Mar 28, 2024
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‘The Hurt Locker’ tops Oscars with six

Bringing an end to a tense and suspenseful night, “The Hurt Locker” captured the best picture prize at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday. The Summit release about an Army bomb disposal unit took home six Oscars, including a historic best director trophy for director Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman ever to win in that category.

“There is no other way to describe it. It’s the moment of a lifetime,” Bigelow said as she accepted her directing trophy. Thanking writer Mark Boal and the movie’s cast and crew, she added, “I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily bais in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world and may they come home safe.”

His fifth nomination proved to be the charm for Jeff Bridges, who was hailed as best actor at the for his performance as a weary country singer in “Crazy Heart.”

The son of the late actors Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Dean Bridges, he held his Oscar high as his peers rewarded him with a standing ovation. “Mom and Dad, yeah, look,” he exclaimed, saying, “Thank you, mom and dad, for turning me on to this groovy profession. Oh, my mom and dad loved show biz so much. … I feel an extension of that. This is honoring them as much as it’s honoring me.”

By contrast, Sandra Bullock scored on her first nomination. Her turn in “The Blind Side” as a suburban mom who takes an interest in a homeless black student proved a hit with both the public and the Academy, who bestowed its best actress award on her.

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you down?” Bullock joked before turning more serious, offering lavish praise to her fellow nominees, acknowledging Leigh Anne Tuohy, whom she plays in the film and who was in the audience.

As the awards show hit its halfway mark Sunday night, Mo’Nique, the comedian who turned dramatic actress in “Precious,” was invited to the stage to accept the award as best supporting actress.

Her fierce performance as an abusive mother made her only the fourth black actress to win in the category — the first went to Hattie McDaniel for 1939’s “Gone With the Wind” — and Mo’Nique paid tribute to her predecessor by wearing gardenias in her hair.

A number of awards season commentators had criticized the actress for her refusal to visit every stop on the Oscar campaign trail, but she addressed that in her acceptance by thanking the Academy “for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics.”

She went on to acknowledge McDaniel “for enduring all that she had to so I would not have to.” And she concluded with a special word of thanks to her husband, Sidney, “for showing me that sometimes you have to forgo doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right.”

Christoph Waltz picked up the night’s first trophy when he was named best supporting actor for his performance as a cruelly seductive Nazi in “Inglourious Basterds.”

The Austrian-born actor used his moment in the spotlight to pay tribute to the movie’s director, Quentin Tarantino, saying, “With his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer took this ship … and brought it in with flying colors, and that’s why I’m here.”

Tarantino, though, was denied the best original screenplay Oscar, which went to Mark Boal for “The Hurt Locker.”

“You honor me and humble me with this,” Boal said. Returning as a reporter from Iraq, he had an idea for a movie. But “the result wildly exceeded my expectations,” he said — a fact he attributed to the talent of director Kathryn Bigelow. The writer also offered a word for the troops, present and past, as well as his father, who passed away a month ago.

Geoffrey Fletcher earned the award for best adapted screenplay for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” In his emotional thank-you, he drew a blank, forgetting to mention the author, but did say, “This is for everybody who works on a dream every day — precious boys and girls everywhere.”

Pixar’s “Up” rose aloft with the prize for best animated feature film.

Its director Pete Docter thanked Pixar and Disney “for believing in this oddball film,” the tale of an old man who hitches his home to a flotilla of balloons and just floats away. “The heart of it came from home,” he added as he dedicated the award to “our families.”

The lilting music for “Up” also translated into a best score Oscar for Michael Giacchino. Recalling that when he first began making home movies, his parents never told him that what he was doing was a waste of time, the composer addressed his remarks to “kid out there who do not have a support system,” telling them “if you want to be creative, go out there and do it. It is not a waste of time.”

“Avatar” became the first 3D movie to be honored for its cinematography when that award went to the movie’s Mauro Fiore. “I want to thank the visionary Jim Cameron for the amazing vision of the film,” the Italian-born cinematographer said.

