There may have been few surprises on Oscar night Sunday, but there was plenty of heart.Glowing in gold as she stood in the winners' circle, Best Actress Sandra Bullock – who noted that George Clooney once threw her into a swimming pool years ago – acknowledged each of her sister nominees, including the "great kisser" Meryl Streep, then focused on the message of her movie, The Blind Side: that the mother figure is the one who brings light and love into a person's life.
In a moment that is bound to be long remembered, Bullock tearfully thanked her mother "Helga B" – Helga D. Meyer, a German opera singer and voice teacher who died in 2000 – whose wise guidance included not letting her daughters ride in cars with boys until they were 18. The Oscar winner admitted that she would have done exactly what her mother feared she would.
She also thanked her mom, whom she called a trailblazer, "for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love."
The other big winners of the evening were The Hurt Locker, which took six Oscars in all, including the top prize, Best Picture, and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow – the first women ever to win an Academy Award in that category, a fact that was not lost on presenter Barbra Streisand. Upon opening the envelope, the singer-actress-director said, "Well, the time has come."
For Best Actor, it took five times at bat – with Starman, The Last Picture Show (as Supporting Actor), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and The Contender – before Jeff Bridges, 60, hit a home run, playing the hard-drinking country singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. And once he stood before the crowd at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, Bridges also thanked his folks, in his case for turning him on to his "groovy profession."
"They loved showbiz so much, and I feel an extension of that," said the devoted son of the late Sea Hunt TV star Lloyd Bridges and actress Dorothy Bridges (and the brother of Beau Bridges). "This is honoring them as much as it is me." He also thanked his wife of 33 years, Sue.
In the race that was most closely watched on Sunday – between Bigelow's modestly budgeted war movie and her ex-husband James Cameron's futuristic $250-million, 3-D extravaganza Avatar, the highest-grossing movie ever – both went into the evening with nine nominations each, including Best Picture and Best Director.
In all, Hurt Locker won for Original Screenplay, Sound Design, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Direction and Picture. Avatar took home three Oscars, for Art direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.
It also got the last word on the evening. Said co-host Steve Martin after the more than 3½-hour event, "The show is so long that Avatar now takes place in the past."
Here's a list of the top category winners:
Best Picture - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress - Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Director - thryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Original Screenplay - The Hurt Locker
Best Adapted Screenplay - Precious
Best Animated Film - Up
Best Foreign Language Film - El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Best Art Direction - Avatar
Best Cinematography - Avatar
Best Original Score - Up
Best Original Song - "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart
