I was asked to represent Slant Magazine in DVD Beaver’s annual show-stopping poll…my results are below, and if you follow the above link you can see the whole whopping outcome. Definitely worth reading over lunch/dinner/dessert.

Jon Lanthier and Slant Staff

Top 10 SD-DVD Releases OF 2009

1. Gaumont Treasures: 1897-1913 (Various) Kino; R1

2. Walden: Diaries, Notes & Sketches (Jonas Mekas, 1970) Microcinema; R1

3. The State: The Complete Series (Various, 5 Discs) Paramount/MTV; R1

4. The Samuel Fuller Film Collection (Samuel Fuller, et al. 7 discs) Sony; R1

5. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (Various, 17 Discs) Shout Factory; R1

6. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965), Criterion; R1

7. The Last Days of Disco (Whit Stillman, 1998) Criterion; R1

8. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973) Criterion; R1

9. Alexander Korda’s Private Lives (Alexander Korda, 4 Films) Eclipse; R1

10. Science Is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé (3 Discs) Criterion; R1

Comments: Was 2009 the “year of cult” as far as DVD was concerned? It seemed like more long lost (and never-quite-found) favorites were being issued than ever before, making each month’s adjusted release schedule a veritable Pandora’s Box of memories, cinema-related or otherwise. Most of the above DVDs would be welcome releases in ANY quality, but Criterion, Kino, and Shout Factory all stepped up to the proverbial plate with aplomb—The Last Days of Disco was already one of my favorite films before its DVD debut and yet to screen the digital master was to rediscover its coruscating wit all over again.

Top Blu-ray Releases

1. In the Realm of the Senses (Nagisa Oshima, 1976) Criterion; A

2. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927) Masters Of Cinema; ALL

3. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) Criterion; A

4. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965) Criterion; A

5. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967) Criterion; A

6. The General (Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton, 1927) Kino; ALL

7. Wings Of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) Criterion; A

8. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008) Criterion; A

9. The Last Emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987) Criterion; A

10. Wallace and Gromit: The Complete Collection (Nick Park, 1 Disc) Lionsgate; A

Comments: It’s still difficult to determine what one is supposed to look for in a blu ray that cannot be had from an upconverted standard definition disc – the difference to me has never quite been night and day so much as a choice between two distinct filmic textures (one always pays a cost for clarity). Which is what made Criterion’s release of In the Realm of the Senses such a shock – with a transfer glabrous, flattened and fluid, the film seems less pornographic and yet more assaulting than ever, and as such it’s one of the best arguments for 1080p on the market. The sharpness is as exhausting to observe as the perpetual copulation.