Kate Winslet, meantime, has taken best actress for the Holocaust-themed saga "The Reader," while best-picture favorite "Slumdog Millionaire" has cruised to seven Oscars, including best director for Danny Boyle.
Heath Ledger is the supporting-actor winner for his demented reinvention of Batman villain the Joker in "The Dark Knight," becoming only the second actor ever to win an Oscar posthumously.
The supporting-actress trophy has gone to Penelope Cruz as a tempestuous artist in Woody Allen's Spanish romance "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
