2000 Cii Movie Awards

This list and awards compiled March 5, 2013

                      For the criteria of choosing the awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 2000

1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
2. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr)
3. Best in Show (Christopher Guest)
4. Traffic (Steven Soderbergh)
5. Mission to Mars (Brian De Palma)
6. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears)
7. The Gleaners and I (Agnés Varda)
8. Wonder Boys (Curtis Hanson)
9. Unbreakable (M. Night Shymalan)
10. You Can Count On Me (Kenneth Lonergan)

Honorable Mentions: Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis), Erin Brokovich (Steven Soderbergh), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee), Gladiator (Ridley Scott)

Best Actor

Christian Bale – American Psycho

* Benicio Del Toro – Traffic

Michael Douglas – Wonder Boys

Tom Hanks – Cast Away

Mark Ruffalo – You Can Count On Me

Best Actress

Joan Allen – The Contender

* Ellen Burstyn – Requiem for a Dream

Cameron Diaz – Charlie’s Angels

Laura Linney – You Can Count On Me

Julie Roberts – Erin Brokovich

Best Supporting Actor

Jack Black – High Fidelity

Ben Kingsley – Sexy Beast

Tim Blake Nelson – O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Gary Oldman – The Contender

Brad Pitt – Snatch.

* Fred Willard – Best in Show

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Connelly – Requiem for a Dream

* Jennifer Coolidge – Best in Show

Kate Hudson – Almost Famous

Kelly Lee – Yi Yi

Jane Lynch – Best in Show

Ziyi Zhang – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Best Director

Brian De Palma – Mission to Mars

Steven Soderbergh – Traffic

Béla Tarr – Werckmeister Harmonies

* Edward Yang – Yi Yi

Robert Zemeckis – Cast Away

Best Screenplay

Best in Show (Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy)

High Fidelity (D.V. DeVencentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack & Scott Rosenberg)

Traffic (Stephen Gaghan)

Wonder Boys (Steve Kloves)

* Yi Yi (Edward Yang)

Best Cinematography

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Peter Pau)

George Washington (Tim Orr)

Requiem for a Dream (Matthew Libatique)

Traffic (Steven Soderbergh)

* Yi Yi (Yang Wei-han)

Best Editing

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tim Squyres)

Requiem for a Dream (Jay Rabinowitz)

Traffic (Stephen Mirrione)

Wonder Boys (Dede Allen)

* Yi Yi (Chen Bo-Wen)

Best Film Score

Chocolat (Rachel Portman)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)

* Gladiator (Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard)

Requiem for a Dream (Clint Mansell)

Traffic (Cliff Martinez)

Best Production Design

American Psycho

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

* O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Traffic

Werckmeister Harmonies

Best Ensemble Cast Performance

* Best in Show

George Washington

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Sexy Beast

Yi Yi

2000 Films Seen (56 features as of 03.06.2013)

Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)

American Psycho (Mary Herron, 2000)

Best in Show (Christopher Guest, 2000)

Big Momma’s House (Raja Gosnell, 2000)

Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000)

Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)

Charlie’s Angels (McG, 2000)

Chocolat (Lasse Hallström, 2000)

The Contender (Rod Lurie, 2000)

Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (Rob Schmidt, 2000)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)

Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Ron Howard, 2000)

Dude, Where’s My Car? (Danny Leiner, 2000)

Erin Brokovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)

The Family Man (Brett Ratner, 2000)

George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)

Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)

The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)

High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)

Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton, 2000)

Me, Myself & Irene (Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly, 2000)

Mission: Impossible II (John Woo, 2000)

Mission to Mars (Brian De Palma, 2000)

Nurse Betty (Neil LaBute, 2000)

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (Peter Segal, 2000)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, 2000)

The Patriot (Roland Emmerich, 2000)

The Perfect Storm (Wolfgang Petersen, 2000)

Pitch Black (David Twohy, 2000)

Pollock (Ed Harris, 2000)

Quills (Philip Kaufman, 2000)

Red Planet (Anthony Hoffman, 2000)

Remember the Titans (Boaz Yakin, 2000)

Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)

Scary Movie (Keenen Ivory Wayans, 2000)

Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)

Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000)

Snatch. (Guy Ritchie, 2000)

