2010 Calvin Awards: Best DVD
February 9, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The 50th Anniversary Edition of North by Northwest is our selection for disc of the year. This package is the rare exception that shows the proper deference to one of the greatest movies ever made. Too often, great films are reduced to the most generic of feature sets. We have oftentimes marveled at this devopment, wondering aloud why the owners of some of the most notable intellectual properties in the history of the industry treat them with less respect than an Alvin and the Chipmunks disc. Warner Bros. itself has been guilty of this on many occasions, but we are thrilled that they made an appropriate exception with one of the greatest films of one of the greatest directors of all time.
When writer Ernest Lehman embarked upon the creative process that would produce North by Northwest, his aspiration was no less than to make "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures". Shockingly, he accomplished just this task in the eyes of many, bringing to life a character named Roger O. Thornhill, an ordinary man who suffers a case of mistaken identity that leads him to have a most extraordinary day. Mistaken for an undercover agent named George Kaplan, a person who does not even exist, Thornhill as played by Hollywood icon Cary Grant finds himself thrust into a series of spy games with the highest of stakes. Along the way, he meets a helpful but untrustworthy asset named Eve Kendall. She seems to like our hero an inappropriate amount, but she also seems to be in tight with the very villains who are chasing and attempting to eliminate Thornhill. It's yet another iteration of Hitchcock's ice queen blond fetish and perhaps the finest implementation in his storied career. North by Northwest has been acclaimed as one of the greatest action films ever made and currently sits in the upper list of AFI's list of 100 Years... 100 Movies. Also, proving the feature is timeless, it currently sits in the top 35 on IMDb's top 250.
While the quality of North by Northwest is irrefutable, the features on the disc itself are the key to its winning disc of the year. The 50th Anniversary Edition includes a 43-page booklet built directly into the collector's case. No wider than an ordinary Blu-ray package, the North by Northwest case is effectively a small book with a disc inlay on the final page. Contained are stories about the creative process as well as some fantastic production and promotional stills from the film. The disc itself contains the storied restoration of the original VistaVision film print as well as commentary from Lehman himself. Holding this disc case feels like holding an important piece of Hollywood history. I am surprised the vote to determine the best disc of the year was this close as from my perspective, the difference between North by Northwest and the rest of the nominees is the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
Second and third place in this year's category goes to the Pixar contingent. One of the key aspects of the voting process is that certain films are passionately supported by some but ignored by others. With regards to Pixar, something of a compromise candidacy occurs wherein most people at least like the discs enough to mention them somewhere on the ballot. A little bit here and there adds up to a lot in the end with the result being that Up is our second favorite choice of the year, primarily due to its freshness. Meanwhile, the clearly the superior feature set of Monsters, Inc., flush with four discs worth of content, finishes a distant third. Up was only one point away from pulling an epic upset in this category while Monsters, Inc., a film I would maintain is better in quality and possessing a definitely superior disc set, is well behind it in third place. I'll have to chat with the voters about having a better perspective of movie history before next year's vote.
We are all over the place with the rest of our selections. Fourth belongs to Watchmen – The Director's Cut. It features a movie some of us love while others are quite blasé about. Something that makes us all nod our heads in agreement, however, is that it contains the proper deference to the world Alan Moore created and Zack Snyder brought to life. No, it doesn't quite contain the feature set of the later Ultimate Cut of the same movie, but it has several featurettes that painstakingly detail the process of bringing Moore's world to the screen. In terms of bang for the buck, this is one of the best purchases currently available on Blu-ray. Similarly, Disney loves its limited time promotions wherein they release a classic animated movie on disc while limiting the amount of time consumers have to purchase it. This creates a rush factor to the demand while also guaranteeing that once the titles are out of print, their price points will be maintained due to the scarcity of the products. It's a clever marketing strategy and one we should expect from a company that has three of the top five discs this year. In this case, the selection is Sleeping Beauty, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary in release this year. What you can take from this is that 1959 was a great year for cinema and that 2009 was a great year for Blu-ray releases of said titles.
Sixth and seventh place go to a popular television show box set and a movie that in some ways defined all of 2009's box office behavior. The television show is Lost and we once again behaved like good little lemmings in rushing out to buy the box set for its fifth season. Personally, I thought this season of Lost was atrocious and have little interest in seeing how it ends, but I am hugely in the minority on this point. I do agree with the group about Coraline, however, as its clever implementation of 3D hinted at greater things to come for titles such as Ice Age 3, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Up and (particularly) Avatar. Even if you are like Futurama's Turanga Leela and don't care for the 3D aspect, Coraline is still a wonderful Neil Gaiman story about the dangers of seeing the grass as greener on the other side. Sure, it looks nice from here but once you get over there, they try to give you buttons for eyes.
Our final three selections in the category are a great science fiction movie and a pair of now defunct television shows. The film is District 9 and it blew us away with its creative storytelling. Its disc features are also notable, particularly the short entitled Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus and the improvisational acting video. Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 and Better Off Ted: Season One are the television box sets. Assuming you read the Best TV Show category, their selections here should be self-explanatory.
Just missing the list this year are the discs for Star Trek, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season, Mad Men: Season Two, Donnie Darko, Fight Club and the 40th Anniversary Edition of Woodstock. (David Mumpower/BOP)
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Breakthrough Performance
Best Cast
Best Director
Best DVD
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Worst Performance
Worst Picture