Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Pictures Classics, Summit EntertainmentLet's just say the Avatar brain trust may be blue in more than appearance. While James Cameron's crew spent this awards season as the kings of the world, they apparently couldn't hold a candle to the queen—it was Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker that bested all comers, taking home a leading six BAFTA awards, including Best Film and Director on Sunday.
"I would like to dedicate this to the cause of never abandoning the hunt to find a resolution for peace," said an emotional Bigelow.
Cameron's epic adventure in motion capture ended up losing most, but not all, of its awards-season momentum, taking home just two technical prizes at the Orange British Academy Film Awards.
The leading and supporting acting awards went to, respectively, A Single Man's Colin Firth (somewhere Jeff Bridges has broken into a sweat), An Education's Carey Mulligan, Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz and Precious' Mo'Nique.
And at least three out of four of them seemed quite pleased.
"Supporting actor?" Waltz asked upon taking the podium. "Supported actor. No Quentin, no Inglourious Basterds. No Quentin, no Colonel Landa. No Quentin, no Christoph at the BAFTAs."
Or, incidentally, at the Oscars, for which Waltz has long been the frontrunner and which take place just two Sundays from today.
Mo'Nique presumably felt similarly, though we'll never truly know, seeing as how she decided to skip the ceremony. Precious' director Lee Daniels didn't, however, and accepted the award on her behalf.
Meanwhile, The Hurt Locker continued its quest to effectively close the Pandora's box of Avatar's gold-statue domination. Added to its top prizes was Best Original Screenplay (a repeat of Saturday's WGA Awards). Aside from being one of the more prestigious prizes, the script award was bestowed by Robert Pattinson.
For those keeping track at home, and we assume that's plenty of you, it was quite the night for Twi-hards, as Kristen Stewart was also on hand to pick up her fan-determined Orange Rising Star Award. (As if her competitiors stood a chance.) And no, she didn't forget you.
"I have to thank all the fans of Twilight, for being the most devoted and attentive fans ever," she said.
Meanwhile, An Education, for all its homegrown talent—and tie with Avatar for receiving the most nominations heading into Sunday—well, let's just say it played well with others, but failed to reach its true potential.
Other than Avatar's sure-thing Special Visual Effects award (which, for the purposes of this awards season, may as well be renamed the James Cameron Prize), An Education seemed a lock to win Best British Film. But it lost to Fish Tank (which has yet to make a splash stateside). Instead, star Mulligan's Leading Actress win was the sole honor captured by An Education.
As for other notable winners, the Outstanding Debut award went to Moon director Duncan Jones, a man not short on lineage: His father is David Jones, better known to pop-culture enthusiasts by his stage name, David Bowie.
Here's the complete list of winners for the Orange British Academy Film Awards:
• Best Film: The Hurt Locker
• Leading Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Leading Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
• Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
• Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
• Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up In the Air
• Film Not in the English Language: A Prophet (France)
• Animated Film: Up
• Outstanding British Film: Fish Tank
• Outstanding Debut By a British Writer, Director or Producer: Duncan Jones, Moon (director)
• Music: Michael Giacchino, Up
• Cinematography: The Hurt Locker
• Editing: The Hurt Locker
• Production Design: Avatar
• Costume Design: The Young Victoria
• Sound: The Hurt Locker
• Special Visual Effects: Avatar
• Makeup & Hair: The Young Victoria
• Short Animation: Mother of Many
• The Orange Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart
• Academy Fellowship: Vanessa Redgrave
(Originally published Feb. 21, 2010, at 1:33 p.m. PT)
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