Oscars 2010: underdog Hurt Locker trounces Avatar
For once, the Oscars were a genuine nail-biter. Right through to the final reel, it was too close to call between the David and Goliath of this year's contenders: Avatar, James Cameron's 3D space opera, and The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's low-budget drama about a squad of US bomb disposal experts working in Iraq. That Bigelow and Cameron were once married merely heightened the drama – quietly exploited by the ceremony producers who sat them directly behind each other – as did the huge disparity in their box-office takes (with over $2.6bn, Avatar is the biggest film of all time; The Hurt Locker has just topped $21m).
But, in the end, the underdog momentum gathered by The Hurt Locker was just too much for even the mighty Avatar to withstand, despite 11th hour upsets such as the banning of co-producer Nicolas Chartier from the ceremony, and a possible lawsuit in the offing over the film's authorship. The film took six awards, including both best director – making Bigelow the first woman ever to win the award – and best picture, collecting them in such swift succession that Bigelow was left literally breathless.
"It's the moment of a lifetime," she said after being handed the best director prize by Barbra Streisand, who had herself been the first woman to win a directing Golden Globe, for Yentl in 1984. Bigelow dedicated the award to the people of Jordan, where the film was shot, and to the "women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis – may they come home safe". In her speech accepting the best picture award, presented by Tom Hanks, Bigelow extended this to all servicemen and women around the world. The film also took Oscars for Mark Boal's original screenplay, best film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.
Best actor went, predictably, to Jeff Bridges for his role as a washed-up, strung-out country singer in Crazy Heart. The star looked as comfortable ambling onstage as only one raised in the bosom of Hollywood could. His standing ovation was affectionate and deserved.
That accorded to Sandra Bullock, who won the best actress award for her role as a tough-talking woman who takes a troubled football prodigy under her wing in The Blind Side, felt slightly less so. Despite British presence in the category, including rising star Carey Mulligan for An Education and Helen Mirren for her role as Sofia Tolstoy in The Last Station, it was a relatively weak year. But Bullock is a much-loved Hollywood personality, admired as much for her gameness as her acting talents. On Saturday night she had taken to the stage at the Razzies to receive the award for worst actress of the year, for All About Steve, in which she plays a cruciverbalist-turned-stalker.
As expected, the best supporting actor award went to Christoph Waltz, who has so far won every award going in the category for his masterly turn as a sadistic "Jew-hunter" in Inglourious Basterds. But it must have been a blow to Quentin Tarantino that this was the only one of the film's eight nominations that bore fruit (James Cameron's Avatar – nominated in nine categories – did at least go home with three: for art direction, cinematography and visual effects).
Also unsurprisingly, the best supporting actress award went to Mo'Nique, who plays an abusive mother in Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire. On the red carpet outside the Kodak theatre, she had been as laissez-faire about the possibility of a victory as only one so heavily-tipped could be: "A win is when someone says [their] life is different because of Precious," she said.
It wasn't the harrowing film's only honour of the evening – there was a surprise in the best adapted screenplay category when Geoffrey Fletcher snatched it from the teeth of An Education's Nick Hornby and Armando Iannucci's In the Loop team. No one was more surprised, it seemed, than Fletcher himself, who struggled through his 45-second address, choked with emotion. "I wrote that speech for him," boasted host Steve Martin directly afterwards – one of many big laughs he and co-host Alec Baldwin received during the evening.
It was a disappointing night for the Brits, especially in the light of last year's Slumdog Millionaire sweep. There was nothing for Colin Firth, Mulligan, Mirren, Hornby or Iannucci. Nothing, even, for Nick Park – usually something of a sure thing at the Oscars, with five already. But in this instance his latest Wallace and Grommit was pipped to the post for best animated short by Nicolas Schmerkin's Logorama.
Also snubbed were the critics' favourites The White Ribbon and A Prophet, which lost out to the Argentinian film The Secret in Their Eyes. But then, when it comes to best foreign language film, the Academy has a history of singing to its own tune.
And, while the ceremony itself began with a full-throttle song-and-dance number, courtesy of TV's Neil Patrick Harris – splendid in a sequinned blazer and accompanied by a bevy of be-feathered dancers – that turned out to be the only song on offer in a ceremony that, though long on glitz, was short on bona fide razzmatazz.
Though winners' acceptance speeches were limited to 45 seconds, it was still a long evening, perhaps a product of the Academy's decision to – after a 67-year hiatus – increase the number of best picture nominees from five to 10. This meant much of the ceremony's running time was devoted to stars introducing clips from the runners and riders and, after their opening routine was complete, surprisingly little time was left to the two hosts. Martin and Baldwin began the night with a healthy dose of celebrity scepticism, dishing out insults of refreshing frankness to the assembled mob. But, as the evening wore on, the poking-of-fun descended into a Mexican wave of genuflection as they, plus guest presenters, succumbed to the pull of actor flattery.
In awarding the first ever best director Oscar to a woman, and the first screenwriting award to an African-American, this was a night of genuine progress and optimism for Hollywood. But the revolution has rarely felt so predictable.
The full list of winners and nominees is below:
BEST PICTURE
Avatar – James Cameron
The Blind Side – John Lee Hancock
District 9 – Neill Blomkamp
An Education – Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Lee Daniels
A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Up – Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
ACTRESS IN SUPPORTING ROLE
Penélope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Coraline – Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog – John Musker and Ron Clements
The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore
Up – Pete Docter
ART DIRECTION
Avatar – Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
Nine – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria – Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar – Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon – Christian Berger
COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star – Janet Patterson
Coco before Chanel – Catherine Leterrier
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Monique Prudhomme
Nine – Colleen Atwood
The Young Victoria – Sandy Powell
DIRECTING
Avatar – James Cameron
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Lee Daniels
Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
DOCUMENTARY (Feature)
Burma VJ – Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
The Cove - Louie Psihoyos and Mark Monroe
Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa
DOCUMENTARY (Short Subject)
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province – Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner – Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant – Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
Music by Prudence – Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
Rabbit à la Berlin – Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
FILM EDITING
Avatar – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
District 9 – Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker – Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds – Sally Menke
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Joe Klotz
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami – Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos – Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
Un Prophète – France
The White Ribbon – Germany
MAKEUP
Il Divo – Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
Star Trek – Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
The Young Victoria – Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
MUSIC (Original Score)
Avatar – James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker – Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes - Hans Zimmer
Up - Michael Giacchino
MUSIC (Original Song)
“Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from Paris 36 Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from Nine Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
SHORT FILM (Animated)
French Roast – Fabrice O. Joubert
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty – Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) – Javier Recio Gracia
Logorama – Nicolas Schmerkin
A Matter of Loaf and Death - Nick Park
SHORT FILM (Live Action)
The Door – Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
Instead of Abracadabra – Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
Kavi – Gregg Helvey
Miracle Fish – Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
The New Tenants – Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
SOUND EDITING
Avatar – Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
The Hurt Locker – Paul N.J. Ottosson
Inglourious Basterds – Wylie Stateman
Star Trek – Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
Up – Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
SOUND MIXING
Avatar – Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
The Hurt Locker – Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
Inglourious Basterds – Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
Star Trek – Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
District 9 – Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
Star Trek – Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
WRITING (Adapted Screenplay)
District 9 – Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
An Education – Screenplay by Nick Hornby
In the Loop – Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air - Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
WRITING (Original Screenplay)
The Hurt Locker – Written by Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds – Written by Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger – Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A Serious Man – Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up – Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy