Monday's Words of Wisdom

"To me, the glory of what I do is the fact that it starts with a blank piece of paper. You look at something like Inglourious Basterds. If my mother never met my father, that would not exist in any way, shape or form. If my mother hadn't met my father, there would be no Inglourious Basterds in any way. It started off with a pen and a piece of paper, and now I have a movie."

Best of 2009: Part II

Original Screenplay

Runners-up: The Messenger (Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman), Sugar (Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck), A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)

Finalists:
5- A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit)
4- The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
3- About Elly (Asghar Farhadi)
2- Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)

Top Pick:
1- Mary and Max (Adam Elliot)

Adapted Screenplay

Finalists: 
5- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Geoffrey Fletcher)
4- An Education (Nick Hornby)
3- Fantastic Mr. Fox (Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson)
Top Pick:

Tie!
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)
In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, Ian Martin)

Editing

Runners-up: Up in the Air (Dana Glauberman), The Cove (Geoffrey Richman)

Finalists:
5- Avatar (James Cameron, Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua)
4- Inglourious Basterds (Sally Menke)
3- A Prophet (Juliette Welfing)
2- About Elly (Haydeh Safi Yari)

Top Pick:
1- The Hurt Locker (Chris Innis, Bob Murawski)

Director

Runners-up: James Cameron (Avatar), Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank), Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon)

Finalists:

5- Adam Elliot (Mary and Max)

4- Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

3- Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

2- Jacques Audiard (A Prophet)

Top Pick:

1- Asghar Farhadi (About Elly)