These are the 1990 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 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. An Angel at My Table
2. Archangel
3. Bullet in the Head
4. The Civil War
5. Close-Up
6. Days of Being Wild
7. Goodfellas
8. Metropolitan
9. Miller’s Crossing
10. Slacker

Best Director:

1. Richard Linklater, Slacker
2. John Woo, Bullet in the Head
3. Wong Kar-wai, Days of Being Wild
4. Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas
5. Joel & Ethan Coen, Miller’s Crossing

Over the years I’ve gone back and forth between Miller’s Crossing and Days of Being Wild as my favorite film of 1990.

Best Actor:

1. Stephen Chow, All for the Winner
2. Hossain Sabzian, Close-Up
3. Leslie Cheung, Days of Being Wild
4. Gabriel Byrne, Miller’s Crossing
5. Clint Eastwood, White Hunter Black Heart

Jeremy Irons just barely misses out, but he can console himself with his Reversal of Fortune Oscar.

Best Actress:

1. Kerry Fox, An Angel at My Table
2. Meryl Streep, Postcards from the Edge
3. Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman
4. Maggie Cheung, Song of the Exile
5. Adrienne Shelly, Trust

Hard to think of a greater movie star performance over the past 25 years than Roberts in Pretty Woman. Meg Ryan was a strong contender here for Joe Versus the Volcano.

Supporting Actor:

1. Simon Yam, Bullet in the Head
2. Chris Eigeman, Metropolitan
3. Albert Finney, Miller’s Crossing
4. Jon Polito, Miller’s Crossing
5. Raúl Juliá, Presumed Innocent

Tough to leave out Jacky Cheung for both Days of Being Wild and Bullet in the Head here, along with Waise Lee in the latter. There’s a whole host of actors in Miller’s Crossing and Goodfellas that probably should have been nominated. Ron Silver in Reversal of Fortune and Ian Holm in Hamlet as well. Polito has to win though, it’s a question of ethics.

Supporting Actress:

1. Maggie Cheung, Days of Being Wild
2. Marcia Gay Harden, Miller’s Crossing
3. Shirley MacLaine, Postcards from the Edge
4. Samantha Mathis, Pump Up the Volume
5. Lu Hsiao-fen, Song of the Exile

Two more nominations this year for Maggie Cheung, the most-decorated actress in Endy history, despite only a single win in eight nominations. She’s the Endy’s Meryl Streep.

Original Screenplay:

1. Guy Maddin & George Toles, Archangel
2. Jeffrey Lau & Wong Kar-wai, Days of Being Wild
3. Whit Stillman, Metropolitan
4. Richard Linklater, Slacker
5. Wu Nien-jen, Song of the Exile

This is Whit Stillman’s first Endy, having lost to Hong Sangsoo in 2011 and the Coen brothers in 1998.

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Laura Jones, An Angel at My Table
2. Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas
3. Charles S. Haas, Gremlins 2: The New Batch
4. Joel & Ethan Coen, Miller’s Crossing
5. Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead

I don’t know if the Academy considers Miller’s Crossing to be adapted or not, but if you know the novels of Dashiell Hammett, you know it’s definitely not original.

Non-English Language Film:

1. Bullet in the Head (John Woo)
2. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami)
3. Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-wai)
4. Dreams (Akira Kurosawa)
5. Song of the Exile (Ann Hui)

Non-Fiction Film:

1. The Civil War (Ken Burns)
2. James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket (Karen Thorsen)

Unseen Film:

1. King of New York (Abel Ferrara)
2. Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh)
3. Mo’ Better Blues (Spike Lee)
4. Nouvelle vague (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. A Tale of Springtime (Eric Rohmer)

Also: The Match-Factory Girl, Miami Blues, Ju Dou, Revenge, The Witches, The Sheltering Sky, and Jacob’s Ladder.

I’ll get to the Four Seasons series eventually. I’m attempting to spread his films throughout my life so I don’t run out of Rohmers.

Film Editing:

1. Archangel
2. Bullet in the Head
3. Goodfellas
4. Miller’s Crossing
5. Slacker

Cinematography:

1. Days of Being Wild
2. Dreams
3. Goodfellas
4. A Moment of Romance
5. Miller’s Crossing

Michael Ballhaus’s work on Goodfellas is excellent of course, though you can trace a direct line from the Copa tracking shot to the pointless showiness of Alejandro González Iñárritu. Christopher Doyle has already won this award four times (shared for Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046 and solo for Fallen Angels), but he’s upset here by Barry Sonnenfeld’s lustrous work in the Coen Brothers’ most sumptuous film.

Art Direction:

1. Dick Tracy
2. Dreams
3. Edward Scissorhands
4. The Hunt for Red October
5. Miller’s Crossing

Honorable Mentions: Hamlet, Joe Versus the Volcano, Archangel, Days of Being Wild, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Total Recall

Costume Design:

1. Dances with Wolves
2. Days of Being Wild
3. Dick Tracy
4. Hamlet
5. Miller’s Crossing

There’s nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat.

Make-up:

1. Dick Tracy
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. Predator 2
4. Total Recall
5. Wild at Heart

Original Score:

1. Dick Tracy
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. The Hunt for Red October
4. Miller’s Crossing
5. A Moment of Romance

Adapted Score:

1. Days of Being Wild
2. Goodfellas
3. Pretty Woman
4. Pump Up the Volume
5. Wild at Heart

Goodfellas is Scorsese’s best ever jukebox score, while Miller’s Crossing is Carter Burwell’s best work.

Sound:

1. Archangel
2. Days of Being Wild
3. Goodfellas
4. The Hunt for Red October
5. Miller’s Crossing

Sound Editing:

1. Days of Thunder
2. The Hunt for Red October
3. Miller’s Crossing
4. Predator 2
5. Total Recall

Visual Effects:

1. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
2. Predator 2
3. Robocop 2
4. Swordsman
5. Total Recall