What is your favorite Criterion Artwork?

[dan8885]

Question is simple, but the answer not. Criterion does a tremendous job with their Artwork selection.
Theres quite a few I would love to get as a print on the wall. And I still need to get the beautiful Hardcover Book "Criterion Designs" with a selection of 30 years of Criterion Design plus supplemental art, and never-before-seen sketches and concept art (Purchase Link)

I'm curious to know what your favorite artworks are from Criterion releases?

 

[dan8885]

From the ones I own these are some of my favorites:

Especially Repo Man is such a stunner. The Design through the whole Digipack is mind-blowing!

And theres plenty of releases I don't own where the artwork alone makes me want to get it.

For example:

 

[dan8885]

Curious to see what your favorites are @sminister @Sigill @PunkNinja @C.C. 95 @zoltan_g @Raggle Fraggle! @Bruckle @Futurhythm

 

[C.C. 95]

Great thread @dan8885 !
You chose some great ones! I may be wrong, but I think some of their earlier Laserdisc work was better...well, maybe not better - just different aesthetic. On some I like the clean simplicity, and others I like the nod to the original one sheet materials. The Third Man is one of the greatest ever.

And I do know what you mean about a cover drawing you in, even though you don't know the movie at all!
But, I also want to recognize one of their biggest mistakes. I LOVE this movie - and this cover evokes absolutely NOTHING of what this movie is. AT ALL. Still mad about it!!

 

[dan8885]

Awesome choices @C.C. 95
The Laserdiscs look classic that's for sure. I think both artworks fits for what it is, either the BD or the Laserdisc. Criterion did it right from the beginning on.

The Game & Third Man are awesome. Especially The Game I forgot about. Such a perfect artwork choice!
And I didn't even knew that there is a Beastie Boys Video Anthology from Criterion How awesome is that!

Fisher King is definitely not one of those I would pick up because of the artwork

I also really like those simple colored ones like

 

[dan8885]

I adore these old neon lights. That alone makes me feel that I need to double dip on this release

 

[C.C. 95]

I adore these old neon lights. That alone makes me feel that I need to double dip on this release

Yeah, I'm doubling up on that too! It has different extras then the Korean blu. The Korean blu ray has the Kenneth Loring commentary and the Criterion doesn't. (Ken Loring actually being Joel Coen doing an English accent!).
But, that CC cover is great. Interestingly, both the CC and Korean cover are BOTH from release one sheets.
There was more than one one sheet for that release.

I kinda wonder if, like the LP artists, the CC artists mourn the loss of the real estate they had to work with on LD's vs Blu rays for their imagery.

I'm not sure if the Beastie Boys Anthology made it from DVD to Blu ray. I still have a lot of the DVDs that did not make the jump yet.
One I cherish is FISHING WITH JOHN. John Lurie takes guys like Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, and Willem Dafoe fishing! It's awesome!
And I cherish Lars Von Trier's EUROPA: A masterpiece. The CC DVD not only hasn't made the jump to blu ray - EUROPA isn't on blu ray at all!!! Unbelievable!

 

[PunkNinja]

Excellent thread @dan8885

 

[zoltan_g]

Great topic, @dan8885!

Well, there is actually an entire book dediceted to the CC cover designs.
The first thing I should highlight is their design concept that lasts for 7-8 years, and it still looks magnificent.
Every edition feels individual-yet-uniform, especially when they are sitting next to each other.

My favourites are:

I adore how they use the snapshot of a famous scene, and how they combine it with a special title design and positioning.
I adore how they keep the design approach the same for multiple movies from the same director.
I adore that every month the release schedule comes with the revealed cover arts, and they never (or rarely) disappoint.

My only huge disappointment was the cover of Tokyo Story (and Ozu's other releases as well) due to the montage concept.
They already had this on DVD... Why the change...

 

[zoltan_g]

Add these two already to my favs:

 

[dan8885]

Yeah, I'm doubling up on that too! It has different extras then the Korean blu. The Korean blu ray has the Kenneth Loring commentary and the Criterion doesn't. (Ken Loring actually being Joel Coen doing an English accent!).
But, that CC cover is great. Interestingly, both the CC and Korean cover are BOTH from release one sheets.
There was more than one one sheet for that release.

