A woman made history at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win best director. She also saw her movie “The Hurt Locker” win best picture.
A small-budget drama about a U.S. Army bomb-defusing squad in Iraq, “The Hurt Locker” topped mega-hit sci-fi fantasy “Avatar” to win six Oscars.
Bigelow's win bested her ex-husband, “Avatar's” James Cameron.
Both movies headed into the evening with nine nominations. “The Hurt Locker” also won for original screenplay, editing, sound mixing and sound editing.
The highlight of the evening for Nebraskans was when Mauro Fiore of Papillion won the cinematography trophy for “Avatar,” his first nomination. He memorably thanked “all the people back in Omaha.” “Avatar” also won for art direction and visual effects.
“The Hurt Locker” won best original screenplay, editing, sound mixing and sound editing.
The acting awards, the most predictable in years, went as expected: actor Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart”; actress Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side”; supporting actor Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds”; and supporting actress Mo'Nique for “Precious.”
Other favorites that became winners were the Pixar animated feature “Up” and the documentary feature “The Cove,” about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan.
The 82nd annual Oscar show was not particularly innovative or surprising — and not shorter at three and a half hours. Yet, for all its predictability, the evening had its highlights.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be a winning comedy duo as co-hosts, clowning and cracking wise all evening.
A moving tribute to the late filmmaker John Hughes (“Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club”) brought tears to more than a few eyes. Stars of his 1980s movies about growing up (Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick and more) recognized his family in the audience.
A salute to horror films, rarely recognized by the academy, crammed a lot of film clips into a quick montage.
Ben Stiller was particularly funny presenting the makeup trophy made up as one of the aliens from “Avatar.”
“It seemed like a better idea in rehearsal,” he deadpanned.
“Precious” screenplay writer Geoffrey Fletcher gave one of the most moving acceptance speeches of the evening, tearful and breathless as he choked out a few phrases and apologized for his emotion. Many had expected the award to go to “Up in the Air.”
Another notable acceptance speech: An unnamed redheaded woman interrupted a colleague accepting the documentary short trophy, sounding a bit like Kanye West's mom.
And yes, they did enforce the 45-second rule on the speeches, cutting the mike more than once on lists of names that ran too long, until they got to Bridges and Bullock. They rambled on uninterrupted, and nobody seemed to mind.
A slight twist on a tradition begun last year: Co-workers rather than past Oscar winners saluted each nominee in the best actor and actress categories just before those awards were passed out. The brief personal stories of working together were a pleasure to hear.
Will the show's ratings be higher? Probably, with popular titles like “Avatar,” “Up” and “The Blind Side” in the mix. The show may have the same old format, but more people care about it if they've seen the pictures. No doubt the field of 10 best picture nominees will stay for next year at least.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
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