The Year in Film: 1990

Best Picture

#1: GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese)
#2: Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-wai)
#3: Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen)
#4: Reversal of Fortune (Barbet Schroeder)
#5: The Grifters (Stephen Frears)
#6: Misery (Rob Reiner)
#7: House of Cards (Paul Seed)
#8: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton)
#9: Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
#10: Ju Dou (Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang)

Honorable mentions: Life Is Sweet (Mike Leigh), Avalon (Barry Levinson), Metropolitan (Whit Stillman), The Hairdresser’s Husband (Patrice Leconte), Archangel (Guy Maddin), Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston), Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton), La Femme Nikita (Luc Besson), Wild at Heart (David Lynch), Korczak (Andrzej Wajda), Hidden Agenda (Ken Loach), Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne), The Godfather, Part III (Francis Ford Coppola), and Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty).

Best Director #1: Martin Scorsese (GoodFellas) #2: Barbet Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune) #3: David Lynch (Wild at Heart) #4: Barry Levinson (Avalon) #5: Stephen Frears (The Grifters)

Best Actor #1: Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) #2: Robert De Niro (GoodFellas) #3: Michael Gambon (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover) #4: Ray Liotta (GoodFellas) #5: Gabriel Byrne (Miller’s Crossing)

Best Actress #1: Glenn Close (Reversal of Fortune) #2: Kathy Bates (Misery) #3: Helen Mirren (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover) #4: Joanne Woodward (Mr. & Mrs. Bridge) #5: Angelica Huston (The Grifters)

Best Supporting Actor #1: Joe Pesci (GoodFellas) #2: Albert Finney (Miller’s Crossing) #3: Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves) #4: Armin Muehler-Stahl (Avalon) #5: Ian Holm (Hamlet)

Best Supporting Actress #1: Lorraine Brocco (GoodFellas) #2: Annette Bening (The Grifters) #3: Diane Ladd (Wild at Heart) #4: Joan Plowright (Avalon) #5: Talia Shire (The Godfather, Part III)

Best Original Screenplay #1: Miller’s Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen) #2: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (Peter Greenaway) #3: The Godfather, Part III (Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo) #4: Avalon (Barry Levinson) #5: Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson)

Best Adapted Screenplay #1: GoodFellas (Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese) #2: Reversal of Fortune (Nicholas Kazan) #3: The Grifters (Donald E. Westlake) #4: Wild at Heart (David Lynch) #5: Dick Tracy (Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr.)

Best Cinematography #1: Michael Ballhaus (GoodFellas) #2: Vittorio Storaro (Dick Tracy) #3: Allen Daviau (Avalon) #4: Kazutami Hara, Takao Saitô, Masaharu Ueda(Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams) #5: Stefan Czapsky (Edward Scissorhands)

Best Film Editing #1: GoodFellas #2: Wild at Heart #3: Reversal of Fortune #4: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams #5: Dances with Wolves

Best Original Score #1: Reversal of Fortune (Marc Isham) #2: Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman) #3: Miller’s Crossing (Carter Burwell) #4: Avalon (Randy Newman) #5: The Godfather, Part III (Carmine Coppola)

Best Original Song #1: “Sooner or Later” (Dick Tracy) #2: “Promise Me You’ll Remember” (The Godfather, Part III) #3: “What Can You Lose” (Dick Tracy) #4: “I’m Checkin’ Out” (Postcards from the Edge) #5: “Somewhere in My Memory” (Home Alone)

Best Production Design #1: Dick Tracy #2: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover #3: Avalon #4: Hamlet #5: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Best Costume Design #1: Edward Scissorhands #2: Dick Tracy #3: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams #4: Cyrano de Bergerac #5: Hamlet

Best Makeup #1: Edward Scissorhands #2: Dick Tracy #3: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams #4: Cyrano de Bergerac #5: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

Best Sound #1: Dick Tracy #2: Days of Thunder #3: Avalon #4: Total Recall #5: Edward Scissorhands

Best Visual Effects #1: Total Recall #2: Ghost #3: Dick Tracy #4: Back to the Future, Part III #5: Edward Scissorhands

–The Honorary Awards–

Best Breakthrough Performance – Male Graham Greene (Dancer with Wolves)

Best Breakthrough Performance – Female Maria de Madeiros (Henry & June)

Best First Feature Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves)