h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...for The Hurt Locker. Yay!

I'm just glad that a 'real' film won, not a computer-generated bells-and-whistles blockbuster.

I should note at this point that I've seen neither The Hurt Locker nor Avatar, and have no actual plan to see either of them. But that's neither here nor there. While Avatar might be a technological leap forward, I do prefer something that tells a story through human performances and the subtleties of human nature.

I agree, Ivan. I haven't seen both those films, yet, either, but really didn't feel like watching Avatar at any point - the impression of the people who've seen it (and whose opinion I trust) seems to be that it's gorgeous visually, but the plot is a rehashed pack of blah. And while visuals are nice and all, I care more about the plot; I am reminded of when I watched Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... it was really impressive visually, in a very Burton-esque way, but the plot was not very good (in my opinion), so altogether it left me feeling kinda... uncomfortable, I guess. Not sure what the right word is. But it felt empty, in a way. So I have a feeling Avatar would be a similar experience, and I really rather pass.
I'll wait till the technology is common enough that a good director can use it to do something really impressive, both visually and plot-wise.