Brits miss out as Hurt Locker sweeps Oscars

By Daniel Masters, Chief Reporter

The UK had to deal with disappoint at this year’s Academy Awards as only two Brits took away accolades – as The Hurt Locker stole the show.

High profile nominations were Carey Mulligan, Dame Helen Mirren and Colin Firth, up for Oscars as best actress and actor, being beaten by Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges.

The only awards taken away by British members of the industry were costume designer Sandy Powell, for her work on The Young Victoria, and Ray Beckett, for sound editing on the night’s success story The Hut Locker.

The 82nd Academy Awards was dominated by the battle between Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war epic and James Cameron’s big-budget blockbuster Avatar.

Bigelow triumphed, becoming the first ever woman to win the Oscar for Best Director, as well as winning Best Picture – both of which Avatar was nominated for.

The two films domination of the night was clear as only one category where the two were nominated, Best Original Score, as not captured by either.

Bigelow went away with six awards, while three left with Cameron, after both were nominated for nine awards each.

Cameron’s 3D sci-fi blockbuster had to be content with beating the Hurt Locker to the Best Cinematography gong, as well as winning the Art Direction and Visual Effects awards.

The two directors were briefly married 20 years ago, and the face-off between the two movies was focused much around their past, but it was Bigelow’s historical Best Director win that stood out on the night.

On accepting her award she described it as “the moment of a lifetime” – having been only the fifth women to be nominated for the category – and dedicated it to those currently fighting in Iraq.

Away from the major nominations for the night there were a number of other British runners-up. Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park missed out on his fifth award – for the characters’ latest outing, A Matter of Loaf and Death.

British writing talent were well represented in the nominations, but both Nick Hornby, for his adaption of An Education, and the team behind In the Loop – the movie spin-off to the successful BBC comedy The Thick of It – were left disappointed.

Hopes were high as Colin Firth’s performance in a single man and Carey Mulligan’s in An Education had won them BAFTAS last month.

The disappointment comes after recent success for British actresses after Kate Winslet and Dame Helen Mirren – nominated this year for her role in The Last Station – have taken the Best Actress award at the last two ceremonies.