The technologically ground-breaking movie also claimed the Oscar for best visual effects.

The husband-and-wife team of Bob Murawksi and Chris Innis shared in the Oscar for best editing for their work on “The Hurt Locker.” Said Murawski, “Thank you to the Academy for giving the award to this movie that was made without compromise.”

Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett took home best song honors with their country-flavored tune “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart.”

Ben Stiller, in an “Avatar” get-up, handed out the Oscar for best makeup, which went to Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow for “Star Trek.”

“We thank (producer-director) J.J. Abrams,” Hall said. “Your vision inspired us, your energy kept us going, and your insistence on perfection brought us here.”

The rain forests of Pandora translated into an art direction win for “Avatar,” which went to art directors Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg and set decorator Kim Sinclair.

Stromberg delivered an emotional acceptance, saying, “You know, 13 years ago, the doctors told me I wasn’t going to survive, and I thought that this dream of standing here would never come true. And here we are.”

Sandy Powell picked up her third Oscar for the regal costumes in “The Young Victoria.”

“Wow, I already have two of these, so I’m feeling greedy,” she said. She used the opportunity to pay tribute to her fellow costume designers who work in contemporary films and “don’t do movies about dead monarchs or glittery musicals.” They deserve prizes, too, she suggested, though “I’m going to take it home tonight.”

Paul N.J. Ottoson took the first of the two sound awards when “The Hurt Locker” won for best sound editing. He was immediately called back to the stage when he won, along with Ray Beckett, the sound mixing award for “Locker.”

Best feature documentary honors went to “The Cove,” which exposes the exploitation and slaughter of dolphins.

The Argentinean film “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” directed by Juan Joese Campanella and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, emerged as the winner in the foreign-language film category, beating out better-known titles like France’s “A Prophet” (Un Prophete) and Germany’s “The White Ribbon.”

“Logorama,” a satire of brand names run amok, captured the prize for best animated short, beating out the presumed frontrunner, Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit tale, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.”

The film’s producer Nicolas Schmerkin joked, “I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film. And I have to assure them that no logos were harmed in the making of the project.”

The documentary short prize went to “Music by Prudence,” the portrait of a seriously handicapped Kenyan woman who, through singing, transcends her situation.

“The New Tenants” followed on its heels as the winner of the live-action short prize.

Billed as a showdown between the mega-blockbuster “Avatar” and the micro-grossing “The Hurt Locker,” this year’s Oscar broadcast, which ABC is airing live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, is looking to rope in the widest possible audience thanks to the fact that the Academy nominated 10 movies — including crowd-pleasers such as “Up,” “The Blind Side” and “District 9” — for best picture for the first time since 1943.

As if to emphasize the star power on hand, the show, produced by Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman, opened with all 10 nominees for best actor and best actress walking out on stage together.

Neil Patrick Harris then kicked off the proceedings by leading a kickline of chorus boys and girls, who in turn gave way to a Ziegfield-like entrance by the night’s hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who descended from the rafters.

The full list of nominees (winners in bold):

Best picture
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

Best actor
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

Best actress
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Best supporting actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best supporting actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Best director
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Lee Daniels, “Precious”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”

Best foreign-language film
“Ajami,” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru
“Un Prophete,” France
“The White Ribbon,” Germany

Best adapted screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, “District 9”
Nick Hornby, “An Education”
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, “In the Loop”
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”

Best original screenplay
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter and Tom McCarthy, “Up”

Best animated feature film
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”

Best art direction
“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine” “Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

Best cinematography
“Avatar”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The White Ribbon”

Best sound mixing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Best sound editing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”

Best 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

Best original song
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36,” Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine,” Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart,” Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best costume design
“Bright Star”
“Coco Before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“The Young Victoria”

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

Best documentary short
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
“Music by Prudence”
“Rabbit a la Berlin”

Best film editing
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”

Best makeup
“Il Divo”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”

Best animated short film
“French Roast”
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
“Logorama”
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”

Best live-action short film
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
“The New Tenants”

Best visual effects
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Front Page, Industry News

‘The Hurt Locker’ tops Oscars with six

Bringing an end to a tense and suspenseful night, “The Hurt Locker” captured the best picture prize at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday. The Summit release about an Army bomb disposal unit took home six Oscars, including a historic best director trophy for director Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman ever to win in that category.

