Moshe Black

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - Surely the greatest boxset ever!
2. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 19 - A masterclass in game changing cinema.
3. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - Great restoration, extras and booklet.
4. The Tree of Life [Blu-ray] (Terrence Malick, 2011) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - Fantastic quality release.
5. Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - The business, restored print, 4 versions of the film, stacked boxset.
6. The American Friend [Blu-ray] (Wim Wenders, 1977) RB UK AX1 Films - Dennis H. an inspired pick as Ripley. Great restored print and good commentary track.
7. Trespass [Blu-ray] (Walter Hill, 1992) RB UK 101 Film - A masterclass in thrilling entertainment!
8. The Boondock Saints [Blu-ray] (Troy Duffy, 1999) Arrow Video UK - A most enjoyable feel good flick!
9. The Endless [Blu-ray] (Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, 2017) Arrow Video UK (BEAVER REVIEW) - A super package, commentaries galore, stacked 2 discs with amazing 1st film RESOLUTION.
10. Take Shelter: Limited Edition [Blu-ray] (Jeff Nichols, 2011) RB UK Second Sight - At last a complete, deluxe and stacked version - most deserved!
11. The Wrong Box [Blu-ray] (Bryan Forbes, 1966) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - great restoration of funny 60s film with many great cameos.
 

 A year in which it was impossible to limit to 10. I have chosen 17 starting and ending with Criterion.

1. Au hasard Balthazar [Blu-ray] (Robert Bresson, 1966) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW). This 2014 restoration took an awfully long time to get the blu ray. It was like watching the film with fresh eyes. Godard’s famous quote’ This film is the whole world’ is there in the supplement ‘Un metterur en ordre’. Want to know what humanity is really like? Watch this devastating film.
2. Andrei Rublev [Blu-ray] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). Another restoration (183 min version), another revelation. Not just the stupendous visuals but in the audio restoration. Very rarely have i been aware of how sound can deepen your appreciation. Dare I now watch the unrestored 204 original version included as a bonus? Very likely.
3. A Story from Chikamatsu [Blu-ray] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954) Criterion. Like others I had always thought of this as a lesser Mizoguchi, what with Ugetsu, Sansho and Oharu to compare his 1950’s output with. And in this, (as Haden Crane makes clear in his essay) I was not alone. Possibly because its melodrama was more domestic. Again this restoration sets me right. You suddenly realise, within the limited means of the story, how great Mizoguchi elegant mastery was. Kazuo Miyagawa’s cinematography is something to behold.
4. Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1959) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). I saw the Criterion restored film on it’s theatrical re-release at the NFT1, London Southbank in October. But the blu- ray is even better, as the film positively glows! Sadly, many of the supplements are old, old, old. Also, if only Criterion could have added a bit of fun to to the inside cover, and included Annie Leibowitz’s marvellous1995 portrait of Curtis and Lemmon in drag, as Daphne and Josephine 36 years later. Not seen it? Have a look. It will make you laugh all over again!
5. Dead Man [Blu-ray] (Jim Jarmusch, 1995) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). A few thing came to my mind viewing this ravishing release. The late, great Robby Muller’s artistry, Neil Young’s superlative soundtrack (which, as Gary Farmer rightly says in his interview, is a 3rd character in the film, as William Blake and Nobody ride out) and of course Jarmusch’s sure, unhurried touch in every shot. His Q&A to written questions is great fun too. A perfect release to a perfect film, although I did wish Criterion could have gone all out on the packaging as they did with Alex Cox’s Repo Man.
6. The Passenger [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW). This was the only Powerhouse release I bought this year. You know these guy do every release right. For Passenger, they retained all the goodies from the previous excellent DVD release (Jack Nicholson commentary etc), but added an extra commentary, new interviews with Jenny Runacre and Steve Berkoff, and alternative Italian titles. It is region free too. A must own masterpiece that never stales on repeat viewings.
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1956) Olive Signature (BEAVER REVIEW). I had previously pretty much ignored Gary’s raves for the Olive Signature releases, until I realised in 2017 (trying to source their’ High Noon ‘release in the UK) how special these releases were. In terms of supplements, they go beyond what Criterion do. Oh boy, how happy I was they went for this Siegel classic! Every now and then I have a craving (yes, a craving!) to watch it, and I now own the definitive version.
8. Intimate Lighting [Blu-ray] (Ivan Passer, 1965) RB UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW). Has a year gone by when I have not raved about Second Run. Here is a small company that has been doing things excellently for so long, that it is easy to take them for granted. They are now moving some of their early DVD releases on to Blu ray, including the Czech classics from the Prague Spring. And unlike Criterion, they try and included new supplements to their Blu ray upgrades to make it worth our while. This release for example, has Passer’s debut short film ‘A Boring Afternoon’. Intimate Lighting is a top ten film of mine, and again, this is the definitive release.
9. The Crime of Monsieur Lange [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1936) RB UK Studiocanal. Like Intimate Lighting, and Balthazar, this film is in my top ten film list. This is a Studiocanal’ release( their ’Vintage World Cinema’ imprint). They seem to have the rights to a great many classics. I suppose the restoration is good as one can expect for such an old film. However can Criterion do better? I believe they will. This is one of the most modern and sophisticated films ever made. Ensemble casting of the highest order. Prevert’s script just zings! And in Jules Berry’s performance as Batala- there is no better demonstration of the depredations visited on others when one is a Capitalist with a capital C.
10. The Apartment [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1960) Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW). I’ve just realised this was actually released late UK December 2017. But I suspect, before many of us got to watch it, and list it then. I have the Deluxe edition with hardcover book. One of many excellent releases from Arrow this year. I still see this Limited edition in the stores a year later, and feel bemused that it had not all been snapped up months ago! The restoration is brilliant. One of those film you revisit with pleasure.
11. Zama [Blu-ray] (Lucrecia Martel, 2017) UK Drakes Avenue Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW). Granted this is listing of blu ray releases, but the impact of some films on the big screen, cannot avoid mention. My experience of this film (again at the NFT1) reflected exactly that of Colin Zavitz’s in his review on DVDBeaver. I was so filled with admiration for what Martel had made I watched her other films on DVD again. None are easy watches but what a filmmaker! (New Wave Films ‘ output here in UK is small- but they have some quality releases- Ceylan, Weerasethakul, Kiarostami, Miguel Gomes are among the ones I have).
12. Gun Crazy [Blu-ray] (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW). Another film I am loco for. Except for the cars, this could have been made yesterday. Never mind if Peggy Cummins and John Dall never did another film as good. This film grants them movie immortality! The restoration is great, and I listened to some of the commentary- also good. And there is a rather dated ‘Film Noir’ supplement tacked on. But this film deserves more. If only Olive Signature or Criterion were given the chance to release it!
13.Call Me by Your Name [Blu Ray] (Luca Guadagnino- 2017) Sony Pictures. Very few of us have the luck to spend our adolescent summers ‘somewhere in Italy’ with a large house, garden, orchards, and servants etc, but nearly all of us have had a transformative summer pretty much like the one Elio has in this film in our teens. If you made an attempt to read the novel, as I did, after seeing this film, then you’ll know what a marvel James Ivory’s script is. The prose was rather like a stodgy pudding, but the film is light as a soufflé! Guadagnino makes something so pleasurable to watch that it is easy to overlook the artistry of all involved.
14. Early Hou Hsiao-Hsien: THREE FILMS 1980-1983 [Blu-ray] (Cute Girl, The Green, Green Grass of Home, The Boys from Fengkuei) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW). I had the Belgian Cinematek 2016 DVD release, but did not hesitate to get this MoC blu ray release. That’s how much I love ‘The Boys of Fengkuei’. I only hope there is a ‘What Hou Hsiao- Hsien did next’ volume to follow, because I’m just as crazy about the 3 films that followed- A Summer At Grandpa’s (’84), A Time to Live A Time to Die ( ’85) and Dust In the Wind (’86). Please MoC- release this too!!!
15. Lucky [Blu-ray] (John Carroll Lynch, 2017) RB UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW). I bought the US DVD in January, convinced a small film like this would never get a UK release. I was wrong. The September UK release was quickly followed by this Eureka blu ray. The first title says ‘Harry Dean Stanton’ and the next, ‘is Lucky’. So in a way are we, to see him here, in his last starring role. Despite its limitations it still remains a wonderfully encouraging film about living into old age with your spirit of independence intact. Eureka have added a supplement ‘Harry dean Stanton: Partly Fiction’ which I have yet to watch.
16. Gloria [Blu Ray] (John Cassevetes 1980) Twilight Time (BEAVER REVIEW). The first Cassavetes film I ever saw, in my teens, and I have loved it since. This probably will get an UK Powerhouse release soon (many of their releases duplicate with Twilight Time) but I could not wait, and had to pay import fees. Julie Kirgo’s essay highlights why the film has never got any respect in Cassevets’ oeuvre. He himself apparently considered it hack work. Perhaps at the script stage it was, but the finished film is anything but. Gene Rowlands, gun in hand, on the wrath path is something to behold. So pleased this is now out in hi-def!
17. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). Release timed to perfection with the B&N half price sale which was the only way I would justify buying it, given I had 10 Bergman blu ray Criterion stand alone releases already. I have to confess I have not watched a single film from it yet as iI type this( choices 1, 2,3, 4, 5 Criterions, also B&N buys took my time instead). The book alone is a thing of beauty, never mind 30 disc bonanza within. Now that Criterion have set a precedent, could we hope for something similar with Ozu or Naruse, or Mizoguchi- to name just 3 great Japanese directors who deserve such a sumptuous presentation.

