The 3rd Annual Pappie Awards saw some exciting new changes to the format. I sent out a ballot sheet on social media and asked friends to vote for the winners of each category – the results are listed as the "Popular Majority" next to each winner.

We also had guest writers this year! I asked my siblings to create categories based on films we had in common from The 2019 Collection.

Animal Companion (Non-Verbal)

Animated Feature

Biopic

Chemistry

Coolest Superpower or Equipped Device

Drama

Exploration of Location

Fanfiction

Guilty Pleasure

Individual Performance

Integration of a CG Character

Meta or Institutional Critique

Original Score/Soundtrack

Performance in a Child's Role

Stunt/Fight Coordination

Symbolic Metaphor

Voice Performance

Most Wasted Potential

 

Animal Companion (Non-verbal)

All adventures are better with animal companions. Whether it’s a multicolored prehistoric cat, a flerken in disguise, a socially awkward dragon, a Pokémon who receives as many headaches as he inflicts, or an army of shapeshifting penguins — the best films have adorable creatures that offer comfort and are occasionally harborers of mass destruction. Sadly, animals that felt more human that animal — Pikachu or Rocket Raccoon — did not qualify for this category.

Nominees

Toothless (75% Majority)

Like a night fury in a ritualistic mating dance, Toothless blew away the competition. And it's no surprise either. For a decade, Toothless has been one of the most prominent faces of Dreamworks merchandising. As one Kathryn Phillips commented on an Amazon review of the Dreamworks Dragons Squeeze & Roar Toothless 11" Plush with Sounds for Kids Aged 4 & Up, "I think the thing is ugly and makes weird noises but my child is completely happy! What more can you ask for?" Toothless is more than a sidekick with adorable green eyes and memeable (failed) smiles; his friendship with Hiccup is the driving force behind all three films. On a personal level, it was refreshing to see a film franchise actually integrate prosthetics and physical (dis)ability rather than treat it as something to be overcome or fixed — the parallel of Toothless losing his left tail fin and Hiccup's left leg being amputated created opportunities to highlight how they both had to simply adapt to the change. Indeed, Toothless is the best dragon. Perhaps one of the greatest animal companions of all time. What more could you ask for?

Animated Feature

Traditionally-animated Christmas story about a postman and a woodcarver. Building blocks toward better relationships through nonstop puns and zany fun. Classic duo saves a girl from corporate corruption. Nostalgic romance between a cowboy and a shepherd girl. Fantasy romance involving body-swapping teenagers.

Nominees

Monsters, Inc. (53.8% Majority)

Monsters, Inc. will always be an extremely nostalgic piece for me. I can't do it anymore, but there was a time when I could pick up any scene and start quoting it line for line, and before my voice cracked I could do a pretty decent Roz impression. As I've grown older, I've tried to figure out what keeps me drawn to Monsters, Inc. Objectively, it's not Pixar's most cohesive or most dramatic or most analytical work. On the other hand, there is something deeply satisfying about seeing CEO corruption being properly punished. At the end of the day, I think what gravitates people toward this film — either revisiting their childhoods or a brand new generation entertained by Disney+ — is the wistful, almost implausible relationship between Sully and Boo. They spend one day together, but in that day, seemingly impossible differences are shattered by Sully realizing that Boo (and all humans) have joys and fears too. It may be oversimplistic (or perhaps it really is that simple), but Monsters, Inc. is a gentle reminder that sharing laughter is a fundamental part of being a monster.

Biopic (Mary)

Telling life as it was, as it is, or it could have been.

Nominees

The Two Popes

This was a really tough call because all of the films in this category were SO excellent. Ethel & Ernest was a stunning rendering of Raymond Briggs’ tribute to his parents; done in the style of Briggs’ art, this extraordinary film painted a poignant picture of two ordinary people living ordinary lives in times of great turmoil and change. You couldn’t help but be moved by Loving, which kept breaking my heart and piecing it back together again; from what I’ve read, it was an accurate depiction of the struggle that Richard and Mildred Loving endured in fighting for the legal recognition of their marriage, and it captured their personalities, too. Stan & Ollie was warm and funny and made me want to dig out our Laurel and Hardy collection (their piano routine was a childhood favorite, second only to Abbott and Costello’s "Who’s on First" routine). And BlacKkKlansman deserved the Oscar it did not receive; it was pointed, sharp, intelligent – one of the best films I saw all year, and the kind of film everyone who watched and loved Green Book needed to see.

