And The Final Talley Is......

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards has just come to a close and no doubt the parties will be starting within the hour.  Unfortunately, The Shadow will not be in attendance at these parties.

The ceremony was nothing spectacular, but there were some great moments.  The opening monologue by co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin set the tone for the evening -- these two were great together.

The most drama probably came with the presentation of the final two awards -- best Director and Best Picture -- and it did not disappoint with Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker winning both awards respectively.  Bigelow now becomes the first female to ever win in the Best Director category, beating out her ex-husband, James Cameron.

The final listing is as follows:

• Best Picture -- The Hurt Locker
• Best Director -- Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
• Best Actor -- Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• Best Actress -- Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• Best Supporting Actor -- Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)
• Best Support Actress -- Mo'Nique (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Original Screenplay -- Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
• Best Adopted Screenplay -- Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious:  Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
• Best Animated Feature -- Up
• Best Cinematography -- Avatar
• Best Original Score -- Michael Giacchino (Up)
• Best Original Song -- "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), Ryan Bingham and T. Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)

One other matter that The Shadow must address.  During the presentation for Best Documentary -- which was won by the movie, "The Cove" -- one of the people on the stage tried to put a save the dolphin message on the air on a banner.  ABC cut the shot from the stage to the audience until the banner was rolled up again.

For those of you may not have seen the banner, it said "Text Dolphin to 44144".

See you next year.  Good night and good luck.