Kathryn Bigelow defeats James Cameron and 'Avatar' to win Director's Guild Award
'The Hurt Locker' has now won both PGA and DGA awards
Kathryn Bigelow defeated her ex-husband, but good friend James Cameron to win the 2010 DGA Award for best Film Direction.
History was made Saturday night as Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Director's Guild of America Outstanding Direction of a feature film award for "The Hurt Locker."
Bigelow defeated a number of strong nominees including her ex-husband, but now good friend James Cameron ("Avatar"), Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious") and Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"). Only twice in the past ten years has a DGA winner not gone on to win the equivalent Academy Award. Those exceptions occurred in 2001 when Ang Lee won for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Steven Soderbergh won the Oscar for "Traffic") and in 2002 when Rob Marshall won for "Chicago" (Roman Polanski won the Oscar that year for "The Pianist"). In that time span, it should be noted the last six DGA winners went on to win Oscar.
Many will now speculate that this win along with the PGA win means that "Avatar's" frontrunner status for Best Picture is not as strong as once believed. It would be quite a David vs. Goliath story if "Hurt Locker," which made only $12 million in the U.S. (but was No. 1 in DVD rental chart last week) defeated Cameron's "Avatar" for Oscar's biggest prize. The critically acclaimed blockbuster will soon pass $2 billion worldwide and break "Titanic's" domestic record of $600 million within the week. Money plus respect usually talks in Oscarland, but that doesn't mean the Director's statue won't go to Bigelow. In fact, this pundit would be shocked if it didn't.
TV winners included "Mad Men" and a surprise win for "Modern Family." The complete list of 2010 Director's Guild of America winners are as follows:
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Film
Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Documentary
Winner: Louie Psihoyos, "The Cove"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Movie for Television
Winner: Michael Sucsy, "Grey Gardens"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Dramatic Series Night
Winner: Lesli Linka Glatter, "Mad Men," "Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series
Winner: Jason Winer, "Modern Family," Pilot
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical Variety program
Winner: Don Mischner, "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Reality Program
Winner: Craig Borders, "Build It Bigger Season 3": "Hong Kong Bridge"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Daytime Serial
Winner: Christopher Goutman, "As The World Turns," "Once Upon A Time"
DGA Award for Outstanding Direction in Commercials
Winner: Tom Kuntz - Eyebrows, Cadbury; Tailor, Skittles; Scents For Gents, Old Spice; Tips, Career Builder
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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios, launched the Hollywood Hitlist on MSN Movies and revamped The Envelope for the 07-08 season. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing on the basketball court. And even at his advanced age, can still hit a clutch 3 and keep up with those youngin's on the defensive end.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupAnthony Sylvester Even though it was expected, I am absolutely elated at the fact that, for the first time in cinematic history, a woman will win the Academy Award for Best Director. What will make the victory even sweeter was that it was for a low-budget war film! This is the kind of picture that usually gets recognized by the Independent Film community, but is all but ignored by the lay public. A good director creates an entertaining picture. A great director leaves his/her mark indelibly on their films. This is what Kathryn Bigelow has done with the Hurt Locker. She elicited brilliant perfomances from her cast, especially Jeremy Renner as the ballsy bomb expert. His performance, like her directing, was a brilliant display of verisimilitude and a powerful example of divine grace under pressure. Bravo Miss Bigelow! Here's to you making history on a little, nondescript film!
January 31, 2010 at 1:38PM EST Reply to CommentJohnDoe I wouldn't get too excited yet there Anthony. There may be an upset in the cards at the Oscars, you never know. I don't really think she deserved the award in my opinion, as I didn't think the movie was anything special but a bunch of mildly tense bomb diffusing scenes mashed together, and a boring sub-plot with the kid.
January 31, 2010 at 2:05PM EST Reply to CommentCam Gross understatement JohnDoe. The Hurt Locker was far and away the finest film of 2009. Up In The Air, Inglorious Basterds, and Avatar are all fantastic films, but The Hurt Locker was the most intense character study I've ever seen. It was also ballsy filmmaking, about men in manly situations, by a woman no less, in some of the most extreme filming conditions on Earth. It's a fucking triumph, and it also manages to depict these current wars realistically while at the same time paying respect to our servicemen and women, instead of tearing them down. The subplot with the kid is slightly muddled, but never boring. However, if I have to pick between an extraordinary film with one flaw, or Avatar, which was a beautiful, wonderful film that deserves all the money its getting, it was also extremely thin, retardedly simplistic, and was basically Pocahontas with aliens. And that's not Best Picture material, imo. So...that's my opinion
January 31, 2010 at 2:18PM EST Reply to CommentNomaic 'The Hurt Locker' was a potent film, and dealt with more than just difusing bombs and that DVD kid. I don't care so much that a woman finally won this award so much as I'm glad Ms. Bigelow won it for this film. I hate seeing 'history made' with a stuffy individual and an overrated film.
January 31, 2010 at 2:31PM EST Reply to Comment