I expected to enjoy all of those films — and I really, really did. I didn’t, however, really expect to enjoy The Two Popes. I’m still not quite sure why – I saw many excellent reviews from sources I trust, and although my childhood was oversaturated with (Catholic) religious films, the good and the not-so-good and the in-between, I knew this one would be different and likely better. I guess maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this type of film on the night that we watched I – so I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The Two Popes embraced its subject with heart and humor – I was surprised by just how funny it was. It humanized these men of God without excusing them; whether you love them or hate them, it’s impossible not to at least feel for them at various points in the film. The casting and acting was incredible – I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t actually watching Benedict and Francis. For a film where not much actually happened – most of the film is just the two popes, sitting and talking – it didn’t feel long; it was well-paced, with flashbacks to Francis’ history and path to becoming pope. Although Catholics will of course have a special connection to it, The Two Popes is a film I think that people from all walks of faith can appreciate and enjoy.

Chemistry

Some films live or die by the ability of the leads to communicate complex relationships — a couple fighting for interracial rights, the face of a new papacy and the face of dying Catholic conservatism, an explosive daughter and her equally headstrong mother, a pair of convicts fleeing across the country, and two cops with entirely different backgrounds bound together against evil — through an expression, a gesture, layers of subtext hidden underneath the words they speak, or maybe just a quiet moment.  

Nominees

  • Badlands – Sissy Spacek (Holly) & Martin Sheen (Kit) | Interview
  • BlacKkKlansman – John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) & Adam Driver (Flip Zimmerman) | Interview
  • Lady Bird – Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) & Laurie Metcalf (Marion McPherson) | Interview
  • Loving – Ruth Negga (Mildred Loving) & Joel Edgerton (Richard Loving) | Interview
  • The Two Popes – Jonathan Pryce (Pope Francis) & Anthony Hopkins (Pope Benedict XVI) | Interview
Saoirse Ronan & Laurie Metcalf (38.5% Majority)

The duo of Ronan and Metcalf is one of my all-time favorite examples of the power in subtlety and silence. While their extreme dove-tailing and rapid-fire dialogue exchanges — which is quickly becoming a staple of director Greta Gerwig’s style — may hold the most excitement in any given scene, it is the ability of both Ronan and Metcalf to carry the tension, the mood, the tone, the unspoken frustrations, through deprecating glares and clenched teeth, that capture the audience. Their characters never have to say certain things; the things they don’t say mean more. And the uncomfortably familiarity of this parent-child dynamic — specifically, mother-daughter — is what gives life to Lady Bird.

coolest superpower or equipped device

Admittedly, this category is extremely subjective, but it’s all about what enhanced ability appeals to you most — flight, cosmic power, lightning hands, spider-like attentiveness, or time travel.

Nominees

Winner: Shouting "Shazam!" (Popular Majority: 50.0%)

The benefits of Shazam's powers...

S – (Solomon's Wisdom) = Kid + Adult body = Walking fake ID

H – (Hercule's Strength) = Monster high jumps (Warning: May cause crashing into skyscraper windows)

A – (Atlas' Stamina) = Can take multiple headshots because BULLETPROOF!

Z – (Zeus' Power) = Built-in phone charger

A – (Achilles' Courage) = The family that Shazams! together, stays together

M – (Mercury's Speed) = Can easily run away from the insurance company after they bill you for the public bus you thunder-bolted off the highway.

Plus, just take a look at these magnificent covers and tell me you don’t want to be Shazam!.

 

drama

True story of how a Black cop took down a terroristic KKK group. Coming-of-age story of a rebellious teenager who can’t wait to escape Sacramento. Television studio capitalizes on a mentally unstable news personality. Intimate depiction of a domestic worker’s daily survival. Four boys escape their oppressive small town by searching for a corpse.

