2016 Calvin Awards: Best Scene
By David Mumpower
February 23, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The Rocky franchise has always stood out due to its fight sequences. They’re historically over the top, something that started with Rocky II and then grew out of control by Rocky V. And don’t even get me started about Rocky VIII: Adrian’s Revenge. The Creed reboot of the Rocky brand isn’t quite as sophisticated with its fights, choosing to place the focus on the father/son dynamic between Rocky Balboa and “Donnie” Creed nee Johnson. Still, when it does have fight scenes, they’re amazing.
The showier one occurs at the end of the film. That’s when the soon-to-be incarcerated Light Heavyweight champion, “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, goes toe to toe with the titular protagonist. While that scene is great, it’s not our choice for the film’s shining moment. That event transpires at roughly the halfway point of the movie. It’s when Creed’s new trainer, Rocky Balboa, convinces a local man to set up a fight between his own son, a fighter of some renown, and Apollo’s illegitimate child.
Creed’s fear overwhelms him in the moments leading up to the bout. Then, time seems to slow down for him as his boxing genes kick in. Suddenly, Apollo Creed, the former Heavyweight Champion of the world, is unmistakably the father of an equally great champion. The unfortunate opposing prize fighter, Leo “The Lion” Sporino, falls victim to a ballet of violence.
The sequence dazzled our staff due to its recursive nature. The actor portraying Donnie Creed, BOP fave Michael B. Jordan, isn’t just acting out a fight scene. He’s also mimicking some of the same fighting tactics originally performed by Carl Weathers in the first four Rocky movies. He somehow takes that same style and makes it feel fresh and exciting as a modern boxing bout.
Thanks to the continued encouragement of his newfound mentor, his father’s toughest opponent, Creed unlocks the combination that knocks out his opponent, and savagely at that. Most impressively, the entire sequence unfolds in a single tracking shot. This causes the viewer to feel as if it's them in the fight, battling against a season opponent. The events are that much more engrossing due to this novel directorial decision. Due to the contender bout’s odd combination of parent-child symmetry, relationship-advancement, hypnotic tracking shot, and fitting franchise tribute, we feel it’s the worthiest choice as Best Scene of the year.
You’ll note by the top five scoring that several scenes were in serious competition for the award this year. The most original of them is our choice for second place. It’s the moment in Ex Machina where the odd relationship between powerful CEO Nathan and his invited guest (well, prize winner), Caleb loses its complexity. Suddenly, they’re simply two horny males in the presence of a woman named Kyoko, who doesn’t speak any English. She is, however, willing to speak in the internet language of love, which explains why she tries to disrobe for Caleb.
When the programmer passes on the lust in translation, Kyoko switches to Plan B. That’s apparently an odd dance routine to Get Down Saturday Night, the 1983 Oliver Cheatham not-quite-classic. The absurdity of the ode to Dance Fever is matched only by quickness. Kyoko undresses, Caleb buttons up her shirt, boogie fever strikes two-thirds of the room, and 45 seconds later, it’s all over. The entire thing is so ridiculous that people have written long-form columns trying to explain its hidden meanings. For our part, we’re going to take the side of brevity for once. We think the change-up is thrown in just to make the fastball look faster. And we love it. Kyoko’s Boogie Minute is our choice as the second best scene of the year.
Our staff circles back to conventional with our third selection. James Bond movies have never been about subtlety. Instead, they like to smack the viewer around with audacious chase scenes that are equal parts implausible and ostentatious. The Daniel Craig era hasn’t celebrated excess the way that Pierce Brosnan’s last Bond films did, which is what makes the Day of the Dead introduction in Spectre so thrilling.
This is James Bond in full badass mode, relentlessly chasing a terrorist named Marco Sciarra. He’s one of a group of men trying to kill thousands of innocents during what should be a celebration. Bond seeks to bring him to justice, and if he has to punt the dude out of a helicopter, so be it. Too often during the Daniel Craig era, James Bond has been the hunter. It’s refreshing to watch him circle back to where Craig’s Bond began in the Freerunning scene in Casino Royale. James Bond is better when he’s attacking, and the Day of the Dead scene aptly demonstrates this. It came within a handful of points of winning Best Scene before eventually settling for third place.
Polar opposite scenes complete our top five. Speaking of polar, the bear attack scene from The Revenant is our choice for fourth place. The Leonardo DiCaprio mauling that movie audiences have craved for years finally takes place in this film, and even prior to release, it proved divisive. Memes about bear attacks and bear molestation abounded in the days leading up to The Revenant’s debut. Some of our staff never got past the silliness of the supposedly dramatic scene, which explains why it didn’t finish higher. I note this because The Revenant actually received the most first place votes in the category. It lacked down-ticket support on the rest of the ballots, though.
Meanwhile, the most bittersweet scene of 2015 earns fifth place on our list. The odd-looking Bing Bong in Inside Out stands as an amalgam of all the toys and imaginary things we left behind during the maturation period. This lovable dude understands that his time has passed, and he chooses to go out as a hero. When the object of his devotion, Riley, is in danger of losing her individuality and emotional core, Bing Bong discovers a way to give her a fighting chance. Pixar’s team has built a cottage industry out of people’s fond reminiscing about childhood things. They mine familiar territory in a new and profound way in Inside Out, and that’s why Bing Bong steals our hearts in the end.
Sixth and seventh place in Best Scene are each celebrations of the ridiculous. The Big Short employs a sublime tactic to liven up a boring economic discussion. They place gorgeous starlet Margot Robbie in a bathtub and have her describe the complexities of mortgage finance. It’s like a marvelous combination of that college class you hated and that college professor you fantasized about to pass the time. Seventh place goes to an even more ridiculous scene, the Kentucky shootout in Kingsman: The Secret Service. It involves a mind control SIM card, a hate group meeting in a small church, and a massive clash of well-armed citizens. Everything about it is ludicrous, and that’s why it’s so hilarious.
The rest of our top ten scenes all have self-explanatory titles. To avoid spoilers, I’ll let the descriptions tell the story. Eighth place goes to the attempted escape from the room in Room. Ninth place involves Mark Watney’s attempt at liftoff in The Martian. And tenth place goes to climactic events of Carol wherein Therese enters the Oak Room.
Best Scene proved especially divisive this year. An astounding 51 different sequences earned at least one vote. The scenes that narrowly missed nomination include the Millennium Falcon chase on Jakku in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Vienna State Opera assassination in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the reporters’ preparation to have their damning article published in Spotlight, Neil Walker’s explanation of how QVC works in Joy, and the drive into the storm in Mad Max: Fury Road.
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