Simón Cherpitel
photographer / designer / writer / cinemacom.com
 

At least 1/2 of my 2018 Blu-ray purchases came from overseas, showing that there is more interest in & respect for American legacy movies than here in North America. 44 BD replacements for DVDs in my collection is about the same as 2017. The 225 number of my purchases dropped 10% from the previous year, indicating that the bell-curve of the best of cinema is on the downward slope. Also, i have since dropped about 10% of what i bought as 'mistakes'.

"Enduring" is the word that means a movie's worth seeing multiple times over time. Like it's more pleasurable to see masterpieces in a gallery than spend the time perusing shallow commercial garbage. However, all movies have gotta have a dollar-seeking edge because it costs so bloody much to make them.

And the difference between glancing at anything hanging on the wall & seeing any movie before deciding to look longer is the difference between 2 seconds & 2 hours.

What I try to maintain in my collection are only those movies that I can view 20 hours or longer over the years.

1 The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - One of the longest & most eagerly awaited releases in Blu-ray history. I've been around Indianapolis & my wife lived there for several years. It is one of the most nondescript of American cities, noted mainly for an annual car race that is an ironic comment on the most prescient speech in the movie, spoken by Joseph Cotten nearly verbatim from Tarkington's 1918 novel. I'm not sure i would prefer Welles' original ending showing an industrially clogged cityscape & perhaps Orson was ambivalent, too, & why he didn't push harder against the studio's changes. I think it's time critics stopped quibbling about how the movie was 'ruined' & appreciate it for the wonderful cinema art experience it is. While he was writing Citizen Welles, my friend Loren Frank Brady & I agreed it was our favorite Welles movie.

2  First Reformed [Blu-ray] (Paul Schrader, 2017) Lionsgate - Brilliant & unexpectedly enthralling, it is, for me, the best, most enduring movie since Malick's The Tree of Life seven years ago. Initially, i caught this on Amazon Prime, having read enough about it to fairly know what it was about & where it was going, thus i anticipated something down & alienating, like Taxi Driver without the magic, & was streaming it as background while i worked, just looking for a taste of its reality—as Anthony Lane wrote, 'Until I saw this reverend, I didn't know the human soul could frown.' It's years since i was so surprised.....& delighted by a movie. In his commentary, Schrader's quite upfront about taking the setting from Bergman's Winter Light, the Pastor's alcohol absorption & illness from Bresson's Diary of a Country Priest, & gluing it all together with Taxi Driver, which he wrote, & whose surreal conclusion is also echoed here, 'giving you a choice of two happy endings,' the most obvious inspired by Dreyer's Ordet. Along the way there are Tarkovsky elements, like a levitation or out-of-the-body experience that many of us have experienced. As much as any movie-maker, Schrader is aware that cinema is evolutionary. The Ozu-like contemplative compositions are mainly static stills, using the old academy frame of 1:1.37 with a darkish color pallet & makes such use of the hymn "Leaning...." that you are swept back to Mitchum in Laughton's Night of the Hunter that itself took you back to cinema's beginnings with its style & the presence of Lillian Gish. The art direction here is noted by not how the sets are decorated but how they've been stripped. I don't i've ever quite so revealing & incisive a commentary as this by Schrader, who says at one point, 'if you've been around church people, you know that when someone quotes Revelations, he's gone to the dark side.'

3 A Fuller Life (Samantha Fuller, 2013) / Forty Guns [Blu-ray] (Samuel Fuller, 1957) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - An endearing documentary by a loving daughter giving testament to the title explicit life of her father Sam. The BD was issued earlier this year in France but this ed includes English subs for those like us who are hearing deficient. What we have besides Samantha's narration are a series of prominent cinema people who read from Sam's autobiography, all very poignantly. My wife, who loves bios feels that this is one of the most thorough & interesting portraits of a director she's ever seen. Additionally, on the disc is a wonderful interview with Samantha & her mom, Fuller's widow Christa Lang who was with him for the last 30 years of his life.
About the 'main feature', Forty Guns was B-Deed a few years ago by the UK Masters of Cinema spine #116, yet watching this new transfer from a 4K restoration is a delight. In scene after scene, you are struck by the artfulness of the b/w compositions changing within the frame without cutting, the noirish lighting, simultaneous foreground & background action. Never has so much been conveyed so convincingly with so few scenes & shots in so little cinema time — a marvel of abbreviated filmmaking. This may be Sam's best movie. As Christa says, 'i've watching this movie maybe a hundred times & always see something new.' I agree, having only seen the movie between 12 & 20 times, its appeal grows & I'm thinking it should rank with Ray's Johnny Guitar in the next S&S Poll as one of top 10 Westerns of all time.

4 The Hanging Tree [Blu-ray] (Delmer Daves, 1959) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) — Gary Cooper's last Western, & where he plays Doc Frail, anything but frail when he guns down Karl Malden, who seems to have made a career of lecher roles, for messing with Maria Schell, who recalls Coop as the high point of her brief Hollywood career in her brother Max's wonderful early 2002 documentary. George C Scott plays his first finatic. Marty Robbins' theme song singing is most memorable of all 1950s efforts topping even Ritter's High Noon but perhaps only because the latter is so familiar.

5 Distant Voices, Still Lives [Blu-ray] (Terence Davies, 1988) Arrow BFI (BEAVER REVIEW) - A real & touching tribute to a gay's formative youth, incisively observed only as someone who goes outside the enclosure of normalcy can, like Truman Capote in his Music for Chameleons. Davies' mise-en-scène with his tracking camera frames are as exquisite as Capote's prose passages. Davies has become an acquired taste for me, a growing one. Balancing the pain in his pictures, there is always something poignant, including A Long Day Closes, the sequel to this, & his portrayal of Emily Dickinson & her times in A Quiet Passion.

6 Irma la Douce [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1963) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW) - Back then, it was 'minor Wilder' but now it looms as a major comedy so superior to current supposedly funny crap that your inner imagination gets fried. It proves that the suggested is greater than the explicit.

7 Home from the Hill [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1960) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) - A superb Minnelli 50's melodrama set in the crossroads where he & Sirk met, with Robert Mitchum finally proving to elitist critics he was a helluva actor as well as hunk although Mitchum didn't give a shit. "Home is the sailor, home from the sea, & the hunter, home from the hill." — Robert Lewis Stevenson

8 The Border [Blu-ray] (Tony Richardson, 1982) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - Jack Nicholson gives maybe his best action performance & shoots it out with Harvey Keitel & Warren Oates in this unexpectedly enjoyable late career melodrama by Richardson, which deals with the more timely than ever issue of Mexican/USA border turmoil, & here results in a poignant conclusion.

9 Robin and Marian [Blu-ray] (Richard Lester, 1976) Sony - Two cinema legends (Sean Connery & Audrey Hepburn) play the legend of Robin Hood & his love in UK new wave & first Beatles film director Lester's also later movie of myth's gritty reality & aftermath, for after the action of our achievements, & we have returned to dust, what remains but the distillation of time & imagination upon our exploits?