Nominees

BlacKkKlansman (30.8% Majority)

I had to play tiebreaker between BlacKkKlansman and Stand By Me for this category, and while both are extraordinary in their own right, I had to give the nod to a film that bites at the heart of contemporary American society. Some re[meme]ber BlacKkKlansman at the Oscars, when director Spike Lee stormed out of the theatre when he lost to Green Book at the 91st Academy Awards for Best Picture, but Lee was honestly justified. BlacKkKlansman is one of the premier dark satires of this century — featuring powerhouse performances from John David Washington and Adam Driver, it tells the erased story of a Black detective and a White Jewish detective who go undercover in a local KKK terrorist organization. Contemplative, witty, sharp — BlacKkKlansman investigates the persistence of society's propensity to force identity markers upon people and pressure people into taking on markers for themselves.

Exploration of Location

Location establishes tone and divulges information about the characters’ challenges, motivations, and aspirations. In these stories — decaying cyberpunk city, sweeping plains of South Dakota, slums of an alien refugee camp in South Africa, home of a Mexican upper-middle-class family, claustrophobic train cars — location is a sign of oppression or hope, a space for lost souls or a place for people to grow closer together. 

Nominees

BlacKkKlansman (30.8% Majority)

I had to play tiebreaker between BlacKkKlansman and Stand By Me for this category, and while both are extraordinary in their own right, I had to give the nod to a film that bites at the heart of contemporary American society. Some re[meme]ber BlacKkKlansman at the Oscars, when director Spike Lee stormed out of the theatre when he lost to Green Book at the 91st Academy Awards for Best Picture, but Lee wasn't unjustified. BlacKkKlansman is one of the premier dark satires of this century — featuring powerhouse performances from John David Washington and Adam Driver, it tells the erased story of a Black detective and a White Jewish detective who go undercover in a local KKK terrorist organization. Contemplative, witty, sharp — BlacKkKlansman investigates the persistence of society's propensity to force identity markers upon people and pressure people into taking on markers for themselves.

fanfiction (Carolyn)

The category that features the best in speculative stories we didn’t ask for and didn’t need, but enjoyed the hell out of them anyway.

Nominees

Toy Story 4

It was a lovely story... such a shame it doesn’t exist.

Guilty Pleasure (MAry)

We all have our guilty pleasure films — those movies we’re embarrassed to admit we actually enjoyed. They’re films that we know going into them may be dumb, and may even make us cringe once or twice. We don’t expect them to be masterpieces, and they don’t command one hundred percent of our attention while we watch them, but we could see ourselves watching them again in future when we need a laugh or a few warm fuzzies.

Nominees

Dora and the Lost City of Gold

I was not expecting to enjoy the Dora and the Lost City of Gold as much as I did. My siblings and I did not grow up watching Dora, Diego, and friends (animate and inanimate both), but we were conscious of it enough to catch references to the show – and to make fun of it. Which is, I think, what made Dora and the Lost City of Gold so much fun — it knew how to make fun of itself and have a fun time with its source material. With a racially diverse cast and a solid, humorous storyline, it was an entertaining film that can be enjoyed by children and their parents, those who grew up with Dora and those who didn’t, again and again.

As for the other films: I only half-watched The Kid Who Would Be King while working on other things, and I never felt compelled to give it more attention; I could stand to rewatch it — it was cute, had merit, and would be fun for kids — but it’s not something I would reach for if I needed a pick-me-up, and it didn’t have as much punch as Dora. The Knight Before Christmas was silly and sweet and made me laugh more than once — whether it meant to or not — but it didn’t do anything that hasn’t been done by other Christmas films before it (which is true of most Christmas films, I know). Pitch Perfect 2 was just as much fun as the first, and the Green Bay Packer cameos were delightful, especially because you could tell that they were having a blast; but you could just as easily scratch your a cappella itch with the first or third movie (and what do they mean Beca and Jesse broke up??). Disney’s Descendants was delightfully kitschy, the music was catchy, and the storyline was sweet, making for a fun film overall, but it’s the kind of movie that takes a cult following to appreciate.

individual performance

Unlike films that rely on chemistry between characters to convey the story or message, some movies are dependent on an individual performance to carry the weight of the entire production. It could be for the whole film; it could be for brief moments — a housekeeper whose life never feels like her own, the last stand of Earth’s greatest defender, a news anchor who is mad as hell, conjuring the spirit of one of music’s most iconic figures, a cruel but shrewd fashion mogul — but these performances demand our attention and appreciation. Without them, the film would fall apart.

