Oscar curtain rises, "Up" wins best animated film

The curtain rose on Sunday for Hollywood's big night, the Oscars, with family movie "Up" winning best animated film and Christoph Waltz taking the trophy for best supporting actor in "Inglourious Basterds."

Both Waltz and "Up" were widely expected to claim honors in their respective categories, but major drama is expected later in the race for best movie, which is too close to call between Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war film "The Hurt Locker" and James Cameron's sci-fi adventure "Avatar."

Austrian actor Waltz -- who portrayed a menacing Nazi in the revenge fantasy that follows a band of American Jews killing their enemies behind lines during World War Two -- thanked director Quentin Tarantino for casting him.

"Quentin, with his unorthodox methods of navigation ... took this ship and brought it in with flying colors," Waltz said about the quirky movie that wowed fans and critics.

"Up," about an old man who ties balloons to his house and floats off on an adventure with a young boy, has been among the year's best-reviewed movies and director Pete Docter thanked his colleagues and the Disney-Pixar studio that cranked out his movie in a long line of animation hits.

"Never did I dream that making a flip book out of my 3rd-grade math book would lead to this," he joked.

Oscar organizers promised a fast-paced show with lots of laughs supplied by co-hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, and early on, the pair did not disappoint.

After an opening musical number by Neil Patrick Harris that harkened back to Hollywood's golden era with showgirls and men in tuxedos and tails, Baldwin and Martin put on a standup routine picking out stars in the audience.

"There's that damn Helen Mirren," Martin said.

"No Steve, that's Dame Helen Mirren," Baldwin came back.

FASHION DAZZLES

Ahead of the world's biggest film awards, Hollywood's leading ladies dazzled fans on Oscar's red carpet, shunning the ever popular and glamorous black gowns for metallics, colors and dashes of sparkles in gowns with long trains.

Vera Farmiga, nominated for best supporting actress playing a traveling businesswoman in "Up In the Air" wore a ruby red strapless gown from Marchesa with a dramatic ruffle. Sandra Bullock chose a shimmering silver gown.

Bullock, dubbed "America's Sweetheart" by the media, is favored to earn her first Academy Award for best actress as a strong-minded mom in "The Blind Side," one day after getting a worst actress "Razzie" by a group of Hollywood critics.

If Bullock fails on Oscar night, pundits say the likely best actress is veteran Meryl Streep as trailblazing chef Julia Child in the culinary comedy "Julie & Julia."

If she takes the Academy Award in her record 16th nomination, Streep will be just one victory short of legendary Katharine Hepburn, who had four Oscars in her lifetime, more than any man or woman.

Comedian Mo'Nique has claimed almost every supporting actress honor in sight for her dramatic turn as an abusive mother in "Precious: Based On the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire," and she is favored at the Oscars, too. And Jeff Bridges seems a lock for best actor as a drunken singer in "Crazy Heart."

But by the time it is over, Hollywood's biggest night may belong to "Hurt Locker" director Bigelow. She is nominated for best director against her ex-husband Cameron, and if Bigelow wins as expected, she will make history as the first woman to win that award in the 82 years of the Academy Awards.

A "Hurt Locker" victory in the best movie remains in doubt, however. Since Hollywood's award season began in December, reality-fueled "Hurt Locker" has trumped effects-filled fantasy "Avatar" at nearly every event.

But in the past two weeks, "Hurt Locker" began seeing some unsavory headlines for an Oscar campaign snafu and at private Hollywood parties, there have been whispers that Oscar voters may prefer "Avatar."