10 The Last Hunt [Blu-ray] (Richard Brooks, 1956) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) - The first Western by auteur Brooks memorable for capturing the annual buffalo herd culling & for Robert Taylor playing the antagonist's crazy subtle depths then freezing to death.

Now here are a bunch that are generally equal or critically superior to the last few above, & which i like just as much :)

The Hunters [Kampfflieger] (Dick Powell, 1958) WVG Medien GmbH, RB - Dick Powell's 5th & final movie as director, perhaps the most versatile changeling in cinema, from song & dance man in the 30s to being the first Philip Marlow tough guy thru an eclectic collection of roles in noir & comedy to being a major early TV producer (The Dick Powell Theatre) to movie director, most notoriously The Conqueror where nearly half the cast & crew die of cancer from the location being downwind from a nuclear bomb test site in Utah. Both The Hunters & The Enemy Below the year before benefit from Robert Mitchum at his laconic best & both are simply great action/adventures that come to pleasing conclusions.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Blu-ray] (Stanley Donen, 1954) Region Free Warner Archive - For years, i eschewed this hokey musical but my current partner loves it & i got to like it, accepting the phony painted backdrops mixed with real scenery, & some of the dance numbers are wonderful. It becomes obvious why this movie topped MGM's higher budgeted Brigadoon in 54, for it's a better & more enduring light-hearted, tuneful movie than the surreal Lerner & Lowe pre-My Fair Lady boring fling, except for Van Johnson's drunken bouts.
Morituri (Bernhard Wicki, 1965) ESC Editions, RB - the then newly extolled German auteur got a go with a big USA budget & delivered Marlon Brando's only top thriller movie with Yul Brynner, so superior to the blase persona absent suspense movies of today that it is pathetic.
Age of Consent [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, 1969) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - thanks to James Mason, the great Powell got a final film to direct & again an oak of UK cinema Mason is paired with a sappling, the still working Helen Mirren, who loves this movie.
The Spiral Staircase [Blu-ray] (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW) - historical noir, riveting suspense regardless you know who did it in subsequent views — my wife loves it :)
The Changeling [Blu-ray] (Peter Medak, 1980) Severin Films (BEAVER REVIEW) - a classic modern horror with a classic modern actor, one of his best :)
Black Widow (Nunnally Johnson, 1954) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - a color noir, early Fox CinemaScope, very clever, maybe Johnson's best effort, highly entertaining & why I list & love
Village of the Damned [Blu-ray] (Wolf Rilla, 1960) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) - those eyes, they say it all
The Defiant Ones [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kramer, 1958) UK RB Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW) - Back in 58 this was my top movie [i was 15] & depressed by Gigi being judged best....then its thematic B-W epicenter became obnoxious & i thanked heaven for the French gal who still retains my heart despite the current PC-ha-ha stuff, which rates it lowest among Oscar winners = PC imbecility :)......& now after not seeing for 40 years, the b/w cinematography of Kramer's 2nd blast against racism (after Home of the Brave) is exquisite & it all seems less "dated" than it was 30 years ago, because you believe Curtis & Poitier.
Underworld USA (Sam Fuller, 1961) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - you might say Sam put the last nail in the coffin of noir with Cliff the protagonist getting nailed at the end.
The Crime of Monsieur Lange [Blu-ray] (Jean Renoir, 1936) RB UK Studiocanal - Harder for me to relate to because it came to be in a time prior to my birth, it is Renoir & Renoir is always something more, perhaps because of his hertiage. Here, a murder is done in the name of decency, & what's descent is to see the circumstances, & the results that would not have been allowed in America.
The Passenger [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW) - the movie drifts & shifts & takes you on a trip that you're not sure you've taken while retracing your footsteps to check out where you've been.
Queimada - Insel des Schreckens [AKA Burn] Gillo Pontecorvo Koch Media GmbH - a mixed disc in that you must mix the 17-min longer Italian cut with the USA cut to have both Brando's voice & Pontecorvo's harrowing meditation on the mechanisations of economic exploitation of both givers & receivers, something of an intellectual mess as this riveting saga is a mess resulting from the mix of economic backers & well-intentioned but muddled creators. The brilliance of the movie comes from visuals concerning the situation.
Mirage (Edward Dmytryk, 1965) Movinside, RB - wonderful disillusioned thriller of illusion & disillusionment
No Down Payment (Martin Ritt, 1957) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - into the realistic suburbs of the American dream where everyone works, parties, plays, drinks & makes love all over between their 4 conjoing homes
Two Weeks in Another Town [Blu-ray] (Vincente Minnelli, 1962) Region Free Warner Archive - another great crazy Minnelli movieland melodrama
The 27th Day [Der 27. Tag] (William Asher, 1957) i-catcher Media GmbH & Co.KG, RB - a precient, little-known Columbia double-biller noted then by a few critics & deserving of more notice today as maybe last remaining thoughtful sci-fi movie of the 50s not to be noticed.
Harper [Blu-ray] (Jack Smight, 1966) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) / The Drowning Pool [Blu-ray] (Stuart Rosenberg, 1975) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) - the significant two & most entertaining detective movies from Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels, from which the only others made were cheap concepts - the greatest of American detective novel writers deserves more but has never received it :),
Farewell My Lovely (Dick Richards, 1975) Shout! Factory, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - Robert Mitchum at the end of his leading man career, maybe the best of the Philip Marlow's
The Curse of the Cat People [Blu-ray] (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise, 1944) Shout! Factory (BEAVER REVIEW) - Val Lewton's follow-up to "Cat People" goes in a different direction.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang 1956) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) / While the City Sleeps [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang 1956) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) - two deliciously cynical noir by a man who helped invent the form in Weimar Germany then escaped Hitler to bring the style to Hollywood
The List of Adrian Messenger [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1963) Universal Studio - Huston & friends have a lot of fun with this easy-going commercial adaption of a contempory detective novel, featuring a fox hunt
The Proud Ones [Die Furchtlosen] (Richard D Webb, 1956) WVG Medien GmbH, RB - a rather superior little known Western that i love for its whistling theme song & Robert Ryan
Apache (Robert Aldrich, 1954) Koch, RB
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez [Blu-ray] (Robert M. Young, 1982) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann, 1950) Shock Entertainment, RB
Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - Demy's follow up to Lola with Aimee in American after she's been deserted by the man she waited for in the previous movie. Something of a tour of Venice & Western LA that gives a real sense of how the place was in the 1960s before traffic became all-day grid lock.
Don't Bother to Knock (Roy Ward Baker, 1952) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
Gumshoe [Blu-ray] (Stephen Frears, 1971) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)
No Way Out [Blu-ray] (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)
Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966) Second Run; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
My Cousin Rachel (Henry Koster, 1952) Twilight Time, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
My Man Godfrey [Blu-ray] (Gregory La Cava, 1936) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Heaven Can Wait [Blu-ray] (Ernst Lubitsch, 1943) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Shampoo [Blu-ray] (Hal Ashby, 1975) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Awful Truth [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1937) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Young Mr. Lincoln [Blu-ray] (John Ford, 1939) - Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean [Blu-ray] (John Huston, 1972) Warner Archive
A Man Alone [Blu-ray] (Ray Milland, 1955) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Thing from Another World [Blu-ray] (Howard Hawks, 1951) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Naked and the Dead [Blu-ray] (Raoul Walsh, 1958) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW)
I Walk Alone [Blu-ray] (Byron Haskin, 1947) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
Footsteps in the Fog [Blu-ray] (Arthur Lubin, 1955) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
Les Parents Terribles [Blu-ray] (Jean Cocteau, 1948) Sony
Cactus Flower (Double Feature) [Blu-ray] (Gene Saks, 1969 / Michael Powell, 1969) Mill Creek - a delightful discovery on disc with Age of Consent sans subtitles or any extras
Down Three Dark Streets [Blu-ray] (Arnold Laven, 1954) ClassicFlix (BEAVER REVIEW)
Under Capricorn [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1949) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW) - another great kool Kat kommentary too

The Night Stalker [Blu-ray] (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1972) Kino / The Night Strangler [Blu-ray] (Dan Curtis, 1973) Kino, RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
Murder by Death [Blu-ray] (Robert Moore, 1976) Shout! Factory
Georgy Girl [Blu-ray] (Silvio Narizzano, 1966) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Collector [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1965) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)