Nominees

  • Yalitza Aparicio (Cleo Gutiérrez) — Roma | Chaos
  • Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man) — Avengers: Endgame | I am Iron Man
  • Peter Finch (Howard Beale) — Network | I'm mad as hell...
  • Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) — Bohemian Rhapsody | Live Aid Comparison
  • Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestly) — The Devil Wears Prada | Stuff
Robert Downey Jr. (50.0% Majority)

It is irrefutable that the Marvel Cinematic Universe does not exist without Robert Downey Jr. For over a decade, RDJ put his heart and soul into embodying the tech mogul superhero, and with his farewell performance in Avengers: Endgame, it’s arguable that RDJ saved his best for last. It’s more than his final line of dialogue, a poetic full-circle statement to the world, “I am Iron Man.” It’s more than seeing new sides to Tony Stark — as a father...as a retired superhero...or as a man finally having closure with his father. Avengers: Endgame is a performance that respects and embraces the legacy that this character and this franchise has left on cinema and pop culture. RDJ plays his role with sincerity and passion, threading a meta-awareness throughout the film of Tony Stark realizing that the one victorious outcome seen in Doctor Strange’s vision is inevitably the end of himself, the Iron Man. Though Avengers: Endgame might have delved too much into fan service and sentimentality, Robert Downey Jr. keeps the story grounded in the harsh emotions of sacrifice and the ending of an era.

Integration of a CG Character

Android, Panther, Alien, Electric Mouse, Sentient Raccoon — Before these characters say or do anything, they must first pass the eye test. Do their interactions with the world feel natural? Do their jaws and mouths look unrealistic when they speak? Do the characters feel tangible, or can you tell that it’s an actor patting a green-screen puppet?

Nominees

Rocket Raccoon (58.3% Majority)

The world’s favorite “trash panda” was almost cut from Guardians of the Galaxy out of concerns that the final product of Rocket Raccoon would look too cartoonish for a character director James Gunn has repeatedly referred to as the heart of the Guardians and the team member most like himself. The film used every trick in the playbook to make Rocket come to life — James’ younger brother Sean Gunn dressed in lime green motion capture suits and crab-walked/crab-waddled around the set, B Footage of Bradley Cooper’s mannerisms and expressions became the base for Rocket, Arti Shah (who did the same work as Maz Kanata for Star Wars: The Force Awakens) served as Rocket’s body double, and James Gunn frequently brought his faithful companion Oreo the Raccoon as a reference model for the animators. (Tragically, Oreo has since passed away.) The result is a seamless integration between human and CGI characters, and established one of the most loved superheroes of the MCU.

Meta or Institutional Critique (Will)

The Two Popes

The Two Popes scans as a biography, then in fact reveals itself to be a philosophical introspection of biography. It’s à la Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s project Steve Jobs (2015), except where Sorkin in his frame story gleefully abandons the pedestal of accuracy for talking up his grander vision of theatrically staged revolving-door interrogations on image branding and (what turns out be the greatest image branding of them all!: relationships), Anthony McCarten seizes The Two Popes for a fight of form, pitting traditional historically accurate biography against representational — approaching allegorical — biography.

We encounter the future-pope and then-current pope duking it out over the soul of an establishment a billion people faithful, and at along some inexact point the meta manifests as we realize they speak twofold: in one way as avatars of the respective chairs they hold or could come to hold or come to renounce; and in a second way, simply as themselves and the devastating knowledge that their personal lives inexorably, inextricably link to their positions, and that to ascend to the Throne of St Peter is to bring yourself, the man entire, his bones, his brains, his sins, all of it, before the glaring light of God and before his fellow man. McCarten and Fernando Meirelles’ film extracts dramatic biography from its modern reverence to certain table-dressing accuracies to chase after its very raison d’être: the portrait of a person or event or social moment, not as a sketch, but as a reexamining as fierce and implicative and bold as an impressionist work of art that strays from the literal to encapsulate the fuller vivacity possibly beyond what even photography can. Boyle of Steve Jobs believed his own film rekindled the Shakespearean formulation of biography, the history play that arguably shirks its duty for loftier aspiration — please the rabble, please the crown, please his comrade bards — and in all I believe McCarten carries on the resurrection of this in fitting, thoughtful aplomb.

