2009 Calvins: Joel Corcoran's Ballots

March 2, 2009

I thought I'd focus on a few of the Calvin Awards where my ballot choices differed significantly from the rest of the Box Office Prophets or from the Oscars voting. I tend to vote for individuals and movies according to expectations or potentials. For example, I think a movie that exceeds (or falls short of) the sum of its parts deserves a higher ranking on my Best Picture (or Worst Picture) ballot. The quality of the work still matters the most, but all else being equal, I tend to support the people and products that surprise me the most.

Best Actor

I think Mickey Rourke gave far and away the best performance of any actor this year. He demonstrated depth, complexity, and believability in The Wrestler that I've very rarely seen in movies – especially over the past few years. Portraying Randy Robinson has continued his trend of rock solid roles over the past few years (as pointed out in BOP's review of the Calvins), and if he continues this trend, he's a lock on an Oscar sometime in the next two years.

I had a very tough time picking a second-place Best Actor. In fact, I think Sean Penn, Dev Patel, and Frank Langella essentially had a three-way tie for second. All gave impressive performances for very different reasons. Langella was spookily reminiscent of Pres. Richard Nixon; Sean Penn provided a deft, nuanced performance as Harvey Milk with a sense of compassion and empathy I didn't think he was capable of; and Dev Patel made the character of Jamal engaging and realistic while providing a sense of energy and awareness we've seen in few actors this year. I put him near the top of the Best Actors simply because he displayed a wide range of talents at such a young age.

I lumped together Brendan Gleeson, Brad Pitt, and Robert Downey Jr. into a third tier. I gave Gleeson a slight edge because I was just drawn to his character, Ken, from In Bruges. Ken seems all over the map – a hit-man and vicious killer, close friend and confidante, drug-fueled partier, vicious killer, and historian-dilettante – yet Gleeson brought all these disparate character aspects together in a cohesive, believable whole. Brad Pitt was equally good in Benjamin Button, but I would probably now place Robert Downey Jr. above him in my rankings after seeing Benjamin Button and Iron Man almost back-to-back.

Best Actress

Regardless of what voters in The Academy of Motion Pictures thought, Anne Hathaway gave the best performance of any actress this year – without a doubt (*ahem*). Maybe Kate Winslet won the Oscars (and placed third in the Calvins) because people thought two really good performances added up to one spectacular performance?

I agree that Meryl Streep was fantastic in her role as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, but I diverged significantly from my fellow BOP staffers and the academy in picking Melissa Leo. I thought she gave an absolutely riveting performance in Frozen River, a movie that didn't get half the attention it deserved this year. Watching her in that movie was one of the times in 2008 that I felt absolutely drawn into a character and a story.

I'd essentially put Angelina Jolie and Marisa Tomei in a tie for fourth, with Lina Leandersson, Kate Winslet, and Frances McDormand in a group close behind them. I think all gave excellent performances in their respective roles, but none of them really had the intensity and draw that Hathaway, Streep, and Leo did.

Best Album

Maybe I'm getting too mainstream in my old age, but I thought Death Cab for Cutie put together a brilliant album in Narrow Stairs. Or maybe it was just a rough year for me. But I found the weird mix of poppy despair to be strangely alluring, and I still find myself humming along to "I Will Possess Your Heart" and "Cath" at odd moments. When an entire album gets stuck in my head that deeply, I know it must be good.

I put Dear Science by TV on the Radio in my number two slot mainly because they took the music I grew up with – ‘80s New Wave – and reworked it in combination with threads and riffs from a bunch of other genres into something completely new. It's kind of geeky art-house prog-rock at times, but you can hear them striving to be god-like rock stars capable of filling as many arenas as the usual U2 tour. And it works. Very well.

Santogold is almost unexplainable. But she's just utterly fantastic.

I would almost put Portishead and Bon Iver in a tie for fourth, but I give a slight edge to Portishead for their longevity and musical history. Third is a bit more raw and hard-edged than the tracks they were putting out ten years ago, but it's just as captivating as ever. And if you haven't yet heard Bon Iver, you should. Right now.

I'm not sure what it says about Ne-Yo that I (a 40-year-old shlub and former attorney) put his album in my Top 10 of 2008, but it really is one of the best R&B releases in a couple years.

Best DVD

Nothing beats the release of the complete series of The Sopranos. Nothing. That's all I have to say.

I chose The Last Emperor as my number two choice simply because it is a brilliant movie that has held up extraordinarily well over the past 20 years. And I'm glad to see it come out as a Criterion edition.

Mad Men is one of the most innovative, well-done TV series I've ever seen. Atmospheric, finely-tuned acting and excellent writing, and great storylines. The show has been criticized for stories that run rampant with racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism, but to me, that just adds to the realism of the show. The writers and directors don't play up these aspects for some cheap laughs or to prove some point of political correctness, nor are they pushed into the background and ignored. Instead, these otherwise deplorable social dynamics drive the plot and characters. Even when the characters say or do horrible things, they're still sympathetic, and the entire show offers a nice set piece to judge our current society against.

Even though I thought The Dark Knight was a better movie, Iron Man gets a better rating as a DVD release simply for the extras. And the same could be said for the rest of the movies on my list. All were very good films in the theater, but the extras and special features on the DVD releases just make them a bit more ... well, special.

Best Overlooked Film

I gave a slight edge to Let the Right One In compared to In Bruges only because In Bruges received quite a bit of attention and acclaim (though not nearly what it deserved). Let the Right One In, however, was criminally under-appreciated, probably because it's Swedish. And very disturbing. Though it'll be interesting to see how well Matt Reeves does with the American remake next year.

Another film I thought deserved a lot more attention and appreciation was The Wackness, though mainly for its music. In fact, had I remembered to fill out my Calvins ballot for Best Use of Music, I would've put this movie at the very top of my list. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days was an incredibly thought-provoking film that left me more than a little uncomfortable at the end, but is well worth seeing a second (or even third) time. And I thought The Reader deserved much more attention than it got in 2008, though I think it's probably the movie that's received the best "Oscar bump" other than Slumdog Millionaire.

The remaining films are ones that I pretty much lump together. Good quality movies, all with good acting and great storylines. And if you haven't yet seen them, you should. You'll thank me later.

Best Picture

This was a strange year for me because I saw no obvious "best picture" out of the top four I listed. Show me any one of them, on any given day, and I'd be inclined to say it was the best picture of the year. All four had superb acting (yes, even WALL-E), engaging characters, and were perfectly paced. These were movies that I didn't want to end – though for many different reasons.

Slumdog Millionaire was just a helluva lot of fun to watch. I think it's hands-down the most entertaining film of 2008, and one of the most entertaining of the past few years, even with some rather tragic moments. Frost/Nixon, however, was a fantastic movie in terms of drama and gravitas. And WALL-E was just wonderful all around.

In Bruges is the quintessential "action-dramedy." It's kind of a British humor take on Lethal Weapon, but with a more somber, dramatic tone. The emotional shifts from light-hearted comedy scenes to action movie to dramatic tension (particularly as Ray wrestles with his demons) are incredibly well done.


See more individual ballots and complete results at the 2009 Calvin Awards page

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