Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker also won Academy Awards for Directing (Kathryn Bigelow), Film Editing (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis), Sound Editing (Paul N.J. Ottosson), Sound Mixing (Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett), and Writing – Original Screenplay (Mark Boal).
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for directing. Barbra Streisand presented the award to Bigelow.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin shared hosting duties. This was the first telecast to have more than a single host since the 59th ceremony in 1987.
For the first time since 1943, the Best Picture category featured 10 nominated films instead of five.
Three of the four acting awards went to first-time nominees: Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for The Blind Side, Christoph Waltz was named Best Supporting Actor for Inglourious Basterds, and Mo’Nique received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. Jeff Bridges, who won Best Actor for Crazy Heart, had received four previous nominations but this was his first win.
Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer, Macaulay Culkin, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy appeared on stage together to pay tribute to late filmmaker John Hughes. Hughes, famous for hits such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,The Breakfast Club and Home Alone, died at the age of 59 in New York City on August 6, 2009.