Very late, but here they are! You thrilled at the Top Ten, pored over the nominations, and now - the winners of the 2000 Retro Hollmann Awards:
Best Ensemble
Yi Yi
2. Best in Show; 3. Return to Me; 4. Bring It On; 5. But I'm a Cheerleader
Almost went to Best in Show, but few other places where I could praise the subtle depiction of abuse and neglect from Adrian Lin as the neighbor, the pathetic comedy of Xisheng Chen as the brother-in-law, the silent Presence radiated by Ruyun Tang as Grandma, the loss of balance felt by Elaine Jin as mother Min-Min, the perfection of the cringe comedy performed at the baby shower, and the realistic protrayal of a family's intimacies and mysteries performed by Jin, Nien-jun Wu, Kelly Lee, and Jonathan Chang.
Best Cinematography
1. Requiem for a Dream
Matthew Libatique
2. Chunhyang
Jung Il-sung
3. Yi Yi
Wei-Han Yang
4. The Virgin Suicides
Edward Lachman
5. Sunshine
Lajos Koltai
Best Original Song
1. "Perfect World" from The Emperor's New Groove
music by Sting
lyrics by Sting and Dave Hartley
2. "Doesn't Really Matter" from The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
music and lyrics by Janet Jackson, James "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Lewis
3. "Blak Iz Blak" from Balboozled
music and lyrics by Ron Lawrence, Yasiin Bey, Germaine "Canibus" Williams, Michael "M.C. Serch" Berrin, Craig muMs Grant, Charli Baltimore, Gano Grills and George "DJ Scratch" Spivey
4. "New World" from Dancer in the Dark
music by Björk
lyrics by Sjón and Lars Von Trier
5. "Fever Dog" from Almost Famous
music and lyrics by Cameron Crowe, Nancy Wilson and Ann Wilson
Best Sound
Cast Away
Ken Fischer / David C. Hughes / Stephen Kearney, sound effects editors
Dennis Leonard, supervising sound editor
William B. Kaplan, production sound mixer
Randy Thom, re-recording mixer / sound designer / supervising sound editor
Tom Johnson / Dennis Sands, re-recording mixers
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?; 3. ; 4. Yi Yi; 5. Sunshine
Sells every environment, whether it's the busy floor of a FedEx warehouse in Russia, a cozy holiday dinner among friends, a freight plane ripped apart by a raging storm, or, of course, a lonely island, nothing but the waves on the beach, the wind in the leaves, the crackle of a fire, deadened only within the safety of a cave. Immersive.
Best Costume Design
Sunshine
Györgyi Szakács
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; 3. Small Time Crooks; 4. Quills; 5. Erin Brockovich
Hungarian history from imperial opulence to socialist simplicity. Sonnenschein's modest suits, Adam Sors' spotless fencing uniform, Ivan Sors' police uniform; young Valerie's white and cream lacy dress and broad hat, Greta and Hannah's more form-fitting skirts, Carole's government chic. Fortunes and times may change, but clothes still make the man...and woman.
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Psycho
Mary Harron & Guinevere Turner
from the novel by Bret Easton Ellis
2. Hamlet; 3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?; 4. Thirteen Days; 5. The Virgin Suicides
Walks a delicate tonal balance that satirizes, criticizes the materialism of Reagan-80s NYC, but also a character study of a particularly unhappy and unhinged individual, leaving enough room for doubt and mystery without feeling too vague or undecided, or making us feel we've been cheated. Funny, sometimes dreamy, with a perfectly calibrated ending that leaves you chilled and chuckling.
Best Supporting Actor
Issei Ogata as Mr. Ota
Yi Yi
2. Michael Caine in Miss Congeniality; 3. James Belushi in Return to Me; 4. John Michael Higgins in Best in Show; 5. Billy Crudup in Almost Famous
Ogata projects genuine decency and eccentricity, a beautiful soul that maybe isn't the typical CEO, but whose principles and way of looking at the world have made him indispensable, at least to NJ Jian, who appreciates Ota's particular idealism, artistic spirit, and clarity. As soon as I watched this performance, I knew this would be my winner.
Best Production Design
Sunshine
Attila F. Kovács, production designer
Zsuzsanna Borvendég, art director
Stephan Würzl, set decorator
2. Requiem for a Dream; 3. The Cell; 4. Shower; 5. Small Time Crooks
The vast ornateness of the private offices for the Minister of Justice and the newly-appointed judge Ignatz Sonnenschein; the marble halls and athletic clubs of Olympic fencing champion Adam Sors; the cramped, bare, phlegmmy office of Soviet policeman Ivan Sors. Mostly unchanged, meanwhile, is the Sonnenschein home itself, give or take a few possessions along the way...
Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes as Ignatz Sonnenschein / Adam Sors / Ivan Sors
Sunshine
2. Christian Bale in American Psycho; 3. Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot; 4. Nien-chen Wu in Yi Yi; 5. David Duchovny in Return to Me
Being the star, guiding us via his performance through six decades of political upheaval and family history, the movie's on his shoulders, and what a solid foundation that turns out to be! He is as convincing as the quiet, devoted Ignatz as he is the hot, self-serving, ultimately heroic Adam, as he is the traumatized, desperate Ivan. He is convincingly three different people who nevertheless share familial mannerisms, not one actor giving similar performances. And he shows how each generation's behavior is informed by the lessons they felt they learned from the father, good and bad.
Best Visual Effects
Mission to Mars
Garry Elmendorf, special effects supervisor
Brennan Doyle / John Knoll / Hoyt Yeatman, visual effects supervisor
2. Red Planet; 3. The Perfect Storm; 4. Space Cowboys; 5. Hollow Man
The Perfect Storm and Space Cowboys have the most shockingly realistic visual effects, Red Planet and Hollow Man can be effectively pulpy and jaw-droppingly uncanny (AMEE!), but Mission to Mars pulls of the mix of fear and awe that recalls Old Testament encounters with God and the angels. The mysterious face, the limb-shattering sandstorm, the final visitor - if not always lifelike, they are, at least, always...convincing. And that's what makes them so effective, you cannot believe you are seeing them with your own eyes, but you know that they are there, you feel it from the performers, it looks, not right, but...well, as I said earlier, uncanny.
Best Actress
Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich
2. Ziyi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; 3. Minnie Driver in Return to Me; 4. Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On; 5. Kelly Lee in Yi Yi
I explained why she deserved the Oscar already, and the sentiment still stands. Sometimes, they get it exactly right.
Best Score
1. Requiem for a Dream
Clint Mansell
2. Chocolat
Rachel Portman
3. Return to Me
Nicholas Pike
4. Mission to Mars
Ennio Morricone
5. Sunshine
Maurice Jarre
Best Original Screenplay
Bamboozled
Spike Lee
2. Sunshine; 3. Yi Yi; 4. Return to Me; 5. Bring It On
Sets an impossible, audacious task before itself and, I think, aces it. I was amused and appalled, left with very little optimism about the world and its people. Love its complex, wide array of characters, from the major players to the one-scene wonders, no one feels like they're underdeveloped or given short shrift - I particularly love Sloan, the meatiest part with a hundred different balls in the air - family, ambition, being Black, being a woman, being a producer, romances old and new - and not one is ever dropped.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Rick Baker, special makeup effects
Mitch Devane / Kazuhiro Tsuji, designer
Angelina Avallone / Toni G, makeup department head
Sylvia Nava, hair department head
2. Requiem for a Dream; 3. Sunshine; 4. The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps; 5. Cast Away
You know, I was tempted to give it Requiem for a Dream for its obvious points (the ravages of sleeplessness, fried hair, the open sores) and unobvious ones (the amount of sweat depending on where they are in their high or comedown, the hints of insomnia, party glitter). But what impresses me about Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas isn't just the transformation of everyone into a different fantasy creature, but how none of the wigs or prosthetics or dentures cover the performances - nor, frankly, the performers themselves, recognizable enough to maintain that all-star appeal while still convincingly Who...vian? Jim Carrey as the Grinch, of course, is impossible, yet there it is!
Best Director
Edward Yang
Yi Yi
2. István Szabó for Sunshine; 3. Darren Aronofsky for Requiem for a Dream; 4. Bonnie Hunt for Return to Me; 5. Spike Lee for Bamboozled
Yi Yi does feel like a miracle, an intimate family story of epic length where every scene feels substantial, profound, relatable. Yangimages are beautifully composed, his performers consistently terrific, and the overall feel is this monumental wave of emotion despite a gentle, coaxing touch. He does not insist on your tears, but appeals to your empathy. Starting off the millennium with this look at modern family strife, unprincipled but accepted business practices, desperate turns to either spirituality or nostalgia...yeah, he nailed it.
Best Editing
Requiem for a Dream
Jay Rabinowitz
2. Yi Yi; 3. Sunshine; 4. Bring It On; 5. Snatch
Rabinowitz helps to keep it from feeling like a slow death march, attempting to get us int he state of mind of someone who's now amped up, now coming down, now entire weeks, now feeling one minute drag like it's two hours. His balance of the four characters and their ups and downs is effective.
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Ehle as Valerie Sonnenschein
Sunshine
2. Eartha Kitt in The Emperor's New Groove; 3. Kathleen Turner in The Virgin Suicides; 4. Barbara Barrie in Judy Berlin; 5. Madeline Kahn in Judy Berlin
Ehle must project the kind of tender beauty and breathless passion of young love, she must be intelligent, confident, moral, and she must be strong, strong enough to become the head of a family that really shouldn't be hers to lead. Of course, Ehle nails it; from the moment she came on screen, I knew this was hers to lose, she and Ogata give the best performances of the year.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Sunshine
produced by Andras Hamori / Robert Lantos
2. Yi Yi; 3. Return to Me; 4. Requiem for a Dream; 5. Bring It On
6. Bamboozled; 7. Best in Show; 8. The Emperor's New Groove; 9. Dude, Where's My Car?; 10. The Virgin Suicides
Unfortunately, historical epics about governments, no matter what degree of right or left they claim to be, scapegoating entire groups of people to establish and maintain power will always be relevant.
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