• Kathryn Bigelow is first woman to win best director Oscar• Avatar gets only three out of nine nominations• Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique win acting honoursFor once, the Oscars were a genuine nail-biter. Right through to the final reel, it was too close to call between the David and Goliath of this year's contenders: Avatar, James Cameron's 3D space opera, and The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's low-budget drama about a squad of US bomb disposal experts working in Iraq. That Bigelow and Cameron were once married merely heightened the drama – quietly exploited by the ceremony producers who sat them directly behind each other – as did the huge disparity in their box-office takes (with over ...