The Philippine Online Chronicles

Low-budget film The Hurt Locker trumped Avatar in this year’s 82^nd Academy Awards. The critically-acclaimed Iraq war drama bagged six awards, including the highly-coveted Best Picture and Best Director awards. Science fiction epic Avatar got three Oscars.

The two films were being pitted against each other like David and Goliath. Both were front-runners to take home the Best Picture award, but Avatar boasts of being the highest-grossing movie with $2.5 billion at the box office, pushing  down to second place the title-holder Titanic, which was also megged by James Cameron.  Its production budget is rumored to be anywhere between $300 million to $500 million, what with its revolutionary 3D effects, computer animation, and motion capture techniques.

The Hurt Locker, on the other hand, has a paltry budget of $11 million and domestic ticket sales of only $7 million. But what the movie lacks in figures, it makes up for with the rave reviews. The movie is heralded as the best nondocumentary feature made yet about the war in Iraq, a first-rate action thriller that places Kathryn Bigelow in the league with the top directors.

Another interesting fact is that the directors of both films were once husband and wife. Tagged as the Battle of the Ex-es, James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow of The Hurt Locker were married for two years, from 1989 to 1991. The two profess respect and admiration for each other's work and that they are good friends, but the onlookers wait for intrigue - it is, after all, Hollywood.

Then there was the boo-boo made by Hurt’s producer, Nicolas Chartier. Chartier sent an email in an attempt to convince the Academy board to vote for his movie and “not a $500M film” obviously referring to Avatar. This did not sit well with the Academy and the producer was then banned from attending the Oscars night. "Academy rules prohibit casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film,” according to a press release.

Chartier issued an apology in an email. "My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it, " he wrote.

Despite all the brouhaha, it turned out to be a big night for Hurt Locker and Bigelow. Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win the top honors for directors in the 82-year history of the Motion Picture Academy. “This is so extraordinary to be in the company of such powerful -- my fellow nominees -- such powerful film makers who have inspired me and I have admired for -- some of whom -- for decades," she said.

Her historic win got most everyone cheering because following Oscar's night was International Women's Day. sabzilla wrote on twitter,

hands down #KathrynBigelow. First woman to win best director on International Women's day. You are now officially an icon of feminism.

lawgirl246 twitted,

I am especially glad that #KathrynBigelow won for a war movie and not a cliche chick flick or romance themed film.

But not everyone agrees with the attention being lavished on Bigelow’s being female per se. Dre Rivas said, "Forget the whole 'Isn't it time a woman won?' talk. If she wins, it's because she earned it."

Photo: “The Hurt Locker” by , c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved