'Crash' Upsets 'Brokeback' At Oscars

Wins Best Picture; Witherspoon, Hoffman Win Top Acting Awards

(CBS/AP) 
It makes for a fun year," Clooney tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "It makes it fun because you spend a lot of time trying to get things done that you want, that you believe in, but they're hard to get done, and it's tricky, and usually you don't get the toys to play with, you know what I mean?...I feel like I caught a break."

In "The Constant Gardener," adapted from John le Carre's novel, Weisz played a humanitarian-aid worker whose fearless efforts against questionable pharmaceutical practices makes her a target for government and corporate interests in Africa.

Weisz thanked co-star Ralph Fiennes and director Fernando Meirelles, "and of course, John le Carre, who wrote this unflinching, angry story."

Weisz told Smith she's seven-months pregant, and she could feel the baby moving around: "There was quite a bit of adrenaline for the baby tonight. Someone told me babies bring blessings, so maybe the baby brought this (Oscar)."

"Brokeback Mountain," which led contenders with eight nominations, lost in three acting categories (Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal) but picked up the Oscar for adapted screenplay by Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove") and Diana Ossana and for Gustavo Santaolalla's musical score as well as for Lee as director.

The Oscar for original screenplay went to the ensemble drama "Crash," written by the film's director, Paul Haggis, and Bobby Moresco.

The raucous hip-hop tune "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," whose expletive-laden lyrics had to be toned down for performance at the Oscars, won the prize for best song. The song was written by the rap group Three 6 Mafia, aka Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard.

"I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't stand still," Jordan "Juicy J" Houston said backstage. "I had to run somewhere. I started to run somewhere. People thought the police was probably chasing me somewhere."

Featuring dancers dressed as hookers and pimps gyrating on stage, the song's performance stood in sharp contrast to the other nominated tunes and the general stateliness of the Oscars.

"You know what? I think it just got a little easier out here for a pimp," joked Oscar host Jon Stewart.

The family tale "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won the Oscar for best animated feature film.

Co-director Nick Park, who also made the hit stop-motion film "Chicken Run," thanked voice stars Helena Bonham Carter and Peter Sallis, who has done the voice of cheese-loving Brit Wallace for 23 years, since the filmmaker came up with the character in his student days.

"You've been an absolute gem, Peter, and you've sparkled all the way," Park said.

The Antarctic nature tale "March of the Penguins," a surprise smash at the box office, was honored as best documentary.

"King Kong," from "Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson, won three Oscars, for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing. The Japan drama "Memoirs of a Geisha" also earned three, for cinematography, costume design and art direction, while the fantasy epic "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was picked for best makeup.

South Africa's drama "Tsotsi," based on Athol Fugard's novel about a young hoodlum reclaiming his own humanity, won for foreign-language film, beating the controversial Palestinian terrorism saga "Paradise Now."

Clooney was one of the marquee names among a lineup of acting nominees heavy on lesser-known performers. Oscar organizers hoped new host Stewart and the cultural buzz over front-runner "Brokeback Mountain" would beef up viewership.

"Brokeback Mountain" is the most successful of the nominated films for best picture, taking in $75 million at the box office. But that ranks just 29th among all the films released last year. And "Capote," which has earned the least, ranks 104.

Stewart used best-picture nominee "Capote" to set up a "Brokeback Mountain" wisecrack, saying the film "showed America not all gay people are virile cowboys. Some are actually effete New York intellectuals. It's true."