Best Director and Best Picture gave us the exciting part. The well-publicized nominations of ex-spouses Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron (and their movies) provided drama. It was the difference between an upstart indie film, The Hurt Locker, created by Bigelow for $11 million, earning $12 million (so far) versus Cameron's highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar, which cost $500 million and earned $2 billion. That's a lot of 3D glasses. Bigelow won for Best Director, and The Hurt Locker was Best Picture. Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar was presented by Barbra Streisand, who pointed out that this year, history could be made with a win for the first woman or the first African-American (Lee Daniels for Precious). Streisand opened the envelope and said "Well, the time has come." Barbra, they're waiting to hear the name! That little remark could have applied to either director. It was the longest half second of the evening.
This year's Oscar race had a big turnaround. As recently as January, it was widely predicted that Best Picture and Best Actor awards would go to Up In The Air and George Clooney. Remember? The Hurt Locker filled very few seats. They'll make up for that now. It's already available on DVD, but will the movie industry have the hubris to re-release it in theatres? Precious was fated to go straight to video. Then it received fairy dust from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Recognition! Although she didn't win, Gabourey Sidibe had a Cinderella moment with an Oscar nomination for her first film. No, this isn't her only shot. She will be in a new Showtime series and is working on a new film.
The video will tell you the best and worst-dressed actors and actresses at the Academy Awards. Let's face it, the fashions can keep you watching the presentations of the more boring awards.
Oh well. We now have to wait 12 more months for the Oscars. Four hours are never long enough.
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