2015 Calvin Awards: Introduction
By David Mumpower
February 9, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Over the years, we have celebrated a vast amount of movies, some of which were already beloved and others of which become cult classics after the fact. We have also chastised a few directors for constantly disappointing us. We’re looking at you, Michael Bay. Whether we are discussing a blockbuster such as WALL-E or a hidden gem such as The Royal Tenenbaums, our staff’s eclectic taste has always shined through best during The Calvins. It’s our way of revealing ourselves via the entertainment that we love, and we always appreciate your celebration and/or ridicule of our choices. Believe us when we state that nothing you say about the choices is worse than what we say about each other when a vote goes the wrong way. I’m still bitter about the popularity of Adaptation during The Calvins, and that’s been 12 years now.
No matter the outcome, our goal each year is to encapsulate the year in cinema through our votes. While The Calvins include the run of the mill awards categories such as Best Picture, Best Actor/Actress and Best Director, we also offer a few unique premises. Best Character, a concept we debuted four years ago, is our attempt to distinguish brilliant individual ideas that may or may not have gotten lost in a larger production.
The winners so far include Thierry Guetta from the unheralded but marvelous Exit Through the Gift Shop, Alien from the wildly divisive Spring Breakers, The Driver from Drive and Katniss from The Hunger Games. You probably know one of those four names slightly better than the rest. Such is the wide open nature of Best Character that we as a group have no idea from year to year whether something small or something heavily marketed at Hot Topic will win the category. This year, we chose someone from a moderately successful movie directed by a true master of character development.
Our other unique category is Best Scene. On this ballot, we narrow our focus from the large scale triumph of a Best Picture contender. Instead, we celebrate the best part of a movie, even if the entire motion picture itself is lacking. Last year, the winner was a harrowing sequence of outer space terror as a woman became literally untethered from everything she knew. I don’t even need to tell you the name of the movie, as the sequence is that unforgettable. Such is the power of the best scene each year.
The movie in question, Gravity, totally torched the competition by winning all the major categories such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Scene. This year, however, promised to be much more competitive. It was. To wit, the ultimate outcome in several categories was not decided until the final few votes. In Best Picture, a tight bunch of five films remained in contention until the end with the last voter ultimately determining the outcome. After 14 years, that was a first. We also had a record number of voters, as an overwhelming majority of staff contributors took the time to speak their peace with regards to the best and worst of the year. As such, this year’s lists reflect who we are as a group better than any previous vote.
While the results were close in many categories, a couple of titles eventually differentiated themselves from the competition. Those two films claimed victories in half a dozen categories, and I have to say that the results of several are ones I consider surprising. In fact, I would describe our winner in the Best Picture category as the most shocking since we put on our Browncoats and selected Serenity eight years ago. History proved us right on that one, and I suspect the same will be true of our upset winner for 2015.
2014 was an amazing year in entertainment. The realm of television offered more quality (and quantity) programming than at any other point in history. Delightful characters punctuated many instantly classic films. And music was as integral to the plots of several major motion pictures as our group can ever recall. Best of all, the number of pure cinematic disasters was historically low to the point that I struggled to name ten films I truly hated last year. There is a lot to celebrate about the last 12 months of entertainment. Without further ado, we proudly present the 2015 Calvin Awards.
2015 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
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture
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