Space Cowboys (Clint Eastwood, 2000)

State & Main (David Mamet, 2000)

Tears of the Black Tiger (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2000)

Thirteen Days (Roger Donaldson, 2000)

Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)

U-571 (Jonathan Mostow, 2000)

Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)

Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000)

Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (Hong Sang-soo, 2000)

Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, 2000)

What Lies Beneath (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)

What Women Want (Nancy Meyers, 2000)

The Widow of Saint Pierre (Patrice Leconte, 2000)

With a Friend Like Harry (Dominik Moll, 2000)

Wonder Boys (Curtis Hanson, 2000)

X-Men (Bryan Singer, 2000)

Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)

You Can Count on Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000)

1991 Cii Movie Awards

This list and awards compiled February 28, 2013

                      For the criteria of choosing the awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 1991

1. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
2. Life and Nothing But... (Abbas Kiarostami)
3. Hear My Cry (Maciej J. Drygas)
4. JFK (Oliver Stone)
5. The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam)
6. Slacker (Richard Linklater)
7. Bugsy (Barry Levinson)
8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron)
9. The Rocketeer (Joe Johnston)
10. Van Gogh (Maurice Pialat)

Honorable Mentions: The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme), Beauty & the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise), The Double Life of Véronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Kevin Reynolds)

Best Actor
Warren Beatty - Bugsy
Jeff Bridges - The Fisher King
Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs
Raul Julia - The Addams Family
Steve Martin - Father of the Bride
* Robin Williams - The Fisher King

Best Actress

Geena Davis – Thelma & Louise

Laura Dern – Rambling Rose

Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs

Anjelica Huston – The Addams Family

Iréne Jacob – The Double Life of Véronique

* Susan Sarandon – Thelma & Louise

Best Supporting Actor

Ice Cube – Boyz N the Hood

John Goodman – Barton Fink

* Samuel L. Jackson – Jungle Fever

Tommy Lee Jones – JFK

Martin Short – Father of the Bride

Best Supporting Actress

Judy Davis – Barton Fink

Dianne Ladd – Rambling Rose

Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear

* Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King
Teresa Taylor - Slacker

Best Director
Maciej J. Drygas – Hear My Cry

Terry Gilliam – The Fisher King

Maurice Pialat – Van Gogh

Oliver Stone – JFK

* Edward Yang – A Brighter Summer Day

Best Screenplay

A Brighter Summer Day (Hung Hung, Mingtang Lai, Alex Lang & Edward Yang)

Bugsy (James Toback)

* The Fisher King (Richard LaGravenese)

The Silence of the Lambs (Ted Tally)

Slacker (Richard Linklater)

Best Cinematography

A Brighter Summer Day (Huigong Li & Longyu Zhang)

Bugsy (Allen Daviau)

* The Double Life of Véronique (Slawomir Idziak)

Hear My Cry (Stanislaw Sliskowski)

JFK (Robert Richardson)

Best Editing

A Brighter Summer Day (Bo-Wen Chen)

Bugsy (Christopher Holmes & Stu Linder)

Hear My Cry (Dorota Wardeszkiewicz)

* JFK (Joe Hutshing & Pietro Scalia)

The Silence of the Lambs (Craig McKay)

Best Film Score

Beauty & the Beast (Alan Menken)

Bugsy (Ennio Morricone)

JFK (John Williams)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Michael Kamen)

* The Rocketeer (James Horner)

Best Production Design

Barton Fink

* Bugsy

Hook

Naked Lunch

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Best Ensemble Cast Performance

A Brighter Summer Day

Bugsy

JFK

The Silence of the Lambs

* Slacker

Movies Seen (49 features seen as of 02.28.2013)

The Addams Family (Barry Sonenfeld, 1991)

An American Tail: Fieval Goes West (Phil Nibbelink & Simon Wells, 1991)

Backdraft (Ron Howard, 1991)

Barton Fink (Joel Coen, 1991)

Beauty & the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991)

Boyz N the Hood (John Singleton, 1991)

A Brief History of Time (Errol Morris, 1991)

A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991)

Bugsy (Barry Levinson, 1991)

Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991)

City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991)

Dead Again (Kenneth Branagh, 1991)

The Doors (Oliver Stone, 1991)

