March 8, 2010 -- 6:03 a.m.
History is made. The first woman wins best director award at the Oscars for the Hurt Locker. I never even heard of the Hurt Locker. It's all the more interesting because Kate Bigelow is James Cameron's ex-wife. I would have been surprised if Avatar won, just because of the stigma the Hollywood establishment tends to show against popular and genre movies. Avatar had a double doom. I was so amazed Return of the King got the nod just because the deck was so stacked against it. Reuters' write-up of why Hurt Locker one mentions that one of its producers got banned for campaigning...wonder what he did. I was surprised the award didn't go to Precious.
Another first in history: Sandra Bullock wins awards for "best actress" and "worst actress" in the same year. Red boots do not win audience hearts.
District 9, another sci-fi flick, was nominated for best picture as well.
I don't think there's been a time when two sci-fi pictures have cracked the top nominations, which I think says something about the genre's acceptance as art.
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I didn't realize that Bigelow was Cameron's ex-wife.
I think the only reason that two SF movies were nominated is that they doubled the field from 5 to 10 nominees. But we can hope.