Geeks And Freaks Play Big Scene Stealers On Hollywood's Star-Filled Oscar Night

Oscar night was a triumph for the freaks and geeks.

Yeah, George Clooney was there looking as dapper as ever.

And one of the icons still standing from Hollywood's glory days, Jack Nicholson, was looking fat and sassy behind his shades with that "I'm too cool for school" grin.

But the scene stealers were people who were probably the odd ducks when they were in school.

Take the gawky and nerdy Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, for example.

Introverted and less than eloquent at the 80th annual Academy Awards, they took home an armful of trophies for their poetically violent "No Country for Old Men."

From "Blood Simple" and "Raising Arizona" to "The Big Lebowski" and "Fargo," these guys do all their talking on the screen.

Then there is Diablo Cody, the former stripper turned wunderkind screenwriter, who appeared to be channeling Bettie Page on the red carpet.

On a night when red was the new black and black was back, she dared to show up in a gown with leopard skin design.

Her blunt-cut bangs and razor-cut bob, along with a prominent shoulder tattoo of a pinup girl, added to the freak image she seems to nourish.

Cody won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for the surprise hit "Juno," a smart, funny and heartfelt comedy about a pregnant high school student searching for the perfect adoptive parents for her baby.

It was a first script from the former Brook Busey-Hunt, an Illinois native and college graduate who gave up clerical work to explore, work in and blog about the seedy sex industry in Minneapolis. She is the first Oscar winner to go from blogger to Hollywood filmmaker.

Geekism continued with Tilda Swinton, the willowy redheaded British actress who won best supporting actress for her role in "Michael Clayton."

On film, Swinton, 47, can be scary and intimating. She has built a career on offbeat roles, but she showed a great sense of humor when she accepted the Oscar, comparing the statuette to her American agent.

"He is the spitting image of this - really, truly the same-shaped head and, it has to be said, the buttocks. I'm going to give this to him because there's no way I'd be in America, even on a plane, if it wasn't for him," Swinton said.

Swinton is also known for a somewhat unconventional love life. She is raising her twins with their father, Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne, while living with her "sweetheart" of three years, 29-year-old New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp.

Best actress winner Marion Cotillard may not be a geek or a freak. but she is French and that - plus a wide-eyed enthusiasm over winning - makes her different.

The 32-year-old made a splash with a body-hugging, mermaid-style dress, her adorable accent and quotes such as, "I'm totally overwhelmed with joy and sparkles and fireworks and everything that goes like 'boom boom boom.'"

She won for her portrayal of legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose" ("Life in Pink"). The film has the same title as Piaf's 1946 international hit.

SWEETHEARTS WIN: One of the sweetest victories at the Oscars was the best song, "Falling Slowly," from the obscure 2006 Irish film "Once."

Former street singers and current lovers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova wrote the song and co-starred in the film, which was shot in 2 1/2 weeks for less than $100,000.

"Once" tells the story of an Eastern European girl and a Dublin busker who meet and make beautiful music together. Hansard and Irglova paid their own way to Hollywood for the awards, crashed at a friend's house and had to borrow a car to get to the ceremony.

They performed their own song and beat out a trio of nominees from the slick Disney film "Enchanted."