We’d like to say a hearty thank you to the 230+ fans who voted in the first ever Flicker Alley Awards. Thank you for helping us celebrate the unprecedented number of films we released in the past year. As we celebrate our 14th birthday this month, we look forward to another groundbreaking year bringing film history to new audiences.
The winner of the $10 Flicker Alley Gift Code has been notified at the email address provided, so make sure to check your inbox.
The 2015 Flicker Alley Award Winners Are:
Favorite New Release of 2015: 3-D Rarities
2015 marked the centennial anniversary of the first paid exhibition of 3-D film. The year also marked Flicker Alley’s first 3-D Blu-ray release: 3-D Rarities. The eye-popping collection of ultra-rare and long-lost movies, presented in collaboration with the 3-D Film Archive, was a smash hit, taking home the coveted title of Favorite New Release of 2015!
Best Cover Art & Packaging: 3-D Rarities
3-D Rarities takes home another win! Special thanks to Brian Peterson (Roam Creative) for his eye-catching packaging and menu design.
Best Bonus Feature: Commentary Tracks by Thad Komorowski and Jack Theakston, 3-D Rarities
The race for Best Bonus Feature was extremely close, with commentary tracks from 3-D Rarities narrowly taking the lead. “From Lost to Found: Restoring William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes,” presented by film restorer Robert Byrne at the 2015 San Francisco Silent Film Festival came in a close second by a difference of only 1.4% of the votes.
Most Exciting Discovery: William Gillette’s Only Filmed Performance in Sherlock Holmes (1916), Considered Lost for Nearly 100 Years
Long considered lost until a complete dupe negative was identified in the vaults of La Cinémathèque française in 2014, this William Gillette film is a vital missing link in the history of Sherlock Holmes on screen. By the time Sherlock Holmes was produced at Essanay Studios in 1916, Gillette had been established as the world’s foremost interpreter of Holmes on stage—having played him approximately 1300 times since his 1899 debut. Actors to this day continue to base their interpretations of the character, consciously or not, on the archetype defined by Gillette’s Holmes, despite being unable to see Gillette’s performance for themselves – until now.
Favorite Manufactured-On-Demand (MOD) DVD: The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection, Volumes One and Two
Arbuckle and Keaton prove they’re quite the winning pair! Producer Joseph M. Schenck lured Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle away from Mack Sennett’s Keystone studios with the promise of more money and complete creative control. To help in the new venture, Arbuckle recruited Buster Keaton, popular vaudeville star. The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection, Volume One and Volume Two present the films the duo made between 1917 and 1919 chronologically, so we can watch Buster grow from Arbuckle’s bit player to his full partner.
Favorite Streaming Title: A Trip to the Moon
Georges Méliès earned his place in history as an ingenious pioneer of special effects techniques in the new creative medium of his time – film. So it is fitting that his epic fantasy A Trip to the Moon: In its Original 1912 Colors would take first place in the category that reflects the technological evolution of filmed art – streaming video. This restoration of A Trip to the Moon, available to stream on Vimeo, reflects one of the most complex and ambitious restoration in the history of cinema, using advanced digital technologies to reassemble and restore the fragments of the 13,375 frames.
