As my colleague Adam Vary has reported from the scene, The Hurt Locker‘s Kathryn Bigelow won the Directors Guild prize last night, over Avatar‘s James Cameron. For many people, the outcome is a surprise: Two of the smartest Oscar experts in my mind, like Tom O’Neil at Gold Derby and Kris Tapley at InContention, both were sure Cameron would prevail considering the DGA’s populist bent and no-screeners policy. Their thinking was that The Hurt Locker simply may not have been seen by enough DGA voters to eke out a win. I was one of the Oscar dorks who had predicted a Bigelow victory, though I certainly wasn’t confident in my guess.
Now that The Hurt Locker has won the PGA and DGA prizes, is an Oscar win next? Since Avatar doesn’t have a single guild-award win to its credit as of yet, Bigelow’s film certainly has the edge at the moment, particularly in the Best Director category, where she’d be the first woman ever to win (as she was at the DGA). But let’s also remember that just four years ago, Brokeback Mountain lost the Best Picture Oscar after picking up DGA and PGA honors. So nothing is a sure thing.
Image credit: Jordan Strauss/Wireimage.com
Is that right? Brokeback won Best Director at the Oscars…
You’re right, Kevin. I was referring to Best Picture. I’ve now clarified it in the post. Thanks!
I don’t think you made it clear that Ang Lee did win the Oscar even though the picture did not win.
Cameron himself thought that Bigelow would win at the Golden Globes… Let’s hope he’s right about that for the Oscars.
Pffft. In 10 years no one will care about Hurt Locker but in 100 years people will still be watching Avatar.
Uuh, don’t think so. 100 years from now, technology will be so advanced that Avatar won’t matter because technology is what Avatar has going for it, not the story which is the movie’s weak element. Hurt Locker is the stronger film and will eventually age better than Avatar.
And MY GOODNESS the EGO on that director…He had five wives from five different films he made! collecting one/dumping the other as he went! ABHORRENT!
And one of those five wives was … Kathryn Bigelow!
Actually, I’m guessing hurt locker will flop in a few years while Avatar will at least be known for its cultural impact and insane gross.
“Not a sure thing” is correct when comparing Brokeback’s awards to the Oscar best picture award. However, remember that Ang Lee did win the best director Oscar although the film did not receive Best Picture. I now feel confident that Bigelow will win the Oscar. Best Picture seems to be between Hurt Locker and Avatar.
I could care less what wins Best Picture as long as Bigelow wins Best Director. In fact, in the years where Best Director and Best Picture have split, I always found the Best Director’s film to be superior. Brokeback Mountain is way better than Crash. The Pianist is better than Chicago. Traffic is way better than Gladiator. Saving Private Ryan is better than Shakespeare in Love. Born on the Fourth of July is better than Driving Miss Daisy. And Reds is better than Chariots of Fire. And that’s all I was alive for.
I’ve never realized it before, but you are right. I still think Shakespeare in Love is superior to Saving Private Ryan (by a small margin — I’m a sucker for fantastic dialogue) but otherwise, it’s a good observation.
I totally agree. I only saw 20 mins. of Gladiator and found it so bored, i quit watching. I haven’t seen Reds or Chariots of Fire, so I’ll take your advice on those two.
Micahel, I agree with you 100%. Oscar typically fucks up when choosing Best Picture, but their choices for Best Director and their films are superior than the eventual Best Picture winner.
Good Observation. I think Bigelow/The Hurt Lockers biggest competition could still come from Tarantino/Inglorious Basterds, not Cameron/Avatar. Either way, at least there should be some suspense on Oscar Night.
Shakespeare In Love was a far superior film not like hammer over the head subtle movie like SPRyan! If you want to see the best Spielberg film check out The Color Purple now that is his masterpiece!
Sorry, “Reds” bored me senseless; I’ll sit through “Chariots” 10 times before I’ll watch it again.
Avatar and The Hurt Locker may split the Best Picture and Best Director awards. Since The Hurt Locker is the best film directed by a woman this year, this makes Kathryn Bigelow the odds on favorite to be the first woman to win the Oscar’s Best Director award. As for Best Picture, Avatar has a slight edge over The Hurt Locker because of the former’s global box office success and impact, technical achievements and pro-environment theme. Oscar voters tend to bestow Best Picture honors on films that have emotional reasonance and relevance with the viewing public. Expect Avatar to sweep all the technical categories come Oscar night.