23 NEW EDITIONS OF PREVIOUS BLU-RAYS in no particular order after the first two:

The Passion of Joan of Arc [Blu-ray] (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW) - 6 years after the UK MoC BD ed, we've got what i considered the finest silent movie in the superior transfer & most importantly with the Einhorn "Voices of Light" score. I ask forgiveness of those who think silent movies should be seen silently. To me, & i've been an 'imageMaker' all my working life, images without sound are only 1/2 the experience. Unless silence or the absence of sound is the point, all movies need everything the medium offers. [Re, Joan, 'full disclosure', as they say: hundreds of years ago in France, the d'Arcs & Cherpitels were interrelated, thus i can say she was a distant ancestral cousin & perhaps somewhere in there is where i got my 'martyr complex' :)]
The Tree of Life [Blu-ray] (Terrence Malick, 2011) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - This is so far the best & most significant & enduring of the movies of the 21st century, sorta critically recognised on its release, thanks to Ebert, Scott & others, & being the newest movie to place the highest (just outside the top 100 in S&S's poll in 2012 a year after its release). The new longer version here i've not decided about except in appreciating but wondering if it adds or detracts from the whole of Malick's seeming intuition.
Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - a wonderful presentation of a marvelously overlooked delight :) with 6 versions, & a thick booklet the whole set is more than enough :)
Charley Varrick [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1973) RB UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - nice improvement on the DE ed of a few years ago
Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1959) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - transfer from 4K source beats previous BD
A Matter of Life and Death [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Big Country [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1958) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)
Suddenly Last Summer (Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1959) Powerhouse Indicator, ALL (BEAVER REVIEW) - Excepting possibly Huston's Night of the Iguana, this is the most cinematic & mesmorising movie rendition of any Tennessee Williams play, perhaps because Mankiewicz was directing only, working from Gore Vidal's script, while the play's tormented emotional content adversely affected everyone involved, yet resulted in a fascinating work of performance & poetry.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1956) Olive Signature (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Dam Busters [Blu-ray] (Michael Anderson, 1955) RB UK Studiocanal - from a new 4K restoration, which gains greatly in the detail in the critical night flying scenes, & a stacked package with all sort of goodies
Last Year in Marienbad [Blu-ray] (Alain Resnais, 1961) RB UK Studiocanal - also from a new 4K restoration
The Barefoot Contessa [Blu-ray] (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1954) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW) - an imperfect transfer (numerous instances of out of register layers of one of final 3-strip Technicolor films) yet glorious Jack Cardiff cinematography enhancing a haunting story enhanced by some of the most engagingly literate dialogue Mankiewicz ever wrote.
Inherit the Wind [Blu-ray] (Stanley Kramer, 1960) RB UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW) - right now this most entertaining movie of all of Kramer's output & the only one i think that i've indulged in quadruple dips for BD eds: first the OZ, then the Twilight Time, then this Kino that i'm retaining for the commentary & the Eureka that gives you a nice essay, a hair better transfer & the DVD slot to put the Kino disc in & space enough to stack in Julie's booklet essay from the Twilight Time. Why is this movie so "entertaining?" Well, the whole thing, the Scopes 'monkey' trial was put up job from the start, something subtly hinted from the first scene. Then you've got two of cinema's finest actors, Tracy & March facing off, with the latter bordering on or embracing a William Jennings Bryan caricature but so sincerely that you still take him straight, & the former almost doing the same with Clarence Darrow (compare with Orson Welles playing him in Compulsion) & Gene Kelly touching his most cynical side as journalist H L Mencken. The fact is that there's a lot of comedy in this movie yet the theme of no one being right & knowing comes clearly thru.
Missing [Blu-ray] (Costa-Gavras, 1982) RB UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - Extraordinary touching movie, significant & wonderfully performed by Jack Lemmon & Sissy Spacek accompanied by Vangelis 3rd fantastic score within a year (Blade Runner & Chariots of Fire). Yet when you see the iconic incidental image of the white horse running down the boulevard chased by jeep of machine gunning soldiers, can you help but not think of the lil colt running down the dusty main town road in Sam Fuller's Forty Guns? The evolution of cinema. (See bit above on First Reformed.)
Witness for the Prosecution [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1957) RB UK Eureka (BEAVER REVIEW) - One of Wilder's most enduring with cool Kat Ellinger commentary etc.
Gun Crazy [Blu-ray] (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW)
Trapeze [Blu-ray] (Carol Reed, 1956) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW) - slight image improvement over the DE with a cool Kat Ellinger commentary
The Woman in the Window [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1944) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW) - an improvement over the ES but the film source is a bit weak
Ramrod [Blu-ray] (André De Toth, 1947) RB UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW)
Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves, 1950) Plan B Entertainment, RB (BEAVER REVIEW) - finally after 2 or 3 other editions we have have a better & sharper image for this seminal Western
Memories of Underdevelopment [Blu-ray] (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - better image & great extras over the UK Mr Bongo
The Naked Prey [Blu-ray] (Cornel Wilde, 1965) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - more extras over the UK MoC that does have a half hour interview this ed doesn't have
The Fog [Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1980) RB UK Studiocanal - new transfer from 4K & i think it's got all the extras as the Shout Factory plus a new Carpenter interview

6 NEW MOVIES

Coco (Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, 1917) Disney, Pixar (ALL)
Faces Places [Blu-ray] (JR, Agnès Varda, 2017) RB UK Curzon Artificial Eye
15:17 to Paris (Clint Eastwood, 2018) Warners, RA
Let the Sunshine In [Un Beau Soleil Intérieur] (Claire Denis, 2017) Curzon Artificial Eye, RB
Survivors Guide to Prison (Matthew Cooke, 2018) Gravitas Ventures, ALL
Won't You Be My Neighbor (Morgan Neville, 2018) Universal, ALL

SETS:
(Only one really. Regarding Ingmar Bergman's Cinema that will without doubt receive the top spot, I already had BDs of most all his maybe dozen movies I enjoy re-seeing, and at this time have no wish to subject myself to his angst in seeing the maybe 10 or so i've never seen, nor re-seeing the rest.)

1. Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960 [Blu-ray] (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station) - Region FREE UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) - 3 titles are among my top 50-some Westerns.

2. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (BFI) (UK) (B).
BFI, RB - None of these movies would probably make my top 20 in any year, but the totality capture the historic 'kitchen-sink' movement in English movies & some with great performances & represent the most significant era of UK film making other than the 1940s' works of The Archers. An aura of depression & working-class malaise hangs over most all these movies with the exception of Tom Jones that was Richardson's break-out into mainstream commercial entertainment.

3. The Very Best Of Laurel & Hardy: 5-Film Collection [Blu-ray] ( Block-Heads, Our Relations, Pardon Us, Sons of the Desert and Way Out West) R0 Uk Universal
----Seiter's Sons of the Desert is the best among these, quite funny & apparently benefitting from a cleverer script than the other four: Pardon Us, Our Relations, Way Out West & Block-Heads. My minority view, since these guys are loved by so many: they are so stupid, it's insipid comedy....like the 3 Stooges whom i didn't care for either, when just a kid of 7 or 8 to 11. Wife Henrietta says, "They're so silly & stupid, you give up & just enjoy like watching kindergarteners play."
 