Original Score/Soundtrack

Music is integral to influencing emotion, establishing tone, and creating tension. Jazz band motifs, a capella arrangements, Phil Collins’ jungle rhythms, Daft Punk’s techno beats, and RADWIWMPS rock music — these scores and soundtracks embody the overall narrative.

Nominees

Tarzan (46.2% Majority)

I'm not saying that Tarzan is responsible for getting Phil Collins the coveted star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but it is interesting to note that Collins earned his star in the same month (June 1999) Tarzan was released in theaters, so... you connect the dots. At first, the former Genesis drummer/lead vocalist seems like a bizarre choice to write the music for a Disney movie. Known for his, um, brusque nature, general disdain for media, and the media's general disdain for him, by the late '90s Collins was a polarizing figure known for his drum-heavy eclectic sounds and mythological-inspired lyrics like "In the Air Tonight" and "Land of Confusion." Compared to previous films of the Disney Renaissance like The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame — soundtracks begging to made into Broadway hits — Tarzan was a massive shift away from the style Disney audiences had grown accustomed to. But maybe it takes an isolated figure to sonically reflect the loneliness and inner yearning of Tarzan. The wistful lyrics and the sadness embedded in songs like "You'll Be In My Heart" or "Strangers Like Me," despite their upbeat rhythms, became instant hallmarks of a new Disney musical canon.

Performance in a Child’s Role

A lot of child actors can feel stiff and rehearsed, but these performances — a neglected child who meets her father’s childhood friends, a sardonic superhero sidekick, an abused kid who hides his feelings underneath a tough exterior, a little kid fleeing from zombies, an unwitting accomplice to an attempted suicide — balance childhood innocence with mature emotions. 

Nominees

Winner: Jack Dylan Grazer (53.8% Majority)

Jack Dylan Grazer was one of the breakout teenage actors in 2019 with his role as Freddy Freeman in Shazam!, portraying Freddy with a quirky, earnest energy that fits well next to his other two co-stars, Asher Angel (Billy Baston) and Zachary Levi (Shazam). Freddy’s enthusiasm and superhero obsession offsets Billy’s sullenness and disinterest in personal relationships, while Freddy’s awareness of his own bravado is what allows him to confront Shazam’s childish abuse of his newfound superpowers. While Billy may be the protagonist of Shazam!, it’s actually Grazer’s performance that ties the emotional plot lines of the story, serving as the sarcastic, humorous voice of reason and the relationship through which Billy grows to appreciate the value of family.

Stunt/Fight Coordination

With the rise of action-packed flicks, it’s becoming harder for audiences to feel dazzled by stunts and fight sequences. Innovative films, highlighted in certain scenes — gladiator derby royales, flying sword fights atop a forest, escape from a panopticon prison, spidey-sense versus a master of illusions, zombie hoards — keep the action fresh with stunt doubles, wire rigging, iPhone and 3-D cameras, replica models of famous landmarks, and green screen puppets. 

Nominees

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (36.4% Majority)

The first draft for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon read: “You will note in the script that none of the fight scenes are described, and I will just inform you now that they will be the greatest fight scenes ever in the history of cinema, period.” At the time, nobody had ever attempted something as outrageous as flying martial arts, but Western audiences embraced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — its 10 Academy Award nominations are still tied for the most for an international film. Director Ang Lee, seeking to introduce Western audiences to Chinese cinema by using well-known tropes (e.g. the cowboy, the princess, the martial arts master), could have easily made the stunt direction a gimmick. Instead, the flying martial arts are essential to the themes and narrative; each character has a unique relationship to flight, which shows, most notably, through Jen Yu’s reckless use of her abilities. What makes the fight sequences most impressive — the estate compound, the restaurant, Mount Wudang temple, the bamboo forest — is knowing that Michelle Yeon, Zhang Ziyi, and Chow Yun-fat trained for a year in preparation for their roles (the latter two of whom had never been in a martial arts film before) and did the vast majority of their stunts without green screen capabilities. I can't speak for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon holding "the greatest fight scenes ever in the history of cinema, period," but it it is one of the most memorable.

