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The Best Cinematography Oscar, however, did go to Mauro Fiore for his work in Avatar. There was some prevailing thought here that The Hurt Locker would win, with Barry Ackroyd picking up the Oscar. However, it was hard to argue with the visual surprises to be had in Avatar, a movie that doesn't have traditional camerawork, but is still jaw-droppingly amazing. Fiore's work is not exactly stylish, but it's amazing.

The award for Best Original Score went to Michael Giacchino for his brilliant score for the best movie of 2009, in this writer's opinion, Up. It was all the more rewarding, since we had to sit through the agonizing, painful, and disrespectful dance sequence that was put in favor of people singing the Best Original Song nominees. But I'll leave my soapbox rant for another time. Giacchino's score is arguably the best of the five nominees, and one of the more iconic compositions a Pixar film has ever had, so many congratulations to Mr. Giacchino. Now get back to scoring Lost, buddy.

The Best Visual Effects Oscar went to Joe Letteri, Steven Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones for Avatar. Though there were two other nominees - District 9 and Star Trek - there was never any doubt about Avatar taking the award here; if anything else, isn't Avatar just a lot of special effects in sync with each other? I'm a fan of the film, and not against the actors being treated as any other actor, but it's all a bunch of computer-generated imagery.

The Best Documentary Feature Oscar went to The Cove, the harrowing documentary about the disturbing treatment of dolphins in Japan. The film, championed by celebrities such as Ben Stiller, and produced by actor Fisher Stevens (recently on Lost), was a shoo-in to win, though it was apparent that many of the nominees had a lot of love from the audience. Still, The Cove was about an arguably shocking and important subject, and deserved its win.

The Best Film Editing award went to Bob Murawski and Chris Innis for their work on The Hurt Locker, up against movies such as District 9, Precious, and, of course, Avatar. The Hurt Locker is arguably one of the best films of the year, and its editing was crucial, heightening the suspense and atmosphere. This award is definitely well-deserved, so congratulations to the editing team.

The Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film went to The Secret in Their Eyes, from Argentina. I had predicted either A Prophet or The White Ribbon, if only because these two films were more well-known and had already received somewhat wide releases. Also, The White Ribbon received an Oscar nod for Best Cinematography. Shows what I know. This is one of the few categories that was a bit of a crapshoot, but The Secret in Their Eyes had been receiving solid returns and reviews, so congratulations to the filmmakers and the country of Argentina for taking home another Oscar.

The Best Actor Oscar went to you, the viewer, for sitting through the interminable introductions from five co-stars of the nominees. No, wait, sorry, I take that back. You're the moral victor. The actual winner is no surprise at all: Jeff Bridges for his work in Crazy Heart. There's no doubt that the man waited a long time, too long, to get his Oscar, and that his performance was excellent. Would I have liked to see Jeremy Renner or George Clooney take the gold? Sure, but Clooney's already won, and Renner will hopefully get another chance soon. Bridges was, as always, folksy and charming in his acceptance speech, channeling the Dude once more. The Dude - you know where this is going - abides.

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