Pretty Pictures

For film nerds like myself, the Criterion Collection is the end-all-be-all. Their huge and incredible catalog is restored to amazing condition, with pristine picture and sound quality, with great bonus features. (They aren't snobs either, while I was doing this I noticed they even delved into Michael Bay's catalog with The Rock and Armageddon. I was also surprised to find Robocop)

At any rate, what really seals the deal is the beautiful cover art for their DVD releases. Most are original designs done especially for the DVDs released by Criterion. According to their website they have something like 534 releases now. Here are my 50 favorite pieces of Criterion cover art. (I haven't actually seen a good portion of these, I know embarrassing, this is going strictly by the cover art, not the actual quality of the movie)

Yi Yi


Wings Of Desire


Walkabout


Umberto D


Thieves' Highway


The Third Man


The Sword Of Doom


The Man Who Fell To Earth


The Killers


The Ice Storm


The Honeymoon Killers


The Bad Sleep Well


The Hidden Fortress


Fallen Idol


Stagecoach


Simon Of The Desert


Secret Honor


Scenes From A Marriage


Rushmore


Robinson Crusoe On Mars


Ride With The Devil


Red Desert


Pickpocket


Paris, Texas


Night Train To Munich


Nights Of Cabiria


Naked Lunch


My Dinner With Andre


Missing


Metropolitan


Le Samourai


Koko: A TAlking Gorilla


Knife In The Water


Kind Hearts and Coronets


Kicking & Screaming


House Of Games


Hoop Dreams


Grey Gardens


Green For Danger


Fires On The Plain


F For Fake


Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas


Empire Of Passion


Days Of Heaven


Crumb


Blast Of Silence


Army Of Shadows


All That Heaven Allows


Ace In The Hole


Two Lane Blacktop