“There is no other way to describe it. It’s the moment of a lifetime,” Bigelow said as she accepted her directing trophy. Thanking writer Mark Boal and the movie’s cast and crew, she added, “I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily bais in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world and may they come home safe.”

His fifth nomination proved to be the charm for Jeff Bridges, who was hailed as best actor at the for his performance as a weary country singer in “Crazy Heart.”

The son of the late actors Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Dean Bridges, he held his Oscar high as his peers rewarded him with a standing ovation. “Mom and Dad, yeah, look,” he exclaimed, saying, “Thank you, mom and dad, for turning me on to this groovy profession. Oh, my mom and dad loved show biz so much. … I feel an extension of that. This is honoring them as much as it’s honoring me.”

By contrast, Sandra Bullock scored on her first nomination. Her turn in “The Blind Side” as a suburban mom who takes an interest in a homeless black student proved a hit with both the public and the Academy, who bestowed its best actress award on her.

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you down?” Bullock joked before turning more serious, offering lavish praise to her fellow nominees, acknowledging Leigh Anne Tuohy, whom she plays in the film and who was in the audience.

As the awards show hit its halfway mark Sunday night, Mo’Nique, the comedian who turned dramatic actress in “Precious,” was invited to the stage to accept the award as best supporting actress.

Her fierce performance as an abusive mother made her only the fourth black actress to win in the category — the first went to Hattie McDaniel for 1939’s “Gone With the Wind” — and Mo’Nique paid tribute to her predecessor by wearing gardenias in her hair.

A number of awards season commentators had criticized the actress for her refusal to visit every stop on the Oscar campaign trail, but she addressed that in her acceptance by thanking the Academy “for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics.”

She went on to acknowledge McDaniel “for enduring all that she had to so I would not have to.” And she concluded with a special word of thanks to her husband, Sidney, “for showing me that sometimes you have to forgo doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right.”

Christoph Waltz picked up the night’s first trophy when he was named best supporting actor for his performance as a cruelly seductive Nazi in “Inglourious Basterds.”

The Austrian-born actor used his moment in the spotlight to pay tribute to the movie’s director, Quentin Tarantino, saying, “With his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer took this ship … and brought it in with flying colors, and that’s why I’m here.”

Tarantino, though, was denied the best original screenplay Oscar, which went to Mark Boal for “The Hurt Locker.”

“You honor me and humble me with this,” Boal said. Returning as a reporter from Iraq, he had an idea for a movie. But “the result wildly exceeded my expectations,” he said — a fact he attributed to the talent of director Kathryn Bigelow. The writer also offered a word for the troops, present and past, as well as his father, who passed away a month ago.

Geoffrey Fletcher earned the award for best adapted screenplay for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” In his emotional thank-you, he drew a blank, forgetting to mention the author, but did say, “This is for everybody who works on a dream every day — precious boys and girls everywhere.”

Pixar’s “Up” rose aloft with the prize for best animated feature film.

Its director Pete Docter thanked Pixar and Disney “for believing in this oddball film,” the tale of an old man who hitches his home to a flotilla of balloons and just floats away. “The heart of it came from home,” he added as he dedicated the award to “our families.”

The lilting music for “Up” also translated into a best score Oscar for Michael Giacchino. Recalling that when he first began making home movies, his parents never told him that what he was doing was a waste of time, the composer addressed his remarks to “kid out there who do not have a support system,” telling them “if you want to be creative, go out there and do it. It is not a waste of time.”

“Avatar” became the first 3D movie to be honored for its cinematography when that award went to the movie’s Mauro Fiore. “I want to thank the visionary Jim Cameron for the amazing vision of the film,” the Italian-born cinematographer said.