I’d love to see Bigelow win Best Director. In my opinion, the pure tension and terror that she created in “The Hurt Locker” slightly edges out the incredible imagination Cameron showed in creating Pandora. As for THL as a movie, though, it kind of fell apart at the ending for me, and that’s why I think a split, with “Inglourious Basterds” (probably the second-best time I had at the movies all year, after “Up”) taking Best PIcture, would be totally appropriate this year.
Totally agree. I was on the edge of my seat. She made you feel like you were right there with those guys.
That is why the CRASH win for Best Pic was such a shock – that the best director did not direct the best picture seems cuckoo. However, they are different things I suppose if you break it down.
I am hopeful for Kathryn but still would put all my cash on Cameron. Remember that all the Academy voters vote- and the technical category members I am sure will vote Cameron, along with many many actors, the largest voting bloc.
I doubt that many of the actors will vote for Cameron. I’m sure there are many that don’t like the technology he is using. Actors are usually opposed to CGI since it crowds them out of the filmmaking process.
Except that in the case of Avatar the characters were fully performed by actors and had digital “makeup” applied (I mean jeez, even real horses were used). Still, I’d prefer to see “Hurt Locker” prevail.
Notice the co-nominees for Best Picture and Best Director categories sneering at J Cameron as he delivered his acceptance speech, I think and hope that GG is as far as this madness goes!
Just create a “Best Computer Overseer” award – problem solved. And present it at the off-camera section of the show.
actually, pundits widely predict that Avatar will fare poorly among actors. It didn’t get a single nomination at SAG. Both LOTR and Slumdog Millionaire, won the best picture without any acting nods, won the SAG cast prize for which Avatar was not even nominated.
Hooray for Bigelow!
Up next, the little golden naked dude!
“The Hurt Locker” was an excellent piece of story-telling. I am rooting for it to win an Oscar over the life-size video-game that is Avatar!! Go Bigelow!!
Nothing would make me happier than seeing ‘Avatard’ lose all the major categories to *gasp* better films.
Lol, but Avatar IS the better film. You don’t make THAT much money at the box office being a BAD film. The numbers speaks for it itself, Avatar is THE BEST film of 2009 and no one can debate that. How much did Hurt Locker make? Curious.
Avatar is a medicore story dressed up in great CGI. It is not a good film. It is an average film that a lot of people have gone to see because of the special effects.
You must think Transformer Revenge of whatever is a masterpiece then right?
We can thank logic like this for “America has spoken! GI Joe is the #1 movie in America!”
I lOVE bogus thinking like “can’t be a bad film and make money” – Cecil B DeMille’s entire CAREER was bad films that made money! The Star Wars return (with Jar Jar) made money, Transformers 2, oh I could go on all day nut I’m laughing too hard…
Avatar is just a remake of “Fern Gully”
Judging film quality on the amount of box office receipts is foolish.
Hahahaha I LOVE when people try to make that argument. It has made so much money because it has the “oooohhhhh this looks pretty” appeal which The Hurt Locker does not. Yes just because a movie made lots of money does NOT mean its a good film (can you say Transformers and New Moon?) So please everyone with this view point STOP saying it. It simply doesn’t hold. By the way the film made over 16 million dollars on an 11 million dollar budget. So hey, Kathryn Bigelow made a better film for 11 million dollars than James Cameron did with 300-400 million. That is impressive and why she won the DGA award
Oh Yeah What about Ghost Rider!!!?????
One of the best films of 2007? because it earned so much money?
Money=quality? Then how on Earth has an Adam Sandler movie not won Best Picture yet? He wuz robbed!
The film that makes the most money is not the better film. James Cameron had 300 plus million dollars to make avatar. Its like any other big budget film, its goin to make money and its goin to be seen by millions because of its huge advertising campaign. The Hurt Locker is a great film, that was in limited release and seen by maybe a couple million. And it shows it like it was and is in Iraq.
The Hurt Locker is one of those rare movies where some moviegoers actually get up and walk around or head to the popcorn stand not because they are bored or scare but because the tension is so great. This is amazing to me because you don’t hear a lot of screaming from the shock from screen surprises. The movie truly gets under your skin by internalizing the anxiety of war. It is a truly strange experience to see people wandering around the theater because they don’t know what’s going to happen. Now that tells you the script is great, the acting is great, and most of all the direction is perfect. Bigelow is the best this year by far.
