The 82nd Academy Awards followed the script set down by pundits, as the front-runners for all of the major Oscars won Sunday night. "The Hurt Locker" led with six Oscars, including best picture and best director for Kathryn Bigelow, who became the first woman to win this award. The Iraq war drama also picked up prizes for original screenplay (Mark Boal), editing, sound mixing and sound editing.

"Avatar" went into the night tied with "The Hurt Locker" with a leading nine nominations but had to settle for three Oscars for art direction, cinematography and visual effects (and a $2.4-billion and counting box-office take). See a complete list of all Oscar winners here.

Lead actor went to Jeff Bridges, a four-time also-ran at the Oscars, who finally won for his performance as a down-and-out country singer in "Crazy Heart." The theme song for that film, "The Weary Kind," won best original song for Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

First-time nominee Sandra Bullock won lead actress for best picture nominee "The Blind Side," edging out, among others, Meryl Streep, who was contending for a record 13th time in this category. The lead acting nominees were introduced by performers with whom they have a connection before last year's winners, Sean Penn ("Milk") and Kate Winslet ("The Reader"), bestowed the Oscars. Last year, each of the four acting categories was handled by five past winners who each spoke about one of the nominees.

It was no surprise that the Academy Awards for supporting actor and actress went to Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") and Mo'Nique ("Precious"). The pair had picked up all of the precursor awards going into the Oscars. Waltz's win represented the only Oscar for that best picture nominee, which had eight nominations in total while "Precious" -- which had six nominations, including a best picture bid -- also won adapted screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher

The animated feature race was won by best picture nominee "Up," which edged out Gotham and L.A. critics choice "Fantastic Mr. Fox" among others. "Up" became the fifth Pixar picture -- after "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Ratatouille" and "Wall-E" -- to win this category since it was introduced in 2001. "Up" also won best score.

Of the 10 best picture nominees, four were completely shut out -- "District 9" (with four noms), "An Education" (three noms), "A Serious Man" (two nominations) and "Up in the Air" (six). 

"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" became the second feature from Argentina to win best foreign-language film, and "The Cove" won the documentary feature Oscar. For her costume design for "The Young Victoria," Sandy Powell took home her third Oscar, following wins for "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Aviator." "Star Trek" won for makeup.

"The Hurt Locker" helmer Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman ever to win the top award from the Directors Guild of America. It was a major victory over James Cameron, Bigelow's ex-husband, whose "Avatar" recently became the highest-grossing film in world history.

By contrast, "The Hurt Locker," which cost $11 million to produce, has earned only $12 million in the U.S. ($16 million worldwide).

Recently, Kathryn Bigelow also won the director's prize at the Critics Choice Awards and from the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and the National Society of Film Critics.

The other DGA Award nominees were Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"), Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds") and Lee Daniels ("Precious").

Over the last 61 years, only six DGA champs did not repeat on Oscar night:

1968 — Anthony Harvey, "The Lion in Winter" (DGA); Carol Reed, "Oliver!" (Oscar)

1972 — Francis Ford Coppola, "The Godfather" (DGA); Bob Fosse, "Cabaret" (Oscar)

1985 — Steven Spielberg, "The Color Purple" (DGA); Sydney Pollack, "Out of Africa" (Oscar)

1995 — Ron Howard, "Apollo 13" (DGA); Mel Gibson, "Braveheart" (Oscar)

2000 — Ang Lee, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (DGA); Steven Soderbergh, "Traffic" (Oscar)

2002 — Rob Marshall, "Chicago" (DGA); Roman Polanski, "The Pianist" (Oscar)

Forty-seven of the films that won the DGA prize went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards.

Here's a list of the winners over the previous 25 years. Note that Steven Spielberg ("The Color Purple") and Ron Howard ("Apollo 13") weren't nominated at the Oscars.

* = Victor did not win best director at the Oscars

1984 - Milos Forman, "Amadeus"
1985 - Steven Spielberg, "The Color Purple" *
1986 - Oliver Stone, "Platoon"
1987 - Bernardo Bertolucci, "The Last Emperor"
1988 - Barry Levinson, "Rain Man"

I'm surprised that the vast majority of pundits we polled (20 out of 29) predict Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") will win the Directors Guild of America award over her ex-hubby James Cameron ("Avatar") on Saturday night. I don't think Team Bigelow is taking into account some crucial details about this guild that strongly suggest Team Cameron will prevail.