The technologically ground-breaking movie also claimed the Oscar for best visual effects.

The husband-and-wife team of Bob Murawksi and Chris Innis shared in the Oscar for best editing for their work on “The Hurt Locker.” Said Murawski, “Thank you to the Academy for giving the award to this movie that was made without compromise.”

Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett took home best song honors with their country-flavored tune “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart.”

Ben Stiller, in an “Avatar” get-up, handed out the Oscar for best makeup, which went to Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow for “Star Trek.”

“We thank (producer-director) J.J. Abrams,” Hall said. “Your vision inspired us, your energy kept us going, and your insistence on perfection brought us here.”

The rain forests of Pandora translated into an art direction win for “Avatar,” which went to art directors Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg and set decorator Kim Sinclair.

Stromberg delivered an emotional acceptance, saying, “You know, 13 years ago, the doctors told me I wasn’t going to survive, and I thought that this dream of standing here would never come true. And here we are.”

Sandy Powell picked up her third Oscar for the regal costumes in “The Young Victoria.”

“Wow, I already have two of these, so I’m feeling greedy,” she said. She used the opportunity to pay tribute to her fellow costume designers who work in contemporary films and “don’t do movies about dead monarchs or glittery musicals.” They deserve prizes, too, she suggested, though “I’m going to take it home tonight.”

Paul N.J. Ottoson took the first of the two sound awards when “The Hurt Locker” won for best sound editing. He was immediately called back to the stage when he won, along with Ray Beckett, the sound mixing award for “Locker.”

Best feature documentary honors went to “The Cove,” which exposes the exploitation and slaughter of dolphins.

The Argentinean film “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” directed by Juan Joese Campanella and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, emerged as the winner in the foreign-language film category, beating out better-known titles like France’s “A Prophet” (Un Prophete) and Germany’s “The White Ribbon.”

“Logorama,” a satire of brand names run amok, captured the prize for best animated short, beating out the presumed frontrunner, Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit tale, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.”

The film’s producer Nicolas Schmerkin joked, “I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film. And I have to assure them that no logos were harmed in the making of the project.”

The documentary short prize went to “Music by Prudence,” the portrait of a seriously handicapped Kenyan woman who, through singing, transcends her situation.

“The New Tenants” followed on its heels as the winner of the live-action short prize.

Billed as a showdown between the mega-blockbuster “Avatar” and the micro-grossing “The Hurt Locker,” this year’s Oscar broadcast, which ABC is airing live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, is looking to rope in the widest possible audience thanks to the fact that the Academy nominated 10 movies — including crowd-pleasers such as “Up,” “The Blind Side” and “District 9” — for best picture for the first time since 1943.

As if to emphasize the star power on hand, the show, produced by Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman, opened with all 10 nominees for best actor and best actress walking out on stage together.

Neil Patrick Harris then kicked off the proceedings by leading a kickline of chorus boys and girls, who in turn gave way to a Ziegfield-like entrance by the night’s hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who descended from the rafters.

The full list of nominees (winners in bold):

Best picture
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

Best actor
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

Best actress
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Best supporting actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best supporting actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Best director
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Lee Daniels, “Precious”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”

Best foreign-language film
“Ajami,” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru
“Un Prophete,” France
“The White Ribbon,” Germany

Best adapted screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, “District 9”
Nick Hornby, “An Education”
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, “In the Loop”
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”

Best original screenplay
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter and Tom McCarthy, “Up”

Best animated feature film
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”

Best art direction
“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine” “Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

Best cinematography
“Avatar”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The White Ribbon”

Best sound mixing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Best sound editing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”

Best 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

Best original song
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36,” Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine,” Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart,” Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best costume design
“Bright Star”
“Coco Before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“The Young Victoria”

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

Best documentary short
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
“Music by Prudence”
“Rabbit a la Berlin”

Best film editing
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”

Best makeup
“Il Divo”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”

Best animated short film
“French Roast”
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
“Logorama”
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”

Best live-action short film
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
“The New Tenants”

Best visual effects
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

‘The Hurt Locker’ tops Oscars with six

Bringing an end to a tense and suspenseful night, “The Hurt Locker” captured the best picture prize at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday. The Summit release about an Army bomb disposal unit took home six Oscars, including a historic best director trophy for director Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman ever to win in that category.