Symbolic Metaphor

Racial division and prejudice, maturity and loneliness, mourning and grief, fear and freedom, connection and love — Symbols are used to enrich our viewing experience. Sometimes they have a direct meaning; sometimes they have diverse meanings. But if you notice them, symbols ask us to discover connections between the story and our own lives.

Nominees

Stand By Me (30% Majority)

“The freight woke up the other guys and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell them about the deer. But I didn't. That was the one thing I kept to myself. I've never spoken or written about it until just now.” ~ Gordie

Red sunrise... Gordie looks up from his Gangbusters comic book – a deer sniffs at the train tracks, neck snaps up, and the boy and the deer make eye contact. The deer shambles away. For anyone who's seen Stand By Me, the deer is a moment that lingers in the imagination. It's not quite clear what it represents...but that's also the beauty of it. During this raw, naturalistic coming-of-age story featuring childhood abuse, trauma, fear, restlessness, anger – there's a stillness for a boy who was unable to find a moment's peace before the deer. Perhaps the deer is a representation of his brother's spirit briefly come back to life, maybe it's nature's assurance that Gordie is not going to feel grief his entire life, or it could just be the importance of having something in life to call your own – whatever the case, the deer stands as one of the most important cinematic symbols.

voice performance

A great voice performer imbues a unique personality to the role. We demand range, control, emotion — audiences can tell the difference between someone invested in their character and someone reading lines into a microphone. For these characters — a sarcastic one-eyed alien, a so-not-evil LEGO queen, a rogue toy living with a traveling carnival, an electric mouse wearing a deerstalker cap, and a woke robot — it’s impossible to imagine anyone else voicing them.

Nominees

Billy Crystal (90.9% Majority)

“Put that thing back where it came from or so help me…!”

“…Painted?”

"Okay, first of all, it's ‘cree-tin’. If you're gonna threaten me, do it properly. Second of all, you're nuts if you think kidnapping ME is gonna help YOU cheat your way to the top."

“Roz, my tender, oozing blossom, you're looking fabulous today. Is that a new haircut?“

“I don’t know about you guys, but I spotted several big mistakes. You know what? Let’s watch my favorite part again, shall we?”

“The company? Who cares about the company? What about us? That thing is a KILLING MACHINE!”

“[Desperate singing] She’s out of our haaair!”

“Why couldn’t we have been banished here?”

most wasted potential

Sometimes the premise is better than the execution. Sometimes one element, one idea, one single moment collapses the production underneath itself. Sometimes the film is beyond saving. Nevertheless, these films — an ordinary person inherits a galactic corporation, a young girl fends off trauma and death by battling giants, a racist community is too racist to realize a seemingly happy family is harboring a dangerous murderer, a traditional Chinese tale of a snake spirit who falls in love with a human, and the nightcap to one of the most popular film franchises — had too much going for them to disappoint…yet, that’s exactly what they did.

Nominees

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (58.3% Majority)

“The Force is for anyone, the scene seemed to say—and so is Star Wars. It was a bold, meaningful idea for the franchise, and necessary to opening up its future.” ~ Daily Beast, Melissa Leon

There are plenty of disappointments in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but the biggest for me was the miraculous revival of Palpatine. Not for the reason that it defies logic how he is still alive, but that it erased all the work Episodes 7 & 8 had done to update the franchise for modern audiences — Rey was allowed to be a nobody with extraordinary talents. She wasn’t defined by the Jedi ways; she wasn’t confined within a cosmic reason for her being. It wasn’t arbitrary that the Force was with her but it wasn’t ordained — she was someone who had to struggle for her place in the galaxy and seemed to earn it own her own merit. The Rise of Skywalker Palpatine throws that all into question, and the potential for a series built around autonomy and agency is overshadowed by patriarchal nostalgia.