"The Hurt Locker" take six awards

"The Hurt Locker" take six awards

LOS ANGELES – On a night when so many changes were intended to shake up the Oscar ceremony, the winners themselves were pretty predictable, with "The Hurt Locker" taking six awards including best picture.

"Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow won the top directing honor for her intimate Iraq war drama, making her the first woman to take the prize — though as she's often said, she likes to think of herself as a filmmaker, period.

"I hope I'm the first of many," she said afterward backstage. "I long for the day when that modifier can be a moot point."

But as fellow director Barbra Streisand put it in announcing Bigelow's victory, "Well, the time has come."

Indeed, her win seemed like a given, even though Bigelow was going up against James Cameron, director of the sci-fi juggernaut "Avatar," who happens to be her ex-husband. (Bigelow was abidingly diplomatic backstage, despite reporters repeatedly trying to coax her to dish about him.) "Avatar" entered the night tied with "The Hurt Locker" for the most nominations, nine, but ended up winning just three awards in technical categories: art direction, cinematography and visual effects.

That predictability was the case in all the main categories, where the winners had been picking up statues and critics' accolades throughout this long awards season.