Oscar looks good for 82.
In one of the most fun and breezy Oscar telecasts in years, co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be a terrific duo, keeping the long awards show rolling with consistent laughs. After giving the stage over to Neil Patrick Harris who opened the festivities with a show-stopping song and dance number, the “It’s Complicated” co-stars proved to be a winning combination, poking fun at Hollywood’s biggest stars without any of the awkwardness that exemplified Ricky Gervais’s shot as host of the Golden Globes.
The awards themselves proved fairly predictable.
The acting awards were all taken by the heavy favorites with Monique (“Precious”) and Christoph Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”) winning supporting honors while Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”) and Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”) took the lead acting honors. It was the first win for all four, and the first nomination for all but Bridges.
The big winner in the battle for total award dominance belonged to “The Hurt Locker” which beat out box office behemoth “Avatar,” 6-3. The war film won both Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow — making her the first woman to take home directing honors. While “Avatar’s” ginormous box office numbers and rave reviews made it the heavy favorite early in the award season, “The Hurt Locker” had dominated the last few weeks of the season and was considered a strong front runner going into tonight’s final leg.