Crash scoops best picture Oscar

The ensemble drama Crash pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history, winning best picture over the cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain, which had been the front-runner.

Crash, featuring a huge cast in criss-crossing storylines over a chaotic 36-hour period in Los Angeles, rode a late surge of praise that lifted it past Brokeback Mountain, a film that had won most other key Hollywood honours.