Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarantino's holocaust story Inglorious Basterds and the country biopic Crazy Heart were the early winners at the 82nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
The first award of the night went to Austrian actor Christoph Waltz in the best supporting actor category for his villainous role as Nazi officer Hans Landa in the World War II drama.
It is the first Oscar for the 53-year-old was presented the award by Penelope Cruz.
Crazy Heart registered its first victory in the best original song category for 'The Weary King (Theme from Crazy Heart). While The Hurt Locker, which has nine nominations, won in the category of best original screenplay. The award went to Mark Baol.
Disney-Pixar's film Up, which is also nominated for the best picture, won the Oscar for the best animation film. While the award for Best make-up went to Star Trek's Barney Burman. The award was present to Burman by Ben Stiller, who was dressed as 'Na'vi, from Avatar.
The Hollywood extravaganza got under way with a formal introduction of the 10 nominees in the best actor and actress categories before How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris led off a song and dance routine.
{{/usCountry}}The Hollywood extravaganza got under way with a formal introduction of the 10 nominees in the best actor and actress categories before How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris led off a song and dance routine.
{{/usCountry}}It was followed by the introduction of show hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who warmed up the star-studded audience with an opening double act by cracking jokes at the nominees including Meryl Streep.