These are the 2021 Endy Awards, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best movies, performances, etc of this 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. Films are presented in alphabetical order, and the winners are in bold. As always, the awards and nominees are subject to change as I watch more movies. And the Endy goes to. . .

Best Picture:

1. Benedetta
2. Drive My Car
3. Get Back
4. In Front of Your Face
5. Karnan
6. Licorice Pizza
7. The Night
8. Shadow Kingdom
9. West Side Story
10. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Best Director:

1. Paul Verhoeven, Benedetta
2. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, Drive My Car
3. Hong Sangsoo, In Front of Your Face
4. Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
5. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Best Actor:

1. Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter
2. Nishijima Hidetoshi, Drive My Car
3. Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
4. Dhanush, Karnan
5. Matt Damon, The Last Duel
6. Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza
7. Gordon Lam, Limbo
8. Scott Adkins, One Shot
9. Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
10. Bob Dylan, Shadow Kingdom

Best Actress:

1. Izawa Saori, Baby Assassins
2. Takaishi Akari, Baby Assassins
3. Virginie Efira, Benedetta
4. Alyssa Chia, The Falls
5. Nina Bergman, Hell Hath No Fury
6. Lee Hyeyoung, In Front of Your Face
7. Rajisha Vijayan, Karnan
8. Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
9. Jeon Jong-seo, Nothing Serious
10. Anna Cobb, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

Supporting Actor:

1. Jeffrey Wright, The French Dispatch
2. Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
3. Ben Affleck, The Last Duel
4. David Alvarez, West Side Story
5. Mike Faist, West Side Story
6. Shibukawa Kiyohiko, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Supporting Actress:

1. Daphne Patakia, Benedetta
2. Charlotte Rampling, Benedetta
3. Park Yoorim, Drive My Car
4. Ana de Armas, No Time to Die
5. Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
6. Urabe Fusako, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Original Screenplay:

1. Sakamoto Yugo, Baby Assassins
2. Hong Sangsoo, In Front of Your Face
4. Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
3. Qiu Jiongjiong, A New Old Play
5. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Hosoda Mamoru, Belle
2. David Birke & Paul Verhoeven, Benedetta
3. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke & Oe Takamasa, Drive My Car
4. Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell & Aleksandar Hemon, The Matrix Resurrections
5. Tony Kushner, West Side Story

English Language Film:

1. The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)
2. Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Shadow Kingdom (Alma Har’el)
4. West Side Story (Steven Spielberg)
5. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Kier-La Janisse)

Non-English Language Film:

1. Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
2. Drive My Car (Hamaguchi Ryūsuke)
3. In Front of Your Face (Hong Sangsoo)
4. The Night (Tsai Ming-liang)
5. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Hamaguchi Ryūsuke)

Non-Fiction Feature Film:

1. Get Back (Peter Jackson)
2. The History of the Atlanta Falcons (Jon Bois)
3. Shadow Kingdom (Alma Har’el)
4. The Velvet Underground (Todd Haynes)
5. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Kier-La Janisse)

Animated Film:

1. Belle (Hosoda Mamoru)
2. Evangelion 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time (Anno Hideaki)
3. Inu-oh (Yuasa Masaaki)
4. Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (Steve Cox)
5. Pompo: The Cinephile (Hirao Takayuki)

Short Film:

1. The Night (Tsai Ming-liang)
2. Sycorax (Lois Patiño & Matías Piñeiro)

Unseen Film:

1. Annette (Leos Carax)
2. Macbeth (Joel Coen)
3. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
4. 77 Heartwarmings (Herman Yau)
5. What We See When We Look at the Sky (Alexandre Koberidze)

Film Editing:

1. Drive My Car
2. Karnan
3. Licorice Pizza
4. The Velvet Underground
5. West Side Story

Cinematography:

1. Cliff Walkers
2. The Green Knight
3. Licorice Pizza
4. One Shot
5. West Side Story

Art Direction:

1. Dune
2. Limbo
3. A New Old Play
4. West Side Story
5. A Writer’s Odyssey

Costume Design:

1. Cliff Walkers
2. The French Dispatch
3. Licorice Pizza
4. The Power of the Dog
5. West Side Story

Make-up and Hair:

1. The French Dispatch
2. Licorice Pizza
3. Malignant
4. Old
5. West Side Story

Original Score:

1. Dune
2. The French Dispatch
3. The Green Knight
4. Karnan
5. The Power of the Dog

Adapted Score:

1. Can’t Get You Out of My Head
2. The French Dispatch
3. Licorice Pizza
4. Shadow Kingdom
5. West Side Story

Choreography:

1. Baby Assassins
2. The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill
3. Kate
4. One Shot
5. West Side Story

Sound:

1. Drive My Car
2. Dune
3. Get Back
4. Licorice Pizza
5. West Side Story

Sound Editing:

1. Get Back
2. The Matrix Resurrections
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home
4. The Velvet Underground
5. Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Visual Effects:

1. Cloudy Mountain
2. Dune
3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
4. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
5. A Writer’s Odyssey