Hi,
I love NBC cinema, it is because he offers very different taste to the audience who likes to eat pop-corn while watching movie, he offers dark-coffee or scotch whiskey or he likes to remind us Tarkovsky, Bresson...
I also agree with almost all above mentioned opinions. However, I believe that it might be a mistake to compare Climates to Distant since they are technically and theoretically very different from each other.
Why is Climate so successful? For me, its simplicity, natural look, and its hidden humor. I assure you it would get the big prize if Cannes juries had known Turkish :)
To criticize, as i have already said, I like NBC but cinema must be more than giving nice and hidden images , or symbolize our visual understanding. I also believe, actings in Climates harmed the movie a lot, and I am pretty sure we all get to used to watch HD on white screen soon.