Best Scene embodies what our staff intends The Calvins to be. Each year, we look inside all the movies, distilling the best sequences. Sometimes, the best films include multiple scenes we feel are worthy of nomination, as was the case with Gravity two years ago. Other times, a movie only has one sequence that blows us away, but it’s more than enough to capture the category. This happened last year with the drum solo concluding Whiplash. This time, we celebrate something a bit more basic.

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.

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