On Thursday night, the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Films presented its annual Saturn awards for the best in the genre in movies and television.

As everyone expected, James Cameron's Avatar ruled the night, picking up 10 awards. Among the awards were Best Science Fiction Picture, along with Best Director and writer for James Cameron, who now holds the record for the most Saturn wins of any individual.

Among the other awards won for Avatar were Best Actor for Sam Worthington, and Best Actress for Zoe Saldana, and Best Supporting Actor and actress for Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. I have to say that I'm very happy to see Lang winning his award. I have been impressed with his work, especially with his portrayals of famous figures from history, such at Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals, George Pickett in Gettysburg, and Ike Clanton in Tombstone, just to name a few. He is a very talented actor and greatly deserving in this recognition.

Among the other movies that were honored were Watchmen for Best Fantasy Film, Drag Me To Hell for Best Horror Film, Monsters vs. Aliens for Best Animation, District 9 for Best International Film, and Inglourious Basterds for Best Action/Adventure movie.

The results in the world of television were very less decisive as awards were picked up for several shows. While I can understand why Lost won for Best Television Series, I can not for the life of me, understand how Breaking Bad could win (or even be nominated for that matter) for Best Syndicated/Cable series. That show does not fit any of the three genres being honored that evening in this writer's opinion.

One of the pleasant surprises of the evening was the Best Television Presentation award. The winner of that one turned out to be Torchwood: Children of Earth which bested Alice from Syfy, The Prisoner from AMC, The Tudors from Showtime, V from ABC, and the show that it was spun off of from, Doctor Who, which also was nominated for David Tennant's final appearance in the role, The End of Time.

Fans of Star Trek can take some solace from the evening, as the J. J. Abrams movie won for Best Makeup, and its writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman won the George Pal Memorial Award for their imagination and dedication in created blockbuster concepts for movies and television.

One other award of note was the award for Best Actor in a Guest Starring Role, which went to Leonard Nimoy for his career-ending work on Fringe.

You can find a complete list of winners on the Saturn Awards official website.

Speaking of awards, be sure and check out my column Wednesday as I will be introducing you to one of the nominees for the 2010 Portal Award for Best Web Production. It is the story of what might have happened if television's favorite timelord had visited a certain legendary starship and her crew, in the film, Trek Through Time."