AND THE WINNER IS…

Here is my list of the best 2009 films, directors, lead actors and actresses, supporting actors and actresses, adapted and original screenplays, and animated, documentary, and foreign language features that were not even nominated for an Oscar. (They’re in good company, too: the only list more impressive than that of Oscar-nominated films and performances is, arguably, that of Oscar-snubbed films and performances.)

I hope you’ll share your own list in the comments section below!

Best picture

1. “A Single Man”
2. “500 Days of Summer”
3. “The Road”
4. “Adventureland”
   
5. “Big Fan”
6. “Nine”
   
7. “Julie & Julia”
   
8. “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”
   
9. “The Messenger”
10. “Is Anybody There?”

Best director

1. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
2. Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
3. Pete Docter, Bob Petersen (“Up”)
4. John Hillcoat (“The Road”)
5. Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”)

Best actor

1. Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”)
2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“500 Days of Summer”)
3. Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)
4. Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”)
5. Nicolas Cage (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”)

Best actress

1. Zooey Deschanel (“500 Days of Summer”)
2. Kristen Stewart (“Adventureland”)
3. Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”)
4. Michelle Monaghan (“Trucker”)
5. Zoe Saldana (“Avatar”)

Best supporting actor

1. Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”)
2. Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
3. Michael Caine (“Is Anybody There?”)
4. Fred Melamed (“A Serious Man”)
5. Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”)

Best supporting actress

1. Marion Cotillard (“Nine”)
2. Natalie Portman (“Brothers”)
3. Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”)
4. Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”)
5. Jessica Haines (“Disgrace”)

Best adapted screenplay

1. Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
2. John Hillcoat (“The Road”)
3. Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
4. William M. Finkelstein (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”)
5. Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”)

Best original screenplay

1. Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
2. Greg Mottola (“Adventureland”)
3. Robert D. Siegel (“Big Fan”)
4. Jon Lucas, Scott Moore (“The Hangover”)
5. Pedro Almodovar (“Broken Embraces”)

Best animated feature

1. “Mary and Max”
2. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
3. “Ponyo”
4. “Monsters vs. Aliens”
5. “9”

Best documentary feature

1. “Racing Dreams”
2. “This Is It”
   
3. “Valentino: The Last Emperor”
4. “Tyson”
   
5. “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”

Best foreign language feature

1. “Broken Embraces” (Spain)
2. “The Maid” (Chile)
3. “Samson & Delilah” (Australia)
4. “Baaria” (Italy)
5. “Winter in Wartime” (Netherlands)

Photo: A scene from “A Single Man,” which did not receive a best picture Oscar nod. Credit: The Weinstein Company.