Kathryn Bigelow and team collecting well-deserved awards for "The Hurt Locker." [Photo: Monica Almeda/The New York Times]
There may have been few surprises in the awards, but there was loads of heart.
Kathryn Bigelow was the dark horse favorite, with The Hurt Locker taking home awards for Best Picture and her award as the first woman ever to win for Best Director.
She finally (finally!) got to trade in ex-husband James Cameron—who was himself the odds-on favorite for both awards—for an even smaller, far more powerful man with whom her name will now forever be associated. And one who doesn't talk to her. Which made her the big winner of the evening in every conceivable way.
Presenting the Best Director award in a moment destined for Oscar clip history, Barbra Streisand prefaced the announcement with, "Well, the time has come." Babs is the queen of drama—not to be confused with the mere drama-queendom of lesser mortals.
Serving up a boring telecast even by Oscar standards, the real action—and most of the fun—was online where Twitter livened up the show with snarky and insightful commentary:
@kellyoxford So many ex wives feel good right now.@BorowitzReport Kathryn Bigelow says she got the title "The Hurt Locker" from her marriage to James Cameron.@rejects "I'm Queen of the World." - The only way Kathryn Bigelow's speech can end.
@jedgarlopez Poor James Cameron, he'll have to cry himself to sleep tonight in his bedsheets made of gold-plated hundred dollar bills.
The best headline came from @newyorkpost: 'Hurt Locker' leaves 'Avatar' Blue; Wins Best Picture.
Seizing the moment, The Women's Media Center—a nonprofit founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem ("Amplifying women's voices. Changing the conversation.")—leveraged Twitter-power for its fundraising. After congratulating Kathryn Bigelow, the organization tweeted:
@womensmediacntr Voice your support for women in film - text WOMEN to 50555 to donate $10 to Women's Media Center
Their message was retweeted by @Janefonda (natch) and dozens of other influencers, reaching hundreds of thousands of potential donors.
From left: Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Kathryn Bigelow, Elizabeth Banks [Photos: The New York Times]
In fashion, the classiest ladies wore silver. Except for the always-appropriate Sandra Bullock, who wore gold to match the guy she took home at the end of the evening.
A long-time romcom favorite—and clearly an auditorium favorite—who's never before been nominated, Sandy accepted her Best Actress award for The Blind Side asking, "Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?"
The Twitterverse had its own spin on this heartfelt moment:
@weareyourfek Come to think of it, bittersweet night for Keanu Reeves. His Speed co-star and Point Break director reminded him ... he'll never win an Oscar.
Jeff Bridges, Hollywood's hometown boy and the sentimental favorite to win Best Actor for Crazy Heart after a career filled with nominations and near-misses, didn't disappoint. His award brought the Academy to its feet for a raucous standing-O, and his tribute to his parents, whom he thanked for turning him on to a "groovy profession," had everyone reaching for Kleenex.Except on Twitter:
@popcornreel This just in: Jeff Bridges has officially broken the record for saying "man" the most times in an Oscar acceptance speech.
@JamieKennedy How many people think jeff bridges smoked a lil medical before his speech...anyone?
@thecarpetbagger Jeff Bridges in press room, reflecting on career, immed makes a Lebowski ref: "Well, ups and downs - as the Dude says, strikes & gutters."
@aliarikan Please say "The Dude Abides." Please say "The Dude Abides." Please say "The Dude Abides."
@ebertchicago The Dude Aboded.
A big #OscarFail goes to the Academy for inexplicably omitting Farrah Fawcett from its memorial tribute. As Roger Ebert tweeted, "They have a whole lot of 'splaining to do."
Vanity Fair's Twitter reporters lent some unexpected perspective to the evening's glamour, a point-of-view usually absent from the pandering print pub:
@vanityfairmag The glamorous red-carpet interviewers spend the broadcast wearing overcoats, watching the show on flat-screens.
@vanityfairmag Shirley MacLaine jokingly asked the doorman, "What are we here for, the Writer's Guild Awards?" Close!
Summing up the awards, Twitterers irreverently nailed the zeigeist:
@tinadupuy The Academy Awards should not hand out Oscars for editing until they learn how to edit the Academy Awards.
@phil_rosenthal How come they don't rush through the Oscar credits like they do on every single movie that ever airs on TV?@weareyourfek Oprah's about to tell everyone in the audience there's an Oscar under their seat.
Live-blogging Oscar, the biggest Oscar winner was clearly Roger Ebert, who graciously thanked the Academy and also remembered the little people:
@ebertchicago http://twitpic.com/17b5ry - I would like to thank the Academy for getting me 6,575 new followers on twitter. And my drama coach, of course.
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Twittering vixenish things @WriterVixen