It’s a masterclass of directing. Anyone who wants to direct films should be required to watch The Hurt Locker. I think the untrained eye is so use to looking at the screenplay and the actors (usually stars) that they can’t see how great The Hurt Locker is. In every scene, Bigelow used the right editing, camera work, and sound to create and enhance the tension. I don’t think you can validate anyone’s opinion that thinks The Hurt Locker is boring. I just think there are a lot of bitter people who are mad that Cameron or Tarantino is not going to win Best Director this year.
So a great picture then is not one that keep’s you riveted to your seats but rather one that causes you to roam the hallways? I hope I don’t get confused where people get up and walk out becasue the movie is so bad.
It’s interesting you bring up the theater experience of hurt locker because how many people here calling it a masterpiece actually went to see it in theaters. After it started winning awards that when most people decided to check it out. Most of you are just sheep who wait for awards to tell you what is good before you follow blindly. Learn to form your own original ideas and views. I’m tired of reading the same things over and over again where you reguritate other peoples opinions.
Jane, you ignorant ****! I saw Hurt Locker reviewed on Rotten Tomoatoes, and could not wait to see it. It never came to my town, so I drove into Chicago (40 miles) to go see it over the summer (way before any awards). Afterward, I told all my friends they have to see this movie. Have you seen it, Jane?
Actually, I did not hear about it when it was in the theaters. It was only a couple of months ago when I read about it in the context of another story. Perhaps it did not benefit from the studio marketing that Avatar did.
I suppose I could be a blind sheep who waits for the marketing dudes to tell what is good rather than industry insiders who vote, sometimes wisely, for the awards.
Which ever type of sheep you are, I hope one day you can break away from the flock and be able to judge movies not based on other people’s opinions but decide for yourself. Movies don’t typically get the Avatar marketing and there are movies with similar marketing that have done better that hurt locker so nice try but fail for your argument. And also I don’t believe you never heard about the movie when it was in theaters. You all needed someone to tell you Hurt Locker is great for you act like it the best film ever, even though you would have ignored the movie otherwise. BAA BAA, sheep. I’m sure if the industry insiders tell you GI joe is a masterpiece, you will all of a sudden demand that it is best movie since citizen kane. Hurt locker is good but not great and it is hilarious to see the followers without any significant or original ideas about the movie. Hurt locker is great because they say it’s great and it is that buzz that will take it to the oscars so there are many sheep out there so you don’t have to feel alone.
What’s the problem with seeing a movie because it wins awards? These are generally agreed by the experts to be the best movies of the year so why wouldn’t we want to see them? Seeing a movie because it’s well reviewed or awarded and then agreeing it’s good isn’t blindly following. I saw Up In the Air because it’s likely to be an Oscar nominee and was well-reviewed, but I didn’t like it. I saw The Hurt Locker because it’s likely to be an Oscar nominee and was well-reviewed and I loved it. I don’t think that makes me a sheep- it just makes me someone who wants to see good movies.
Jenny, there is nothing wrong with seeing movies because they win awards, the problem is when people like the movies because they are winning the awards and not because they genuinely like it. You saw up in the air and judged for yourself and came up with your own opinion so I don’t consider you a sheep. I refer to the people who who are all over the hurt locker because it is winning awards. To be clear, I don’t think everyone who likes the hurt locker is not genuine, but there is group of people who just follow blindly and praise the movie just because others are doing it. My beef is with those people who act like they have superior taste in cinema when they would not have ever seen or liked it if they were not told to.
I look at reviews before movies because I simply don’t want to watch a bad movie. If a movie received a 100% on rottentomatoes, I would probably choose to see it over a movie that got a 0%. But that doesn’t mean I will like the movie that got a 100% or hate the movie that got a 0%. I saw both The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air in theatres simply because it was getting good reviews. But I only loved The Hurt Locker. So I can form opinions of a film for myself; however, I don’t think its a bad thing to read reviews simply in the hopes of avoiding bad movies.
Jane…holy moly, get over yourself. What’s important is that people see good movies. Who cares why they go? Better a bunch of people flock to good movies because they’re told they’re good than not see them at all b/c in many, MANY towns across America, they never hear about them at all. (For example, my state doesn’t even have an indie movie theater, or even a second-run theater. I have to drive 60+ miles to the closest major city and pay tons of money to park just to see one little indie film that never got a single breath of a mention in my stupid state. I never would have heard of many indie/small movies had I not been paying attention to their “buzz.”) My point being: at least people are seeing the good movies; that’s all that matters.
