2009 Calvin Awards: Best DVD
February 10, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Our staff was absolutely mesmerized by the movie, WALL-E, particularly its first 45 minutes of wordless storytelling. As such, there is no surprise that we jumped all over the disc once it became available on DVD. What particularly impresses us about WALL-E on DVD and Blu-Ray, however, is how forward thinking the package is. As was referenced above, there is a bloody war being fought over digital rights management as well as the portability of property licenses. A movie is no longer only watched in the comfort of one's own home. Instead, the ubiquity of iPod Video and iPhone devices as well as other smart phone devices has revolutionized the landscape of video sans any real acquiescence on the part of movie studios. Cell phones went from fascinating novelty to powerful devices capable of video playback in about 8 years. No one in the industry was properly prepared for the idea of a phone playing a video because, well, who would have even thought that to be a possibility at the start of the decade? Nowadays, it's a fact of life, and Disney has decided to go with it.
The purchase of either the three-disc collector edition or the Blu-Ray includes a digital copy of the device, making WALL-E (temporarily) the most successful DVD ever to allow for copyright portability among electronics hardware. Of course, that's not all the disc has. To the contrary, WALL-E is loaded with disc-only features such as an exclusive short, Burn-E, that chronicles the difficulties experienced by a light repair robot. There is also a tongue in cheek video about the inner workings of the Buy n Large corporation, a Wal-Mart style company that handles all of the daily living of the people aboard the starship Axiom. Throw in a handful of playable games, a series of bios about WALL-E's allies in the movie, and the marvelous Presto short that was exhibited with the theatrical release and there just isn't anything else a viewer could ask from the WALL-E DVD package. As the voting tallies indicate, it is the clear-cut choice of our staff as the Best DVD of 2009.
Second and third place on our list go to the two biggest selling DVDs of the past year, Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Inexorably linked from now until the end of time, the two most popular comic book films of 2008 could have sold based solely on the quality of the titles alone, but no such shortcuts were taken with either package. The number two DVD of the year is headlined by an exhaustive look at the movie's inception called I Am Iron Man, featuring insightful commentary from director Jon Favreau. For the greasy fanboys among us (BOP knows you're out there), there is also a visual history of the Iron Man comic book. And a parody video about fears that the full length movie would ruin the trailer for its fans originally appearing on The Onion was even licensed for this disc. Not to be outdone, The Dark Knight includes all of the Anthony Michael Hall vignettes for Gotham Central as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie entitled Gotham Uncovered: The Creation of a Scene. Also, not to be outdone by WALL-E, The Dark Knight package also includes a digital copy and it surpassed WALL-E to become the biggest selling disc to ever include one. Both of these discs embody the type of bang for the buck BOP seeks out in our movie purchases.
Whereas our top three unintentionally mirrored the three most successful DVD titles of the year in terms of revenue accrued, we go off the board quite a bit with our fourth and fifth place selections. No Country For Old Men, our runner-up for Best Picture last year, maintained its popularity with the staff with its video release. The three-disc collector's edition has a few wonderful inclusions such as a Writer's Guild Q & A, a Variety screening Q & A, and several other online interviews that allow the viewer to gain a fuller appreciation of the world the Coen Brothers create for this film. With our fifth place entry, the film buffs at BOP move away from all of the biggest successes of the past two years, relishing the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci classic, The Last Emperor. The Academy Award winner for Best Picture went an astonishing nine for nine on its nominations that year, and it finally received a long overdue Criterion Collection edition. Several of our staff were captivated by its reverential treatment, including an all new high-definition transfer accredited by the director himself. The loving care shown by the good people at Criterion is remarkable, even by their lofty standards. All cinema buffs need to add this title to their collection.
In a serendipitous bit of voting, BOP went with something old and something new in selecting our sixth and seventh favorite discs of the year. The Godfather Trilogy features a new high-definition transfer of the first two films that was directly overseen by the Coppola family. It also contains all of the extra features previously included with the 2001 release of the trilogy in a box set along with another two full discs of extras, a grand total of four discs worth. Fittingly, one of these enhancements is Godfather World, a feature that examines the influence of The Godfather on pop culture. This leads us directly to our choice for seventh best DVD of the year, which is The Sopranos The Complete Series. This uber-expensive (roughly $300) set is mainly for completionists, but if you are a fan of the modern day successor to The Godfather, it's a must-own box set. In addition to the entire run of the series, there are over 200 minutes of unaired features, a pair of CD soundtracks, innumerable never-before-aired deleted scenes and, my personal favorite feature of any disc over the past year, video of fan outrage over the ambiguous ending of the series. The fact that such a lavish and comprehensive compilation is willing to show that not everyone felt the series was perfect demonstrates the appropriate amount of confidence in their work and the passion it induced from viewers.
Rounding out the top ten are a pair of movies that are staff favorites plus a project that almost defies description, despite BOP's repeated attempts. Eighth place belongs to the Alex Proyas masterpiece, Dark City, and this director's cut does everything it can to allow the viewer to inhabit the surreal world he created. Three different commentary tracks explore all of the themes and ideas of the movie while making the viewer long for a sequel. Skipping ahead, tenth place is another wonderful movie, Charlie Wilson's War, written by BOP fave Aaron Sorkin. Chief among the special features on this disc is an enlightening interview with Charlie Wilson, the man himself. His guileless, almost too honest description of his character flaws as well as the actions he undertook during the process of ending the Cold War is mesmerizing. His matter-of-fact description of our interference in a silent war being fought in the Middle East is like watching a history book unfold and speak for itself. Who says heroes can't be horny?
And for every horny hero, there's an equally horny villain. At least that's the set-up for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. BOP has been raving about it for so long now that you probably want us to STFU, but A) that's never going to happen and B) even if you aren't wowed by the subject matter (which would disgust us and make you our sworn enemy), there is still a wonderful reason to buy the DVD anyway. Commentary! The Musical is a 45-minute feature that is, well, pretty much exactly that. Featuring mainly bit players from the movie given the opportunity to shine on their own, the new songs added especially for the DVD are truly hysterical. My personal favorite is Nobody's Asian in the Movies, a lyrical masterpiece that busts me up every time I hear the line "we'll be loving you long time". Sung by Maurissa Tancharoen, the future sister-in-law of Joss Whedon (assuming his brother Jed can close the deal), this song alone is worth the paltry $10 cost of the disc.
Best DVD is always one of the most brutal categories in terms of exclusions. There is such a high volume of quality products that we always wind up having to leave out a lot of wonderful products. Just missing the cut for 2009 are season one of Burn Notice, season one of Mad Men, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, Juno, Sleeping Beauty, and the Criterion Collection release of Bottle Rocket. (David Mumpower/BOP)
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
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