Bodog Beat

Ethan Coen, left, and his brother Joel don't seem so happy to be Oscar winners – but then again it may be their famous dark humor at work. (AP Images)

For the second straight year the Oscars went dark, rewarding a violent film with the two biggest awards in the motion picture industry. No Country for Old Men won Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday night.

Unlike last year’s winner, The Departed, the film by the Coen Brothers wasn’t epic and it didn’t dominate the night. Oscars were spread out among the top films of 2007.

Based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men led with four Oscars.The Bourne Ultimatum won three and There Will Be Blood took two awards.

Although there were some surprises, the night was mostly predictable. No Country for Old Men was favored to win Best Picture with 1/3 Oscar odds and Joel and Ethan Coen were 1/5 to win the Best Director prize.

As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis won for Best Actor. He was cool in accepting his award, even dropping to a knee in front of presenter Helen Mirren, last year’s Best Actress winner for her role as Queen Elizabeth II. Day-Lewis went off with massive Oscar odds of 1/20 to win for his lead role in There Will Be Blood. That film was nominated for eight Oscars but only won one other, for best cinematography.

Other notable winners included first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody for her original screenplay of Juno. The big upsets were by Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) for Best Actress and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) for Best Supporting Actress.