. >> reporter: kathryn bigelow does not make romantic comedies.'s a different kind of pioneer. >> and the award goes to kathryn bigelow. >> reporter: on saturday, her peers, the director's guild of america made her the first woman ever to win that 60-year-old prize. >> this is amazing. i am so deeply stunned and honored and proud. >> reporter: her movie is called "the hurt locker." on a subject hollywood is reluctant to go near, iraq. it's a psychological work of art about one of those men whose job it is to diffuse bombs, 10 to 15 times a day. >> oh, boy. >> what kind of character does this for a living? what you and i would run from, they walk toward. there is no margin for error. >> what's the best way to go about disarming one of these things? >> reporter: she has epic concentration. she even learned how to diffuse a bomb herself. even though in college she was an art student studying paintings, and, how about the twist in the plot? she was once married to james cameron, director of "titanic" and now "avatar." yet through the divorce and the y

director kathryn bigelow won the director guild's top prize.he joins us along with the screenwriter and star, jeremy renner. they, too, are nominated for academy awards. also with us, jim o'neal who served as an explosive disposable tech and officer for 18 years. "the hurt locker" is an intense, edge of your seat drama about soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. disarming bombs. let's take a look. >> 2:00, dude has a phone. >> put down the phone! >> come on, guys, talk to me. >> drop the phone! drop your phone! put down the cell phone! drop your phone! >> put it down. go get it! >> larry: this movie, as i said pentagon -- publicly is unbeliefable. one of the greatest war movies ever made. with us, jim o'neal, who did this kind of stuff for real, and vick one of our top security men decked out in what these guys wear. before we talk about the movie, show us this suit. describe it. >> thanks. this is a typical bomb suit you're going to be finding working with the ied teams and counter-ied teams in iraq and afghanistan tod

i think kathryn bigelow should and will l win for best director. r best picture it seems like a tossup between cameron and bigelow. tony's idea about "the blind side" would be a real upset, amazing. but i don't see that happening. >> rose: what about quentin tarantino in "inglourious basterds"? >> well, i think "inglourious basterds" has a lot more to do with quentin tarantino's exuberance than any reality of world war ii. i mean, it's a fantastical interweaving of historical fiction. >> rose: about quentin rather than war. >> that's not a bad thing. but having written a book on film about the holocaust, i came to "inglourious basterds" and said "i better not expect this to fit into my book." and i was right. he uses and plays with hollywood conventions but his feverish imagination is rarely limited by them. it's a very enjoyable motion picture. i don't know that it has cinematic greatness stamped all over it. but what compelling individuals he creates. i mean, he's... the colonel beautifully played by christoph waltz is a memorable figure and i thi

james cameron's "avatar" and kathryn bigelow's "the hurt locker" each received nine nominations.l, cameron and bigelow used to be married. they were divorced in 1991. those looking for conflict, look elsewhere. they get along. really, really well. cameron even urged bigelow to make "hurt locker." finally, number five. meryl streep nominated for "julie and julia." >> bon appetite. >> reporter: for streep it's a record 16th oscar nomination. a record that won't ever be broken. until she's nominated next year. john berman, abc news, new york. >> so, who are the early sort of favorites, you may be wondering? the vegas experts have picked jeff bridges for "crazy heart" for best actor and sandra bullock for best actress. sort of surprising to me. they're also saying "avatar" -- >> why is sandra bullock vising for "blind side"? >> just the competition. >> you feel like meryl streep. >> meryl streep, any award she's up for she should automatically get. >> usually when these nominations come out is if feel like they're movies i've barely heard of. this year the movies that are up are all

then you'll meet kathryn bigelow, nominated for best director for "the hurt

we will have a major follow-up to that then you will meet kathryn bigelow, nominated for best director

kathryn bigelow, "the hurt locker."ntin tarantino, "inglourious basterds" -- inglourious is kind of spelled like it's from england -- "inglourious" and basterds with an "e." >> steve: that's out. >> jimmy: out. "basterds," it was too confusing for me. "precious" based on the novel "push" by sapphire, too long. [ light laughter ] "up in the air," jason reitman. "avatar." right? [ cheers ] "avatar" is going to win. "avatar" is my pick on that one. performance by an actor in a leading role. jeff bridges. he was awesome in "crazy heart." i'm not even going to look at the other ones. [ laughter ] i think i'm up for an oscar for not doing any more movies. >> steve: are you serious? >> jimmy: yep. [ light laughter ] >> steve: the whole industry got together and gave you that? >> jimmy: they gave it to me, i won. yeah. they gave it to me. >> steve: oh my god. >> jimmy: they go "just, please, don't do any more acting." >> steve: good for you. >> jimmy: performance -- thank you. i want to thank my agent and my wife. >> steve: so

