenes from the film. The set also features newly transferred Log Lady introductions for each episode; picture upgrades to many shots in the TV series; a new featurette with series creator Lynch and the actors who portrayed the Palmer family which includes a mesmerizing return to the lives of their characters today; and hours of never-before-released material that dives into the fascinating story behind the celebrated pop culture classic.

Ninth Place with 145 pts is Criterion's package of Federico Fellini's La dolce vita - The biggest hit from the most popular Italian filmmaker of all time, La dolce vita rocketed Federico Fellini to international mainstream success—ironically, by offering a damning critique of the culture of stardom. A look at the darkness beneath the seductive lifestyles of Rome’s rich and glamorous, the film follows a notorious celebrity journalist (a sublimely cool Marcello Mastroianni) during a hectic week spent on the peripheries of the spotlight. This mordant picture was an incisive commentary on the deepening decadence of contemporary Europe, and it provided a prescient glimpse of just how gossip- and fame-obsessed our society would become.

Tenth Place with 128 pts is Grindhouse Releasing's The Swimmer – Adapted from John Cheever's short story, Burt Lancaster plays Ned Merrill, an out-of-work advertising executive who is in a veritable haze regarding his present circumstance. He is intent to relive moments of his past, as if a man retracing the steps of his flawed life. We learn details very slowly about Ned; his prolonged absence from his social circle, his well-liked demeanor and acquaintances from his past as he endeavors to swim across his neighborhood in backyard pools scenically littered throughout Connecticut. The film was shot entirely on location. Considered, appropriately, one of the most beautifully shot films of the 60's it also contains numerous subtle cinematographic gestures with the most memorable being a bold horse reflected in Ned Merrill's eyeball. The film ends as a powerful, haunting recession of memory with a dramatic score enhancing the final scenes.

Omissions

Some appreciated Blu-rays that received mention but did not make the official 'Top' listing - many region FREE. Presented here in alphabetical order:

The Andromeda Strain (Robert Wise, 1971) Koch Media; R0

Angel at My Table (Jane Campion, 1990) Koch Media; R0

Christine (John Carpenter, 1983) Sony (DE); R0

Come Back, Africa (Lionel Rogosin, 1959) Milestone, R0

Dead of Night (Various, 1945) Studio Canal, RB

Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985) Sony (DE); R0

The François Truffaut Collection (Francois Truffaut, various) Artificial Eye; RB

Hail Mary (Jean-Luc Godard, 1985) Cohen; RA

Hangmen Also Die! (Fritz Lang, 1943) Cohen Media Group; RA

Inferno (Roy Ward Baker, 1953) Panamint Cinema; R0 (previously RB only)

Island of Terror (Terence Fisher, 1966) Odeon Entertainment; R0

The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies, 1992) Criterion, RA

Les Misérables (Raymond Bernard, 1934) Masters Of Cinema; RB

My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) Criterion; RA

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959) Criterion; RA

Pit Stop (Jack Hill, 1969) Arrow Video; R0

The Quatermass Xperiment (Val Guest, 1955) Kino-Lorber; RA

Seven Wonders of the World (Tay Garnett & various, 1956) Flicker Alley; R0

Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1973) Arrow; R0

Tarantula (Jack Arnold, 1955) Koch Media; RB

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974) Second Sight, RB

Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 2014) Artificial Eye; RB

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) Lions Gate; RA

The Vincent Price Collection (various, 1958-1972) Shout! Factory; RA

Violent Sunday (Richard Fleischer, 1955) Eureka; RB

The Woman Next Door (Francois Truffaut, 1981) Artificial Eye; RB

Label Results

Top Labels (total votes)

#1 - Criterion (864)
#2 - Warner (416)
#3 - BFI (232)
#4 - Second Run (227)
#5 - Arrow Video (164)
#6 - Eureka - Masters of Cinema (114)
#7 - Kino Lorber (56)

Honorable mention: Flicker Alley, Grindhouse Releasing, Shout! Factory, Artificial Eye, Paramount, Twilight Time, Cohen Media

Film Noir on Blu-ray

There was a time, not too long ago, James White and I were wondering what would be the first Noir to be transferred to Blu-ray. This year, alone, we had the following 'dark cinema' (and 'dark cinema-related') titles in this new format. In alphabetic order:

Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951) The Criterion Collection; RA / Eureka UK; RB

