First of all, let me get out of the way that I’m an “Inglourious Basterds” fan. I wanted the WWII revenge fantasy to win in all eight of its nominated categories. Predictably, and deservedly, Austrian actor Christoph Waltz — in his first introduction to American audiences, so to speak — took home the Best Supporting Actor prize at the 82nd Academy Awards in L.A. tonight. But nothing else, so I’ll set aside my hurt feelings and move on to … “The Hurt Locker.”

Yes, James Cameron, his $500 million ego, and his blue environmentally conscious CGI stars did not take home Best Picture. Or Best Director honors, for that matter. Whereas Cameron proclaimed himself “King of the World” upon winning for “Titanic” in 1997, Kathryn Bigelow — his ex-wife and his main competition, natch — was “Queen of the World” and took home the statuette. More pointedly, Bigelow becomes the first ever woman to win Best Director — and I think it’s that much cooler that the first ever woman won for making a war film.

Whereas Oscars of years past are usually making headlines for the mixing of Hollywood and politics, this year was calm as cucumber — though viewers may have been more miffed at the interpretive dance of Best Score nominees than anything that has ever come out of Sean Penn’s mouth on that stage. But yes, 10 Best Picture nominees was too many. (I mean, did anyone believe “District 9″ would win?) And George Clooney’s stoic looks of disgust at the jokes of co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were pretty funny.

I leave you with the Los Angeles Times’ comprehensive Oscars coverage — and this uber-sweet photo of Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges and his wife of 33 years, Susan Geston.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)