Local Restaurant Owner Wins Oscar (And Other Award News)

I realize I'm repeating my own joke with the headline, but it's too good not to reuse ... and when will I get to use it again? Ahem. Anyway, here's the Austin film-related news, starting with awards:

• Sandra Bullock, who owns local restaurant Bess and co-owns Walton's Fancy and Staple, also does a spot of acting when she's not running local businesses. Last night, she took home the Best Actress Oscar for her role in The Blind Side.
• The night before, she won a Razzie for her role in All About Steve ... and showed up at the awards ceremony, where she gave out DVDs of the film to all the Razzie members in attendance. Very nice.
• Austin was also represented at the Oscars by Ryan Bingham, who along with T-Bone Burnett won an Academy Award for Best Song, "The Weary Kind," from the movie Crazy Heart. Not only did Bingham and Burnett cite the work of the the late local musician Stephen Bruton on the film, but Jeff Bridges also remembered Bruton in his speech after winning Best Actor.
• Crazy Heart also was a big winner at the Independent Spirit Awards on Friday night, taking home Best First Feature for director Scott Cooper, and Best Male Lead for Jeff Bridges.
• The Independent Spirit Awards felt a lot like several local film festivals combined. The documentary 45365 won the Truer Than Fiction award ... and had won Best Documentary Feature when it played SXSW 2009. If you haven't seen this fascinating film about several nights in a small town, it's playing in Austin again at Alamo Lake Creek on Thursday night.
• In addition, Lynn Shelton won the John Cassavetes awards at the Spirit Awards for Humpday, which played SXSW 2009 and co-stars former Austinite Mark Duplass.
• But wait, there's more. Three Austin Film Festival 2009 films won Indie Spirit awards: Precious (five awards, including Best Feature and Director); The Messenger (Woody Harrelson, Best Supporting Male), and An Education (Best Foreign Film). And two more winners played SXSW 2009: (500) Days of Summer (Best Screenplay), and Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Best Documentary).
• Finally, I've just been reminded that The Hurt Locker had its U.S. premiere at SXSW last year. The film took home Best Picture and Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow) at the Oscars last night.
• Did I miss Austin representing in any other awards this weekend? Let me know in the comments.