These are the 2008 Endy Awards, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best in that year in film. I did one of these five years ago, but things have changed so this is the revision. Awards for many other years can be found in the Rankings & 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. 24 City
2. 35 Shots of Rum
3. Love Exposure
4. Red Cliff
5. Sita Sings the Blues
6. Sparrow
7. Speed Racer
8. Tokyo Sonata
9. Two Lovers
10. WALL-E

Best Director:

1. Claire Denis, 35 Shots of Rum
2. Sion Sono, Love Exposure
3. John Woo, Red Cliff
4. Johnnie To, Sparrow
5. Lana and Lilly Wachowski, Speed Racer

Best Actor:

1. Alex Descas, 35 Shots of Rum
2. Benicio Del Toro, Che
3. Ge You, If You Are the One
4. Takahiro Nishijima, Love Exposure
5. Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers

Best Actress:

1. Zhou Xun, All About Women
2. Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
3. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
4. Mati Diop, 35 Shots of Rum
5. Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy

Supporting Actor:

1. Mathieu Amalric, A Christmas Tale
2. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
3. Eddie Marsan, Happy Go Lucky
4. Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married
5. Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder

Supporting Actress:

1. Anne Consigny, A Christmas Tale
2. Chiara Mastrioanni, A Christmas Tale
3. Sakura Ando, Love Exposure
4. Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
5. Kirin Kiki, Still Walking

Original Screenplay:

1. Claire Denis & Jean-Pol Fargeau, 35 Shots of Rum
2. Sion Sono, Love Exposure
3. Hong Sangsoo, Night and Day
4. Chan Kin-chung, Fung Chih-chiang & the Milkyway Creative Team, Sparrow
5. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Max Mannix & Sachiko Tanaka, Tokyo Sonata

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Peter Buchman and Benjamen van der Veen, Che
2. Arnaud Desplechin & Emmanuel Bourdieu, A Christmas Tale
3. Holly Gent Palmo & Vincent Palmo Jr., Me and Orson Welles
4. Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues
5. James Gray & Ric Menello, Two Lovers

Non-English Language Film:

1. 24 City (Jia Zhangke)
2. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis)
3. Love Exposure (Sion Sono)
4. Red Cliff (John Woo)
5. Sparrow (Johnnie To)

Short Film:

1. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Joss Whedon)

Documentary Film:

1. 24 City (Jia Zhangke)
2. The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda)
3. Of Time and the City (Terence Davies)
4. Rembrandt’s J’accuse (Peter Greenaway)
5. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)

Animated Film:

1. Ponyo on the Cliff By the Sea (Hayao Miyazaki)
2. Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley)
3. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)
4. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)

Unseen Film:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher)
2. JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri)
3. Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami)

Film Editing:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Love Exposure
4. Sparrow
5. Speed Racer

Cinematography:

1. 35 Shots of Rum
2. A Christmas Tale
3. Love Exposure
4. Speed Racer
5. Summer Hours

Art Direction:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. Red Cliff
3. Speed Racer
4. Summer Hours
5. WALL-E

Costume Design:

1. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog
2. Love Exposure
3. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
4. Red Cliff
5. Speed Racer

Make-up:

1. Cloverfield
2. The Dark Knight
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
4. Red Cliff
5. Speed Racer

Original Score:

1. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Sparrow
4. 35 Shots of Rum
5. WALL-E

Adapted Score:

1. Love Exposure
2. Pineapple Express
3. Rachel Getting Married
4. Sita Sings The Blues
5. Slumdog Millionaire

Sound:

1. Cloverfield
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Love Exposure
4. Speed Racer
5. WALL-E

Sound Editing:

1. Cloverfield
2. Hellboy II
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Speed Racer
5. WALL-E

Visual Effects:

1. Cloverfield
2. Red Cliff
3. Hellboy II
4. Speed Racer
5. Synecdoche, New York