Gonçalo Costa

1. Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. A Matter of Life and Death [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds [Blu-ray] (Paul Newman, 1972) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1959) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. The Color of Pomegranates [Blu-ray] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969) RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. El Sur [Blu-ray] (Victor Erice, 1983) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. Andrei Rublev [Blu-ray] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. A Story from Chikamatsu [Blu-ray] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954) Criterion
9. The Awful Truth [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1937) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)

1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960 [Blu-ray] (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station) - Region FREE UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 [Blu-ray] (IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD, 1937 - ADVENTURE IN SAHARA, 1938 - POWER OF THE PRESS, 1943 - SHOCKPROOF, 1949 - SCANDAL SHEET, - THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959 - UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961) Region FREE Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Sacha Guitry: Four Films 1936-1938 (Let's Dream, My Father Was Right, Indiscretions, Up the Champs-Élysées) [Blu-ray] (Sacha Guitry, 1936-1938) RB UK Arrow
5. Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films  [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1968-1971) Arrow US

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Warner Bros (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. The Deer Hunter - 40th Anniversary Edition [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Michael Cimino, 1978) UK Studiocanal
3. Escape from New York [4K UHD Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1981) Region Free UK Studiocanal
4. The Fog - Collector's Edition [4K UHD Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1980) Region Free UK Studiocanal
5. They Live – Collector’s Edition [4K UHD Blu-ray] (John Carpenter, 1988) Region Free UK Studiocanal

CineVentures Blog

Sacramento, CA, USA

1. Zombie (Lucio Fulci, 1979) Blue Underground; Region ALL
2. Next of Kin (Tony Williams, 1982) Umbrella Films; Region ALL
3. Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966) Second Run; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Death Laid an Egg (Giulio Questi, 1968) Nucleus Films; Region B (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. The Church (Michele Soavi, 1987) Scorpion Releasing (Limited Edition); Region A
6. Who Can Kill a Child? (Narcisco Ibanez Serrador, 1974) Mondo Macabro; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) Film Movement; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Legend of the Mountain (King Hu, 1979) Kino Lorber; Region A tied with Eureka; Region B (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Diabolical Dr. Z (Jess Franco, 1966) Kino; Region A (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. The Blood-Spattered Bride (Vicente Aranda, 1972) Mondo Macabro; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

1. The Complete Sartana (Gianfranco Parolini/Giuliano Carnimeo, 1968-1971) Arrow Video; Region AB (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. The Blood Island Collection (Eddie Romero/Gerardo de Leone, 1959-1970) Severin FIlms; Region A
3. The Bloodthirsty Trilogy (Michio Yamamoto, 1970-1974) Arrow Video; Region AB (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980) Second Sight; Region B (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Heimat (Edgar Reitz, 1984) Second Sight; Region B (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 SD-DVD Releases OF 2018

1. Gabriel and the Mountain (Fellipe Barbosa, 2017) Strand Releasing; Region 1 (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Porcupine Lake (Ingrid Veninger, 2017) Breaking Glass Pictures; Region 1 (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. In Syria (Philippe Van Leeuw, 2017) Film Movement; Region 1 (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. My Life with James Dean (Dominique Choisy, 2017) Breaking Glass Pictures; Region 1 (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. The Teacher (Jan Hrebejk, 2016) Film Movement; Region 1 (BEAVER REVIEW)  

Ally Best

The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
L'Enfant Secret (Philippe Garrel, 1979), Re:Voir, ALL
Viva l'Italia [Blu-ray] (Roberto Rossellini, 1961) Arrow UK (BEAVER REVIEW)
Silence and Cry [Blu-ray] (Miklós Jancsó, 1968) Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Old Dark House [Blu-ray] (James Whale, 1932) RB UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)
Claire's Camera [Blu-ray] (Sang-soo Hong, 2017) Cinema Guild
The Passenger [Blu-ray] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Color of Pomegranates [Blu-ray] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969) RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)
Moonrise [Blu-ray] (Frank Borzage, 1948) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
Legend of the Mountain [Blu-ray] (King Hu, 1979) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)

Joaquim Pedro De Andrade: Complete Films [Blu-ray] - Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
Police Story, Police Story 2 [Blu-ray] (Jackie Chan, Chi-Hwa Chen, 1985) RB UK Eureka (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)
Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Heimat: A Chronicle Of Germany [Blu-ray] - RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 SD-DVD Releases OF 2018

11x14/One Way Boogie Woogie - Edition Filmmuseum
L'héritage de la chouette - Arte Editions
Vida En Sombras plus 22 short films - Intermedio
Liebelei & Lola Montez (Max Ophuls, 1933 & 1955); Munich Filmmuseum; PAL Germany
Towards mathilde - Grasshopper

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers [Blu-ray] (Various) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. The Sea Hawk (Michael Curtiz, 1940), Warner Archive, RA - It had been decades since I had last seen this film, and I had forgotten how impressive the cinematography and overall filmmaking are.
3. The Passion of Joan of Arc [Blu-ray] (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Somewhere Beyond the Mist (Cheung King Wai, 2017), Panorama, RA – This is the director's first fictional film, and it's a knockout.
6. The Awful Truth [Blu-ray] (Leo McCarey, 1937) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) - One of my favorite comedies gets the blu-ray treatment.
7. Westfront 1918 [Blu-ray] (G. W. Pabst, 1930) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Kameradschaft [Blu-ray] (G. W. Pabst, 1931) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Daisies [Blu-ray] (Vera Chytilová, 1966) UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. L'Enfant Secret (Philippe Garrel, 1979), Re:Voir, ALL

Top 5 SD-DVD Releases OF 2018 (optional)

Title (Director, Year) Release company; Region# (please list if the title is PAL)

1. Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts: The Hal Roach Collection 1931-33 (Various, 1931-33), MVD (Kit Parker Films), ALL - This, in combination with the Todd/Kelly collection, offers five discs of pure joy.
2. The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection (Various, 1933-36): ClassicFlix, R1.
3. Factory Complex (Im Heung Soon, 2014), Art Service, R3 - A moving tribute to the struggles of women working under harsh labor conditions
4. Deutschland Dada; John Heartfield, Fotomonteur; Happening, Kunst, Protest 1968 ( Helmut Herbst, 1969 / 1981), PAL
5. Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu, 2017), Icarus Films, R1
 

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. Maniac (William Lustig, 1980) Blue Underground
2. Zombie (Lucio Fulci, 1979) Blue Underground; Region ALL
3. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988) Koch Media;RB
4. Female Trouble [Blu-ray] (John Waters, 1974) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Exorcist II: The Heretic [Blu-ray] (John Boorman, 1977) Shout! Factory
6. Candyman [Blu-ray] (Bernard Rose, 1992) Shout! Factory
7. The Grease Collection (Various, 1978-2016) Paramount; RA
8. Trilogy of Terror [Blu-ray] (Dan Curtis, 1975) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Scalpel [Blu-ray] (John Grissmer, 1977) RB UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. Welcome to the Dollhouse (Todd Solondz, 1995) Sony; RA
 

David H.

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. Forty Guns [Blu-ray] (Samuel Fuller, 1957) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Distant Voices, Still Lives [Blu-ray] (Terence Davies, 1988) Arrow US (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. The Last House on the Left [Blu-ray] (Wes Craven, 1972) RB UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Night of the Living Dead [Blu-ray] (George A. Romero, 1968) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. Suspira (Dario Argento, 1977) Synapse; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. The Tree of Life [Blu-ray] (Terrence Malick, 2011) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Daisies [Blu-ray] (Vera Chytilová, 1966) UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Torso [Blu-ray] (Sergio Martino, 1973) Arrow US (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers [Blu-ray] (Various) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Clouzot: Early Works [Blu-ray] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, Various) Kino (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 UHD Releases OF 2018

2001: A Space Odyssey [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Warner Bros (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. A Matter of Life and Death [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. sex, lies, and videotape [Blu-ray] (Steven Soderbergh, 1989) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. King of Jazz [Blu-ray] (John Murray Anderson, 1930) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. An Invention for Destruction [Blu-ray] (Karel Zeman, 1958) UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. Daisies [Blu-ray] (Vera Chytilová, 1966) UK Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. It Happened Here [Blu-ray] (Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo, 1965) UK BFI (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Georgy Girl [Blu-ray] (Silvio Narizzano, 1966) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
9.  Age of Consent [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell, 1969) Region Free UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. Lucky [Blu-ray] (John Carroll Lynch, 2017) RB UK Eureka Entertainment (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 Boxset Releases of 2018

1. Heimat: A Chronicle Of Germany [Blu-ray] - RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Berlin Alexanderplatz [Blu-ray] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980) RB UK Second Sight (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Mr. Capra Goes to War: Frank Capra’s WWII Documentaries (Capra/Litvak/Huston, 1942-45), Olive Films, RA
4. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 [Blu-ray] (IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD, 1937 - ADVENTURE IN SAHARA, 1938 - POWER OF THE PRESS, 1943 - SHOCKPROOF, 1949 - SCANDAL SHEET, - THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959 - UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961) Region FREE Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 DVD Releases of 2018

1. Combat au bout de la nuit (L’Espérence, 2016), K-Films Amérique, R1
2. Tuktuq (Aubert, 2018), K-Films Amérique, R1
3. Our Cartoon President: Season One (Colbert et al, 2018), Paramount, R1
4. Hair (Forman, 1979), Olive, R1
5. The Naked Man on the Sports Field (Wolf, 1973), DEFA Film Library, R1

