{"id":17229,"date":"2015-12-16T20:25:13","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T00:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/?p=17229"},"modified":"2015-12-16T20:25:13","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T00:25:13","slug":"my-top-five-criterion-releases-of-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2015\/12\/16\/my-top-five-criterion-releases-of-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"My Top Five Criterion Releases of 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friends at The Criterion Cast have an annual tradition of podcasting about their favorite Criterion releases of the year. I love the special show and re-listen to them every so often. This year’s show has just been posted, and I’m anxious to hear the thoughts of all of the great participants: Ryan Gallagher, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Keith Enright, Aaron West, and Arik Devens. Click here<\/a> to see the shownotes and listen to the show.<\/p>\n

In anticipation of listening, I\u00a0wanted to throw my own list of favorites up. I think it’s been a great year of releases, and several in my top 20 could easily be in my top ten.\u00a0At time of posting, I have been able to get through 42 of the 66 releases (by my count). At the bottom of this post you can see a list of the releases I still need to watch and which might have a spot on this list once I do. You can see my full rankings, which will be added to (and which will shift) over time, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rounding out my top ten are 10. The Confession<\/em>, by Costa Gavras (1970); 9. Speedy<\/em>, by Ted Wilde (1928); 8. Hiroshima mon amour<\/em>, by Alain Resnais (1959); 7. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders<\/em>, by Jaromil Jire\u0161 (1970); and 6. Mulholland Dr.<\/em>, by David Lynch (2001).<\/p>\n

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\"Day5.<\/strong> Day for Night<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nd. Fran\u00e7ois Truffaut (1973)<\/span>
\n(<\/span>original review from August 18, 2015<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Though I\u2019d never seen it before sitting down to watch the new Criterion Collection release \u2014 indeed had never given it much thought, falling, as it does, after Truffaut\u2019s auspicious years as an instigator and purveyor of the French New Wave \u2014 Fran\u00e7ois Truffaut\u2019s delightful and pensive thirteenth feature, Day for Night<\/em>, may be my favorite work by the French master.<\/p>\n

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\"Moonrise4. Moonrise Kingdom<\/em><\/span><\/strong>
\nd. Wes Anderson (2012)<\/span>
\n(original review from September 22, 2015<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

What a delightful and beautiful edition for a delightful and beautiful film, and my favorite film by Wes Anderson.\u00a0Criterion had originally slated this home video release for the end of July, right at the height of summer. I originally saw the film in the summer, and indeed\u00a0the film itself almost feels like a summer film: we\u2019ve got the scout camp, we\u2019ve got the lazing around during the day \u2014 we\u2019ve got the pleasant weather \u2014 but actually the film takes place in September, at summer\u2019s end, fifty years ago in 1965. Storms are coming, a painful idyll is coming to a bittersweet close.\u00a0Michael Gaskell\u2019s melancholic Criterion cover highlights this more somber mood while still showing a harbor from a storm.<\/p>\n

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\"Eclipse42_box_348x490_original\"3. Eclipse Series 42: Silent Ozu — Three Crime Dramas<\/strong><\/span>
\nd. Yasujiro Ozu (1930, 1933)<\/span>
\n(original podcast from May 2015<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s only worth going through a director\u2019s early work as a mere curiosity (for example, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s much value in most (not all, but most) of Hitchcock\u2019s silent films), but that is not the case here. These are tremendously crafted, wonderfully subtle and evocative films in their own right. This set includes Walk Cheerfully<\/em> (1930), That Night’s Wife<\/em> (1930), and Dragnet Girl<\/em> (1933).<\/p>\n

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\"A2. A Day in the Country<\/em><\/strong> <\/span>
\nd. Jean Renoir (1936)<\/span>
\n(original review from February 13, 2015<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

This was my release of the year up until a few weeks ago, and it was hard to put it in the number two spot as this is a gorgeous masterpiece. The exploration of an idyll \u2014 with all of its implications of memory and imagination, simplicity and brevity, purity and absence \u2014 is a favorite subject of mine. It’s a gem, and this release makes it shine. The supplements are also fantastic. Though the film is short — just 41 minutes — the edition is absolutely worth the full price.<\/p>\n

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\"Apu1. The Apu Trilogy
\n<\/span><\/strong>d. Satyajit Ray (1955, 1956, 1959)
\n(original review from November 17, 2015<\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Though hard to put A Day in the Country<\/em> in at number two, it was impossible to put this marvelous release in at anything but number one. These three films are special. Only recently coming to know them, I am unsure how my relationship with them will develop, but they are already so important to me personally. Ray\u2019s work has already affected my outlook on life and on those around me as he uses his camera to show reverence for time and for our inner lives \u2014 to our dreams, our hopes, our agony, our persistence. Though deeply rooted in Bengali culture, the three films are universally human.\u00a0This set includes Pather Panchali<\/em> (1955), Aparajito<\/em> (1956), and Apur Sansar<\/em> (1959).<\/p>\n

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*Releases I hadn’t seen when making the above list and so were not in consideration:<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n