Brotherly Love-in As Coens Scoop Four Oscars

No Country For Old Men made a late sprint to the finish line at the 80th annual Academy Awards, wrapping up the night with four awards. Joel and Ethan Coen's tense Tex-Mex thriller won prizes for best film, director and adapted screenplay, while Javier Bardem was named best supporting actor for his turn as an implacable killer. He is the first Spanish man to win an acting Oscar.

The Bourne Ultimatum finished in second place with three awards, for sound editing, sound mixing and best editing.

In a night of few surprises, Marion Cotillard managed to up-end expectations by winning the best actress award for her turn in La Vie en Rose, ahead of bookies' favorite Julie Christie. Cotillard is the first French winner in the category since Simone Signoret back in 1960.

Daniel Day-Lewis was, as expected, named best actor for his powerhouse role as a corrupted oil tycoon in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. His ornate, exuberant performance appeared to carry over to his acceptance speech. "My deepest thanks to the Academy for whacking me with the handsomest bludgeon in town," he said, brandishing the statue. For good measure he added that his Oscar had "sprang like a golden sapling from the head of Paul Thomas Anderson." There Will Be Blood also won for best cinematography.

The Pixar blockbuster Ratatouille was named best animation, while the Austrian holocaust drama The Counterfeiters won in the best foreign film category. Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton scooped the best supporting actress award for her role as a brittle executive in Michael Clayton, while Diablo Cody won best original screenplay for the teen pregnancy comedy Juno.

The dark and sombre nature of most of the nominated films was largely reflected in a sober, stolid ceremony. Introducing the event, host Jon Stewart paid rueful tribute to "this year's slate of Oscar-nominated psycho-killer movies ... all I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy."