2014 Calvin Awards: Best Supporting Actress
By David Mumpower
February 13, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Lupita Nyong'o, our choice for Best Actress, has performed in exactly one movie thus far in her career. Argue beginner’s luck all you want. There is simply no disputing the fact that Nyong’o’s debut will be impossible for her to top. Then again, our staff probably would have offered the same statement about Jennifer Lawrence on multiple occasions over the past three years. We have witnessed a few historic cinematic debuts since the inception of The Calvins.
Nyong’o is being celebrated for her portrayal of Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. Patsey is the fastest cotton picker on her plantation, regularly exceeding the performance of much larger men. She also happens to be a gorgeous woman, something both the plantation owner and his jealous wife notice all too well. As such, Patsey receives brutality from both parties. The husband repeatedly rapes her while the wife beats her for being the object of her husband’s desire. Nyong’o creates a sympathetic figure as a hard worker whose only crime is comeliness. In a story focused upon the horrors of slavery, the most tragic figure is portrayed by Nyong’o. The overwhelming quality of the movie is a tribute to her staggering triumph in her movie debut. And the 30% margin of victory in the category indicates that our staff emphatically agrees that she was the Best Actress of the year.
In 2004, our site named Scarlett Johannson as Best Actress for her dazzling effort in Lost in Translation. Ten years later, Johansson narrowly missed accomplishing a rare feat. To date, only one actress, Anne Hathaway, has been chosen for a Best Actress as well as a Best Supporting Actress award. Johansson’s portrayal of Samantha, an interactive operating system, in Her was so superlative that she finished only a few votes shy of winning the category. In doing so, she would have matched Hathaway as the most decorated actress thus far at The Calvins.
While Johansson’s selection for voice work is a bit unusual for our staff, it is not unprecedented. Johansson’s fellow Actress winner in 2004 was none other than Ellen DeGeneres for her vocalizing of Dory in Finding Nemo. Ten years later, we were once again captivated by how much life can be articulated via annunciation. Johansson was not the original choice for the role of Samantha in Her. She was far and away the superior choice, though. Her breathy voice provided the perfect touch of sexual fantasy desired in a companion while her girlish laugh and whimsical perspective caused a bodiless entity to feel fully formed. Her is a magical movie, and the key to its triumph is the sultry voice work of Johansson.
Jennifer Lawrence failed to defend her title in the category of Best Actress. She did, however, finish in the top three for the third time in four years. The first two performances occurred in Winter’s Bone and Silver Linings Playbook. This year, we are celebrating Lawrence’s crazy 1970s hair, cleavage-enhancing retro clothing and her hysterical science oven conversation. Suffice to say that Lawrence brings a lot to the character of Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle. In a story overflowing with colorful con people, Lawrence gets to play the one who is so crazy that she scares the rest of the criminals. The high point occurs when Rosenfeld walks straight up to a table full of mafia members then starts venting about the difficulties of marriage. Moments later, she forces a woman she hates to kiss her in a bathroom. Rosalyn Rosenfeld is a psychopath with a state of the art kitchen appliance, and we love her.
The rest of our top five is comprised of June Squibb and Sally Hawkins. I suspect that heading into 2013, everyone was expecting June Squibb to finally break out after 83 years of waiting for the perfect moment. She discovered the perfect vehicle with Nebraska, which required her to portray the mother of a middle-aged pair of sons. Throughout the movie, Squibb revealed a fire that belied her octogenarian status. In the process, she vaguely reminded everyone who watched Nebraska of their granny. Squibb is the emotional core of a tender, engrossing character drama. And she was already a teenager back when the Allies were kicking Hitler’s ass.
In Blue Jasmine, Sally Hawkins was asked to portray the straight woman to Cate Blanchett’s much spicier role as the titular lead. Ironically named Ginger, there is no spice whatsoever in Hawkins’ character. She is the fodder for all of the thoughtless, pointless, heartless criticisms provided by her adopted sister. The amusement of her portrayal lies in the fact that Jasmine is the train wreck of a human being. Hawkins' take on Ginger establishes her as a sunny optimist who is always looking for a good man and a little fun. She accepts that life is going to kick her in the teeth from time to time yet she leads with her heart anyway. Hawkins is the moral center of Blue Jasmine, and she steadies it in the face of a slew of dislikable characters whose oppressiveness could sour the audience.
Our sixth and seventh place entrants are Amy Adams and Brie Larson. Adams, who is nominated in Best Actress as well, provides the human touch in Her, a movie ostensibly about a relationship between man and machine. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a dingbat, she too develops feelings for an operating system, demonstrating such a scenario is more than just a male fantasy. Larson is also nominated in Best Actress. She is lauded in Supporting Actress for her work in The Spectacular Now. Larson’s character dumps the lead at the start of the movie for what seems like a random reason. As the film proceeds, Larson’s adoration imbues the movie with a compassion for why we the viewers should care about the protagonist. The Spectacular Now marks the fourth time in four years that Brie Larson has received votes in the Best Supporting Actress category, but it is her first nomination.
Our final selections in Best Supporting Actress are Octavia Spencer, Jennifer Garner and Julia Roberts. Spencer triggered massive amounts of sympathy from our staff as she was forced to watch her son die tragically in Fruitvale Station. Garner provided the medical knowledge requisite to found the Dallas Buyers Club, even if she had not intended to do so. And Roberts demonstrated tremendous humanity as a put upon family member tired of hiding all of her family’s dirty secrets only to discover the worst one imaginable.
A few other actresses narrowly missed nomination in the category. Those include Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Carey Mulligan (Inside Llyewn Davis), Alexandra Maria Lara (Rush), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Joanna Vanderham (What Maisie Knew), Emma Watson (The Bling Ring), Amy Acker (Much Ado about Nothing), Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and Daniella Kertesz (World War Z).
2014 Calvin Awards
Calvins Intro
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Character
Best Director
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture