2006 Endy Awards

These are the 2006 Endy Awards, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best in that year in film. Awards for many other years can be found in the Endy Awards Index. Eligibility is determined by imdb date and by whether or not I've seen the movie in question. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order and the winners are bolded. And the Endy goes to. . .

Best Picture:

1. Exiled
2. Isabella

3. Miami Vice

4. Still Life

5. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

A bit of an upset from this Johnnie To fan, but I have always been a huge fan of Ken Loach's Cannes-winning IRA epic and remain so almost a decade later.

Best Director:

1. Johnnie To, Exiled

2. Michael Mann, Miami Vice

3. Jia Zhangke, Still Life

4. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Syndromes and a Century

5. Ken Loach, The Wind that Shakes the Barley

To gets the make-up award here, with one of his best films of the decade. He'll win Best Director again in 2008.

Best Actor:

1. Aaron Kwok, After This Our Exile
2. Michel Piccoli, Belle toujours

3. Denzel Washington, Deja vu

4. Ulrich Mühe, The Lives of Others

5. Cillian Murphy, The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Best Actress:

1. Ebru Ceylan, Climates

2. Laura Dern, Inland Empire
3. Isabella Leong, Isabella

4. Kirsten Dunst, Marie Antoinette

5. Sabine Azéma, Private Fears in Public Places

Supporting Actor:

1. Jack Nicholson, The Departed

2. Mark Cheng, Election 2

3. Anthony Wong, Exiled

4. John Ortiz, Miami Vice

5. Pádraic Delaney, The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Supporting Actress:

1. Gong Li, Miami Vice

2. Vera Farmiga, The Departed

3. Chen Shiang-chiyi, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
4. Margo Martindale, Paris je t'aime

5. Lindsay Lohan, A Prairie Home Companion

Some may say Nicholson's performance is too big, too hammy. I say the more the merrier. This supporting actress group is pretty underwhelming. I'm probably missing some great ones.

Original Screenplay:

1. Szeto Kam-Yuen & Yip Tin-Shing, Exiled
2. Tsai Ming-liang, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
3. Wai Ka-fai & Au Kin-yee, The Shopaholics
4. Apichatpoing Weereasethakul, Syndromes and a Century
5. Paul Laverty, The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Adapted Screenplay:

1. William Monahan, The Departed
2. Yau Nai-hoi & Yip Tin-shing, Election 2
3. Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion
4. Jean-Michel Ribes, Private Fears in Public Places
5. Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly

Non-English Language Film:

1. Election 2
2. Exiled
3. Isabella
4. Still Life
5. Syndromes and a Century

Documentary Film:

1. This Film is Not Yet Rated
2. Wordplay

Animated Film:

1. Cars
2. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
3. Paprika
4. A Scanner Darkly

This was a tough category, as three of these films are really good. In the end, Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Hosada split the anime vote and Richard Linklater's rotoscoped Philip K. Dick adaptation sneaks away with the win.

Unseen Film:

1. Black Book (Paul Veerhoeven)
2. Fireworks Wednesday (Asghar Farhadi)
3. I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK (Park Chan-wook)
4. Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt)
5. Volver (Pedro Almodovar)

As rough as this year seems, there really isn't a whole lot out there I feel I need to see.

Film Editing:

1. The Departed
2. Crank
3. Election 2
4. Exiled
5. Miami Vice

Cinematography:

1. Climates

2. Exiled

3. Marie Antoinette
4. Miami Vice
5. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

A watershed year for the digital camera, with Climates and Vice pushing it to its limits.

Art Direction:

1. Exiled

2. The Fall

3. Marie Antoinette
4. Pan's Labyrinth
5. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Costume Design:

1. Curse of the Golden Flower

2. The Fall

3. Marie Antoinette

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

5. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Make-up:

1. Election 2
2. Exiled
3. Marie Antoinette
4. Pan's Labyrinth
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Original Score:

1. Exiled
2. Isabella
3. Once

4. A Scanner Darkly

5. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Adapted Score:

1. The Departed
2. Marie Antoinette
3. Miami Vice
4. A Prairie Home Companion
5. Southland Tales

I wish I liked Marie Antoinette more than I do. I dig Coppola's music though.

Sound:

1. The Departed

2. Exiled
3. Inland Empire
4. Miami Vice
5. Syndromes and a Century

Sound Editing:

1. The Departed
2. Exiled
3. Letters from Iwo Jima
4. Miami Vice
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Visual Effects:

1. Deja vu
2. The Host
3. Pan's Labyrinth
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
5. Superman Returns