I kinda wonder if, like the LP artists, the CC artists mourn the loss of the real estate they had to work with on LD's vs Blu rays for their imagery.

I'm not sure if the Beastie Boys Anthology made it from DVD to Blu ray. I still have a lot of the DVDs that did not make the jump yet.
One I cherish is FISHING WITH JOHN. John Lurie takes guys like Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, and Willem Dafoe fishing! It's awesome!
And I cherish Lars Von Trier's EUROPA: A masterpiece. The CC DVD not only hasn't made the jump to blu ray - EUROPA isn't on blu ray at all!!! Unbelievable!

I didn't bought the korean Slip. I wanted to say I like the Criterion artwork so much I could buy two of em But you're right, the Korean is also worth to get and a beauty!

Do you still got a Laserdisc Player and watch them or do you just stay with them for collecting?

Beasties made it to BD. It's already on my wish list

I never looked for all the Criterion DVDs. Since there are so much BDs I still need to get I hope till then a lot DVDs made it to BD. But sad to know that there are already failed transfers like Europa. Never heard of Fishing with John, need to google that. Thanks for the tip!

The only DVD I knew about and I desperately looking for is this one. Awesome movie!

 

[Futurhythm]

I tried to do a top 10, but it was too hard. I managed to get it down to 15:

And two honorable mentions:

I LOVE the art on Straw Dogs, but it's the original theatrical one-sheet and I decided only original covers only. I don't really care for the cover for Monsters and Madmen, but it's from one of my favourite (comic) artists of all time: Darwyn Cooke. He passed away only recently

In general, I also have this thing for the photographic covers they do, e.g. The Double Life of Veronique (as pictured above), L'avventura, Vivre sa vie, etc. ,etc.

Looking at the ones I've chosen, I must have a thing for yellows, greys and pinks as well

 

[dan8885]

Great topic, @dan8885!

Well, there is actually an entire book dediceted to the CC cover designs.
The first thing I should highlight is their design concept that lasts for 7-8 years, and it still looks magnificent.
Every edition feels individual-yet-uniform, especially when they are sitting next to each other.

My favourites are:

I adore how they use the snapshot of a famous scene, and how they combine it with a special title design and positioning.
I adore how they keep the design approach the same for multiple movies from the same director.
I adore that every month the release schedule comes with the revealed cover arts, and they never (or rarely) disappoint.

My only huge disappointment was the cover of Tokyo Story (and Ozu's other releases as well) due to the montage concept.
They already had this on DVD... Why the change...

Not only that I agree to everything you said and that all artworks you posted are awesome- most of them are also my favorite movies ever

Fellini is a god! And La Haine was one of those movies we watched a lot when we was rebellious teens I love everything Kurosawa and Wender. There's a Criterion Closet video with Wender where he told a story when he met Kurosawa on the toilet at an airport

I really like the artworks for Cronos and for Devils Backbone. Both I want to get in the current sale when my funds are better end of the month.

That Tokyo Story DVD cover is way better then the BD one. Never saw it. That's sad to see now.

I posted a link to the book in the first post. I still need to get it but with 95 EUR I push it forward month for month. The cover alone makes it worth to purchase! Do you own it?

 

[dan8885]

I tried to do a top 10, but it was too hard. I managed to get it down to 15:

View attachment 252251

And two honorable mentions:

View attachment 252252View attachment 252253

I LOVE the art on Straw Dogs, but it's the original theatrical one-sheet and I decided only original covers only. I don't really care for the cover for Monsters and Madmen, but it's from one of my favourite (comic) artists of all time: Darwyn Cooke. He passed away only recently

In general, I also have this thing for the photographic covers they do, e.g. The Double Life of Veronique (as pictured above), L'avventura, Vivre sa vie, etc. ,etc.

Looking at the ones I've chosen, I must have a thing for yellows, greys and pinks as well

Awesome choices!!! Damn, everyone's posts are such a eye candy. Incredible job criterion is doing when you take a moment and look at a mix of them.

