2014 Calvin Awards: Intro
By David Mumpower
February 10, 2014
Welcome to the 13th annual entertainment awards from Box Office Prophets, our signature update, The Calvins.
Over the years, we have been early trend spotters for some actors who are only now becoming household celebrities. To wit, did you watch Before Midnight this year after hearing all the hype? Presumably you were confused if you hadn't watched the first two films. You would have been completely caught up had you been reading BOP back in 2005, when we listed Before Sunset as the second best overlooked film of the year. Also, have you noticed how the industry loves to laud each and every movie that somehow involves George Clooney? We celebrated his work in Solaris as well as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind in 2003. Even George Clooney was not that big of a George Clooney fan back then.
Of course, we harbor no delusions that all of our choices are flawless. Remember Sacha Baron Cohen? We fell victim to the hype machine in 2007 when we created a new award entitled BOP’s Person of the Year. He was our first and only selection because we retired the concept after that year. I guess that means Sacha Baron Cohen is still our Person of the Year, which may be the best thing he can put on his resume these days unless being married to Isla Fisher counts. Hey, it made sense at the time.
As always, the Calvins are our attempt to chronicle the events of the past year in cinema. We prefer to celebrate rather than destroy, which is why we have 16 positive awards. Still, we are imperfect creatures who sometimes need to vent so there are also a couple of negative awards because, well, some moviemakers did bad and should feel bad. After all, we certainly felt terrible when we paid money to see the films in question.
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 three 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, The Driver from Drive and Katniss from The Hunger Games. You probably know one of those three 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 are back on the small side of the scale once more.
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, all we needed to say was, “Puny God.” Even now, you know exactly what this means. And that is the beauty of a well-crafted scene. It lingers in the memory even if the movie itself is otherwise forgettable.
With regards to the current year’s awards, we had one of our largest voting totals ever. The key was the overriding quality of the year in cinema. 2013 included a delightful assortment of niche films that were discovered and celebrated by mainstream consumers. The liberating number of original concepts created an exciting ballot brimming with opportunities for our voters. The end result was that our staff voted for over 80 different movies across categories this year, one of our largest totals ever.
During last year’s introduction, I chronicled how a similar depth of offerings led to a historic number of movies winning an award across the various categories. That situation did not repeat itself this year. In fact, two movies dominated The Calvins to the point that each of them is among the most successful winners in our 13-year voting history. Both of the films I am referencing claimed four different awards, leaving a bunch of worthy contenders on the outside looking in. We also have a historic champion in Best Television Show, an obvious choice in Best Use of Music, and a couple of selections that line up completely with expected Academy Awards results in March.
All in all, 2013 was a fascinating year in entertainment. Now is BOP’s opportunity to champion all the countless titles that claimed our hearts over the last 12 months. Without further ado, we proudly present the 2014 Calvin Awards.
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
See our 2013 Awards
See our 2012 Awards
See our 2011 Awards
See our 2010 Awards
See our 2009 Awards
See our 2008 Awards
See our 2007 Awards
See our 2006 Awards
See our 2005 Awards
See our 2004 Awards
See our 2003 Awards
See our 2002 Awards
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