FINAL THOUGHTS: Women with the most gracious speeches, especially Bigelow & Bullock. Ben Stiller the funniest. Jeff Bridges still the man. Just a great night for being with the letter “B” in their names.
12:02 a.m. And the night is up. Very abruptly. Baldiwn & Martin close down halfheartedly with Martin clutching Bigelow’s Oscar and making an Avatar joke.
12:00 a.m. Bigelow, Boal, Shaprio are up there as well as Renner, Mackie & Geraghty! That was some serious celebration on the guys part. And that’s six Oscars for THL.
11:59 p.m. And, Holy S*** that was fast. Tom Hanks just awarded The Hurt Locker with Best Picture. (!!)
11:56 p.m. Bigelow is even hotter while nervous. She honors her fellow nominees (incredibly gracious, these women have it down), as well as the people of Jordan, and finally to the people fighting in Iraq. This is incredibly well deserved, even though the story of THL winning became a bit omnipresent near the end (this is the business of storytelling, after all).
11:55 p.m. Kathryn Bigelow wins Best Director!
11:53 p.m. We got it, Barbara. A woman could win for the first time. Or a black person. And we know how much Avatar made. I met you in my dining room once. I should have warned of screwing up this moment then!
11:52 p.m. Barbara Streisand presents Best director. Hmm, wonder why…
11:48 p.m. Sandra for the win. And finally, an actor that acknowledges her fellow nominees. She’s funny and gracious and emotional and mature. Powerhouse speech, Bullock. Middle All of America just died and went to heaven.
11:47 p.m. Sean Penn, in usual jittery-ness, presents the award. And….
11:45 p.m. Stanley Tucci on Meryl: “quite simply, the best.” Duh.
11:44 p.m. Whoa there, that’s Oprah. She’s presenting for Gabourey Sidibe. Come back to Duke, Oprah!
11:42 p.m. Michael Sheen admits he was attracted to Helen Mirren. Hottie. Peter Sarsgaard on Carey Mulligan. British people, everywhere.
11:40 p.m. Forest Whitaker on Sandra Bullock. His voice is so soothing. “Tangible”, “magical”. Say “Mufasa”, Forest, say it again, “Mufasa”!
11:39 p.m. And now begins the Best Actress clip montage. Too short, but this will balance out what’s to come.
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