VOTE: Best Studio/Distributor 2011  

Criterion.

Great title selection, great transfers, and valuable extra content. Their releases of The Killing, Fanny & Alexander, Island of Lost Souls, and Three Colors are essential to any film buff. I'll also recommend the overlooked People On Sunday, which is one of the most fun movies I've seen recently.

Kudos to all five nominees - they all had some great releases this past year. But my vote goes to Criterion for sustained excellence over the entire year.

As long as distributors are included in the same category as studios, then it's Criterion, hands down.  With their output and their years of excellence, no one will come close without some sea change taking place.  That doesn't mean I don't want to see the studios themselves lauded for their equally excellent releases (Ben-Hur, etc.), but Criterion performs at this level year-round.

Criterion films look great, and they release films made before 1980

 

Few studios release black and white films or films from the 1940's and Criterion does them right.

Whenever I heard a film is being released by Criterion I can pre-order with confidence

Since Criterion was included, I voted for them, but have equal respect for the work of Sony and Warners. (I have a long memory and do still remember the damage that Criterion inflicted to The Last Emperor with their release in the wrong aspect ratio. That was a previous year, and Criterion has given us many wonders since, including Sweet Smell of Success.)

Not quite sure why Paramount is here. I consider Paramount to at least be complicit in the My Fair Lady debacle, considering the complex relationship between Paramount and MFL copyright owner CBS. Paramount can point to The Ten Commandments however, a great release, as well the previous year's White Christmas, which continues to dazzle me.

Warners.

I love Criterion and it's kind of unfair, or at least incongruous, to put them up against the majors in something like this.

Warners wins because they're putting their soul on the line with their BRs and the Warner Archive.

Not happy about the problems with THE DEVILS or the "Censored 11" debacle from early this year.

1. Criterion - I purchased more Criterion titles than from any other studio this year....by a considerable margin.
2. Sony - The only studio that seems to still be putting out new-to-disc classic films
3. Paramount - For "Once Upon a Time in the West" alone!!!
4. Disney - No specific reason
5. WB -Because the archive does not impress me in the least, and most of the remaining releases were simply re-releases to Blu-Ray.

1. Criterion, they knocked it out of the park this year with a stellar slate of releases across the board, plus they release old movies not just last year's movies.

Criterion... Kiss Me Deadly, Sweet Smell of Success and the combo of Tokyo Drifter/Branded to Kill make it a runaway for me.

All though Criterion has released some outstanding titles on Blu-ray that looked very good, what Warners has accomplished with Ben-Hur, Citizen Kane, The Bad Seed, Mutiny on the Bounty (63) and Meet Me in St. Louis is wonderful.  My vote is based on the quality and not quantity. 

Criterion for Quality and Quanity

 

i would say that all deserve to be in this and one that is missing, the other independant that is rolling thru silents, what i hope to see is that all releases would at least have to meet a minimum standard, but even with this format that hasnt happend yet,

Criterion has replaced Warners in my hobby heart. they can practically do no wrong, and they are serving up classics and catalog titles in the way that Warners used to before that furshlunginger archives program ruined it for me.

 

Before anyone wants to trip over themselves to tell me what a blessing the Archives is, I get it. I however get none of the sales since they don't ship to Canada, and no one is going to convince me that buying a barebones noir title at $20 in the archives is as good a deal as getting a 8 title boxset for $40 Cdn.

Warners release a lot of catalogue titles, which is great; and when they put their heart and soul into something, you get the likes of the superb BEN HUR edition.

On the downside, they've become over-zealous on the archive; they seem to have given up on new extras; way too much repackaging of old discs. They frustrate and delight in equal measure.

Criterion, however, deserve some accolades for last year, a great mix of American and Arthouse Classics, new releases and upgrades. They pack their discs with informative extras, design them beautifully and rarely put a foot wrong with the transfers. This is the studio that threw in KILLER'S KISS as an extra. The love and care they put into their product is a stark contrast to the penny-pinching, mercenary attitudes of the studios that made many of these films and seem to feel no duty to their legacy other than the duty to make a buck.

Criterion deserve to win this.