“There is no other way to describe it. It’s the moment of a lifetime,” Bigelow said as she accepted her directing trophy. Thanking writer Mark Boal and the movie’s cast and crew, she added, “I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily bais in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world and may they come home safe.”

His fifth nomination proved to be the charm for Jeff Bridges, who was hailed as best actor at the for his performance as a weary country singer in “Crazy Heart.”

The son of the late actors Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Dean Bridges, he held his Oscar high as his peers rewarded him with a standing ovation. “Mom and Dad, yeah, look,” he exclaimed, saying, “Thank you, mom and dad, for turning me on to this groovy profession. Oh, my mom and dad loved show biz so much. … I feel an extension of that. This is honoring them as much as it’s honoring me.”

By contrast, Sandra Bullock scored on her first nomination. Her turn in “The Blind Side” as a suburban mom who takes an interest in a homeless black student proved a hit with both the public and the Academy, who bestowed its best actress award on her.

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you down?” Bullock joked before turning more serious, offering lavish praise to her fellow nominees, acknowledging Leigh Anne Tuohy, whom she plays in the film and who was in the audience.

As the awards show hit its halfway mark Sunday night, Mo’Nique, the comedian who turned dramatic actress in “Precious,” was invited to the stage to accept the award as best supporting actress.

Her fierce performance as an abusive mother made her only the fourth black actress to win in the category — the first went to Hattie McDaniel for 1939’s “Gone With the Wind” — and Mo’Nique paid tribute to her predecessor by wearing gardenias in her hair.

A number of awards season commentators had criticized the actress for her refusal to visit every stop on the Oscar campaign trail, but she addressed that in her acceptance by thanking the Academy “for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics.”

She went on to acknowledge McDaniel “for enduring all that she had to so I would not have to.” And she concluded with a special word of thanks to her husband, Sidney, “for showing me that sometimes you have to forgo doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right.”

Christoph Waltz picked up the night’s first trophy when he was named best supporting actor for his performance as a cruelly seductive Nazi in “Inglourious Basterds.”

The Austrian-born actor used his moment in the spotlight to pay tribute to the movie’s director, Quentin Tarantino, saying, “With his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer took this ship … and brought it in with flying colors, and that’s why I’m here.”

Tarantino, though, was denied the best original screenplay Oscar, which went to Mark Boal for “The Hurt Locker.”

“You honor me and humble me with this,” Boal said. Returning as a reporter from Iraq, he had an idea for a movie. But “the result wildly exceeded my expectations,” he said — a fact he attributed to the talent of director Kathryn Bigelow. The writer also offered a word for the troops, present and past, as well as his father, who passed away a month ago.

Geoffrey Fletcher earned the award for best adapted screenplay for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” In his emotional thank-you, he drew a blank, forgetting to mention the author, but did say, “This is for everybody who works on a dream every day — precious boys and girls everywhere.”

Pixar’s “Up” rose aloft with the prize for best animated feature film.

Its director Pete Docter thanked Pixar and Disney “for believing in this oddball film,” the tale of an old man who hitches his home to a flotilla of balloons and just floats away. “The heart of it came from home,” he added as he dedicated the award to “our families.”

The lilting music for “Up” also translated into a best score Oscar for Michael Giacchino. Recalling that when he first began making home movies, his parents never told him that what he was doing was a waste of time, the composer addressed his remarks to “kid out there who do not have a support system,” telling them “if you want to be creative, go out there and do it. It is not a waste of time.”

“Avatar” became the first 3D movie to be honored for its cinematography when that award went to the movie’s Mauro Fiore. “I want to thank the visionary Jim Cameron for the amazing vision of the film,” the Italian-born cinematographer said.