"The Hurt Locker" juggernaut sweeping the Hollywood film industry and America's movie critics right now may be largely isolated to those groups. DGA is comprised of more than 13,000 members who are scattered across the U.S. and don't necessarily work in the feature film biz. Most, in fact, work in television, direct commercials, music videos, etc. We must assume that many members probably didn't see "The Hurt Locker" at movie theaters, where it reaped only $12 million. Summit set up lots of industry screenings, yes, but if members missed those, they may have missed the boat entirely. According to guild rules, studios aren't permitted to send DVD screeners to DGA members.

Lots of DGA members who work on music videos and other commercial fare have a strong appreciation for the special-effects wizardry in "Avatar." Another key point: The fanatic national buzz over "Avatar" peaked two weeks ago just as DGA members received their final ballots — right about the time "Avatar" won the Golden Globe for best drama picture, which gave it a hefty awards bump. By the time "The Hurt Locker" pulled off its shockeroo victory at the Producers Guild of America, most DGA ballots were probably already filled out and mailed in.

RELATED LINK

Who will win the DGA award: 'Avatar's' James Cameron or 'The Hurt Locker's' Kathryn Bigelow?

Photo: 20th Century Fox

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We asked a few dozen experts to predict which one of the five Directors Guild of America nominees will win on  Saturday: James Cameron ("Avatar"), Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") or Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"). The pundits split into rival camps backing either a man and a woman who, coincidentally, used to be married to each other.

TEAM CAMERON

Lane Brown (Vulture, New York Magazine), Edward Douglas (Coming Soon), Scott Feinberg (And the Winner Is...), Elena Howe (The Envelope, L.A. Times), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope), Jill Sergeant (Reuters), Sean Smith (Entertainment Weekly), Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today)

TEAM BIGELOW

Thelma Adams (Us Weekly), Brad Brevet (Rope of Silicon), Ted Casablanca (E! Online), Erik Davis (Cinematical),  Greg Ellwood (Hit Fix), Marshall Fine (Star Magazine, Hollywood and Fine), Paul Gaita (The Circuit, The Envelope), Pete Hammond (Notes on a Season, The Envelope), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Kevin Lewin (World Entertainment News Network), Guy Lodge (In Contention), Lou Lumenick (New York Post), Jack Mathews (The Oscarologist, Moviefone), Steve Pond (The Odds, The Wrap), Nathaniel Rogers (Film Experience), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone), Chuck Walton (Fandango), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere)

Photos: James Cameron (20th Century Fox), Kathryn Bigelow (Summit Entertainment)

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Now that the reps for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have denied rumors of a bust-up and TMZ has reported that Brad — well, at least his beard — is back at home with his brood, there goes the theory that he's snubbing award shows because he's embarrassed about the collapse of his romance.

He didn't show up at the Golden Globes or Critics Choice Awards where "Inglourious Basterds" was nominated for best picture — and won for best supporting actor (Christoph Waltz). Brad didn't show up at the Screen Actors Guild where — surprise — he was among the winners when the "Basterds" cast claimed the ensemble award. "Basterds" also won best supporting actor for Waltz, but Brad wasn't nominated for his own, separate award.

Is it possible that he's privately upset that he hasn't generated solo kudos buzz this derby season? Last year, Brad was generously available to promote "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" when it was up for best picture at the Oscars, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards and he was nommed for best lead actor at all of those award shows. When "Babel" was a top player one year earlier, Brad made the kudos rounds as he received sporadic nominations such as a bid for best supporting actor at the Golden Globes. So why is he M.I.A. now? Is it just a coincidence that he hasn't scored any solo nominations?

A source within the Weinstein Co., who asked not to be identified because she wasn't speaking officially on behalf of the firm, told Gold Derby, "We're all baffled. When people ask us, 'Where's Brad?' we honestly don't know!"

Gold Derby contacted the office of Brad's rep to ask why he's been missing from award shows, but we did not receive a response to our inquiry.

It's not far-fetched to believe that celebrities might skip award shows where their films are lavished with nominations just because they personally didn't get a bid. Remember when "Titanic" sailed into the Oscar history books without its lead male star on board as its team accepted 11 record-tying awards at the Shrine Auditorium? Rumor had it that Leo DiCaprio was so irked the he wasn't nominated for best actor that he stayed home.

The Directors Guild of America has announced that Brad will attend its awards gala Saturday as a presenter, but a DGA rep says he doesn't know if Angelina Jolie will be with him. Of course, Brad's probably showing up to support his pal Quentin Tarantino. Not being a contender himself at DGA, Brad has no beef with the guild. However, it's possible that he's snubbing the other award shows because they snubbed him.

If true, will he snub the Oscars next? E! Online reports that Angelina Jolie will not attend the Academy Awards because "Jolie will be heading to Venice at the end of February to start production on 'The Tourist,' a remake of a French thriller costarring Johnny Depp in which Jolie plays a vengeful Interpol agent." But what about Brad?

