The best picture category at the 2010 Academy Awards came down to a classic case of David versus Goliath and just as in that ancient tale, the little guy (or in this case, girl) came out on top.
Not only did The Hurt Locker beat out “best-selling movie of all time” Avatar for the best picture Oscar, director Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to ever win in the best director category. We don’t feel too bad for James Cameron though, he has plenty enough cash from Avatar to buy a room full of trophies for himself if he feels like it.
Avatar may be the highest grossing film of all time, earning over $2.4 billion at the box office, but it won’t be taking any records home from the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war drama was the true darling of the evening, landing six Oscars in total. In addition to best picture and best director, The Hurt Locker also landed Oscars for best original screenplay, editing, sound mixing and sound editing.
Kathryn Bigelow is only the fourth woman to ever be nominated in the best directory category and the first ever to win the Oscar. “The only way to describe it is that this is the moment of a lifetime,” Bigelow said in her acceptance speech for the award.
Although we kind of hoped Precious would win for best picture and Jason Reitman for best director, Bigelow was rather cute in her obvious nervousness during her acceptance speeches. We do have to applaud the Academy for awarding Avatar with the appropriate honors it was due – namely, for the film’s technical and artistic merit.
>> Previously:Â 2010 Academy Award Winners and Losers