Earlier today we learned that director Kathryn Bigelow made Oscar history last night at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards where she took home the trophies for Best Director (the first woman to do so) and Best Picture (the biggest award of the awards). But, there were other folks at the Oscars last night … some of them won Oscars of the their own, many of them didn’t … but that’s the name of the game. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals:

As you can see, Gabourey Sidibe wore a lovely blue dress … in fact, all of the women from Precious who appeared at the Academy Awards last night wore blue dresses because it was the color that actress Hattie McDaniel (the first African-American woman to win an Oscar) wore when she collected her Best Supporting Actress award for Gone with the Wind in 1939. Meryl Streep wore a lovely white dress … which was designed by Project Runway contestant Chris March (who is usually known for his outlandish costume designs — usually worn by drag queens — rather than his stylish fashion designs). The red carpet, as usual, had its hits and misses but the folks presented here looked mighty fine, I thought.

After the jump, check out a few photos of some of the happy Oscar winners in the Academy Awards press room last night (posing with their trophies), read a run-down of all the highlights from last night’s show and find out what I thought of the 82nd Academy Awards telecast …

It was a night of nice firsts at the 82nd annual Academy Awards, even though there weren’t that many surprises. “The Hurt Locker” was the big winner for best picture. The low-budget Iraq war drama defeated nine other nominees in the expanded category, including the box-office blockbuster “Avatar.” And there was a history-making victory when Kathryn Bigelow of “The Hurt Locker” became the first woman ever to win for best director. “The Hurt Locker” won six Oscars in total. Best actress winner Sandra Bullock, who starred in the football drama “The Blind Side,” nabbed her first Oscar for a film that gave the romantic-comedy star a chance to tackle a serious role. It also was her first nomination. Veteran actor Jeff Bridges, who’s been nominated five times, also won his first Oscar with his best actor prize for “Crazy Heart.” The Hollywood favorite gave a gracious acceptance speech that credited his parents with getting him into show business (his father was the late Lloyd Bridges). “This is honoring them as much as it is me,” Bridges said. Overall, the broadcast was practical, but not particularly inspired. Cohosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin did their best to keep things amusing, but the stretches between their appearances were sometimes tedious. As usual, the fun part was seeing the winners have their moment at the podium. In the supporting acting categories, the statuettes went to two actors who were considered the front-runners — Mo’Nique, who switched from comedy to wrenching drama to play an abusive mother in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” and Christoph Waltz, who gave a vivid performance as a Nazi officer in “Inglourious Basterds.” Like Bullock, Bridges and Bigelow, it was the first win for both Mo’Nique and Waltz. Mark Boal of “The Hurt Locker” took home a statuette for his original screenplay about the tense mission of a bomb-defusing squad … The soaring “Up,” which also was nominated for best picture, won for best animated feature and original score. A tribute to the late director John Hughes, whose 1980s teen movies remain cultural landmarks, provided one of the most moving moments. Many of his familiar stars (including Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick and Jon Cryer) assembled onstage, providing a touching blast from the past for those who grew up watching “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” In an opening monologue that resembled a celebrity roast, Martin and Baldwin lobbed a rapid-fire string of zingers aimed at the nominees and stars in the audience. Steering mostly clear of topical humor, the veteran funnymen poked fun at the stars in the audience and, with self-deprecating grace, themselves. The silver-haired Martin advised young heartthrobs Zac Efron and Taylor Lautner, “Take a good look at us, guys. This is you in five years.” Later, the camera cut to Martin and Baldwin sitting backstage on a couch wearing Snuggies. It was funny, but like much of the show, a little predictable. The most striking visual joke came when presenter Ben Stiller made an entrance as a blue Na’vi from “Avatar” and began speaking in the space alien language. “That means this seemed like a better idea in rehearsal,” he said. Stiller’s bit even earned a chuckle from “Avatar” director James Cameron, who’s not exactly known for his sense of humor. But the real surprise came before Martin and Baldwin took to the stage, when the new go-to guy for award show awesomeness, Neil Patrick Harris, opened the show with an elaborate musical number. Dressed in a sparkling tuxedo jacket and oozing dapper charm, Harris, a TV star who’s hosted the Emmys and Tonys, cracked, “I know, what am I doing here?” Just adding some zest, for a few minutes at least, to an evening that occasionally seemed short on energy.

I personally didn’t love the show … I found it more boring than it usually is and not very entertaining at all. Some of the jokes were funny (props to Ben Stiller in full Avatar make-up for making me laugh the most) but, overall, I felt they fell really flat. The interpretive dance portion was the stupidest shizz I’ve ever seen on an awards show. Not only were the dances uninspired (I’ve seen better moves in movies like Step Up and Honey, to be honest) but they had NOTHING at all to do with the movies they represented. It was just dumb … Oscar telecast director Adam Shankman did a poor job, I’m sorry. The show was about an hour way too long … which wasn’t helped by the way too long nominee packages that kept slowing things down thruout the night. When Ryan Reynolds was over-dramatically and somberly introducing The Blind Side as a nominee for Best Picture, I actually started to fall out of lust with him … IT WAS THAT BAD! Ugh. The only reason I’m not all that peeved about the show is because many of my faves won their awards. I’m just thrilled that The Hurt Locker did so well … it was much deserved. I love Sandra Bullock, I really do … but Meryl Streep deserved the Best Actress Oscar … that’s my only complaint. Click HERE to see a full list of Oscar winners last night. Did YOUR fave picks win? What did YOU think of the show itself?

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]