Photo: the Weinstein Co.

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"Slumdog Millionaire" continued its triumphant dash around the awards derby track by snagging the top award tonight from the Directors Guild of America for Danny Boyle.

The latest triumph of "Slumdog Millionaire" follows its recent good fortune at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where it won best cast ensemble (which some Oscarologists believe is a harbinger of the Oscars' eventual best-picture champ) and best pic from the Producers Guild of America. Over the last 50 years, the movie that has won the DGA award has gone on to win the top Academy Award 40 times. Curiously, the DGA Award agrees more often with the best picture category at the Oscars than the academy's own slot for best director, which usually lines up with best picture.

Despite a distinguished career in both feature films and TV, Danny Boyle had never previously been nominated for a DGA award in either medium.

"Slumdog Millionaire" competed tonight against these four rivals: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (David Fincher), "The Dark Knight" (Christopher Nolan), "Frost/Nixon" (Ron Howard) and "Milk" (Gus Van Sant).

See who our top team of award pundits predicted would win the DGA Award.

See full list of other DGA winners here!

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Photo: Fox Searchlight

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Over the last 50 years, the Oscars' best-picture winner also bagged the top prize from the Directors Guild of America 40 times. What will claim the DGA trophy when it's bestowed on Saturday night?

The five films nominated: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (David Fincher), "The Dark Knight" (Christopher Nolan), "Frost/Nixon" (Ron Howard), "Milk" (Gus Van Sant) and "Slumdog Millionaire" (Danny Boyle).

Over at AwardsDaily.com, Sasha Stone sighs, "There probably isn’t much to write about here as Boyle has this one in the bag. He has it so much in the bag, in fact, that I don’t even think I’ll run predictions because what would be the point?"

Well, Gold Derby decided to pursue the point anyway and pooled predix from lots of pundits, who back Boyle by a landslide, that's true. But I found a few brave (crazy?) souls who dare to stray. They include Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters), Kevin Lewin (World Entertainment News Network) and, well, me. All of us believe Fincher will take this. I even think Christopher Nolan (who's not nominated at the Oscars) has a shot. After all, there were a few notable cases of previous Oscar snubees actually claiming the DGA trophy: Ron Howard ("Apollo 13") and Steven Spielberg ("The Color Purple").

There are only 374 members of the directors' branch of the academy, but there are 13,000 members of the DGA and the vast majority do not make their living helming feature films. They do TV shows, commercials and music videos. They're younger and hipper than the academy gang. And here's another key consideration: They are not permitted, according to guild rules, to receive DVD screeners. I think it's safe to say that quite a lot of the DGA members haven't seen "Slumdog Millioniare." Maybe many haven't seen "Benjamin Button" too, but they've probably seen "The Dark Knight" and aren't so quick to shrug it off as a mere popcorn pic.

All three leading nominees have esteemed reputations as directors of art-house fare: Fincher ("Zodiac"), Boyle ("Trainspotting") and Nolan ("Memento"). That's important. Boyle and Nolan are British. Fincher's a Yankee. Is that important? This award is bestowed by the Directors Guild of America, let's recall.

I've decided to jump off a cliff for Fincher because I think the guild members -- even if they haven't seen "Benjamin Button" -- can tell from the trailers and TV commercials that it's an epic work full of impressive visual effects, spellbinding cinematography, sumptuous music and intense performances by A-list stars. The fact that it's based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story gives it literary cred. Furthermore, Fincher has an immensely high Cool Factor within directors' ranks.

However, here are the pundits pooled by Gold Derby who are backing Boyle: Brad Brevet (RopeOfSilicon.com), Edward Douglas (Comingsoon.net), Greg Ellwood (HitFix.com), Scott Feinberg (Feinberg Files, The Envelope), Marshall Fine (Star magazine, HollywoodAndFine.com), Pete Hammond (Notes on a Season, The Envelope), Elena Howe (The Envelope), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Mark Olsen (The Envelope), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone), T.L. Stanley (Gold Rush, Hollywood Reporter), Chuck Walton (Fandango.com), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere.com), Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today).

RELATED POSTS

Here's who our experts predicted would win the Screen Actors Guild Awards

Here's how our experts scored in predicting the SAG Awards

Here are the films our experts predict will win best picture from the Producers Guild of America

Photos credits: Paramount, Fox Searchlight, Warner Bros.

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Last year, "No Country for Old Men" won best picture at the Oscars after it became only the second movie ever to win the top prizes from all four leading showbiz guilds: producers, directors, writers and actors (ensemble award). Which of the four films below is the only one that pulled off that accomplishment earlier? See the answer here!