The technologically ground-breaking movie also claimed the Oscar for best visual effects.

The husband-and-wife team of Bob Murawksi and Chris Innis shared in the Oscar for best editing for their work on “The Hurt Locker.” Said Murawski, “Thank you to the Academy for giving the award to this movie that was made without compromise.”

Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett took home best song honors with their country-flavored tune “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart.”

Ben Stiller, in an “Avatar” get-up, handed out the Oscar for best makeup, which went to Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow for “Star Trek.”

“We thank (producer-director) J.J. Abrams,” Hall said. “Your vision inspired us, your energy kept us going, and your insistence on perfection brought us here.”

The rain forests of Pandora translated into an art direction win for “Avatar,” which went to art directors Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg and set decorator Kim Sinclair.

Stromberg delivered an emotional acceptance, saying, “You know, 13 years ago, the doctors told me I wasn’t going to survive, and I thought that this dream of standing here would never come true. And here we are.”

Sandy Powell picked up her third Oscar for the regal costumes in “The Young Victoria.”

“Wow, I already have two of these, so I’m feeling greedy,” she said. She used the opportunity to pay tribute to her fellow costume designers who work in contemporary films and “don’t do movies about dead monarchs or glittery musicals.” They deserve prizes, too, she suggested, though “I’m going to take it home tonight.”

Paul N.J. Ottoson took the first of the two sound awards when “The Hurt Locker” won for best sound editing. He was immediately called back to the stage when he won, along with Ray Beckett, the sound mixing award for “Locker.”

Best feature documentary honors went to “The Cove,” which exposes the exploitation and slaughter of dolphins.

The Argentinean film “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” directed by Juan Joese Campanella and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, emerged as the winner in the foreign-language film category, beating out better-known titles like France’s “A Prophet” (Un Prophete) and Germany’s “The White Ribbon.”

“Logorama,” a satire of brand names run amok, captured the prize for best animated short, beating out the presumed frontrunner, Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit tale, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.”

The film’s producer Nicolas Schmerkin joked, “I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film. And I have to assure them that no logos were harmed in the making of the project.”

The documentary short prize went to “Music by Prudence,” the portrait of a seriously handicapped Kenyan woman who, through singing, transcends her situation.

“The New Tenants” followed on its heels as the winner of the live-action short prize.

Billed as a showdown between the mega-blockbuster “Avatar” and the micro-grossing “The Hurt Locker,” this year’s Oscar broadcast, which ABC is airing live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, is looking to rope in the widest possible audience thanks to the fact that the Academy nominated 10 movies — including crowd-pleasers such as “Up,” “The Blind Side” and “District 9” — for best picture for the first time since 1943.

As if to emphasize the star power on hand, the show, produced by Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman, opened with all 10 nominees for best actor and best actress walking out on stage together.

Neil Patrick Harris then kicked off the proceedings by leading a kickline of chorus boys and girls, who in turn gave way to a Ziegfield-like entrance by the night’s hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who descended from the rafters.

The full list of nominees (winners in bold):

Best picture
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

Best actor
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

Best actress
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Best supporting actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best supporting actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Best director
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Lee Daniels, “Precious”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”

Best foreign-language film
“Ajami,” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru
“Un Prophete,” France
“The White Ribbon,” Germany

Best adapted screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, “District 9”
Nick Hornby, “An Education”
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, “In the Loop”
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”

Best original screenplay
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter and Tom McCarthy, “Up”

Best animated feature film
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”

Best art direction
“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine” “Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

Best cinematography
“Avatar”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The White Ribbon”

Best sound mixing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Best sound editing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”

Best 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

Best original song
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36,” Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine,” Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart,” Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best costume design
“Bright Star”
“Coco Before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“The Young Victoria”

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

Best documentary short
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
“Music by Prudence”
“Rabbit a la Berlin”

Best film editing
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”

Best makeup
“Il Divo”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”

Best animated short film
“French Roast”
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
“Logorama”
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”

Best live-action short film
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
“The New Tenants”

Best visual effects
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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