Comments: Regrettably omitted is The River (Criterion), Criterion’s Suzuki and Bresson titles, La Cienaga (HVE), Point Blank (Warner), The Narrow Margin (Warner), Unknown Chaplin (AE), several Artificial Eye titles (including their re-release of Werkmeister Harmonies which should be a model for DVD companies everywhere), Land of the Dead (Universal) and The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection. I confess that I still need to catch up with the entire MoC catalogue, and the Unseen Cinema Box Set. While on the subject of catching up, let me say that watching the Monteiro Box Set from Gemini (2004 release) was a revelation, and that set remains perhaps the most perfectly executed DVD release of any year. Paramount has become one of my new favorites with incredibly priced discs, featuring excellent transfers and superb bonus material. Their The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Danger: Diabolik, and the whole of their ‘Batjac’ releases are essential for any collection. As much as it pains me to admit, the year in DVD was quite possibly more impressive than the year in film.

Comments: Koch-Lorber's Wertmüller Collection gets in the list because of the great content, despite its lack of care given to original-ratio. The only notable features of my list is that it's certainly the year of great collections, and that I seem to be keeping Warner Brothers in business! I also love musicals and had to toss up between the new transfer of Oklahoma or Warner's Easter Parade with the great bonus doc on the life of Judy Garland.

Comments: Honorable mentions include: Tales of Hoffman (Criterion), Boccaccio '70 (NoShame), Danger: Diabolik (Paramount), The Blind Dead Collection (Blue Underground), Hoop Dreams (Criterion), Kung Fu Hustle (Columbia R3), L'Eclisse (Criterion), Career Girls (Fox), Secrets & Lies (Fox), Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (Paramount), Zero Patience (Strand), The Devil's Rejects (Lions Gate), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory SE (Warner), Cry-Baby (Universal), Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (New Video) and two films that bypassed US theatrical release and went straight to DVD : They Came Back (Wellspring) and The Life & Death of Peter Sellers (HBO). A mention should also be made for the excellent re-issues of Paul Morrissey's Flesh/Trash/Heat / Women in Revolt / Blood for Dracula / Flesh for Frankenstein (all Image), M (Criterion), The Fly (86, Fox) War of the Worlds (1953, Paramount), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (Dark Sky), The Twilight Zone: The Definitive Edition Seasons 2-5 (Image)

Comments: 2005 was a good year to catch up on 2004 releases. I am looking forward to seeing some 2005 releases in 2006.

Comments: Honorable mention to Blue Underground’s release of Dario Argento’s The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. I bought little non-r1 fare since I can’t keep up with watching even limited r1 purchases. I saw almost 100 fewer films in 2005 than I did in 2004 with a final count around 320.

Comments: First of all, I finished building my home theatre with projector and 5.1 system in 2005. That, plus all the great DVDs released in the past 12 months make it a wonderful year. The DVDs on my list show films that I love presented in stellar quality in the digital medium. I did not include Vincent Gallo's wonderful The Brown Bunny because I already owned the Japanese version.
 

Comments: I’d be remiss not to register four items of dissent against Criterion, in spite of their general excellence: (1) This is the year that certain “supplements” should have been given equal billing with the main feature. I’m thinking of Letter to Jane on Tout va bien, and the “lost” Rohmer film on Boudu. (2) Criterion MUST stop “excerpting” from complete Jacques Rivette works (whether made for “mere” TV or not). A stand-alone Criterion release of Jean Renoir, le patron in all three parts would be enough to garner a DVD of the Year nod from me. (3) Neil Kellerhouse’s menu designs are often overelaborate, inappropriate, and gauche. Kellerhouse + Godard/Gorin = MTV. (4) Better to include no trailer at all, than a (n apparently) truncated black-and-white version of the F for Fake trailer; otherwise this release would have been a Top 3 of the year for me.

Comments: Special Mention:The films of Jean-Luc Godard: 3 Films by Jean-Luc Godard, Volume 2 (Pierrot le Fou; Made in USA; Prenom Carmen) (Warners; Region 2), Masculin Feminin (Criterion; Region 1), Two or Three Things I Know About Her (Nouveaux Pictures; Region 2), La Chinoise (Optimum World; Region 2), Weekend (Artificial Eye; Region 2) But not the New Yorker Weekend, though it contains some excellent extras, the transfer of the film itself is weak. I make this special mention because these editions are quite good (the Criterion Masculin Feminin is excellent), and I consider Godard the most important artist of the second half of the 20th Century (in any art form) and I consider those six films (Pierrot le Fou, Masculin Feminin, Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Made in USA, La Chinoise, Weekend) to be his greatest films. My other special mention is the 7 disc set Written and Directed by Preston Sturges (Universal; Region 2). That's also very well done, and if The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Unfaithfully Yours had been included, that would have marked the major works of Sturges's career (but Morgan’s Creek is available in an excellent edition from Paramount in Region 1, and Unfaithfully Yours available in a superb edition from Criterion in Region 1).

Dave Kehr (www.davekehr.com)

New York, New York

1. Buster Keaton Les Meilleures Années  (Various) Mk2; R2
2. Four Edgar Ulmer (37-40, 4 DVD) – The National Center For Jewish Film; R1
3. Alfred Hitchcock Les Premières Oeuvres (vol 1,2,3) – Studio Canal; R2
4. Boudu Saved From Drowning (Renoir, 32) Criterion; R1
5. L'Eclisse (Antonioni, 62) Criterion; R1
6. Whirlpool (Preminger, 50) Fox; R1
7. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (Sturges, 44) Paramount; R1t
8. The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection (various, 7 discs) New Line; R1
9. Unseen Cinema – Early American Avant-Garde Film 1891-1941 –  (Various) Image; R1
10. Bringing Up Baby – (Hawks, 38) Warner; R1

Comments:  My deepest attachments are still stuck in the thirties through mid-sixties. I’m still at the stage where I’m trying to see the films I wanted to see but was denied seeing (at least often enough) as a kid. This is not a “best-of” list; too many important releases I’ve had no time even to open. But these DVDs I’m sure to return to, again and again. “Hara-kiri” was for me the discovery of the year: this and “Seven Samurai” are the greatest samurai films I’ve ever seen. The restoration of the problematic but brilliant “Tales of Hoffman” was better than I hoped. I wish I had room to include “The Bitter Tea of General Yen”, Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Dare Mo Shiranai”, Franju’s “Eyes Without a Face”.

Comments: Great to see the long overdue releases of Bresson and Mizoguchi films, but what happened to all Ozu films we were led to believe were just around the corner? It was very difficult to trim this list down to 10 films, hopefully I'll have the same problem next year.

Gary Tooze

Toronto, Canada

1. L'Eclisse (Antonioni, 62) Criterion; R1 - debatably flawed DVD but I find the film too important not to acclaim with a premium ranking.
2. Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger, 47) Network; R2 - a brilliant and superior transfer of one of cinema's pure masterpieces.
3. Coffret Bresson 3 DVD (Bresson, 59, 62, 83) MK2; R2 - certainly many cineastes most desired boxset for 2005.
4. Metropolis (Lang, 27) Eureka (MoC); R2 - the history of the film and its immaculate transfer put me in a virtual catatonic stupor. I was left speechless.
5. Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection (Hitchcock, var.) Universal; R1 - Even if it was only improvements in Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, Marnie and Psycho - it would still be the best deal in DVD history... but it's that AND 9 more of 'The Masters' films! Some flaws? sure - but what do you want for $6/disc.
6. The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection (various, 7 discs) New Line USA - our long wait for this talented and charismatic performers' work to surface in digital seems totally worthwhile now.    
7. Fury (Lang, 36) Warner; R1 - An incredibly impacting film experience that I can't seem to shake.
8. Love (Makk, 71) Second Run; R2/R4 - haunting, atmospheric and beautifully transferred film.
9. World Poker Tour - Best of Season 3 (Shout Factory, 2004) - the sociological impact of this new poker phenomenon is heightened by the eccentric characters who inhabit and succeed in its environment. The interpretations of human communication and miscommunication are beyond fascinating for me - riveting interaction.
10 (tie). Ozu Panorama's - Equinox Flower, Tokyo Twilight, There Was a Father and The Only Son - Panorama Region 3 Hong Kong - We all know these deserve better treatment but I am eternally grateful at having been introduced to much of Ozu through these imperfect DVDs where the films continue to formulate and alter my entire outlook on cinema.

Comments:
Regrettably, there is too much I have left off - King Kong, Criterion's Pickpocket, Ugetsu and Thieves Highway, BFI's Drunken Angel and The Bad Sleep Well, NY'er's Loving Couples, Fox's Kiss of Death, Eureka's Onibaba, The Idiot and much more from them, The Eric Rohmer Collection, Studio Canal's Hitchcock boxsets, MK2's Buster Keaton Collection to name a few and I LOVED The Hammer Horror Series as a great escape from everyday life. My reasoning is that I tried a balance of taking only one from each DVD production company as I found there to be far too many deserving releases. I should note how French production companies are continuing to soar above many US counterparts with very desirable classic ' inaugural ' (previously unreleased) issues sporting excellent transfers. One can't ignore all the classic TV shows either coming out and I enjoyed Columbo - Season 2 + 3, The Rockford Files and many more.  No individual can see all the years releases so I appreciate Adam's work to create this format and establish a decent consensus. Overall, it has been a bountiful year for DVD - the most extensive in its short history.