Weeks of debate over “Will James Cameron be the King of the World once again?” or “Will the ex-Mrs. Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, reign supreme?” were quieted last night as Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker won six of its nine Academy Award nominations, including those for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Sound and Sound Editing. The award makes Bigelow the first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Director.
Cameron’s box office behemoth Avatar didn’t go away empty-handed, though. The film won three of its nine categories—all of them (not surprisingly) technical—including Best Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.
The only other big surprise may have been the award for Best Foreign Language Film, which went to Juan José Campanella The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos), as opposed to Michael Haneke’s favored The White Ribbon.
Other of the night’s winners included:
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Adapted Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Best Animated Feature
Up
Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino, Up
Best Original Song
“The Weary King (Theme from Crazy Heart),” Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria
Best Documentary Feature
The Cove
Best Documentary Short
Music by Prudence
Best Makeup
Star Trek
Best Animated Short Film
Logorama
Best Live-Action Short Film
The New Tenants
For a full list of winners and other Oscar happenings, visit http://oscar.go.com.