Oscars 2010: Let the post-game party coverage begin!

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‘The Hurt Locker’ was Oscar’s big winner Sunday night, taking its best picture honors in a wow-did-they-just-give-an-award flash at the close of the show. So, why the rush?

The logical explanation for the broadcast’s abrupt end might be that presenter Tom Hanks was under pressure to wrap it up quickly. The Ministry, however, prefers to imagine they sped things up so that everyone could head straight for the parties that followed.

The stars had places to go and people to schmooze: James Cameron and Suzy Amis were about to spend a couple of hours on their feet holding court with the ‘Avatar’ gang and other admirers at the Governors Ball; Jennifer Lopez had to manage a clothing quick-change into party black for the Vanity Fair soiree. Taylor Lautner and Zac Efron, Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock were among those whose presence would be demanded in at least two places at once. And Woody Harrelson was about to arrange a late-night foodie call with a rather large bowl of Wolfgang Puck pasta.

The Ministry’s party coverage is incoming; until then, check out Oscar’s red carpet arrivals (so in love with Zoe Saldana‘s exciting purple Givenchy, not to mention Bullock’s silver sheath) and highlights from the show itself ...

... in a couple of terrific photo galleries straight out of Hollywood. You can even put yourself in the middle of the tented red carpet madness with a panoramic shot of what was, for a few hours Sunday, the center of the universe. -- Christie D’Zurilla

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

Honey, just do what Mo’Nique wants -- she’s an Oscar winner

Jeff Bridges: After his Oscar win, the actor -- and Dude -- abide

Red carpet: George Clooney at the Academy Awards

Red carpet: Kristen Stewart -- now you see her, now you don’t

Red carpet: Zoe Saldana’s all aglow for her ‘easy breezy’ stroll

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A new Times database puts readers on the sidewalks of Hollywood, using more than a century of archives to track the lives of the stars, including current Oscar nominees and new winners Jeff Bridges, James Cameron, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep.