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It's been a busy, busy, busy year
for me. So busy, in fact, that I've had trouble
keeping up with all the great DVD releases that
continue to overflow my shelf full of overdue screeners.
I've had to downsize the reviews a bit to keep
up the site at all, moving to a system of one in-depth
'Featured Review' per week, along with a selection
of capsule reviews in the front page 'weekly roundup'.
This way, at least I've been able to maintain a
modicum of activity on the site in 2004, and I'll
do my best to keep it up in 2005.
Here, in any case, is my usual Top 10 list of
DVD's I've enjoyed reviewing most in the past
year. The choice was difficult, as always, and
a few of my actual favorites are missing from
this list simply because I didn't receive screener
copies of them and therefore never got around
to posting a review on the site (eg. The
Rules of the Game, Master and Commander:
The Far Side of the World, Panic
Room: Special Edition and
the Star
Wars Trilogy box set). Unsurprisingly, the
list is dominated by the Criterion Collection,
still the world's best DVD production house ,
with no fewer than four releases in my Top 10
(and a long list of runners-up that only just
didn't make the cut). Special mention must also
go to Warner Home Video, represented in the Top
10 only by their amazing four-disc re-release
of Gone With the Wind, but responsible
in 2004 yet again for an outstanding list of
classics released on DVD.
So without further ado, here's my Top 10 selection
from 2004's releases. Best wishes to all my loyal
readers for the new year, and I sincerely hope
to be back with more in the new year.
Dan Hassler-Forest
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1. Short Cuts: Criterion Collection
Robert Altman's ever-impressive masterpiece
was finally granted a DVD release in 2004,
and who better capable of pulling it off than
the Criterion Collection? Not only does this
incredible double-disc release house a fantastic
array of supplements, but this beautifully
packaged set also included a special reprint
of the Raymond Carver stories that formed the
basis for the film's screenplay.
read
the review |
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2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King - Extended Edition
The celebrated conclusion of this historic
trilogy doesn't benefit as much from the addition
of extra footage as the previous two installments
did, but it closes out the twelve-disc DVD
collection beautifully, while the documentaries
that chart the near-catastrophe of the production
make for the best collection of supplements
in the trilogy.
read
the review |
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3. Fanny & Alexander box set: Criterion
Collection
A close third place is reserved for Criterion's
five-disc box set documenting two full versions
of Ingmar Bergman's astonishing masterpiece.
The three-hour theatrical version won just
about every international film award imaginable,
but the five-hour television version is infinitely
better, featuring several scenes even better
than anything in the entire truncated theatrical
cut. Also included in this wonderful box set
is the feature-length documentary on the making
of the film, directed by Bergman himself.
read
the review |
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4. Gone with the Wind: Collector's Edition
Still the grandest picture ever made, Gone
with the Wind at long last underwent the
ultimate digital restoration last year, as
Warner replaced the aging single-disc release
with this eagerly awaited four-disc set that
leaves few stones unturned: Rudy Behlmer's
full-length lecture/commentary is as exhaustive
as it is authoritative, while the two discs
full of documentaries offer less fatiguing
(but hardly less rewarding) ways of investigating
the film's fascinating background.
read
the review |
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5. Seinfeld: Seasons 1-3
With the release of the first three seasons
of Seinfeld on DVD, Columbia Tristar
not only satisfied a huge audience's hunger
for unlimited repeats of one of the most hilarious
TV shows ever produced, but it also managed
to set a new benchmark for DVD releases of
TV shows in general. After the much-publicized
conflicts over payment with the show's principals,
the eight discs that make up the first three
seasons can thankfully stand among the best
TV box sets yet released, and easily rate among
the finest (and most rewatchable) of last year's
releases.
read
the review |
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6a. Kill Bill - Volume 1
6b. Kill Bill - Volume
2
Quentin Tarantino's glorious return to
the big screen was split up into two volumes,
their success compounded by the cleverly timed
release of the first volume on DVD just as
the second part premiered theatrically. The
two volumes balance each other perfectly, and
although QT's innumerable fans are still awaiting
the inevitable multi-disc special edition DVD,
the infinitely rewatchable discs don't have
any extras where it counts, but will certaingly
tide us over for a while.
Vol.
1: read the review
Vol. 2:
read the review |
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7. Videodrome: Criterion Collection
David Cronenberg's groundbreaking horror
film was years ahead of its time when it was
made back in 1984, and it remains a visionary,
unsettling work two decades onward. Graced
with a terrific transfer and the kind of supplements
one would expect from the Criterion label,
the double-platter set features the year's
most cleverly conceived packaging design, aptly
(and convincingly) masquerading as a VHS tape.
read
the review
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8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:
Special Edition
Last year's finest American film was released
on DVD fairly quickly after its disappointing
theatrical run, and has already been double-dipped
in an attempt to capitalize on pre-Oscar buzz.
Whichever DVD edition you pick up, just make
sure you don't miss out on screenwriter extraordinaire Charlie
Kaufman's best work yet, featuring career-best
performances from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.
read
the review |
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9. The Office: Season 1 and 2
The finest British comedy series since Black
Adder also surfaced on DVD last year,
each of the twenty-four episodes in the two
first (and last) seasons an infinitely rewatchable,
cringe-worthy classic.
read
the review |
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10. Ed Wood: Special Edition
After a two-year delay, Tim Burton's brilliant,
whimsical biopic of the world's worst director
finally sees the light of day on DVD (although
it has long been available in Europe in an
identical edition), and at least the wait has
been worth it with such a fine, extras-laden
DVD finally on the shelf.
read
the review |
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