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| Everyone has their reasons... |
Back in 2009, I came up with a set of rules that governed my scheme for blogging my way through the Criterion Collection. I'm pretty sure that this list has been slightly tinkered with at least once or twice since then, but now that I'm in effect re-launching the project, it's appropriate that I take a long look at the game plan to see if any modifications are in order. So here's where the rules stand at the moment:
1. I'm going to review all of the feature films and selected short subjects.
2. Wherever possible I will try to include clips from YouTube or some other on-line source. If none are available, I will make some screen caps and post them myself.
3. As Criterion adds new films to their collection, I will add them to my list but I won't go backwards if the new film was originally released prior to the year I'm currently reviewing.
4. I will view the bonus features and read the written materials included with each DVD.
5. Links to my reviews of films released through Criterion's Eclipse Series at CriterionCast.com are inserted at the end of posts on movies that preceded the release date of an individual Eclipse title. However, the Eclipse films are not being watched chronologically. I'm also not reviewing Criterion Laserdiscs. (Maybe someday though...)
If you want to follow along in the order I wrote my reviews, go to January 2009 in the blog archive and you'll find the beginning of the series. Go back to 2008 and you can read some random reviews I wrote before starting out on this project.
By the time I post this entry though, the new rules as I'm about to revise them will be pasted into that sidebar on the right. So let's go through them one by one to see what changes need to be made.
1. I'm going to review all of the feature films and selected short subjects.
Comment: Since 2009 I have expanded my original chronological list of all the Criterion DVD/Blu-ray releases to include also the Eclipse Series, a few Essential Art House titles exclusive to that line, Hulu Plus exclusives, the original Criterion LaserDisc editions and even archival short films included as supplemental extras. Since I have so meticulously arranged all that information in chronological order (to the best of my knowledge, since some of these films don't have trackable release dates), I figure I might as well include them in my list, so I'll include an entry for each film, however brief, as I reach it in my timeline. Hence, I'm planning to offer "comments," not necessarily "reviews" on each film.
New Rule: I'm going to comment upon as many Criterion-related titles (features and historic short films, current and past releases, including those from Hulu Plus and the old laser disc era) as possible.
2. Wherever possible I will try to include clips from YouTube or some other on-line source. If none are available, I will make some screen caps and post them myself.
Comment: I'm not going to be so concerned about including YouTube clips, since many of my old reviews are somewhat blighted by embedded videos that have since been pulled down by that site. I didn't really understand how illegal some of those snippets were when I started doing this, or how subject they were to the whims of any number of stakeholders who could pull them down for whatever reason if they felt like it. I'll still try to include interesting visual stuff, which might include video segments, but no promises. The ability to customize my post with eye and ear candy is what persuades me to stick with Blogger rather than just move all my stuff over to Letterboxd or IMDb, which only allows text-based reviews.
New Rule: Beyond written reflections, I will include interesting visual elements when available, including posters, video clips, stills or other miscellaneous items to provide additional insight and amusement.
3. As Criterion adds new films to their collection, I will add them to my list but I won't go backwards if the new film was originally released prior to the year I'm currently reviewing.
Comment: I definitely plan to stick with this principle for the foreseeable future. I'm glad to have CriterionCast.com as a place where I can publish the occasional review or engage in a podcast discussion of new releases that predate my current place on the timeline. But for this site, I want to stay immersed in the current year that I'm in.
New Rule: Same as the Old Rule.
4. I will view the bonus features and read the written materials included with each DVD.
Comment: I see no compelling reason to drop that commitment entirely, though in the interest of moving through the films more quickly, there may be times that I'll write my review before conducting an exhaustive survey of all the supplements.
New Rule: I aspire to survey all of the available bonus features and written materials that Criterion provides for their films, but I may skip some of that at times just to keep the project moving along or because the film itself didn't compel me to such comprehensive study.
5. Links to my reviews of films released through Criterion's Eclipse Series at CriterionCast.com are inserted at the end of posts on movies that preceded the release date of an individual Eclipse title. However, the Eclipse films are not being watched chronologically. I'm also not reviewing Criterion Laserdiscs. (Maybe someday though...)
Comment: This is one of the rules that I obviously updated after I started writing for Criterion Cast back in 2010. I think I will stop updating the links on old posts to include more recent reviews of films that would have fit in between past entries in this series. It's just too tedious. But if readers really want to follow the chronology, I'm happy to send you a read-only link to my spreadsheet through Google Drive (message me if interested) or you can find lists arranged by decade on my Letterboxd profile.
If you want to follow along in the order I wrote my reviews, go to January 2009 in the blog archive and you'll find the beginning of the series. Go back to 2008 and you can read some random reviews I wrote before starting out on this project.
Comment: That all holds true. Also, the spreadsheet I mentioned above includes links to all my reviews, including a few articles I've posted on other sites.
New Rule: Links to some of the reviews I've written for CriterionCast.com are included in older posts composed between 2009-2014, but will not be updated anymore. A sortable, read-only copy of my chronological spreadsheet that includes links to all my published reviews is available on request via Google Drive. My Letterboxd profile also includes a series of lists titled The Criterion Chronology, that arranges all Criterion titles in order of original releases, sorted by decades.