Low-budget big-cast tale Crashes Oscar party

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

Crash, which cost just €3.7 million and featured a huge cast in crisscrossing story lines over a chaotic 36-hour period in Los Angeles stars Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock and Thandie Newton.

"You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning maverick years in American cinema," said the winning film's producer Cathy Schulman last night.