Thank You All For An Incredible 2010, I Cannot Wait To See What 2011 Brings Us

The new year is quickly approaching, and as I sit here, amidst several drafts of blog posts, half written DVD and Blu-ray reviews, unfinished top ten lists, and so on, I’m reminded of how proud I am of what we’ve created over the course of our podcast and website’s lifespan. In this cyber world of innumerable blogs and websites it’s hard to make your voice heard, and I cannot believe the small level of success we’ve attained.

We began 2010 with our episode on Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (episode 19), and over the course of the following 12 months, we managed to cover 44 films in the Criterion Collection, leading up to our most recent episode, discussing A Christmas Tale (episode 63). As you all know, not only have we produced that many episodes, we’ve gone and recorded at least that many bonus episodes in the form of our Disc 2’s, as well as several bonus episodes from Sundance, SXSW, and a number of interviews and “Disc 3’s”.

Whether you read our blog directly, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you are in some way contributing to our desire to continue on with this endeavor, and I thank you.

Along with you, our audience, there are so many others I need to thank. Each and every guest that has been kind enough to join us in our discussions of the films has been incredible, and always managed to bring a fresh and interesting perspective to our show.

Now to my wonderful friends who have helped me build this project to heights that I had not intended. Rudie has grown so much, both as our podcast host, and as a film critic. While we lost Travis to the lure of the musical tour across both the US and Europe, he is forever in our hearts and minds, and await the day he’ll return to grace us with his voice of podcasting gold. When Travis told us of his plans, which involved leaving the show, I honestly didn’t know what we were going to do. To ask a stranger to join such a niche topic seemed like an impossible position to fill, until I realized that a friend who had appeared on an bonus episode a few months previously, was the perfect fit. James has gone above and beyond all that we’ve asked of him, as our third on the podcast. He constantly brings a unique voice to the Criterion Cast, and I hope we are able to keep him on throughout 2011.

Earlier this year, I found myself in the position of needing someone to help write daily news stories for our site, and I found that and so much more in Josh Brunsting. He has permanently changed our position as a film site, and I am humbled by the amount of work he produces on a daily basis. I know one day he’ll find a paying position somewhere, and whomever manages to acquire his talents, better pay him accordingly.

In addition to our usual news and reviews, I somehow managed to talk David Blakeslee into adding an additional weekly film to review, in addition to his prior obligations at the Criterion Reflections blog. His “Journey Through The Eclipse Series” is one of my most prized achievements of 2010. He has shown incredible loyalty and punctuality, sending me reviews week after week, from the various films of the Eclipse Series. His passion for the Criterion Collection is truly admirable, and I hope to honor his labor through my work as his editor.

I also have to thank Catherine Stebbins, for all of the work she has put in recently, reviewing theatrical releases and a few DVDs. Through a unintentional series of events, we have been mostly a boys club on the website, until Rudie managed to talk her into writing for us. I hope to provide her with many more films to review in 2011, as she is a talent that needs to be fed.

2011 is already lining up to be an incredibly busy year for us all. From Sundance next month (which I’ll likely be in attendance of, presuming that all goes according to plan), to SXSW in March, we’ll have our hands full with the various film festivals that invite us to cover their events. This of course will be in addition to our regular duties on the website and our podcast, reviewing films in the Criterion Collection. 2010 was an inspirational year, and 2011 is already lining up to rival it in terms of the quality of their releases on DVD and Blu-ray.

On a personal note, 2011 will be a real adventure, as I try to juggle the duties of a husband, new father, and editor in chief of the blog (and my regular full time day job). This will undoubtedly affect my appearances on the podcast, but I’m going to just have to wait and see how it goes.

If you’ve made it this far into the post, I thank you again, and now pose to you a series of questions. What do you think of our show? How can we improve in 2011? What do you like about the website? What can we change in our coverage or formatting to better serve you as a film lover? As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below, write us an e-mail, send us a voice mail, friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, we’d love to have you interact with us. Through our communications with our audience, we’ve grown tremendously as individuals, and as a collective.