Peter Henné

1. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. The Color of Pomegranates [Blu-ray] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Under Capricorn [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1949) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW)
4.The Revolt of Mamie Stover (Raoul Walsh, 1956) (Twilight Time) (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Silence and Cry [Blu-ray] (Miklós Jancsó, 1968) Second Run (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. A Story from Chikamatsu [Blu-ray] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954) Criterion
7. The Passion of Joan of Arc [Blu-ray] (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. The Last Movie [Blu-ray] (Dennis Hopper, 1971) Arbelos Films (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Moonrise [Blu-ray] (Frank Borzage, 1948) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. The Naked and the Dead [Blu-ray] (Raoul Walsh, 1958) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW)
 

Runners up:

Sympathy for the Devil [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1968) Arrow Academy
Images [Blu-ray] (Robert Altman, 1972) RB UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Beautiful Troublemaker (La Belle Noiseuse) [Blu-ray] (Jacques Rivette, 1991) Sony Pictures (BEAVER REVIEW)
An Actor’s Revenge [Blu-ray] (Kon Ichikawa, 1963) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
Viva l'Italia [Blu-ray] (Roberto Rossellini, 1961) Arrow UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Notable:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters [Blu-ray] (Paul Schrader, 1985) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW
Edward II (Derek Jarman, 1991) (Film Movement Classics) (BEAVER REVIEW)

Did not watch on blu-ray:
The Last Hurrah (John Ford, 1958) (Twilight Time) (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Bravados (Henry King, 1958) (Twilight Time) (BEAVER REVIEW)
Distant Voices, Still Lives [Blu-ray] (Terence Davies, 1988) Arrow US (BEAVER REVIEW)

Have not seen in any format:
Satan Never Sleeps (Leo McCarey, 1962) (Twilight Time) RA

Box sets:
1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films  [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1968-1971) Arrow US
4. Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy [Blu-ray] (Gabeh, The Silence, The Gardener, 1996-2012) UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW)

Notes:

2018 was a banner year for classical- and modernist-period blu-rays. In a lesser year, all of the first 15 releases above would deserve Top 10 honors. The Arrow Godard (which includes the original cut, One + One) is presented 1.66:1, convincingly demonstrating the film is soft-matted; this cropped version is an interesting variation from the open-matte Academy, which has been released on home video labels for decades and proves its worth on the 2003 Abkco dvd. Arrow's fast-growing catalog is making an aggressive and welcome move into the art film Blu-ray market.
 

Louis Irwin

1. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. The Aki Kaurismäki Collection [Blu-ray] RB UK Artificial Eye
5. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut), Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964) - The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965) RB UK BFI
6. The Éric Rohmer Collection (The Aviator's Wife | A Good Marriage | Pauline at the Beach | Full Moon in Paris | The Green Ray | My Girlfriend's Boyfriend | The Marquise of O... | Perceval | Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle | The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque) [Blu-ray] (Éric Rohmer, 1976-1993) RB UK Arrow *
7. Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960 [Blu-ray] (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station) - Region FREE UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Moonrise (Frank Borzage, 1948); Criterion; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Forty Guns [Blu-ray] (Samuel Fuller, 1957) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. The Age of Innocence [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese, 1993) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)

 * came out 2017

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)
Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1
Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960 [Blu-ray] (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station) - Region FREE UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 [Blu-ray] (IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD, 1937 - ADVENTURE IN SAHARA, 1938 - POWER OF THE PRESS, 1943 - SHOCKPROOF, 1949 - SCANDAL SHEET, - THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959 - UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961) Region FREE Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 UHD Releases OF 2018

2001: A Space Odyssey [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Warner Bros (BEAVER REVIEW)

Guilty Pleasures

A Fistful of Dollars [Blu-ray] (Sergio Leone, 1964) Kino
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice [Blu-ray] (Paul Mazursky, 1969) RB UK Arrow Video
Boxcar Bertha [Blu-ray] (Martin Scorsese 1972) RB DE Koch Media
Brewster McCloud [Blu-ray] (Robert Altman, 1970) Warner Archive
Forty Guns [Blu-ray] (Samuel Fuller, 1957) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
Great Balls of Fire! [Blu-ray] (Jim McBride, 1989) Olive Films
Heathers [Blu-ray] (Michael Lehmann, 1988) RB UK Arrow Video (BEAVER REVIEW)
Shampoo [Blu-ray] (Hal Ashby, 1975) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
The Cat Returns [Blu-ray] (Hiroyuki Morita, 2002) GKIDS

Calvin MacKinnon

1.  Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut), Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964) - The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965) RB UK BFI
3. Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980) Second Sight; Region B (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Andrei Rublev [Blu-ray] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. The Tree of Life [Blu-ray] (Terrence Malick, 2011) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. Early Hou-Hsiao-Hsien: THREE FILMS 1980-1983; UK Masters of Cinema; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. Michael [Blu-ray] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1924) RB UK Masters of Cinema
8. A Matter of Life and Death [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. Jean-Luc Godard + Jean-Pierre Gorin: Five Films  [Blu-ray] (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1968-1971) Arrow US
10. De Palma & De Niro: The Early Films [Blu-ray] (The Wedding Party, Greetings, Hi, Mom!) RB UK Arrow

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). A wounded masterpiece gets a stellar release, marred only by some factual errors in the comments from some of the contributors and the absence of some form of tentative reconstruction of the complete version, using stills or other materials as some people have done over the years.
2. The Woman in the Window [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1944) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW). One of the most iconic films in the director's American period, with a cast perfectly suited to their respective roles.
3. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray] (Billy Wilder, 1970) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW). A gently humorous hommage to the legendary character, with tantalising looks at the material that was excised from the complete edit and the script, in a beautiful remastering.
4. Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW). This very enjoyable supernatural story gets a royal treatment rarely afforded even to the great masterpieces of cinéma; an overwhelming number of extras examine it from every possible angle, including the controversial issue of the extent to which the director was aware the creature would be seen so explicitly.
5. Ministry of Fear [Blu-ray] (Fritz Lang, 1944) RB UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW) A slightly perverse second-tier Lang title that finally gets the worthy HD edition that the Criterion should have been.
6. Under Capricorn [Blu-ray] (Alfred Hitchcock, 1949) Kino Lorber (BEAVER REVIEW) An intelligent commentary and other extras make a good case for this period piece from the director, although not totally convincingly
7. Orchestra Rehearsal [Blu-ray] (Federico Fellini, 1978) RB UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW). Made for television, this still has great bite and is more enjoyable than most of the director's bloated movies from his late period.
8. Little Murders [Blu-ray] (Alan Arkin, 1971) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW) A neglected satire from the pen of Jules Feiffer.
9. A Matter of Life and Death [Blu-ray] (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW). A movie that craftily walks the line between the otherworldly portion of the story happening only in the mind of the central character or being absolutely real.
10. Le mystère Picasso [Blu-ray] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1956) - RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW). A fascinating dissertation on art and aesthetics under the guise of a documentary on the great painter.

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

1. Sam Fuller at Columbia 1937-1961 [Blu-ray] (IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD, 1937 - ADVENTURE IN SAHARA, 1938 - POWER OF THE PRESS, 1943 - SHOCKPROOF, 1949 - SCANDAL SHEET, - THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959 - UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961) Region FREE Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW). A giant upgrade from the 2009 DVD box set which was very slim on extras; an excellent overview of the diversity and progression of Fuller's work both as scriptwriter and as director.
2. Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960 [Blu-ray] (Ride Lonesome, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone and Comanche Station) - Region FREE UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW). A good number of extras carried over from the 2008 and still a few new ones, to give a fully rounded portrait of the distinct personality and character of the director's Western movies.
3. 2 Films de Jacques Rivette - Céline et Julie Vont en Bateau & Le Pont du Nord (Jacques Rivette, 1974 & 1982); Potemkine Films; RB/R2. This dual format edition is complemented by an extensive array of interviews done over the years with people involved in the making of these movies, including the actresses, the director and various other cast members.
4. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (8-disc Blu-ray box set) - Look Back in Anger (Tony Richardson, 1959) - The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960) - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz, 1960) - A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962) - Tom Jones (Tony Richardson, 1963) (New 4K digital restorations of the original theatrical version of the film and the 1989 director's cut), Girl with Green Eyes (Desmond Davis, 1964) - The Knack...and how to get it (Richard Lester, 1965) RB UK BFI. 8 mostly essential films from a company which revitalised British cinema at that time, mostly under the guiding hand of director Tony Richardson.
5. Hammer Volume 2: Criminal Intent [Blu-ray] (The Snorkel, Never Take Sweets from a Stranger, The Full Treatment / Stop Me Before I Kill, Cash on Demand) (1958-1961) Indicator UK (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW) . This series brings deserved attention to some neglected Hammer titles that have been overshadowed by the more famous horror tales. Prime examples are the tense one-set battle of wills "Cash on Demand" in this volume or the war films in the third one. The Hammer catalogue is extensive so there should be plenty of material for further rediscoveries in future volumes.