Well Jane, thanks for calling me lier, but I certainly never heard of the Hurt Locker while it was in theaters because a) I don’t watch TV, b) I don’t look at movie ads in the press, and c) because I missed Roger Ebert’s (who seems to have similar tastes to mine) print review of it.
Also, if you read my post, you will see that I never said it was a great movie, in fact I thought it was an ok movie, not necessarily great, but certainly better than a number of block busters I could name (not Avatar though – as I have not followed the sheep to see it).
So basically you fail at comprehension and being an open minded individual.
Yes, it’s true that only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the feature film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. But three of those times have been relatively recent — so it’s not a shocker when it happens now.
In 1995, Ron Howard won the DGA for Apoll 13 — but then wasn’t even nominated for the Oscar!!
2000 DGA winner Ang Lee won for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — and 2002 DGA winner Rob Marshall won for Chicago — they did gain Oscar noms, but both failed to win.
So yeah, a long history of matching — but more recent history holds more surprises.
The proof is in the pudding, Avatar is the top grossing film of the year, everyone is talking about it, many people have seen it twice. Surely that kind of a film should be rewarded. When I ask work colleagues if they’ve seen Hurt Locker, they all have a puzzle look on their faces, asking what movie again. It seems to me a David vs. Goliath scenario here, where Goliath is almost sure to win. If I were you I’d bet on the sure thing. Avatar WILL win this, same reason Titanic won. So don’t hold your breath over a Hurt Locker win. Sure HL was good but not great. AVATAR was great!
So now it’s the “popular proves quality” argument, or are your work colleagues experts based on what they HAVEN’T seen?
Hurt Locker is better. Avatar is more successful. I don’t much care who wins, but quality isn’t determined by awards either.
hey idiot, just cause lots of you simpletons like avatar does not make it a good film. In fact the fact that you like it is proof it is trash.
How do u reward a “top grossing film” with mediocre acting and SCRIPT? you reward it with a nomination. You don’t give it the Top Prize just because of it’s huge box office.
avatar has already been awarded with commercial success and is a frontrunner for technical awards for its technical strengths but the academy also likes to honor lesser known critical successes and help them to achieve recognition and public awareness and appreciation
I wonder if Avatar’s ticket prices weren’t double of other films, would it be the #1 movie of all time (currently and without inflation)? In the next few years, someone will do something just as spectacular as Avatar and it will be forgotten and it’s record will be forgotten just as Titanic’s is about to be.
Holy ****, the backlash and insulting in these forums are insane! You can make a point without insulting everyone with a different opinion!
After finally seeing Hurt Locker, I was naturally let down. It’s a solid film about a specific facet of war, but the scope is so limited. Also, the tension was less than I expected, as it’s basically scene after scene of the same thing – guy disarming bomb while soldiers watch anxiously. A good film, but hard to compare it to the epic that is Avatar.
Oh, it was SO MUCH MORE than people disarming bombs. I think the movie had an amazing message that was far beyond what you saw on screen. I think the movie accurately captured how difficult it is for men and women who’ve been on the front lines of war to go back to a “regular” way of living. The ending was heart-wrenching and intense and I think this is by far one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
I agree with you. Just look at the supermarket scene where Jeremy Renner is looking at all the different types of cereals. That scene spoke volumes to me.
this movie doesn’t depict how me and the rest of my soldiers were after coming back from iraq. in fact watching the movie while in iraq last year we were annoyed by how unaccurate the movie was especially the dynamics of soliders among soldiers. it didn’t depict how hard it was to accomodate back into society but rather vaguely left you guessing. hurt locker is a horribley over glorified movie claiming to be accurate of what us soldiers go through. no thank you
Ron, I respect you for fighting in Iraq, but I think you do have to remember that it is just a film. And the points you brought up are more about the screenplay than the direction anyways. Maybe it isn’t as accurate as it is touted to be, but still it is just an action movie. An excellent one with lots of tension and an attempt at a good message, but perhaps it lost some accuracy. You are not the first soldier I have heard with the same view though.
Hallelujah! I hope “Hurt Locker” takes both best director and best picture. Bigelow richly deserves both.
I still can’t see a film that made only 12 million at the box office winning the Best Picture award. I could easilly see this year being an Avatar BP win and having the academy reward THL with Best Director for Bigelow.
Haven’t we been over this? Who cares how much a movie makes! its quality over quantity. Return of the King didn’t win best picture because it made so much money, it won because it was a mesmerizing film. Avatar (hopefully) won’t win because other than wonderful visuals, there isn’t a great story there.
