1996: Year in Review
Fritz Golden Superlatives

1. Fargo (dir: Joel Coen)

2. Crash (dir: David Cronenberg)

3. Joan the Maid (dir: Jacques Rivette; US Release Date)

4. Bound (dir: Lily Wachowski and Lana Wachowski)

5. La Ceremonie (dir: Claude Chabrol; US Release Date)

6. Trainspotting (dir: Danny Boyle)

7. Dead Man (dir: Jim Jarmusch; US release date)

8. Waiting for Guffman (dir: Christopher Guest; US release date)

9. Irma Vep (dir: Olivier Assayas)

10. Romeo + Juliet (dir: Baz Luhrmann)

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): The Birdcage (dir: Mike Nichols), Bottle Rocket (dir: Wes Anderson), The Cable Guy (dir: Ben Stiller), The English Patient (dir: Anthony Minghella), I Shot Andy Warhol (dir: Mary Harron), La Promesse (dir: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne), Mars Attacks! (dir: Tim Burton), The People vs. Larry Flynt (dir: Milos Forman), The Portrait of a Lady (dir: Jane Campion) Ridicule (dir: Patrice Leconte), The Rock (dir: Michael Bay), and Scream (dir: Wes Craven)

Best Film of the Year: Fargo
Directors: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Producers: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
US Distributor: Gramercy Pictures

Best Director:
Joel Coen, Fargo
2. David Cronenberg, Crash
3. Lily Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, Bound
4. Claude Chabrol, La Ceremonie
5. Danny Boyle, Trainspotting

Best Actor:
Jim Carrey, The Cable Guy
2. William H. Macy, Fargo
3. Woody Harrelson, The People vs. Larry Flynt
4. Geoffrey Rush, Shine
5. Christopher Guest, Waiting for Guffman

Best Actress:
Sandrine Bonnaire, Joan the Maid AND La Ceremonie
2. Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves
3. Brenda Blethyn, Secrets & Lies
4. Gina Gershon, Bound
5. Lili Taylor, I Shot Andy Warhol

Best Supporting Actor:
Elias Koteas, Crash
2. Owen Wilson, Bottle Rocket
3. Steve Buscemi, Fargo
4. Harold Perrineau, Romeo + Juliet
5. Gene Hackman, The Birdcage

Best Supporting Actress:
Frances McDormand, Fargo
2. Isabelle Huppert, La Ceremonie
3. Barbara Hershey, The Portrait of a Lady
4. Juliette Binoche, The English Patient
5. Nathalie Richard, Irma Vep

Best Original Screenplay:
Dead Man — Jim Jarmusch
2. Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
3. Joan the Maid — Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent, and Jacques Rivette
4. Bottle Rocket — Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson
5. Scream – Kevin Williamson

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Birdcage — Elaine May
2. La Ceremonie — Claude Chabrol and Caroline Eliacheff
3. Trainspotting – John Hodge
4. I Shot Andy Warhol — Mary Harron and Daniel Minahan
5. Crash – David Cronenberg

Best Cinematography:
Bound – Bill Pope
2. Crash – Peter Suschitzky
3. La Ceremonie – Bernard Zitzermann
4. Romeo + Juliet – Donald McAlpine
5. Dead Man — Robby Müller

Best Original Score:
Fargo – Carter Burwell
2. James and the Giant Peach – Randy Newman
3. Kansas City – Hal Willner
4. The English Patient — Gabriel Yared
5. Mars Attacks! – Danny Elfman

Best Film Editing:
Romeo + Juliet – Jill Bilcock
2. Trainspotting – Masahiro Hirakubo
3. The Rock — Richard Francis-Bruce
4. Irma Vep — Luc Barnier
4. Bound — Zach Staenberg

Best Production Design:
Romeo + Juliet – Caroline Martin and Brigitte Broch
2. Hamlet — Tim Harvey and Desmond Crowe
3. That Thing You Do! – Victor Kempster and Merideth Boswell
4. The Portrait of a Lady — Janet Patterson and Mark Raggett
5. From Dusk Till Dawn – Cecilia Montiel and Felipe Fernandez del Paso

Best Costume Design:
The Portrait of a Lady — Janet Patterson
2. Ridicule — Christian Gasc
3. Romeo + Juliet — Catherine Martin
4. Hamlet — Alexandra Byrne
5. Evita — Penny Rose

Best Visual Effects
Twister
2. Independence Day
3. Mars Attacks!

Best Sound
Twister
2. The English Patient
3. The Birdcage

Best Makeup
The Nutty Professor
2. The English Patient
3. Trainspotting

Best Documentary Feature:
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hills

Best Animated Feature:
Yoshifumi Kondō, Whisper of the Heart

Best Ensemble Cast: 
Waiting for Guffman

Orson Welles' Best First Feature:
Lana Wachowski and Lily Wachowski, Bound

Best Ensemble Cast (dir: Christopher Guest; in alphabetical order): Bob Balaban, Paul Benedict, Christopher Guest (pictured), Michael Hitchcock, Don Lake, Eugene Levy (pictured), Larry Miller, Catherine O'Hara (pictured), Parker Posey (pictured), Deborah Theaker and Fred Willard (pictured)

Best First Feature: Jennifer Tilly (pictured) in Lana Wachowski and Lily Wachowski's Bound

RECAP

W I N S :

Fargo — 4,
Bound — 2, Romeo + Juliet — 2, Twister — 2, The Birdcage — 1, The Cable Guy — 1, Crash — 1, Dead Man — 1, Joan the Maid — 1, La Ceremonie — 1, The Nutty Professor — 1, Paradise Lost— 1, Waiting for Guffman — 1, Whisper of the Heart — 1

M U L T I P L E
N O M I N A T I O N S :

Fargo — 7,
Bound — 6, La Ceremonie — 6, Romeo + Juliet — 6, Trainspotting — 5, The English Patient — 4, The Birdcage — 3, Dead Man — 3, Irma Vep — 3, Joan the Maid — 3, Portrait of a Lady — 3, Waiting for Guffman — 3, Bottle Rocket — 2, Hamlet — 2, I Shot Andy Warhol — 2, Twister — 2

the year-end project:
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1958, 1957, 1956, 1955, 1954, 1953, 1952, 1951, 1950, 1940 - 1949, 1930 - 1939, 1920 - 1929 + Superlatives Index

Best of the Decade:
2010s, 2000s, 1990s, 1980s