This year’s Academy Awards was actually quite entertaining.  Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be great hosts; the Neil Patrick Harris surprse opening number was a hit (the Paranormal Activity spoof was spot on); the horror film montage was long overdue; Ben Stiller dressed as a Nav’i blue humanoid with fishline-controlled tail was great; the Best Picture featurettes worked well; the dance routines performed for each song in the Best Original Score category was fun; the Best Actor/Actress introductions were touching; and there was even a “imma let you finish but…” moment by some strange woman.  AND the Best Director award went to a woman for the first time!  So those were the highlights; now let’s discuss the notable winners.

Let’s start with the king (or should I say queen) of the night Kathryn Bigelow and her brilliant film The Hurt Locker.  The critically acclaimed film nabbed six Oscar wins in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.  Avatar, directed by Biglow’s ex-husband James Cameron, walked away with many technical awards including: Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.  (Side note: District 9 totally would have won all these awards if Avatar had not been competition!)  Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), no surprise there; and Best Actress went to Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  Best Supporting Actor deservedly went to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds); and Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique (Precious), again no surprise there.  Precious also picked up Best Adapted Screenplay.

Other notable winners include: Pixar’s UP nabbed Best Animated Film and Best Score (well done, Michael Giacchino); and Star Trek won Best Makeup.  Look after the break for the full breakdown of the night’s winner and losers.  Overall, the 82nd Academy Awards show was entertaining, fun, and full of deserved wins.  Congratuations to Kathryn Bigelow & crew for The Hurt Locker.  James Cameron, go wallow in your boatloads of cash.

Compare the actual winners (below) to my predictions.

BEST PICTURE

WINNER: The Hurt Locker

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR

WINNER: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTRESS

WINNER: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

BEST ACTOR

WINNER: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WINNER: Mo’Nique, Precious

Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WINNER: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

WINNER: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker

Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

WINNER:  Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Best Foreign Language Film

WINNER: El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)

Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

Best Animated Film

WINNER: Up

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells

Best Documentary

WINNER: The Cove

Burma VJ
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Editing

WINNER: The Hurt Locker

Avatar
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Visual Effects 

WINNER: Avatar

District 9
Star Trek

Best Song

WINNER: “The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

“Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname,” Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
“Take It All,” Nine, Maury Yeston

Best Score

WINNER: Up

Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes

Best Cinematography

WINNER: Avatar

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Best Sound Mixing

WINNER: The Hurt Locker

Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Sound Editing

WINNER: The Hurt Locker

Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Costume Design

WINNER: The Young Victoria

Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine

Best Art Direction

WINNER: Avatar

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Makeup

WINNER: Star Trek
Il Divo
The Young Victoria

Best Live-Action Short

WINNER: The New Tenants

The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish

Best Documentary Short

WINNER: Music by Prudence

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Animated Short

WINNER: Logorama

French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
A Matter of Loaf and Death

[List of winners via EW]