David Mumpower's 2009 Calvins Ballots

By David Mumpower

March 2, 2010

Godspeed, Phil and Lem.

As I have mentioned before, the Calvins Awards represent my favorite time of the year. I love determining my own overall opinions on the year in entertainment as well as evaluating and comparing them to those of my sitemates here at BOP. My taste is always politely defined as eclectic, as I'm one of those movie critics who has little interest in preformed opinions regarding subject matter. To wit, I found a couple of unheralded films, Whip It and Bandslam, to be my favorite Overlooked Films of the year while I found Inglourious Basterds, a title most of the staff champions, to be impossibly self-indulgent and dull. What I'm saying here is that I like what I like, independent of consensus opinion, and I am unapologetic about it. Keep that in mind, particularly in the Best Album category.

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



Best Picture: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 Zombieland
2 State of Play
3 The Blind Side
4 District 9
5 Star Trek
6 The Hurt Locker
7 Up
8 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
9 Up in the Air
10 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Director: 2010 Calvins
Position Director Film
1 James Cameron Avatar
2 Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker
3 Jason Reitman Up in the Air
4 Ruben Fleischer Zombieland
5 Kevin Macdonald State of Play
6 Neill Blomkamp District 9
7 John Lee Hancock The Blind Side
8 J.J. Abrams Star Trek
9 Pete Docter and Bob Peterson Up
10 David Yates Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Actor: 2010 Calvins
Position Actor Film
1 Woody Harrelson Zombieland
2 George Clooney Up in the Air
3 Liam Neeson Taken
4 Sharlto Copley District 9
5 Jeremy Renner The Hurt Locker
6 Russell Crowe State of Play
7 Sam Rockwell Moon
8 Peter Capaldi In the Loop
9 Sam Worthington Terminator Salvation
10 Chris Pine Star Trek

Best Actress: 2010 Calvins
Position Actress Film
1 Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
2 Carey Mulligan An Education
3 Meryl Streep Julie & Julia
4 Ellen Page Whip It
5 Vera Farmiga Up in the Air
6 Zoe Saldana Avatar
7 Kristen Stewart Adventureland
8 Gianna Jun Blood the Last Vampire
9 Amy Adams Sunshine Cleaning
10 Zooey Deschanel (500) Days of Summer

Best Supporting Actor: 2010 Calvins
Position Actor Film
1 Stanley Tucci Julie & Julia
2 Jim Broadbent Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3 Jackie Earle Haley Watchmen
4 Nikolaj Lie Kaas Angels & Demons
5 Andrew Wilson Whip It
6 Jeffrey Dean Morgan Watchmen
7 Christoph Waltz Inglourious Basterds
8 Thomas Lennon 17 Again
9 Jeff Bridges The Men Who Stare at Goats
10 Zach Galifianakis The Hangover

Best Supporting Actress: 2010 Calvins
Position Actress Film
1 Jessie Cave Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2 Evanna Lynch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3 Rachel McAdams State of Play
4 Vanessa Hudgens Bandslam
5 Naturi Naughton Notorious
6 Alia Shawkat Whip It
7 Anna Kendrick Up in the Air
8 Sigourney Weaver Avatar
9 Mimi Kennedy In the Loop
10 Kiele Sanchez A Perfect Getaway

Best Screenplay: 2010 Calvins
Position Person(s) Film
1 Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell District 9
2 Sheldon Turner/Jason Reitman Up in the Air
3 Matthew Michael Carnahan & Tony Gilroy & Billy Ray State of Play
4 Nick Hornby An Education
5 Mark Boal The Hurt Locker
6 Rhett Reese Zombieland
7 John Lee Hancock The Blind Side
8 Phil Lord and Chris Miller Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
9 Shauna Cross Whip It
10 Peter Straughan The Men Who Stare at Goats

Best Cast: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2 State of Play
3 Up in the Air
4 Zombieland
5 Star Trek
6 Whip It
7 Avatar
8 The Hurt Locker
9 Watchmen
10 The Hangover

Best Scene: 2010 Calvins
Position Scene Film
1 Bob Dylan Intro Watchmen
2 Flashback of Carl and Ellie's life together Up
3 The Tree of Souls falls to the ground in Pandora Avatar
4 Dismantling a car bomb The Hurt Locker
5 The Guggenheim shootout The International
6 The scene with the big-star cameo Zombieland
7 Jake first uses the avatar and explores Pandora Avatar
8 Rorschach counts up the score in prison Watchmen
9 How to Protect the Blind Side The Blind Side
10 Acting Captain George Kirk Star Trek

Best Use of Music: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 Avatar
2 Bandslam
3 Watchmen
4 Coraline
5 Notorious
6 Fantastic Mr. Fox
7 Zombieland
8 Whip It
9 Blood the Last Vampire
10 Adventureland

Best Overlooked Film: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 Whip It
2 Bandslam
3 An Education
4 Adventureland
5 Fantastic Mr. Fox
6 Pandorum
7 Sunshine Cleaning
8 A Perfect Getaway
9 In The Loop
10 Moon

Best Breakthrough Performance: 2010 Calvins
Position Person Film
1 Chris Pine Star Trek
2 Sam Worthington Avatar
3 Carey Mulligan An Education
4 Jeremy Renner The Hurt Locker
5 Sharlto Copley District 9
6 Zoe Saldana Avatar
7 Christoph Waltz Inglourious Basterds
8 Jesse Eisenberg Zombieland
9 Anna Kendrick Up in the Air
10 Malin Akerman Watchmen

Best DVD: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray Book
2 Watchmen (Director's Cut + BD-Live) [Blu-ray]
3 Monsters, Inc. (4-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]
4 Up (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live)
5 Coraline (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy w/3D)
6 Better Off Ted: Season One
7 The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season
8 Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5
9 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-ray packaging)
10 Star Trek

Worst Performance: 2010 Calvins
Position Person Film
1 Viola Davis Law Abiding Citizen
2 Julie White Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3 John Cena 12 Rounds
4 Megan Fox Jennifer's Body
5 Michael Cera Year One
6 Kate Hudson Bride Wars
7 Isla Fisher Confessions of a Shopaholic
8 Nic Cage Knowing
9 Sasha Grey The Girlfriend Experience
10 John Krasinski Away We Go

Worst Picture: 2010 Calvins
Position Film
1 Friday the 13th
2 Away We Go
3 Year One
4 Confessions of a Shopaholic
5 Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li
6 Knowing
7 New in Town
8 The Unborn
9 Twelve Rounds
10 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Album: 2010 Calvins
Position Artist Album
1 The Fray The Fray
2 Uncle Kracker Happy Hour
3 U2 No Line On The Horizon
4 Various Glee The Music Vol. 1
5 Various Glee The Music Vol. 2
6 Train Save Me San Francisco
7 Avatar Soundtrack
8 (500) Days of Summer Soundtrack
9 Paramore Brand New Eyes
10 Foo Fighters Greatest Hits

Best TV Show: 2010 Calvins
Position Show
1 Psych
2 Better Off Ted
3 Modern Family
4 Battlestar Galactica
5 Chuck
6 Burn Notice
7 Flash Forward
8 Life
9 Castle
10 Cougar Town

Best Videogame: 2010 Calvins
Position Game
1 Batman: Arkham Asylum
2 Halo ODST
3 New Super Mario Brothers Wii
4 Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
5 Scribblenauts
6 Borderlands
7 Punch Out!
8 Left 4 Dead 2
9 EA Active
10 The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks


     


 
 

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