This year 18 of the 19 SAG acting nominees are repeating at the Oscars. Since double SAG nominee Kate Winslet was bumped up by the Oscars from supporting to lead for "The Reader," she was denied a lead nom for "Revolutionary Road." However, that film's Michael Shannon managed to knock SAG nominee Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionaire" out of the supporting race.

Last year 15 of the 20 SAG nominees went on to compete at the Oscars. Two years ago, it was a staggering 19 of the 20 with the one variation coming from the same film — "The Departed" — as SAG nominee Leonardo DiCaprio was replaced at Oscar time by Mark Wahlberg.

Four of this year's five SAG-nominated ensembles appear in Oscar-nominated best pictures with SAG contender "Doubt" replaced by "The Reader." Last year only one SAG ensemble nominee — "No Country for Old Men" — made it into the best-picture race, although that film won both awards. Two years ago it was three of five, with "Little Miss Sunshine" taking the SAG prize, but losing the top Oscar to "The Departed."

All five of the lead actress nominees are competing for both awards, though Kate Winslet contends at the Oscars for "The Reader" rather than "Revolutionary Road." Last year, it was four of five as the only SAG nominee not needing a babysitter come Oscar night was Angelina Jolie ("A Mighty Heart") whose spot went to "The Savages" star Laura Linney.

The supporting actress race matches up four to five as the promotion of Kate Winslet for "The Reader" left room at the Oscars for the addition of Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler"). Last year, this race was also four for five with SAG nominee Catherine Keener ("Into the Wild") replaced by Saoirse Ronan of "Atonement."

Lead actor matched up perfectly. Last year, it went three for five with SAG nominees and relative newcomers Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild") and Ryan Gosling ("Lars and the Real Girl") replaced by Hollywood vets Johnny Depp ("Sweeney Todd") and Tommy Lee Jones ("In the Valley of Elah").

And, as mentioned, the supporting race is four for five with Shannon replacing Patel. Last year SAG nominee Tommy Lee Jones ("No Country") was replaced by Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War").

The DGA picks for best director matched up with four of the five academy choices as DGA nominee Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") was edged out at the Oscars by Stephen Daldry ("The Reader"). Daldry has only helmed three films and has Oscar nods for all of them, the previous two being "Billy Elliot" (2000) and "The Hours" (2002). Last year, DGA nominee Sean Penn ("Into the Wild") lost his Oscar slot to Jason Reitman who helmed best pic nominee "Juno."

The PGA nominees for best picture also went four for five with the Oscar contenders as "The Dark Knight" was bumped by "The Reader." Last year, it was also four for five with PGA nominee "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" replaced by "Atonement."

The WGA nods for original screenplay were shut out save for Dustin Lance Black and his script for "Milk." Last year they lined up with the Oscar nominees except for "Knocked Up" which was knocked out of the competition by the team who whipped up "Ratatouille." However, the adapted screenplay race went four for five with only the WGA nominees for "The Dark Knight" bumped by David Hare, who adapted "The Reader." Last year Sean Penn, who wowed the WGA with his adaptation of "Into the Wild," was snubbed by the Oscars as was the scripter for "Zodiac." They were replaced by "Atonement" adapter Christopher Hampton and first time writer-director Sarah Polley.

The ASC choices for best cinematography lined up with the Oscar nominees except for "Revolutionary Road" shooter Roger Deakins, who was replaced by Tom Stern for "Changeling." Last year the ASC went five for five.

The ACE picks for best editing match those of the Oscars. Last year ACE nominee "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" was replaced by "Michael Clayton."

• Lou Lumenick of the New York Post makes merry with today's live blogging by the Sisters of Charity on the subject of "Doubt." As Lou explains, he has doubt as to whether to forgive the filmmakers for using a quote cobbled together from a fragment of his review and a sentence by gossip columnist Cindy Adams and attributed to the New York Post to promote the picture. While the ads now use just his words and name him, he says, "as a lapsed Catholic I'm not sure whether I should forgive them absent a formal apology and (Scott) Rudin's attitude. What do you think, sisters?" NEW YORK POST

• Two current BAFTA nominees — Michael Fassbender ("Hunger") and Rebecca Hall ("Frost/Nixon"; "Vicky Cristina Barcelona") — are among the contenders for the Rising Star prize at next month's kudos. The other three nominees are Michael Cera ("Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist"), Noel Clarke ("Adulthood"), and Toby Kebbell ("RockNRolla"). Among those on the jury selecting the nominees was the award's first recipient, James McAvoy, who picked up the prize in 2006. A public vote decides the winner. BAFTA

