The head to head duel with Avatar that had intensified in recent weeks was finally put to bet on the weekend as the Academy Awards came and went yet again.

The big winner on the night was The Hurt Locker, but it was not all bad news for Avatar with the film still taking out a few gongs on the night.

Here is a look at the winners on the night:

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Performance by an actress in a leading role: Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Mo’Nique in Precious
Best animated feature film of the year: Disney / Pixar’s UP
Achievement in art direction: Avatar
Achievement in cinematography: Avatar
Achievement in costume design: The Young Victoria
Achievement in directing: The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow
Best documentary feature: The Cove
Best documentary short subject: Music by Prudence
Achievement in film editing: The Hurt Locker
Best foreign language film of the year: The Secret in Their Eyes (El
Secreto de Sus Ojos)
Achievement in makeup: Star Trek
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score): Up
Best motion picture of the year: The Hurt Locker
Best animated short film: Logorama
Best live action short film: The New Tenants
Achievement in sound editing: The Hurt Locker
Achievement in sound mixing: The Hurt Locker
Achievement in visual effects: Avatar
Adapted screenplay: Precious
Original screenplay: The Hurt Locker

The highly rated film has been engulfed by controversy after it was revealed one of the producers had broken strict rules on negative campaigning.

Nicolas Chartier, a producer of the film could soon face censure from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he had reportedly sent emails to thousands of Oscar voters urging them to vote for The Hurt Locker instead of a “$500 million film”.

The Hurt Locker is an independent film about a US bomb unit and one of the first films covering the controversies of the Iraq War.

It has been the clear favourite to win the Oscar for best film, despite the success of the most expensive movie ever made in Avatar.

Chartier’s email was seen as a direct attack at James Cameron, the director of Avatar, and clearly breached the academy rules against negative campaigning.

As a result, Chartier was forced to issue an embarrassing apology for his email, where he described it as “inappropriate and stupid”.

A spokeswoman for the academy declined to comment on what action, if any, might be taken against Chartier.

The Oscar for best film will be revealed at next Sunday’s Academy Awards.

As well as taking out the top award, the film also claimed a swag of other gongs including Best Director and best cinematography.

Director Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to take the award and when collecting her prize from Dustin Hoffman she was overwhelmed with emotion.

“This is so unbelievable, we’re just so deeply honoured and humbled. It is beyond our wildest imagination.”’ she said.

In the actors category Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan took out the top honours.

Firth won the leading actor prize for his role in A Single Man, while newcomer Mulligan was recognized as the leading actress for her part in An Education.

Christoph Waltz won the award for best supporting actor for his role in the Quinton Tarintino movie Inglourious Basterds.

Here is a full list of the BAFTA winners:

Film – The Hurt Locker

British Film – Fish Tank

Director – Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Actor – Colin Firth, A Single Man

Actress – Carey Mulligan, An Education

Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress – Mo’nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Rising Star – Kristen Stewart

British Debut – Director Duncan Jones, Moon

Original Screenplay – The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay – Up in the Air

Music – Michael Giacchino, Up

Cinematography – The Hurt Locker

Editing – The Hurt Locker

Production Design – Avatar

Costume Design – The Young Victoria

Sound – The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects – Avatar

Makeup and Hair – The Young Victoria

Animated Feature – Up

Precious is one of these films. With the likes of Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Invictus stealing the limelight, the Lee Daniels release has managed to go by under the radar in recent months.

Set in Harlem in the 80s, Precious is the story of Claireece Precious Jones, a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life of pain.

For starters, she is pregnant for the second time by her drug-addicted father. Her life at home is made a nightmare by her abusive mother, a poisonously angry woman who scars her emotionally and physically.

School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks even though she cannot read or write.

The inspiring story of Precious is that while she may sometimes be down, she is never out. Her story speaks of a courageous woman who overcomes adversity to reach greater heights.

Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school, a move that will lead on a journey from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination.

There are few movies which leave an everlasting scar on your memory, and Precious is one of these films… for the right reasons.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5FYahzVU44

In terms of Oscar betting for the film of the year, it is a two horse race between both movies, but if you ask the public, the winner is a no brainer with Avatar taking the cake.

But, I like to think otherwise.

The Hurt Locker is a movie made from the script of Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad.

The movie is predominantly about members of the US Army who tour together and contend with defusing bombs, the threat of insurgency, and the tension that develops among them.

The film was shot in the Middle East, largely Jordan, making for a great visual experience and one that allows the viewers to really relate to the events they are witnessing.

Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty all star in the movie, and take up roles as bomb specialists serving their country.

The major plot climaxes near the end when, with only two days left on their tour, two members of the team are called in to assist in a situation where a man was forced to wander into a military checkpoint with a time-bomb strapped to his chest.

The pair can neither remove the bomb nor disarm it in time, and is forced to flee before the bomb goes off.

Without spoiling the end, The Hurt Locker finishes in an explosive bang and really does deliver viewers an action packed experience definitely worth seeing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhQdJTlo5NI

9/10

Oh, and of course, there are the awards to won too!

Here is a look at the nominees for this years Oscar Awards:

2010 Oscars Nominations List

:

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up In The Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Horse
Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire

Best Director:
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air

Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay:
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman – The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy – Up
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche – In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell – District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Nick Hornby – An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner – Up In The Air

Best Animated Film:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film:
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru).