The 2014 Criterion Collection Wacky Newsletter Drawings

Every month we eagerly await the email newsletter from the Criterion Collection. While it is always fun to see how much care and craft has gone into shaping the newsletter format over the years, the highlight of each email is the little drawing from Jason Polan at the end. This year was no different, and we had a number of exciting clues, some obvious, others less so.

While we eagerly await this year’s Wacky New Year’s Drawing on Thursday, I thought it might be fun to look back at what we found in our inboxes this past year.

Below you’ll find each month’s newsletter drawing, along with any relevant links and information.

I’ll add these to our Facebook photo albums, where you can find all of the past wacky drawings.

01 - January - Tie Me Up

January

The little toy scuba diver from Pedro Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Teased in January of 2014, this title was released on August 19th, 2014 (7 months later)

02 - February - Love Streams

February

Look at this beautiful stream of love. On August 12th, about 6 months later, Criterion released John Cassavetes’ Love Streams.

03 - March - Macbeth

March

Out, spot! On September 23rd (6 months later), Criterion released Roman Polanski’s Macbeth.

04 - April - Vanishing

April

That “the” sure is disappearing. Vanishing, if you will. And it just so happened that Criterion released George Sluizer’s original attempt at The Vanishing (Twilight Time released his 1993 American re-make this year) on October 28th. Again, about 6 months later.

05 - May - Hellman Westerns

May

Hellmann’s mayonnaise is hard to beat, and Hellman’s westerns were hard to find (in high definition at least), up until the Criterion Collection released The Shooting and Ride In The Whirlwind this past November. Again, six months between the tease and the release.

06 - June - It Happened One Night

June

This one was a little more obscure, but once you watched this clip, you could tell right away that Criterion was teasing their release of It Happened One Night, which hit stores on November 18th, five months later.

07 - July - Satyricon

July

Satyr-Con? Fellini Satyricon is set to hit stores on February 24th, 2015. About seven months between tease and release.

08 - August - Thin Blue Lion

August

Remember when Criterion teased The Thin Red Line with a thin, red lion? Well here we are. A thin, blue lion, and on March 24th, 2015, we’ll get Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line. About seven months between the clue and the disc.

09 - September - Dont Look Now

September

Apparently this guy looked then, but don’t look now! Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now hits stores on February 10th, 2015 (just in time for Valentine’s Day!). About five months between the newsletter and the actual release.

10 - October - Odd Man Out

October

That odd man did not make it safely to home plate. And sadly, we still don’t know when Criterion will release Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out on Blu-ray. But if you can’t wait, you can go watch it on their iTunes channel, in HD!

11 - November - Pink Horse

November

Don’t you want to just go ride that pink horse? Well on March 17th, 2015, you can watch Robert Montgomery’s Ride The Pink Horse on Blu-ray! About four months in between the tease and the disc.

12 - December - Limelight

December

Our last newsletter drawing for the year, a little sour, but bright with the hope that we’re getting more Chaplin on Blu-ray next year! Limelight hasn’t been announced for Blu-ray yet, but you can currently watch it on Hulu Plus or iTunes.