Oscar 2010: Kathryn Bigelow vs. James Cameron

Among the Oscar 2010 curiosities are the following:

Ex Husbands and Wives

James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow (above) are both competing in the best director category. About two decades ago, they were married for a couple of years. Cameron's Avatar cost one trillion dollars to make and has earned about two trillion dollars at the box office. It's now the biggest, all-time, for all eternity supermegablockbuster in the history of the universe (not accounting for inflation or higher 3D/IMAX prices etc etc). Bigelow's The Hurt Locker cost about $11 million and grossed less than $13 million in North America. Let's not even mention "inflation" here.

Well, don't expect a Titanic replay. The Hurt Locker has already won both the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild awards; it's now the favorite to win the best picture Oscar. Bigelow is all but assured an Oscar statuette, which would make her the first woman to ever win in that category.

Kathryn Bigelow & Nominated Woman Directors

Back to Bigelow: Kathryn Bigelow is only the fourth woman to be nominated for best director. Previous nominees were Italian Lina Wertmüller (Seven Beauties, 1976), New Zealander Jane Campion (The Piano, 1993), and American Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, 2003). The gap between nominations keeps getting smaller. Perhaps we'll have another nominated female director within three or four years. Hey, slow progress is better than none whatsoever.

Up for Best Picture

Pete Docter's Up is the first animated feature to be included in the best picture category since Beauty and the Beast (1991). And they're the only two so far.

Photo: The Hurt Locker (Jonathan Olley / Summit Entertainment)