David Mumpower's 2009 Calvins Ballots
By David Mumpower
March 2, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
In terms of my favorite films of the year, I wound up with a surprising result here. I had mentioned back in October that Zombieland was the most exhilarating movie experience I'd had in ages. To my surprise, no other title ever matched it. In balancing my top 25 films on the year, I wound up asking my wife to help me order them by requesting her feedback in which ones it seemed gave me the most satisfaction. In building my big board in this manner, I came to appreciate that The Blind Side, a title I originally placed in eighth, was in fact one of my three favorites on the year. State of Play, an early year release, was unmatched by all later releases save for Zombieland. Meanwhile, the race between Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was much closer for me than it was for any other member of our staff as that title was the perfect amount of zany for me.
I also found this to be an exceptional year for science fiction with District 9 and Star Trek both landing in my top five while Avatar narrowly missed my top 10. That film in particular was the source of a lot of debate in that it was a truly original movie-going experience yet I expect it to be a title that does not hold up well over time due to its reliance on visuals. When I pick my favorite films of the year, re-watchability is an important aspect of the grading. Meanwhile, District 9 and Star Trek both hold up insanely well on repeat viewing to the point that I would argue I enjoyed each as much the second time.
With regards to the best acting performances of the year, my choice as the best of the year goes to Stanley Tucci for his supporting role in Julie & Julia. Too often in movies, the spouse of the lead character is there for no other purpose than to evoke faux-tension. In this film, however, Tucci is given the opportunity to do what he does best, blend in as a role player. He is an actor's actor, which is why Meryl Streep keeps signing up to work with him. Tucci makes everyone around him better in almost everything he does with his work in Julie & Julia exemplifying this.
The best female performance I saw this year was Sandra Bullock's effort in The Blind Side, one that I am expecting the Oscars to laud as the best of the year. I loved Leigh Ann Tuohy in the book and I was deeply moved by how uncanny a portrayal of her Bullock offered in the film. My other two selections as the best are a bit more arcane. I laughed from start to finish (well, almost) of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Rince and a lot of the reason for that was the comic relief provided by Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown with Evanna Lynch not that far behind for her continuing excellence as Luna Lovegood. Both of them had me in stitches and while I realize more serious performances garnered most of the critical acclaim, these were the two that moved me the most.
Similarly, I have stated I felt Zombieland was the best film of the year. The key to that was Woody Harrelson's work, which started with his Dale Earnhart tribute on the car door and never let up until he finally got his twinkie. As a huge fan of Cheers, I've always loved him, but Tallahassee is to Harrelson what Jack Sparrow is to Johnny Depp and Tony Stark is to Robert Downey Jr. Finally, a tremendous, underrated actor has been placed in a position to succeed as a new kind of action hero.
My vote for Best Album is The Fray. Yes, I love The Fray. Let it go. In terms of Best Use of Music, Avatar's score bordered on transcendent, and if I'm noticing the score, that's high praise. My wife listens to the cinema channel on XM Radio from time to time and it drives me nuts. I like music for the lyrics much more than the rhythms. As for Best DVD, there was North by Northwest's 40th anniversary release on Blu-ray and then there was everything else. The divide was that large in my estimation. On the subject of Best Videogame, I thought 2009 presented a ton of quality entertainment but in the end, Arkham Asylum lapped the field, even with a few frustrating quirks I'd like to see cleaned up in the sequel. I also want to give a particular shout out to Scribblenauts, which is a game I consider to be the modern take on Zork. It's wonderful.
As is the case with almost everyone else in North America, my debate for Best Director came down to James Cameron versus Kathryn Bigelow and I was more slightly impressed by Cameron's visual than Bigelow's gritty exercise in minimalism. With regards to Best Cast, I thought the competition was brutal this year, probably my hardest one to rank. In the end, I found myself leaning toward the Harry Potter tribe. Meanwhile, Best Screenplay was a slam dunk for me as District 9 is as imaginative as anything I've seen since The Matrix. Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell are to be commended for fully realizing a dystopian world that somehow feels relatable. Similarly, Breakthrough Performance is all about Chris Pine, who was placed in an impossible position in replacing William Shatner as Captain Kirk yet somehow claimed the role as his own as we move forward.
I have raved about my choice for Best Scene several times on the site, but I do this because I am genuinely blown away by what Watchmen accomplishes in its opening credits. By my estimation, over 70% of the movies I saw in 2009 do not offer the amount of storytelling in their entire three acts as Watchmen does in a single video montage. I've never seen a live action short that does a better job with plot development in the same time frame. As for Best TV Show, if you ever saw my iPhone, you'd have guessed what this choice would be. Psych makes me laugh each and every week and the recent much deserved berating of The Mentalist only adds to the show's effortless charm. Since this is going to be my one and only chance to champion Better Off Ted, I also want to say that this show was funnier in 24 episodes than The Office has been in 120+. Do yourself a favor and spend the sixteen hours to watch them all.
I am not a huge fan of the hater categories, which makes me something of a novelty on the Internet. Having said that, I didn't care for Viola Davis in Doubt and I actively disliked her in Law Abiding Citizen, an otherwise pleasantly surprising title that died each and every time she came on screen. In terms of the worst pictures of the year, it could easily be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for being a cinematic train wreck, which it is, but the reality is that I saw much worse films this year. The Friday the 13th remake showed all of the imagination of white paint while Year One and Confessions of a Shopaholic were both films I despised within moments and that never changed through either viewing experience. Perhaps the most surprising title I disliked this past year was Away We Go, a title most of my friends enjoy that is written by a couple of people I think are among the best in their profession. The forcefully quirky characters never worked for me and I actively disliked almost every single character in the film.
Best wordless character development: Woody Harrelson's painting a #3 on all of his vehicles in Zombieland.
Best use of spandex: Silk Spectre 2 in Watchmen
Worst use of musical accompaniment during a love scene: Watchmen
Shiniest: Avatar