I was making my way back home from Boston earlier tonight and — per usual — got stuck in some traffic in the not-so-great state of Connecticut. So I ended up missing most of the Oscar show. But apparently they just went ahead and gave out the awards without me.
Cool friends, guys.
You likely already know what happened, but we may as well give you the full list below. And, no, it’s not a misprint — Sandra Bullock now has an Oscar. I never bothered to see The Blind Side, but I’m guessing I will always prefer her character in Speed. Less white guilt and more bus driving. What can I say? I’m a sucker for protagonistas who lost their license for … let me finish … speeding and are then serendipitously tasked with jumping a 15-ton automobile over a highway gap in order to save the lives of a dozen of her fellow Los Angelenos. Call me old-fashioned.
Obviously, the even bigger surprise was that Avatar didn’t take home many statues, which was odd, but not something that I will shed many tears over even though I think The Hurt Locker was too flawed as a film (see: unnecessary final 15 minutes) to out-rank the technological and industry-changing achievement of James Cameron’s opus. This will probably really, really weird in 10 years when 2D movies don’t even exist anymore and our schools are no longer teaching kids that the Iraq War was a conflict so much as it was The Louisiana Purchase, Part Deux.
Whoa.
Sorry about that. I swear I was on my down to jokeville there and somehow took a left at political. Won’t happen again.
Most importantly, here’s the new, longer trailer for Iron Man 2. The person in the red and gold suit is for sure more important than talking about the people who won gold statues. (trailer via Super Hero Hype)
I was sold anyway. But, man … look at all those guys in superhero suits with guys. Yes, please.
And, oh yeah, here are those Academy Awards winners I promised you. You can see the other winners in the lesser categories over at IMDb.
Best Picture
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- The Hurt Locker ** WINNER **
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Lee Daniels
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
Best Director
- James Cameron (Avatar)
- Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) ** WINNER **
- Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
- Lee Daniels (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire)
- Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)
Actress in a Leading Role
- Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) ** WINNER **
- Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
- Carey Mulligan (An Education)
- Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire)
- Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)
Actor in a Leading Role
- Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) ** WINNER **
- George Clooney (Up in the Air)
- Colin Firth (A Single Man)
- Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
- Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Penélope Cruz (Nine)
- Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
- Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
- Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
- Mo’Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire) ** WINNER **
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Matt Damon (Invictus)
- Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
- Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
- Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
- Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) ** WINNER **
Best Original Screenplay
- The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal) ** WINNER **
- Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
- The Messenger (Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman)
- A Serious Man (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen)
- Up (Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)
Best Adaptated Screenplay
- District 9 (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell)
- An Education (Nick Hornby)
- In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche)
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Geoffrey Fletcher) ** WINNER **
- Up in the Air (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)
Cinematography
- Mauro Fiore (Avatar) ** WINNER **
- Bruno Delbonnel (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
- Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker)
- Robert Richardson (Inglourious Basterds)
- Christian Berger (The White Ribbon)