Top 5 SD-DVD Releases OF 2018

1.Voyages à Travers le Cinéma Français, La Série (Bertrand Tavernier, 2017); Gaumont, PAL, ALL. Tavernier follows up his 2016 movie with this 8 episode TV series, in which he covers directors and themes he either could not include in his first foray or could barely mention. Another invaluable (and pleasantly opinionated) travelogue through classic French cinema.
2.L'Arche de Monsieur Servadac (Karel Zeman, 1970) Malavida, PAL, R2. Another imaginative Jules Verne adaptation by the Czech master of animation, although most extras are repeated from other titles in the same Zeman series from this French publisher.

1. Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966) Second Run; Region ALL (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. The Adventures of Hajji Baba (Don Weis, 1954); Twilight Time; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1969); UK Second Sight; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. An Actor’s Revenge (Kon Ichikawa, 1963); Criterion; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. The Covered Wagon (James Cruze, 1923); Kino Lorber; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
6. Moonrise (Frank Borzage, 1948); Criterion; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
7. The Barefoot Contessa (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1954) UK Masters of Cinema; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)
8. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995); Criterion; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. This is Cinerama (Merian C. Cooper, Gunther von Fritsch, 1952); Flicker Alley; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
10. Figures in a Landscape (Joseph Losey, 1970); France Carlotta Films; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

1. Liebelei & Lola Montez (Max Ophuls, 1933 & 1955); Munich Filmmuseum; PAL Germany
2. Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series (David Lynch, 201 ); Paramount NTSC *
3. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood ; Criterion; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Clouzot: Early Works; Kino; RA (BEAVER REVIEW)
5. Early Hou-Hsiao-Hsien: THREE FILMS 1980-1983; UK Masters of Cinema; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)

* Technically came out in 2017

Alfredo Santoro

Buon Natale da Alfredo, l'Italia
Merry Christmas from Alfredo, Italy! This is the third time in 4 yours I enjoy making my list in order to be part your poll: I really hope to be included in the selected voters list this year, it will be such a pleasure! :-)

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2018

1. Dillinger Is Dead / Dillinger è morto (Marco Ferreri, 1969); CG Entertainment; RB
2. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. The Witches [Blu-ray] (Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica, etc.,1967) Arrow UK
4. We All Loved Each Other So Much / Mehän rakastimme toisiamme niin paljon (Ettore Scola, 1974); Futurefilm; RB
5. The Terrace / Terassi (Ettore Scola, 1980); Futurefilm; RB
6. I mostri (Dino Risi, 1963); CG Entertainment; RB
7. Army Of Darkness / L'armata delle tenebre (Sam Raimi, 1992); Koch Media (Italy); RB
8. Irma Vep [Blu-ray] (Olivier Assayas, 1996) RB UK Arrow Academy (BEAVER REVIEW)
9. The Spider's Stratagem / Strategia del ragno (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970); Cinefil/Kadokawa; RA
10. Michael [Blu-ray] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1924) RB UK Masters of Cinema
 

Looking for Italian classics from around the world! This is the main theme of my 2018, rescuing hidden gems in HD, unavailable in the Italian market but popping mainly (and not surprisingly) in the UK/US market, with notable exceptions (Finland is the first country in the world welcoming two Ettore Scola's masterpieces: We All Loved Each Other So Much and the lesser-known The Terrace; Japan see the release of a 2K restoration of Bertolucci's Spider's Stratagem; in France Dino Risi's "optimistic trilogy"). What about Italy? After years without any good signal, gold medal goes to CG Entertainment releasing the brand new restoration of Dillinger Is Dead and Dino Risi's Sorpasso perfect companion I mostri together with a lot of HD releases already seen in other markets.

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018

1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Early Hou Hsiao-Hsien: THREE FILMS 1980-1983 [Blu-ray] (Cute Girl, The Green, Green Grass of Home, The Boys from Fengkuei) RB UK Masters of Cinema (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda (I Wish; Like Father, Like Son; After the Storm) [Blu-ray] (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2011-2016) Arrow UK
4. De Niro & De Palma: The Early Films (Arrow Video) (US/UK) (AB)
5. Trilogie optimiste de Dino Risi. Pauvres mais beaux + Belles mais pauvres + Pauvres millionnaires (Dino Risi); M6 Vidéo; RB

Top 5 UHD Releases of 2018

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Tobe Hooper, 1974); Koch Media (Italy) (BEAVER REVIEW)
2. Suspiria [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Dario Argento, 1977); Videa (BEAVER REVIEW)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey [4k UHD Blu-ray] (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) Warner Bros (BEAVER REVIEW)
4. Ready Player One [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Steven Spielberg, 2018) Region Free
5. Blade Runner 2049 [4K UHD Blu-ray] (Denis Villeneuve, 2017) Warner
 

James-Masaki Ryan

Choosing just ten releases for the best discs of the year was a very difficult decision, as indie labels came out strong with special edition Blu-rays, and obviously some releases were sadly cut from the final list. The lists below are in alphabetical order.

1. The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1969); UK Second Sight; RB (BEAVER REVIEW)
Second Sight went all out by including both cuts of the film with lengthy extras and a 114 page book.
2. The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) Twentieth Century Fox (Intl) (ALL)
Of all the major studio releases this year, this had an incredibly good selection of extras with featurettes for each song, multiple behind the scenes featurettes, a director's commentary, plus a song-along track for people who need it. The sound and visuals are a delight, and the film itself is better than some had expected, myself included
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1956) Olive Signature (BEAVER REVIEW)
After years of DVDs and Blu-rays with barely anything for extras, the usually known for barebones Olive Films pulled together an amazingly full selection of extras for a definitive version of the classic.
4. Jagko (Im Kwon-taek, 1980) Korean Film Archive/Blue Kino (South Korea) (ALL)
Korean Film Archive port both of the DVD commentary tracks and add a third newly recorded commentary for the film's Blu-ray release. The film has been given a great image and sound restoration and they did not mess up the transfer (as their Blu-ray for "Ieodo" earlier this year was a travesty in image quality).
5. The Man from Mo'Wax [Blu-ray] (Matthew Jones, 2016) RB UK BFI
A great amount of content is included for the extras, and the limited edition package gets extra attention for box shaped like a 7" vinyl collection with excellent artwork inside. Probably the best and most unique packaging for the year.
6. Night of the Demon [Blu-ray] (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) UK Indicator (BEAVER REVIEW)
Powerhouse Films could have easily occupied all ten spots on the list this year if I had bought them all, but the standout is the amazing Blu-ray edition of "Night of the Demon" with multiple cuts, multiple aspect ratios, hours and hours of extras, and including a poster and booklet.
7. Night of the Living Dead [Blu-ray] (George A. Romero, 1968) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW)
The film has been released on multiple DVDs and Blu-rays in the past but Criterion outdoes them all with a new transfer and including the extremely rare workprint version of the film.
8. One Cut of the Dead (Shinichiro Ueda, 2017) VAP (Japan) (ALL)
Not only was the microbudget indie film break records by becoming one of the most profitable movies of all time in Japan, but the Blu-ray edition gives it yet another life with very good extras having two commentaries, multiple behind the scenes featurettes, and the Amazon Exclusive Edition having a fascinating rehearsal version of the film.
9. Razorback [Blu-ray] (Russell Mulcahy, 1984) Umbrella (BEAVER REVIEW)
Umbrella Entertainment gives the Aussie monster classic a second go on Blu-ray, and the results of the upgrade make the older disc totally obsolete. A new transfer, new extras, and nice packaging are all excellent.
10. Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (Alex Proyas, 1989) Umbrella Entertainment (Australia) (ALL)
Very few people had seen Alex Proyas' debut feature made with a small crew on a small budget in the middle of nowhere, and thankfully Umbrella Entertainment gave it a full remaster with Proyas' support with excellent extras.