All The King's Men (Robert Rossen, 1949) Twilight Time; R0

The Big Clock (John Farrow, 1948) Koch Media; RB

The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953) Wild Side Video; R0

Boomerang (Elia Kazan, 1947) Eureka UK; RB

Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947) Arrow Video UK; RB

Caught (Max Ophüls, 1949) Olive; RA

Cry Danger (Robert Parrish, 1951) Olive; RA

Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) Universal; ALL

Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946) Sony Germany; ALL

The Girl Hunters (Roy Rowland, 1963) Scorpion Releasing/Kino Lorber; RA

Hangmen Also Die! (Fritz Lang, 1943) Cohen Media Group; RA

Inferno (Roy Ward Baker, 1953) Panamint Cinema; ALL

The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Arrow Video UK; RB / Carlotta Films France RB

The Killers (Don Siegel, 1964) Arrow Video UK; RB

The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947) Turner Classic Movies; RA

Man Hunt (Fritz Lang, 1941) Twilight Time; ALL

Man in the Dark (Lew Landers, 1953) Twilight Time; ALL

The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948) Arrow Video UK; RB

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947) Warner Archive; ALL

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Albert Lewin, 1945) Warner Archive; ALL

Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947) Warner Archive; ALL

Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955) The Criterion Collection; RA

Riot in Cell Block 11 (Don Siegel, 1954) The Criterion Collection; RA

Secret Beyond the Door... (Fritz Lang, 1947) Carlotta; RB

Sleep, My Love (Douglas Sirk, 1948) Olive; RA

Stranger on the Prowl (Joseph Losey, 1952) Olive; RA

Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) Universal; ALL

Violent Saturday (Richard Fleischer, 1955) Twilight Time; ALL / Eureka UK; RB

Witness to Murder (Roy Rowland, 1954) Kino Lorber; RA

Best Cover Designs: (dominating were votes for covers by Arrow - steelbooks often cited as favorites, Criterion and Masters of Cinema) NOTE: In alphabetic order!

Notable Rants and Praise

DVDBeaver-ites are a discerning lot, but there wasn't a ton of complaints but we are always looking for new audio commentaries. DNR was less-prominent a pet-peeve but fans are still pining for more Antonioni and Bresson in 1080P - with desperate hopes for future titles like L' Argent (1983), The Devil Probably (1977), The Passenger (1975), Lancelot du Lac (1974), Blowup (1966), Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962), Diary of a Country Priest (1951) - although we did get L'Eclisse (1962), L'Avventura (1960), and Pickpocket (1959) in the Blu-ray format this past year - Bravo! Here are short comments from a variety of balloters, in no order:

Second Run had a terrific year, releasing some essential lesser-known gems, including The Jester's Tale.

The BFI released an amazing selection of BBC TV titles this year, with more to follow in 2015. The BFI should also be praised for going the extra mile in presenting the Herzog titles in the best representations possible.

Worst Transfer: Don't Look in the Basement (S.F. Brownrigg, 1973) Film Chest; Region 0

Some studios still don’t know how to do proper Blu-ray transfers; VCI, Raro Video

Given the superior work being done across the board on high-definition Blu-ray releases and high-quality DVD and DVD-R releases, it is a crime that 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives is still releasing so many vault films in substandard transfers and CinemaScope movies in pan-and-scan editions—they are the last label of any stature to do so.

“Dewey Defeats Truman” Headline Award: “Physical Media Is Dead” – Not in 2014 it isn’t, and neither will it be in 2015!

Why-Oh-Why Award: Fox Cinema Archives, for releasing 4:3 panned-and-scanned editions of widescreen movies long after 4:3 TVs became extinct.

Public Relations Disaster Prize: Kino, who experienced authoring issues on at least out-of-synch Blu-ray titles (ON THE BEACH, BLACK SABBATH, CAST A GIANT SHADOW). Rather than address the problem forthrightly, petulant spokespeople blamed reviewers for pointing to a problem they insisted did not exist.

WideScreen Award: To Bob Furmanek, tireless researcher of widescreen exactness, who meticulously provides authoritative evidence on correct original aspect ratios of 1950s (and beyond) movies, where lazy home video project managers merely guess.

Super Wide Screen Award: To David Strohmaier and his team of tireless preservationists and restoration experts, for their Herculean work restoring and making presentable long-unavailable Cinerama titles.

Acknowledgment to reviewers Eric Cotenas and Gregory Meshman who continue to churn out valuable disc information for the digital consumer. Thanks lads!

Have a super 2015!

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