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    Wacky New Year’s Drawing Hints At The Criterion Collection’s 2014 Line-Up

    Ryan Gallagher
    January 1, 2014

    wackynewyear_2014 framed

    The Criterion Collection has just posted their annual Wacky New Year’s Day Drawing. Let’s dissect it and see what we have in store for the next year.

    The past Wacky New Year’s Day Drawings:

    wackynewyear_2014

    wackynewyear_2014-49

    A. Bushes =

    B. Reindeer behind a bush = Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter

    C. Beetles = Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night

    D. Picnic scene = Picnic At Hanging Rock, Hideo Nakata’s Ringu (or Truffaut’s Wild Child?), Les Blank’s Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers, Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie, Roman Polanski’s MacBeth, Riot In Cell Block 11

    E. Red Sun = Terence Young’s Red Sun 1971
    , Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day

    F. Red River = Howard Hawk’s Red River

    G. Dancing people = Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill

    H. Exploding Head = David Cronenberg’s Scanners

    I. California Raisin = Daniel Petrie’s A Raisin In The Sun (1961), The Big Chill

    J. Head in the box = Jacques Tati box set

    K. Angel leaving with a bell = Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Breaking The Waves

    L. Band playing =

    M. Angels in the water = Jacques Demy’s Bay Of Angels, Charles Chaplin’s The Kid

    N. Angel with a boa = Jacques Demy’s Lola

    O. Angel with the  hat = Jacques Demy’s Donkey Skin

    P. Red Umbrella = Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas Of Cherbourg

    Others / Misc. Thoughts.

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    Ryan Gallagher

    Ryan is the Editor-In-Chief / Founder of CriterionCast.com, and the host / co-founder / producer of the various podcasts here on the site. You can find his website at RyanGallagher.org, follow him on Twitter (@RyanGallagher), or send him an email: [email protected].

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    38 comments

    • ‘Picnic At Hanging Rock’ upgrade in the neighborhood of ‘D’
      There appeared to be a pair of ‘Tootsie’ Roll-shaped candies on the right of the picnic blanket
      Jaques Tati box set/upgrades for ‘J’

    • I think that M through P are all Jacques Demy hints. M=Bay of Angels,
      O=Donkey Skin, P=Umbrellas of Cherboug. I’m not sure what N is… maybe
      Lola?

    • Have Criterion dropped other hints about Deer Hunter and Hard Day’s Night? Those would be marvelous, as well as It’s a Wonderful Life! Also…about time for Tati upgrades, i say!

    • Do you think that’s really a hat on that angel? it looks more like a donkey…but i can’t be sure…and is that dancer Josephine Baker?

    • The girl whose face is covered by her hair could also be a hint for Truffaut’s The Wild Child.

    • Not specifically about Hard Day’s Night, but Richard Lester does have a blank filmmaker’s page on criterion.com, so it was a possibility.

    • Another take on ‘I’: It may be ‘The Big Chill’ instead of ‘G’. TBC gets associated with its soundtrack more than anything. Vinton’s Raisin commercials featured ‘Heard It Through The Grapvine’ prominently, just like TBC. (Could also be a double tease of TBC and ‘A Raisin…’.

    • The prominent sun with the picnic/beach scenery points towards the season being summer – a possible nod to Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day. I’m also wondering if the ‘X’ on the cliff means anything.

    • I was thinking the same. A Criterion edition of The Wild Child seems more plausible than Ringu.

    • C. Given the connection with the Maysles, The Beatles First U.S. Visit could work too. It was the direct inspiration for AHDN (and a better film, I’d say)

      G. Thoroughly Modern Millie? Is there a… you know, a call for that one?

      K. Wonderful Life would be great, as the current blu-ray is a bit of a botched job. It could be a money maker for them, especially with so many distributors going third party on blu-ray releases of their classics.

    • I kinda lost hope for this but: the angel has a bell that makes a sound. That would be great if it meant a Rublev upgrade.

    • If that theory holds, I’d reckon that the two girls you don’t have circled may be Les Demoiselles de Rochefort…

    • KANSAS CITY would be glorious. I don’t know how realistic that is, but I’d love to see it. Same with CALIFORNIA SPLIT. Never thought I’d see either as a CC. But now that I have hope, I can only be disappointed. Nice!

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