Top 5 Box Set Releases of 2018 (optional)

1. De Niro & De Palma: The Early Films (Arrow Video) (US/UK) (AB)
Arrow presents "The Wedding Party", "Greetings", and "Hi, Mom!" with lovely new remastered transfers in a handsome boxset.
2. Derek Jarman: Volume 1 (BFI) (UK) (B)
The collection of features and shorts from his earlier period is an absolute highlight of the BFI's catalogue in 2018 and makes fans yearn for the second volume to come as soon as possible. The only unfortunate point would be the many music videos by Jarman from the period not being included, due to expensive music rights issues.
3. Police Story 1&2 (Eureka!) (UK) (B) (BEAVER REVIEW) (BEAVER REVIEW)
Eureka! released a slew of Jackie Chan films on Blu-ray and of all the films, the first two "Police Story" films get the most extensive treatment with multiple cuts, multiple audio options and wonderful extras. It's only a shame that "Police Story 3" couldn't be included in the set.
4. Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years. Vol. 2. Border Crossings: The Crime and Action Movies [Blu-ray] (Eight Hours of Terror (1957), The Sleeping Beast Within (1960), Smashing the 0-Line (1960), Tokyo Knights (1961), The Man with a Shotgun) (1961) - RB UK Arrow (BEAVER REVIEW)
Arrow has been releasing a consistent amount of Suzuki films recently, and the only reason Volume 2 is here and not Volume 1 is that the second volume is the only one I currently have in my collection.
5. Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema (BFI) (UK) (B)
Another huge winner from the BFI with the Woodfall Films collection, showcasing an era of transition for British cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s.
 

Once again, my choices reflect not only the importance of the releases artistically and technically, but my own
preferences, tastes and the extent of my personal finances.
1. Ingmar Bergman's Cinema The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (30-disc/39 films, 248-page book) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) – An incredible wealth of material including thirty-nine films (many never before released by Criterion on DVD or Blu-ray), new restorations, commentaries, interviews and documentary supplements as well as a booklet featuring, among others, pieces by the likes of Peter Cowie, Molly Haskell and Bergman himself.
In terms of scope, esthetic value and technical excellence this exquisite comprehensive package is my
pick for the top Blu-ray release of 2018.
2. The Magnificent Ambersons [Blu-ray] (Orson Welles, 1942) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW) – I’ve long thought of The Magnificent Ambersons as Welles’ Intolerance. Both are the sophomore films of important directors, each following a debut that summed up, redefined, and influenced the direction of the cinema that came after. Both
Ambersons and Intolerance failed to repeat the critical and/or popular successes of their predecessors in
early screenings and as a result were recut for release with new materials being introduced which modified
or weakened the original vision. Both Ambersons and Intolerance are ambitious, perhaps overreaching,
but they are also inventive and passionately confident in their execution. Despite their shortcomings and
the commercially motivated indignities imposed upon them, the “flaws” of these works are all the more
poignant for their intense humanism and involvement with their subject matter. The films are both epic
and personal- the difference being in their perspective and scale. Criterion have given us the definitive
release of Welles masterwork which, like Intolerance, is more successful in its compromised form than
95% of cinema.
3. The Color of Pomegranates [Blu-ray] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)) – A hauntingly unique one-of-a-kind visual essay that comments directly on its subject (the Armenian poet musician, Sayat-Nova)
by recreating and immersing us in the milieu of the artist, presenting it to us as a work of art. A poem
about poetry referencing the poet, a song about the elements and conditions that create the song, this
work of art channels the conditions that produced its subject, creating an experience of Sayat-Nova rather
than merely presenting a series of historical facts. A series of mostly static period tableaux, the film is rich
in color and detail, beautiful to look at and hypnotic to watch. It feels both traditional and experimental,
archaic and contemporary. Criterion has given us another stellar package of film and extras showcasing
an often neglected master whose works deserve a wider audience. Perhaps one day we’ll see a Criterion
Blu-ray of Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors.
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Blu-ray] (Don Siegel, 1956) Olive Signature (BEAVER REVIEW) / Night of the Living Dead [Blu-ray] (George A. Romero, 1968) Criterion Collection (BEAVER REVIEW) – Two genre defining horror films that have been available in one form or another for awhile, but have finally received releases worthy of their importance from Olive Films and Criterion respectively. Olive’s Signature series version of Invasion increases the feature’s byte size and bitrate by nearly 50% over their barebones single-layered regular edition, and they have heaped on the supplementary materials (interviews, commentaries, visual essays, etc.). Criterion’s presentation of
the movie that redefined the nature of the zombie in film and introduced the concept of a zombie apocalypse is equally laudable. Both are great packages, full of extras as well as the definitive presentations of these films.
5. Méliès: Fairy Tales in Color [Blu-ray] (Georges Méliès, 1899-1909) Flicker Alley – Although I had seen
some of these short subjects many times, seeing them again in this collection in restored, hand tinted
versions projected at the correct speed with superb musical scores (and several with narration written by
Méliès himself), I gained a new perspective on the work and a greater appreciation for the passion and the
artistic depth of their creator. These editions are a revelation.
6. The Curse of the Cat People [Blu-ray] (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise, 1944) Shout! Factory (BEAVER REVIEW) - I happen to be one of those people (maybe the only one) who believe that this is arguably at least as good if not in some ways better than original Cat People. The original is a tighter straight-ahead thriller and genre defining landmark. For me, Curse is more subtle, diffused, and fundamentally disturbing because, along with only a handful of other films (Invaders From Mars, 400 Blows, Night of the Hunter), it examines the traumas of childhood from the Child’s perspective. Whereas the original remains an intelligent and exemplary illustration of what might be accomplished with limited resources in a mainstream horror film, Curse is more diffuse, tonally greyer,
recombining different genre elements to create something that is more uniquely distinct, something harder
to define and therefore (for me) more disturbing. Both the original Cat People and Curse of the Cat
People deal with myth and psychology (primarily Freudian in first and Jungian in the latter), and in both the
rational adult psychological explanations are at best merely auxiliary ways of trying to understand what is
going on at a deeper more primal level. I saw Curse of the Cat People on tv when I was a kid long before I
saw the original. It rang true and haunted me for years. The final (penultimate) scene still gets me.
7. Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood [Blu-ray] (Morocco, 1930 - Dishonored, 1931 - Shanghai Express, 1932 - Blonde Venus, 1932 - The Scarlet Empress, 1934 - The Devil Is a Woman, 1935) Criterion (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)   (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  (BEAVER REVIEW)  – Wow! New restorations of six classic films- some of the best work done by Sternberg and Dietrich in a box set full of Criterion extras. This is a long awaited release and another outstanding offering from Criterion in a bumper year for that company.
8. Gun Crazy [Blu-ray] (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950) Warner Archive (BEAVER REVIEW) / Raw Deal [Blu-ray] (Anthony Mann, 1948) ClassicFlix (BEAVER REVIEW) – Two of the best examples of Noir by two of the genre’s finest directors. Gun Crazy, with its heady mixture of pulp romance, Freudian references and tour-de-force action sequences may be one of the greatest B movies ever made. Raw Deal is Anthony Mann at the top of his game, at his Germanic, Fritz Langian fatalistic best, supported by John Alton’s expressionistic visuals. Both releases have modest supplements and excellent transfers of these rare and important films.
9. Coco (Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, 1917) Disney, Pixar (ALL) – Family friendly Disney seasonal pic that features innovative animation, an excellent, authentically appropriate musical score and folk-based whimsy that doesn’t insult your intelligence. Like The Lion King, Frozen or Toy Story this is Disney product at its best.
10. Attack on Titan: Season Two (Yasuko Kobayashi, Hiroshi Seko, 2017) Funimation (RA) – Some call it the Citizen Kane of anime. I don’t know about that, but it is a creative, choc-full-of-ideas, visually stunning television series based on the best selling manga. Season two is a two-disc box set offering extras and excellent renderings of the popular program, generally considered one of the best of its kind.