2009 Imaginary Cinema Awards

It was a pretty amazing year. I became a father and we got to see such long-awaited films as Watchmen and Avatar. There were also pleasant surprises, such as District 9 (which examined many of the same themes as Avatar from a very different perspective). Here is the best of the best:

Best Movie: Up. Runners-up: District 9, Avatar, Watchmen, Inglourious Basterds (hey, alternate history counts as fantasy), Star Trek, Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are, Paranormal Activity, Drag Me to Hell.
Best Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell (District 9)
Best Director: James Cameron (Avatar)
Best Actor: Sharlto Copeley (District 9); Runners-up: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek), Michael Sheen (for almost single-handedly making New Moon watchable)
Best Actress: Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek), Katie Featherston (Paranormal Activity)
Best Music: Michael Giacchino (Up)
Best Visual Effects: Avatar (duh)
Best Makeup: District 9
Best Production Design: Watchmen
Best Costumes: Watchmen
Best Opening Credits: Watchmen (the times they are a-changing)
Best Foreign Movie I Didn't See Until Last Year: Let the Right One In
Best Straight to DVD Release: Trick R Treat
Best Guilty Pleasures: My Bloody Valentine and The Final Destination (3D horror rules)
Biggest Pile of Steaming Dogshit: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen