Inglourious Basterds 2009
Their one-per-director Tarantino slot (Pulp Fiction was ineligible as a pre-2000 film, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the debate). Sean's case: the secret art of moviemaking is writing one unbelievable scene after another, and this is the clearest example, from the 20-minute opening interrogation to the tavern shootout to Operation Kino. Christoph Waltz, a 50-year-old Austrian actor of little renown, is the Hans Landa Tarantino spent years failing to cast; he won Supporting Actor, the film's only win from 8 nominations in the Hurt Locker year. Premiered at Cannes and lost the Palme d'Or to Haneke's The White Ribbon. Amanda keeps returning to the Shoshanna thread as the film's real tragedy against the comic revenge.