The Double Life of Véronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)

Dying Young (Joel Schumaker, 1991)

Father of the Bride (Charles Shyer, 1991)

The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991)

Fried Green Tomatoes (Jon Avnet, 1991)

Grand Canyon (Lawrence Kasdan, 1991)

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (Curtis Hanson, 1991)

Hear My Cry (Maciej J. Drygas, 1991) 

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper & Eleanor Coppola, 1991)

Homicide (David Mamet, 1991)

Hook (Steven Spielberg, 1991)

Hot Shots! (Jim Abrahams, 1991)

JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)

Jungle Fever (Spike Lee, 1991)

L.A. Story (Mick Jackson, 1991)

Life and Nothing But… (Abbas Kiarostami, 1991)

My Girl (Howard Zieff, 1991)

My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg, 1991)

Oscar (John Landis, 1991)

The Prince of Tides (Barbara Streisand, 1991)

Rambling Rose (Martha Coolidge, 1991)

Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)

Regarding Henry (Mike Nichols, 1991)

Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves (Kevin Reynolds, 1991)

The Rocketeer (Joe Johnston, 1991)

The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)

Soapdish (Michael Hoffman, 1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)

Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)

Toy Soldiers (Daniel Petrie Jr., 1991)

Van Gogh (Maurice Pialat, 1991)

What About Bob? (Frank Oz, 1991)

White Fang (Randal Kleiser, 1991)

Yi Yi (2000)

Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
I have only had the opportunity to see two of his films, but based on the unique strength and extraordinary power of those two films, I would call Edward Yang a cinematic master.  I hope to have opportunity to see the rest of his work, but if A Brighter Summer Day (1991) ever gets a decent DVD release that I can enjoy alongside Yi Yi, that may be enough.  There is enough in these two films to last a while.

Yi Yi (2000) was Edward Yang's last film and as such it works as his crowning achievement.  It is not an epic, at least, not a conventional one.  It is a small story of a family, but a full story, where every ellipsis will eventually cross back over itself and every detail has repercussions.  Part of his mastery is the ability to take mundane scenes and fuse them with significance that may not be conscious, but is certainly felt somehow.  A child is an outsider within his own family function, an event that seems a little too neat and planned to be real.  The characters are stuck like the helium-filled balloons rising up to the ceiling.

Even mundane events can set up the color scheme for the film, and visually express everything the audience is going to see the rest of the way.

Sometimes I wonder if Yi Yi is the last great film of the 20th century or the first great film of the 21st.  It feels like the fulfillment of traditional narrative filmmaking.  Yang's thematic material is traditional (generational conflict, death, infidelity, distrust, coming-of-age), his technique is not obtrusive or ostentatious and he completely avoids self-reflexivity.  He is the sort of filmmaker who may get overlooked for how accomplished he is because his brushstrokes are so carefully hidden.  But if you look carefully (and you know how to find them), you will see them.  For me, I saw them immediately in the recurring motifs he implemented and in his accomplished use of landscape.

Sometimes a reflection can show the longing heart of a character.

Sometimes reflections can trap the character within his own world.

Yang is a master of characters within spaces and utilizes sound to only deepen this.  In Brighter Summer Day he used the soundtrack cleverly to lay out the geography of the town.  In Yi Yi, sound can create distance by having a character hear what occurs off-screen, add detail that the image cannot reveal, or prophesy an upcoming event.

Every setting paints the context of a character. 

By utilizing long shots, Yang gives the close-ups he sparingly uses more emotional power.  His lighting is natural, often motivated primarily from without rather than within.  It all depends on where the character thinks they find happiness.  When a character is at work, they are usually caught in-between worlds.

Geometric patterns break down the space while obstructions prove to be just as prevalent as reflections.

Daily routine is very much a part of Yang's films, as he utilizes even the same framing for multiple scenes within a given setting so that when the routine is broken, either by obstruction or diversity of image selection, it is immediately felt by the audience.  Sometimes it is the uncommon sight that gives us narrative information often reserved for dialogue.  But why waste a powerful moment to engage the audience by having characters talk about it?

The characters cannot always see clearly what is right in front of them.

The space is finally stripped down so much the only place the characters can look is straight ahead.