2013 Endy Awards

These are the 2013 Endy Awards, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best in the past year in film. You can also check out the special Oscar episode of The George Sanders Show, discussing a couple of former Best Picture winners in addition to award-giving and predicting, as well as the big end of the year double episode of They Shot Pictures. 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. Blind Detective

2. The Missing Picture

3. Only Lovers Left Alive

4. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

5. La última película

Best Director:

1. Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture

2. Hong Sangsoo, Nobody's Daughter Haewon

3. Isao Takahata, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

4. Jia Zhangke, A Touch of Sin

5. Raya Martin & Mark Peranson, La última película

I'm going with Jia Zhangke, who seamlessly blended his long-take, not quite realist visual style into wuxia genre traditions while retaining, amplifying even, the sense of social and political outrage.

Best Actor:

1. Robert Redford, All is Lost

2. Andy Lau, Blind Detective

3. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

4. Lee Kang-sheng, Stray Dogs

5. Simon Pegg, The World's End

Leo's performance is the best thing about Gatsby, and I think Wolf is the best work he's ever done. I'd say the same for Lee Kang-sheng and Simon Pegg as well. Tough to leave out James Gandolfini in Enough Said, but this is a strong category this year.

Best Actress:

1. Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color

2. Zhang Ziyi, The Grandmaster

3. Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant

4. Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive

5. Jung Yoo-mi, Our Sunhi

A really tough category this year, but I'm going with the newcomer from the movie with "Blue" in the title while the veteran and former Endy winner from the movie with "Blue" in the title just misses the cut for a nomination, edged out by a perennial Endy favorite, whose voice once starred in a movie called Blue.

Supporting Actor:

1. Lee Sun-kyun, Our Sunhi

2. Dwayne Johnson, Pain & Gain

3. Gabino Rodríguez, La última película

4. Mathew McConaughey, The Wolf of Wall Street

5. Nick Frost, The World's End

Supporting Actress:

1. Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine

2. Léa Seydoux, Blue is the Warmest Color

3. Aoi Miyazaki, The Great Passage

4. Shu Qi, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

5. Zhao Tao, A Touch of Sin

Original Screenplay:

1. Wai Ka-fai, Blind Detective

2. Andrew Bujalski, Computer Chess

3. Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture

4. Hong Sangsoo, Our Sunhi

5. Raya Martin & Mark Peranson (et al), La última película

The sheer unexpected weirdness of Bujalski's Computer Chess wins the Endy over perennial favorite Hong, Rithy Panh's wrenching reminiscence and La última película's swirling and hilarious ode to film. A truly great year for original screenplays.

Adapted Screenplay:

1. John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave

2. Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight

3. Kensaku Watanabe, The Great Passage

4. Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises

5. Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street

Non-English Language Film:

1. Blind Detective (Johnnie To)

2. The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh)

3. Our Sunhi (Hong Sangsoo)

4. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata)

5. A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke)

Short Film:

1. Hard to Say (Lee Kwangkuk)

2. Just in Time (Peter Greenaway)

3. Mahjong (João Rui Guerra da Mata & João Pedro Rodrigues)

4. Redemption (Miguel Gomes)

5. The Three Disasters (Jean-Luc Godard)

Lee is a former assistant director for Hong Sangsoo (Hard to Say ran before Our Sunhi in Vancouver) who made a feature a couple years ago that I really liked but have never heard anything else about called Romance Joe.

Documentary Film:

1. At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman)
2. A Fuller Life (Samantha Fuller)

3. The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh)

4. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (Ben Rivers & Ben Russell)

5. Yumen (JP Sniadecki, et al)

Animated Film:

1. Frozen (Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck)

2. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata)
3. The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)

Unseen Film:

1. Hard to Be a God (Aleksey German)
2. Like Father, Like Son (Koreeda Hirokazu)

3. Norte, the End of History (Lav Diaz)

4. The Past (Asghar Farhadi)

5. The Strange Little Cat (Ramon Zürcher)

Film Editing:

1. Blind Detective

2. The Grandmaster

3. La última película

4. The Wolf of Wall Street

5. Yumen

Cinematography:

1. Computer Chess

2. The Grandmaster

3. Gravity

4. A Touch of Sin

5. La última película

Art Direction:

1. The Grandmaster

2. Gravity

3. Her

4. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

5. The Missing Picture

Going with Rithy Panh's heartbreaking dioramas over Spike Jonze's Apple Store dystopia.

Costume Design:

1. Computer Chess

2. The Grandmaster

3. The Great Gatsby

4. Her

5. Only Lovers Left Alive

Her's high-waisted pants over Computer Chess's high-waisted pants.

