2011 Calvin Awards: Best Overlooked Film
February 16, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
If eclectic is the theme for our selections in the category this year, there is no worthier choice as the Best Overlooked Film than Exit Through the Gift Shop. All the way back in April of 2010, BOP’s Tom Houseman was championing its candidacy in his companion column to this award, Don’t Overlook It. As he concisely stated then, the documentary is perennially underrated as a genre, frequently featuring some of the most engaging releases of a year. Exit Through the Gift Shop blurs the boundaries of the genre by creating a work of art that is in and of itself a riddle.
How many of the events documented are real? For that matter, are any of them? Is performance artist Banksy having the last laugh as he turns the tables on Thierry Guetta? After all, the latter gentleman is presumed to be the videographer, at least he should be judging by the omnipresence of a camera in his hand as well as the endless sea of tapes covering the floor of his home. Guetta strives to encapsulate the street art movement by focusing upon its mysterious superstar, Banksy. Bemused by the eccentricities of his French counterpart, Banksy chronicles the odd coincidences that lead to Guetta’s career change. In redirecting Guetta’s path, Banksy creates a monster and the results are hilarious. Exit Through the Gift Shop is the most insidious criticism of the art world ever made in a film. Whether you get the joke or not, this is a movie you simply must watch. It is the clear choice as the Best Overlooked Film of the year.
We like claustrophobia and we like human misery. Put the two together in a movie and the staff at BOP is euphoric. Both of those themes are on full display in our second, third and fourth selections. In fact, two of them function as companion pieces. 127 Hours places James Franco on the side of a mountain; then, he is forced to choose just how attached he is to his extremities, at least relative to his life in totality. The choice he makes is…bloody.
Buried sticks Ryan Reynolds in a box and his oppressors refuse to release him unless he makes a similar sacrifice. The choice he makes is…bloody. Placing protagonists in isolation then examining the psychological horrors of such nightmare scenarios has been a popular theme over the past 12 months. 127 Hours and Buried are blueprint examples of just how effective the methodology is when done well.
Meanwhile, Winter’s Bone goes a different way with the subject matter by making the world itself the source of claustrophobia as a girl raised in the hills with little hope of ever escaping is forced to determine how far she will go to protect her home and her way of life. In the end, she too finds herself looking at gruesome body parts. Clearly, the staff at BOP is thematically drawn to such movies, which says a lot about just how collectively twisted we are.
Heartache is the theme for our next trio of selections. The Ghost Writer is a gripping tale of history repeating itself as Ewan McGregor earns a once in a lifetime opportunity to write the autobiography of a world leader. After he becomes aware that he is not the first person to receive this assignment, he investigates the series of mishaps that led to his predecessor’s untimely demise. Say what you will about Roman Polanski the man, he once again proves that he is one of the finest filmmakers in the world.
Blue Valentine’s heartache stems from a different source. Through fractured time and odd symmetry, the story reveals the beginning as well as the bitter end of a relationship that leads to marriage and divorce. The heart wrenching aspect of the dissolution of their coupling is that a child is involved, one who is not the biological spawn of the father who raises her. The acting in Blue Valentine is sublime as the characters deal with the pain of loss; the same can be said of the next nomination as well. Rabbit Hole centers upon a married couple coping with the recent loss of their son, who died in a hit and run perpetrated by a conscientious teen who becomes almost as much a victim of the circumstance as the parents. BOP apparently likes suffering and misery a lot these days.
A trio of complete unknowns rounds out our top ten. Solitary Man is a Michael Douglas tour de force wherein he portrays a horndog lothario facing the end of the good life. Broke and forced to seek help from his daughter as well as his girlfriend, Douglas’ character is unable to keep it in his pants even when it comes to the college age daughter of his girlfriend. The dirty old man character is ordinarily mined for laughs in Hollywood, but Douglas imbues the character with a stifling immaturity and self-destruction that makes him equal parts sympathetic and sickening.
Four Lions is an entirely different type of film, a black comedy about suicide bombers. Yes, I am aware of how tasteless that sounds, but the movie is jaw-droppingly insightful in between slapstick moments of inappropriate comedy. Our final selection, I Love You Phillip Morris is a novel take on how a closeted married man changes his life by accepting who he is. And there are some pretty funny con jobs thrown in as well. Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey are A-list actors who star in the Ocean’s 11 answer to Brokeback Mountain. If that description doesn’t sell you on the premise, we can’t be friends.
Voting at the bottom of the top ten this year was unprecedentedly tight. As such, several worthy contenders narrowly missed selection. The Swedish production of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mother and Child, The Secret in Their Eyes, Micmacs, City Island, Stone and Dogtooth were all within a few points of earning a well deserved spot on our list. BOP’s staff passionately recommends that you give each of these films a chance. (David Mumpower/BOP)
The Calvins Introduction
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