Your Top 15 is perfect and with World on a Wire another one I want to get in the current sale!

And I recognized now that this thread is also a great heads up to Criterions I missed out on. Medium Cool, Koko, Straw Dogs and Monsters & Madmen made it to my endless wish list. How you don't care for the cover of Monsters & Madmen, I love it

And I totally get what you're saying with the photographic covers like Vivre sa vie or Double life of Veronique. They look so classy!

 

[sminister]

I hadn't looked at anyone's choices until after I decided. Glad I did so it didn't influence my picks. There are many more that I love, but here are my favorites. My Top 10. I could pick so many more. Great idea for a thread @dan8885

 

[C.C. 95]

I didn't bought the korean Slip. I wanted to say I like the Criterion artwork so much I could buy two of em But you're right, the Korean is also worth to get and a beauty!

Do you still got a Laserdisc Player and watch them or do you just stay with them for collecting?

Beasties made it to BD. It's already on my wish list

I never looked for all the Criterion DVDs. Since there are so much BDs I still need to get I hope till then a lot DVDs made it to BD. But sad to know that there are already failed transfers like Europa. Never heard of Fishing with John, need to google that. Thanks for the tip!

The only DVD I knew about and I desperately looking for is this one. Awesome movie!

I do still have the LD player! I still use it for certain things. Example: i just bought the UK 4k release of TALES OF HOFFMAN. It does not have the Commentary from Scorsese that was on the Criterion LD and DVD!
The DVD is now a collector's item and is expensive. I only need the commentary. So I got the Criterion LD for $10 and ripped the commentary, and Authored a new DVD with the commentary! (This is just for watching the film with commentary since it is still not HD).
And there are still versions of things that are only on LD. (Coppola's Original cut of One From The Heart).
And many, many LD's with commentaries that never made the leap to their DVDs or BR counterparts.
So, it is still useful to have one!
Here is another unfortunate cover change from CC DVD to CC blu ray. I love George Sluizer's original The Vanishing (Spoorloos). But Criterion's new Blu ray cover is SOOOOO bad. I'm going to scan and resize my DVD cover for the blu ray.

 

[dan8885]

View attachment 252463 I hadn't looked at anyone's choices until after I decided. Glad I did so it didn't influence my picks. There are many more that I love, but here are my favorites. My Top 10. I could pick so many more. Great idea for a thread @dan8885

Hiroshima mon amour looks great Thanks for your reply Great Top 10 artworks

 

[dan8885]

I do still have the LD player! I still use it for certain things. Example: i just bought the UK 4k release of TALES OF HOFFMAN. It does not have the Commentary from Scorsese that was on the Criterion LD and DVD!
The DVD is now a collector's item and is expensive. I only need the commentary. So I got the Criterion LD for $10 and ripped the commentary, and Authored a new DVD with the commentary! (This is just for watching the film with commentary since it is still not HD).
And there are still versions of things that are only on LD. (Coppola's Original cut of One From The Heart).
And many, many LD's with commentaries that never made the leap to their DVDs or BR counterparts.
So, it is still useful to have one!
Here is another unfortunate cover change from CC DVD to CC blu ray. I love George Sluizer's original The Vanishing (Spoorloos). But Criterion's new Blu ray cover is SOOOOO bad. I'm going to scan and resize my DVD cover for the blu ray.
View attachment 252484

I never owned one and sadly never watched a LaserDisc.
I'm impressed by your passion. That's work not everyone would do for a movie. Most people I know don't even watch the additional content.

Oh yes that's definitely a great comparison. The DVD looks way better. I don't understand why Criterion decides like this!? Maybe the license for the first artwork has expired!?

Some more I really like:

 

[dan8885]

Guys & Girls, share your favorites with us

@digitalbabe @Sigill @Lollard2002 @teNsFredZ @Last Lizard @bam777 @Lutzo

 

[Sigill]

My favourites would be Pans Labyrinth and Blow Out. I also think Repo Man looks cool even though it's a bit out there!