Make-up:

1. Blind Detective

2. Blue Jasmine

3. The Grandmaster

4. A Touch of Sin

5. The World's End

Original Score:

1. 12 Years a Slave

2. The Grandmaster

3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

4. A Touch of Sin
5. The Wind Rises

Soundtrack:

1. Inside Llewyn Davis

2. Only Lovers Left Alive

3. La última película

4. The Wolf of Wall Street

5. The World's End

I'm still annoyed that the Coens' renamed "Dink's Song" for the movie, but whatever. As usual their (and T Bone Burnett's) song choices are impeccable.

Sound:

1. Distant

2. Gravity

3. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness

4. La última película

5. Yumen

Sound Editing:

1. Blind Detective

2. The Grandmaster

3. Gravity

4. Star Trek Into Darkness

5. The World's End

Visual Effects:

1. Gravity

2. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

3. La última película

4. The World's End

5. Young Detective Dee and the Rise of the Sea Dragon

2009 Endy Awards, Revised

Four years ago, I gave out a bunch of awards for the best films of 2009. Of course, due to the vagaries of film distribution, many great films from that year were only released (or became available to me) long after I handed them out. So here is an up-to-date accounting of the 2009 Endy Awards. 

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 presented in alphabetical order, the winner is bolded. And the Endy goes to. . .

Best Picture:

1. La danse

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox

3. It Felt Like a Kiss

4. Oxhide II

5. Wild Grass

Best Director:

1. Frederick Wiseman, La danse

2. Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox

3. Adam Curtis, It Felt Like a Kiss

4. Liu Jiayin, Oxhide II

5. Alain Resnais, Wild Grass

Best Actor:

1. Nicholas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
2. Ben Whishaw, Bright Star
3. Isaach De Bankolé, The Limits of Control
4. Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man
5. André Dussollier, Wild Grass and Micmacs

Best Actress:

1. Bae Doona, Air Doll
2. Lola Créton, Bluebeard
3. Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
4. Tilda Swinton, I Am Love
5. Sabine Azéma, Wild Grass

Supporting Actor:

1. Mathieu Amalric, Wild Grass
2. Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
3. Peter Capaldi, In the Loop
4. Dolph Lundgren, Universal Soldier: Regeneration
5. Simon Yam, Vengeance

Supporting Actress:

1. Marilou Lopes-Benites, Bluebeard
2. Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
3. Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
4. Anne Consigny, Wild Grass
5. Kelly Lin, Written By

Original Screenplay:

1. Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
2. Hong Sang-soo, Like You Know It All
3. Liu Jiayin, Oxhide II
4. Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
5. Wai Ka-fai & Au Kin-yee, Written By

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Catherine Breillat, Bluebeard
2. Manoel de Oliveira, Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl
3. Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
4. Armando Iannucci et al, In the Loop
5. Alain Resnais & Laurent Herbiet, Wild Grass

Foreign Language Film:

1. Accident (Soi Cheang)
2. La danse (Frederick Wiseman)
3. Oxhide II (Liu Jiayin)
4. Wild Grass (Alain Resnais)
5. Written By (Wai Ka-fai)

Documentary Feature:

1. The Art of the Steal (Don Argott)
2. It Felt Like a Kiss (Adam Curtis)
3. La danse (Frederick Wiseman)
4. In Search of Beethoven (Phil Grabsky)
5. The September Issue (RJ Cutler)

Unseen Film:

1. The Box (Richard Kelly)
2. Enter the Void (Gasper Noé)
3. Police, Adjective (Corneliu Porumboiu)
4. A Single Man (Tom Ford)
5. White Material (Claire Denis)

Animated Feature:

1. Coraline (Henry Selick)
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
3. The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore & Nora Twomey)
4. Summer Wars (Mamoru Hosada)
5. Up (Pete Docter & Bob Peterson)

Film Editing:

1. Accident
2. La danse
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. It Felt Like a Kiss
5. Public Enemies

Cinematography:

1. Greig Fraser, Bright Star
2. Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds
3. Christopher Doyle, The Limits of Control
4. Dante Spinotti, Public Enemies
5. Eric Gautier, Wild Grass

Art Direction:

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Gamer
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. The Limits of Control
5. Written By

Costume Design:

1. Bright Star
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. I Am Love
4. The Limits of Control
5. Where the Wild Things Are

Make-up:

1. Crank: High Voltage
2. District 9
3. Drag Me to Hell
4. Star Trek
5. Watchmen

Sound:

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Public Enemies
4. Star Trek
5. Universal Soldier: Regeneration

Sound Editing:

1. Avatar
2. Drag Me to Hell
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox
4. Public Enemies
5. Star Trek

Visual Effects:

1. Avatar
2. Sophie's Revenge
3. Star Trek
4. Watchmen
5. Written By

Original Score:

1. Alexandre Desplat, Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Justin Hurwitz, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
3. John Adams, I Am Love
4. Boris, The Limits of Control
5. Carter Burwell, A Serious Man

Adapted Score:

1. Adventureland
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. In Search of Beethoven
5. The Limits of Control