2009 Calvins: Jason Lee's Ballots

March 2, 2009

Surprise, surprise. For the most part, the Oscars got it right this year. For the most part. The majority of my ballots were comprised of a handful of Oscar nominees along with a couple other notable inclusions that, despite their lack of love from the Academy, are noteworthy in their own right. This is the beauty of the Calvins: we love the films that they loved and we love the films that you loved. Allow me to take you through the categories that I felt most strongly about.

Best Picture:

My far and away #1 choice was WALL-:E. Not only the best film of the year, not only one of Pixar's greatest cinematic achievements, I believe that this is one of the best movies of all time. It's a glorious, wonderful, sweeping movie that combines the magical innocence of Chaplin with a beautifully realized future. ‘Nuff said.

Among my other choices, I thought that Milk told a truly remarkable and important story in an impeccable way. I found Frost/Nixon to be a standard-bearer for how to seamlessly adapt a theatrical piece into a consistently compelling piece of film. I thought that Slumdog Millionaire, while a good film, was horribly overrated.

Best Actress:

I doubt this is something that you hear very often, but Meryl Streep's performance in Doubt was incredibly underappreciated. I thought it was not only the best female performance of the year but also the strongest female performance in a movie since Charlize Theron in Monster in 2004. She should have kicked Kate Winslet's butt at the Oscars.

Breakthrough Performance:

Again, not even close. Viola Davis was only in one scene of Doubt and yet she swayed the entire moral compass of the film. As Meryl Streep said at the SAG Awards, "Someone give that woman a film!"

Best Cast:

In all honesty, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better cast than the ones boasted by Doubt and Milk. I have to go back to Brokeback Mountain to find another cast of their caliber.

Best Director:

What a year for directors. Andrew Stanton delicately navigated the wondrous world of WALL-E, mixing romance, humor, social commentary and wonder with an adroit hand. Christopher Nolan painted a savage world in which the best humans find no solace from grief and pain. Gus Van Sant told an impeccable story about one of the most inspiring politicians of our time. Ron Howard took us to the front lines of Frost's epic battle with Nixon. Jon Favreau brought one of the most compelling superhero pictures to life. I salute my entire top ten.

Best Scene:

Yet another category that was phenomenally strong. In my eyes, there was not a stronger moment in film this year than Nixon's drunken telephone conversation with Frost – perfectly written and superbly acted, it made me feel a wealth of emotions for our most despised President. Following close behind was Sister Aloysius Beauvier's final argument with Father Flynn in Doubt – Meryl Streep went to hell and back emotionally to try and make sense of the priests' actions. It was awe-inspiring. WALL-E getting his memory back was absolutely magical and made me cry. I've already discussed Viola Davis' scene with Meryl Streep in Doubt but it's worth mentioning again because it took my breath away. Finally, while I'm not a huge fan of Slumdog Millionaire, the moment when Jamal sees Latika in the train station was beautiful – the film's best moment.

Best Screenplay:

I loved WALL-E – every moment in that script was pitch-perfect. I thought that John Patrick Shanley did a great job adapting his brilliant play in Doubt. Dustin Lance Black did a wonderful job bringing Harvey Milk to the big screen. Joel and Ethan Cohen never fail to impress.

Best TV Show:

I love Top Chef. I write about it every week for my column. It's no surprise that it's at the top of my list. Alongside it is South Park, which is, for my money, the most sharply satirical show on television. The Daily Show helps me laugh when the state of the world makes me want to cry.

Worst Performance:

I don't normally like to kick a man when he's down, but let me just say a word about my top two actors. First of all, I hate Shia LaBeouf. In my everyday life, I call him Shia LaDoofus. He can't act his way out of a paper bag. He is capable of two only emotions on the screen: angry and frantic. I would be happy if we never saw him again. I wish someone would get him a job at H&R Block so he gets the hell out of Hollywood

Also included on my list at #3 is Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire. Granted he didn't do a horrible job of acting, but I still fault him for delivering the most tepid, boring, uninteresting, uninspired performance in what should have been a joyous movie. He was bland, he was annoying, he sat there like a sodden lump. I grew to intensely dislike his character, even as I loved the actors that portrayed Latika and Salim. Against this backdrop, Dev Patel truly sucked.

See more individual ballots and complete results at the 2009 Calvin Awards page

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