2014 Plugged In Movie Awards: "Best Movie" Winners

The Christmas Candle

Liked · 42 minutes ago 

We are pleased to announce that The Christmas Candle is the reader's pick for Plugged In's best Christian movie of the year award! https://community.focusonthefamily.com/b/pluggedin/archive/2014/02/14/2014-plugged-in-movie-awards-quot-best-movie-quot-winners.aspx

We owe this award to YOU, our fans, thank you and God bless!

2014 Plugged In Movie Awards: "Best Movie" Winners

Steven Isaac 

Feb 14, 2014 5:43 AM 1

Announcing the winners of the second annual Plugged In Movie Awards!

And the Golden Magnifier goes to ...

BEST CHRISTIAN MOVIE

Nominees: Black Nativity, The Christmas Candle, Grace Unplugged, Home Run, Not Today

Plugged In's Pick: Grace Unplugged 
With Christian movies getting a bit better each year, this category was stacked with solid choices … that ultimately coalesced around our final pick. Grace Unplugged is a sweet, spiritually poignant and accessible story of a rebellious teen and her exasperated father. And the big message that we here at Plugged In just couldn't pass by? I'll quote from Paul Asay's review: "Grace Unplugged is also very much a cautionary coming-of-age story—an examination of how sometimes what we most want undermines what we most need. Grace discovers that by following her own heart she arrives in a place that's determined to squash that strong yet sensitive organ. It's only by following God's heart that she finds true happiness and peace and fulfillment."

Readers' Pick: The Christmas Candle This category proved to be a no-holds-barred battle royal among our readers. The veritable avalanche of votes flowed so deep it took intrepid Plugged In designer Kari Andresen nearly a full day to dig her way through them all. For two weeks, avid supporters of Home Run and The Christmas Candle (in particular) voted, voted again and then voted some more. We weeded out multiple votes as best we could, but will note here that they are in some ways a great tribute to the passion inspired by both movies. Christmas Candle ended up burning away the competition, you might say, but Home Run stayed in the running 'til the bottom of the ninth.

BEST MOVIE FOR KIDS

Nominees: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Epic, Escape From Planet Earth, Frozen

Plugged In's Pick: FrozenThe Plugged In team talked long and hard about handing this honor to DreamWorks' The Croods because of its surprisingly tender take on fatherhood and family. But it was Disney princesses who finally dominated, with Anna and Elsa giving us all an unexpected love story not between a young, doe-eyed couple (though there is that, too), but two sisters who, despite their differences, would do anything for each other.

Readers' Pick: Frozen We weren't the only ones entranced by the icy beauty of Frozen, as it tobogganed away with the readers' crown as well. Our blog and Facebook fans gushed over the animated flick's music, its comedy and the story's unexpected twists.


BEST MOVIE FOR TEENS

Nominees: 42, Ender's Game, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Man of Steel, Oz the Great and Powerful

Plugged In's Pick: 42Yes, the racial waters are rough, and we hear the n-word used repeatedly as this film speaks out against just how racist Major League Baseball—and much of the country—was when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. But while our other nominees showcased courageous, self-sacrificing characters, none were more so than the real-life Robinson, who not only overcame hatred and prejudice, but did it with unparalleled class. With this pick, we tip our hat to both the man and the movie that will teach so many more teens about what he accomplished.

Readers' Pick: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire We'd barely opened up the voting when the lamentations began. Where was The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug? Not on our list, though we did give it strong consideration. While it embodied great themes of courage and friendship and good-vs.-evil, we felt that there were other movies that soared even higher in that regard—including your eventual pick. Indeed, Katniss Everdeen overcame this second Hunger Games' inherent violence, winning over readers with her gumption and her film's themes of self-sacrifice for a higher goal.


BEST MOVIE FOR ADULTS

Nominees: Gravity, Instructions Not Included, Philomena, Saving Mr. Banks, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Plugged In's Pick: Saving Mr. Banks It was a dandy year for adults looking for great movies with great messages—and not a great amount of negative content. (Two of our nominees were also nominated for Best Picture Oscars, for the record.) Plugged In, of course, considers a movie's message as well as its art, and we heavily debated both The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (an inspiring story of a man encouraged to live life to the fullest) and Instructions Not Included (a Spanish-language sleeper wherein a man learns how to be a real father). But while it's not "practically perfect in every way" (no mainstream movie is these days), we finally felt compelled to give the final nod toSaving Mr. Banks, another story about the importance of fathers—even if those fathers are flawed. It is both introspective and inspirational, and its fantastic performances don't hurt either.

Readers' Pick: Saving Mr. Banks Plugged In readers loved Walter Mitty. And you thought Gravity was pretty awesome too. But in the end you too threw your tuppence toward Mr. Banks. It kinda makes you want to fly a kite now, doesn't it?

https://community.focusonthefamily.com/b/pluggedin/archive/2014/02/14/2014-plugged-in-movie-awards-quot-best-movie-quot-winners.aspx