Kathryn Bigelow, director of “The Hurt Locker”, made Oscar history last night by being the first female director to ever be honored with the Best Director award from the Academy. The night belonged to “The Hurt Locker” as it swept the eighty-second Academy Awards with a total of six awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. The film shut out the blockbuster juggernaut, “Avatar”, directed by James Cameron in five out of the seven categories in which both films were nominated.
Take off the crown, Cameron. The Academy has spoken and Bigelow is the new “Queen of the World”! There have only been three other times a woman has been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller for “Seven Beauties” in 1975; Jane Campion for “The Piano” in 1993; and Sofia Coppola for “Lost in Translation” in 2003.
Another first was Geoffrey Fletcher winning the Best Adapted Screenplay for “Precious”, being the first African American to take home the golden statue for writing.
In a general overview of the honorees last night, the Oscars have impressively widened their scope to a more diverse range of films, including nods to the sci-fi/ fantasy genre. This mainstream embracing of sci-fi/ fantasy films marks a significant step to the serious consideration of the talent involved in making films of a genre traditionally overlooked by the Academy. James Cameron’s “Avatar”, Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9”, and J. J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” were among the sci-fi/ fantasy films that broke through the barriers and were honored with nominations.
Most notable were “Avatar” and “District 9” being nominated for “Best Picture”. However, sci-fi/ fantasy films did not win in the major categories for Best Picture, Director, or Screenplay.
Here’s a quickie breakdown of sci-fi/ fantasy films in the Oscars. Wins and nominations are differentiated in parenthesis:
“Avatar”: Best Picture (Nom.), Best Director (Nom.), Best Art Direction (WIN), Best Cinematography (Win), Best Sound Mixing (Nom.), Best Sound Editing (Nom.), Best Score (Nom.), Best Film Editing (Nom.), Best Visual Effects (WIN)
“District 9”: Best Picture (Nom.), Best Adapted Screenplay (Nom.), Best Film Editing (Nom.), Best Visual Effects (Nom.)
“Star Trek”: Best Sound Mixing (Nom.), Best Sound Editing (Nom.), Best Make-Up (WIN), Best Visual Effects (Nom.)
“Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”: Best Art Direction (Nom.), Best Costume Design (Nom.)
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”: Best Sound Mixing (Nom.)
“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”: Best Cinematography (Nom.)
(Above: As expected, “Avatar” was the butt of many jokes. Ben Stiller as a Na’vi.)
[Commentary]
Ha-hah! Take that “Avatar”! Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” made an impressive sweep at the Oscars. While I am endlessly amused that Bigelow beat out her ex-husband, James Cameron, it was plain to see that “Avatar” was simply not as strong of a film as “Locker”, according to the Academy. This year was unprecedented in the range of films it honored for Best Picture as well as being the first time a woman director won Best Director AND the first time an African American won for writing. Congrats, Kathryn Bigelow and Geoffrey Fletcher!
(Above: Kathryn Bigelow double-fisting Oscars backstage)
Here’s a complete list of the nominees. Winners are listed 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”
