This was originally written by Kam WIlliams for TheBlackBoxOffice.com.

Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker emerged victorious in what had been touted as a David vs. Goliath showdown with her ex-husband James Cameron and Avatar, the biggest moneymaker in box-office history. Each entered the competition with 9 nominations, with Bigelow’s Iraq War saga netting 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay, as well as a trio in technical categories. Meanwhile, Avatar had to settle for just 3 Oscars, in Cinematography, Visual Effects and Art Direction.

Bigelow made history as the first female ever to be named best director. An obvious hint that she was about to triumph, the supposedly sacrosanct secret ballots notwithstanding, was the fact that the presenter in the category was Barbara Streisand who had herself won a golden Globe but not an Oscar for directing Yentl way back in 1984.

There were no surprises in the lead acting categories with veteran thespians Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) both winning more for their body of work than for this particular role. Bridges, in his heartfelt acceptance speech, thanked his late parents “for turning me on to such a groovy profession.” And the self-effacing Bullock was equally-gracious, thanking her mom, and acknowledging each of her fellow nominees by name. Sandra was most effusive about Gabby Sidibe (Precious), about whom she gushed, “I love you so much. You are exquisite. You are beyond words to me.”

As for supporting roles, prohibitive favorites Mo’Nique (Precious) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) prevailed as expected. Mo’Nique got the last laugh after having been subjected to considerable criticism during awards season for not campaigning or kissing the ring of the Hollywood establishment. This explains why she began her acceptance remarks with, “First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance, and not the politics.”

In terms of upsets, the biggest surprise arrived when Geoffrey Fletcher and Precious won for Best Adapted Screenplay over Up in the Air. However, the evening’s most shocking incident was undoubtedly the reverse Kanye West moment when Roger Ross Williams, who is black, was rudely interrupted during his acceptance speech as the director/producer of Best Documentary Short Film-winner Music by Prudence.

For midway in, this ostensibly-inebriated white woman appeared out nowhere to give him the bum’s rush, just like Kanye did to Taylor Swift. Then she started rambling into the microphone like a mental patient until her voice was drowned out by the orchestra. As it turns out, Elinor Burkett apparently wasn’t a complete lunatic, but a former co- producer of Music by Prudence, who had abandoned the movie over a year ago but now wanted back in to bask in the glory when the project turned out to be a tremendous success.

You can read the rest at The Black Box Office.

Another high point for me was Robert Downey Jr. I really dig RDJ, but last night, the bowtie, the glasses, and the Gourmet sneakers ( shout outs to Team Epiphany, Gourmet Footwear’s marketing agency) – great stuff. In my opinion, he sorta outshone Sam Jackson, who usually steals the show.