• Though the People's Choice Awards have declined in value, they certainly earned their cost back for CBS with a respectable performance in the ratings Wednesday night. The two-hour kudocast had 9.32 million viewers watching "The Dark Knight" romp to victory and was first with adults 18 to 49 (2.9/8) and second in adults 25 to 54 (3.6/8) and total households (6.0/10). That is a big bounce back from last year's low ratings for a strikebound edition which resorted to taped deliveries of awards and drew only 5.96 million viewers. However, it is still off the mark from two years ago when 11.33 million viewers tuned in, drawing a 3.5/9 in the adult 18-49 demo. FUTON CRITIC

• Variety reports on the newfound respectability for action films by examining the award prospects for "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man." Among those interviewed on the subject is Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips who thinks, "People talk a lot about the prejudice against comedies when it comes to the Oscars, but I think there is just as substantial a prejudice against the action genre. People sort of look at comedy and action as meat and potato stuff, which is why performances in both genres often get overlooked." According to Phillips, "An action film that does get nods has a certain element of 'class.' " VARIETY

Photo: IFC Films

Yesterday's WGA nominees narrowed the possible winners for the best picture Oscar down to 10. Today's Directors Guild of America nominations have given us a good indication of the final five contenders, which just happen to coincide with the PGA contenders.

The DGA nominees are: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — David Fincher; "The Dark Knight" — Christopher Nolan; "Frost/Nixon" — Ron Howard; "Milk" — Gus Van Sant; "Slumdog Millionaire" — Danny Boyle.

The five films nominated by the Directors Guild of America tend to be the ones that make the Academy Awards best-picture list. Last year proved to be the rare exception to that rule as DGA contenders "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Julian Schnabel) and "Into the Wild" (Sean Penn) were replaced in the Oscars best picture race by "Atonement" and "Juno."

Over the five previous years, only one film cited by the DGA did not make it into the top Oscar category — in 2006, "Dreamgirls" got bumped by "Letters From Iwo Jima." In fact, there is far more agreement between those two categories than between the DGA list and Oscar's best-director lineup. For example, helmers of foreign-language art-house flicks like "City of God" (Fernando Meirelles) and "Talk to Her" (Pedro Almodovar) may make it into the Oscar race for best director, but that phenom occurs less frequently at DGA. Last year, Julian Schnabel, the American helmer of French-lingo "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," did get a DGA nod but celebrated director Almodovar has never been cited by DGA.

Since the DGA began handing out awards in 1949, the winning helmer has gone on to take home the Oscar with six exceptions. And one of those snubbed directors –- Ron Howard –- is in contention this year. Back in 1995, he won the DGA for "Apollo 13" and while the film contended for best picture at the Oscars (remember our rule), Howard was not even nominated. Mel Gibson won for directing the best picture champ "Braveheart."

The other five instances of disagreement between the DGA and the Oscars were:

1968 –- DGA to Anthony Harvey for "The Lion in Winter" and Oscar to Carol Reed for "Oliver!"

1972 –- DGA to Francis Ford Coppola for "The Godfather" and Oscar to Bob Fosse for "Cabaret"

1985 –- DGA to Steven Spielberg for "The Color Purple" and Oscar to Sydney Pollack for "Out of Africa"

2000 –- DGA to Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Oscar to Steven Soderbergh for "Traffic"

2002 –- DGA to Rob Marshall for "Chicago" and Oscar to Roman Polanski for "The Pianist"

To predict the DGA remember these factors: The group is comprised of 13,000 members who primarily work in television, not feature films. About 8,000 live in the Los Angeles area — the rest are scattered across the U.S. They are not permitted to receive DVDs, so they must view films at industry screenings or their local cineplex. Considering all that — plus the fact that DGA ballots were shipped the first week of December — how many members do you think had even seen the late December limited releases? And, finally, DGA uses a weighted ballot, not a preferential one. If you don't know the difference, you haven't been reading Gold Derby regularly. Shame, shame!

Photo: Warner Bros.

Last pundit predix for Directors Guild of America nominations. The DGA nominations will be unveiled early Thursday. Earlier we asked more than a dozen gurus to pipe in with predix, which can be viewed here and here.

Now for our final three views. Bob Tourtellotte (Reuters) and Pete Hammond (Notes on a Season, The Envelope) agree with the consensus forecast: Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"), David Fincher ("Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon"), Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") and Gus Van Sant ("Milk").

That notorious rascal T.L. Stanley (Gold Rush, Hollywood Reporter) agrees with four of those calls, but drops Ron Howard for John Patrick Shanley ("Doubt").