Justin is talking about the academy awards which do take box office into consideration, not wether it determines a good movie. Anyways, I thought RotK wasn’t great in the story department either. It was.. OH we’re winning! Oh wait we’re not… Now the elves are helping we’re winning! Oh wait they got trolls… Not saying it was a bad movie (I loved it), but I think it’s hard to say avatar has a bad storyline and RotK does not. Besides, people loved RotK because of its amazing fight scenes, sort of like how people love avatar for its technical innovation.
I think that Bigelow will win the oscar for director, but I dont think hurt locker will win best picture. it made like no money. I hadn’t even heard of the movie until awards season started
If you hadn’t heard of the movie, you obviously don’t read reviews or keep up with what’s new. I heard about Hurt Locker weeks before it arrived in Houston, and my husband and I went to see it opening weekend. We both thought it was fantastic. I was holding my breath throughout the movie. The tension is fantastic. The writing is fantastic. The directing is fantastic. And Kristen is absolutely right. The movie’s deeper meaning is about how impossible it is for many soldiers to go back to civilian life. Fingers crossed HL takes both director’s and best picture Oscars.
hmmm. “deeper meaning”…methinks it was rather obvious in that respect. the movie did not have a whole lot to say in my opinion, BUT it did say it very well. Still, despite being “timely” and exceptionally well directed, it is far from the best movie of the year. Bigelow deserves MAJOR kudos for taking a rather thin and obvious story with unexceptional characters and creating great tension and suspense. However, the adequate qualities of the rest of the movie keep it from achieving true greatness.
It is no longer surprising as it once was to find dunderheads equating money and popular success with quality. Sometimes they do indeed coincide, but it is a rare and unmistakable event when they do. I loved Avatar for its effects. As many have said, the story is cheesy. It isn’t that it is old, it is that it is cheesily handled. By the money/popularity estimate, John Grisham is a better writer than Donald Harington. Preposterous.
I was a bit surprised by this one. I thought Cameron would win. They were both great movies. It’s a toss-up for me. I think this means the Hurt Locker will either win Picture, Director, or both. It seems apparent that guild members might think Avatar is all about visuals and nothing else because no SAG noms and not winning the DGA. At least this year isn’t as predictable as last year.
I finally saw the hurt locker over the weekend and i was let down. The film is lacking a good story; just 3 guys disarming bomb after bomb, one guy is some
manly man trying to prove himself that he does risky bomb things over and over, “spoilers ahead” then he gets to know some kid named becham for like 2 seconds, he finds becom dead as a body bomb and in his respect takes tjebomb out of the boy so he can be given a proper burial, but the film uses that story line for all but ten minutes and goes back to the same old pattern of bomb dissarming, at the end dome guy is like” i wanna go home and have a son” and the main character is like” you got plenty of time for that” then the other guy is like “no, i wanna go home” then th movie cuts to the main guy at home living a norm life with his son and baby and the it cuts back to him at war again choosing war life over family, the film then ends.
Thanks Richard, for the WORST RECAP EVER.
I especially enjoyed the overuse of the word, “like.”
Avatard alert!
Richard, you are not alone. Check the IMDB site. The Hurt Locker has not even made it into the Top 250 best rated movies. Avatar is #41.
Well, if the IMDB voters like it, it MUST be good! This would be more credible if every nerd with a T1 didn’t rig the vote.
That would be mainly a consequence of The Hurt Locker’s smaller audience.
you can say that about avatar too, spy planted in a ripe for exploitation planet to gain the locals trust! Spy fell for the local girl because their culture is so rich! spy helped locals to overcome GREAT CHALLENGE to defeat exploiters. Spy because of his physical condition decided to BECOME one of the locals! then every body lived happily ever after!
SO DEEP and MEANINGFUL!
Hurt Locker. What a fantastic blue dog loser. The acting is sophmoric, the military action is pathetically innacurate says 7,000,000 vets. I would love to debate any fan of this movie at my persanal web address at richard.west@comcast.net. Oh, by the way. I am 60 years old and I am a Viet Nam Vet. Please email me. This movie gets my low low rating of a 6. A 7 means it is barely worth watching.
Hollywood, you should be ashamed of yoursels for not doing your homework and passing off this worthless directing, producing, writing for factual entertainment. yes I understand that young people who do not know anybetter may think it is a good movie, I just want a chance to tell them why Hollywood failed grossley in this movie. Email me if you dare and be prepared to be educated about movies and life.
Lt Cln. WEST