Winslet's Oscar Bid Battered by Nazi Furor

Funny and un-funny moments abound at ceremony

(NEWSER) - Oscar night was filled with highs and lows, from the predictably inspirational moments when Kate Winslet finally won and Heath Ledger’s family received his posthumous award, to the cheap shot of producers cutting to Angelina Jolie’s face during Jennifer Aniston’s presenter speech. More from the Los Angeles Times. Best:

• Sean Penn opened his acceptance speech by greeting “you Commie, homo-loving sons-of-a-gun.”

Couple separated, plan 'joint parenting'

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes have separated, ending a nearly 7-year marriage. They "are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year," they said through their lawyers. "The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children." The Oscar winners have a son, and Winslet has a daughter from a previous marriage, People notes. More»

First directing honors for a woman as Iraq thriller reaps 5 awards

(AP) - The Iraq war thriller The Hurt Locker earned the Best Picture Academy Award tonight, and Kathryn Bigelow won for best director. Bigelow is the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to earn Hollywood's top prize for filmmakers. Among those Bigelow beat were ex-husband James Cameron, the best director winner for 1997's Titanic, who was nominated this time for his sci-fi spectacle Avatar. Bigelow and Cameron were married from 1989 to 1991. More»

Food, drink, and fashion flubs start awards season off right

(NEWSER) - Awards season unofficially begins with tonight's Golden Globes ceremony, an alcohol-addled free-for-all that makes the Oscar telecast feel like a prayer meeting. Breeanna Hare of CNN runs down 10 reasons the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's shindig beats the Academy Awards:

• Booze: "The Globes would not be the Globes if the nominees weren't loose enough to potentially shirk their handler's instructions and drop an F-bomb or two during an acceptance speech."

(NEWSER) - The Reader is an “incoherent, exculpatory film” that offers false redemption for "ordinary Germans" involved in the Holocaust through a tired trope and far too much nudity, Ron Rosenbaum writes in Slate. The industry has already erred deeply by nominating the film and Kate Winslet’s performance for Academy Awards. “Please, Hollywood, don't compound the error by giving the Oscar to The Reader.” More»