`Crash' pulls off Oscar upset with best-picture win; Hoffman, Witherspoon win lead-acting awards

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``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.

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 stop-motion 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. And with a best-picture field of lower-budgeted films that drew smaller audiences than the commercial flicks that often dominate the Oscars, the question was whether Hollywood's big awards night could lure TV viewers.

Oscar organizers hoped new host Stewart and the cultural buzz over front-runner ``Brokeback Mountain'' would beef up viewership.

The Oscars generally lure their biggest audiences in years when blockbusters such as ``Titanic'' or ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' are favored to win.

``Brokeback Mountain,'' though, has become a phenomenon far beyond those who have actually seen it, entering the pop-culture psyche with its tale of cowboys in love (acting nominees Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal).

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.''