Skandies: #2 (Patreon)

Picture: Annette (162/10)
Director: Steven Spielberg, West Side Story (194/15)
Actress: Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World (196/17)
Actor: Nicolas Cage, Pig (267/20)
S. Actor: Ben Affleck, The Last Duel (198/18)
S. Actress: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story (139/11)
Screenplay: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (180/15)
Scene: All downhill from here, Licorice Pizza (141/15)

[Once again I could only find a small piece. Belatedly occurs to me that the entire waterbed-delivery bit, including Cooper's initial appearance as Peters, is really one scene, but it doesn't matter since nobody voted for that part specifically. Everyone referred in some way to the truck driving downhill, which sadly isn't part of this clip.]

NOTE: If the #1 post isn't up yet as you read this, hold tight. I've scheduled them 15 minutes apart; no reason to wait until tomorrow, since the winners are now known via process of elimination. 

HISTORY: 

This is Spielberg's second time as our runner-up (Soderbergh won in '98) and his first appearance since placing twice in 2005, at #12 for Munich and #20 for War of the Worlds. He also placed 7th for AI (2001). 

This is Cage's third time as our Actor runner-up! (He's also won, for Leaving Las Vegas, though that was the first year when I did the survey Oscar-style.) See the "nominees" post for details. His sole appearance outside of the top 5 was #11 for Mandy (2018). Everyone else, including Affleck (who's fun in Last Duel but really, guys, second for the year? where the fuck's Ethan Darbone?), is new. 

Hamaguchi placed 5th for Drive My Car three days ago, at which time I noted that his screenplay for Asako I & II (2019, written with Sachiko Tanaka) placed 20th. 

Not a statistic I ever thought to keep, but Carax coming so close to winning the Skandies with consecutive films made me wonder whether that's ever happened before. This is the record, turns out (beatable only by actually winning with consecutive films). Best previous one-two punch was Paul Thomas Anderson, who won for There Will Be Blood and then placed 4th for The Master. There are actually only eight cases of a director placing at all for his/her followup to a winner. Just for fun, here's how it breaks down: 

(DNP = did not place)

Holy Motors —> Annette (#2)
There Will Be Blood —> The Master (#4)
Being John Malkovich —> Adaptation. (#6)
In the Mood for Love  —> 2046 (#8)
Inglourious Basterds —> Django Unchained (#9)
The Tree of Life —> To the Wonder (#9)
Irreversible —> Enter the Void (#11)
Dogville —> Manderlay (#20)
Breaking the Waves —> The Idiots (DNP)
The Sweet Hereafter —> Felicia's Journey (DNP)
Out of Sight —> The Limey (DNP, believe it or not)
25th Hour —> She Hate Me (decidedly DNP)
Grizzly Man —> Rescue Dawn (DNP)
The Departed —> Shine a Light (DNP)*
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days —> Beyond the Hills (DNP)
Dogtooth —> Alps (DNP)
Inside Llewyn Davis —> Hail, Caesar! (DNP, a rare Coens whiff)
Nocturama  —> Zombi Child (DNP)

Under the Skin —> ?
Mad Max: Fury Road —> ?
Manchester By The Sea —> ?
Burning —> ?
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood —> ?
First Cow —> ?
Memoria —> ? [sorry to spoil this, everyone]

Yi Yi —> ☹️

* If you think a concert doc shouldn't count, then Shutter Island placed 14th.