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"This is a damn surprise, and I'm happy to be surprised," he said, accepting the award for his latest movie, starring Jamie Foxx as a freed slave who teams up with a dentist-turned-bounty hunter.
Tarantino was up against fellow nominees Mark Boal for "Zero Dark Thirty," Tony Kushner for "Lincoln," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook," and Chris Terrio for "Argo."