and then you also worked with kathryn bigelow as well who did "hurt locker" now. >> yeah, i mean, they'reers and applause ] >> "avatar." and i worked for kathryn years ago on a vampire movie called "near dark." she's a great gal and great director. i think she's only the fourth woman to be nominated for the oscar for best director, so, i wish her the best. but, of course, jim cameron has made a film not only great story-telling but it's also an incredible achievement in our business, so -- i don't think either one of them are hurting too bad. >> jimmy: yeah, right. serious. you're not going -- >> and they were married years ago. i don't know if a lot of your audience know that. >> jimmy: yeah. >> my wife and i and willem dafoe and his wife -- we stood in for them and they got married in martha's vineyard one summer with their family -- a very small wedding. >> jimmy: did not know that. i know that you and james cameron were close, too, after "titanic." you were in -- i mean, "titanic," the biggest movie of all time and now "avatar." >> go on. you can say it. >> jimmy: sorry -- come on --

they both support each other, but, yes, james cameron and kathryn bigelow were once married and theyng head to head for the big award. the best picture category, james cameron's major blockbuster, grossed more than $2 billion in ticket sales worldwide and going up against a little war film doing quite well, "the hurt locker." so kathryn bigelow, has a little bit of momentum going in to this race, because she recently won the directors guild award for that. but friendly competition were and they are both supportive and they want to take home the coveted prize. >> you say the momentum goes to "the hurt locker." everyone seems to be saying "avatar" is a shoo-in, but we shall see. this is interesting, this is the first time we're seeing ten movies being nominated. go through some of the ten that we wouldn't have seen had it still been five like we've been seeing over the past number of years? >> can you believe it? they broadened it from five to ten? everyone and their mom. >> yeah. >> is in this category, it seems. so, the disney pixar film, for example, "up" it's very, very rare to see

kathryn bigelow the fourth woman to get nod for best director and the star of this film jeremy renner york jets almost made it to miami. dave will talk to the jets quarterback about who he thinks will win. also about the charity that mark is raising money for. do you think he'll pull for the colts? i'm thinking not. >> it's afc. we'll see. let's go back to dave for a final check of the weather down in miami. >> good morning to you, harry. good morning, ladies. of course there is a strange sense of distraction here this morning right on the football field. some folks staring at mark sanchez. some folks staring at me as well. i don't know quite what it is. are you sensing that as well? >> i think it's you, me. >> >> thank you for indulging >> mark sanchez from the new york jets will be with us in just a little while talking about everything football and his love for '80s music. i'm not kidding. harry, we'll send it to you. >> when the academy award nominations were announced yesterday, "the hurt locker" was nominated nine times including best picture and best actor nod for jeremy renner

kathryn bigelow, she and james cameron used to be married. some of the year's top prizes. we can weigh in on which film you think will come out on top. you see the blue arrow. it is the second one down. so far more than half of our voters say "avatar" will take on the prize. jon: i saw "avatar." i have not seen "the hurt locker." a few of them. i'll take you to the movies. jane: that is going to do it for us. jon: "america live" with megyn kelly begins right now. megyn: good afternoon and welcome to "america live." i'm megyn kelly. breaking news on the number one issue facing americans today and the issue that could make or break the democrats in the 2010 midterm election, unemployment. we are awaiting remarks from the president who is in the new hampshire at this hour are he will unveil a new jobsp

. >> larry: kathryn bigelow, jeremy renner, mark boal, jim o'neal, a former -- what do we call you? >> eod techs. >> larry: eod techs. >> explosive ordinance disposal. >> or everyone's divorced. >> larry: i urge you to see this movie. >>> good evening. i'm sanjay gupta in for anderson tonight. you can look at what happened in washington, today, as a bunch of politicians simply arguing. or you might reach into your wallet and pull out one of these. because at the end of the day this health insurance card is really what today was all about. getting a card like this to 31 million americans who don't have one making it more affordable for the rest who do, keeping insurance companies accountable and making sure we all don't go broke in the process. today president obama brought democrats and republicans together in another last-ditch attempt in ham erlg out differences. all day back and forth. to be honest, all of it wasn't must. see tv. tonight we're going to try triage to buy a medical term. we watched all of it so you don't have to. here's ed henry on the moments that counted. >> repo

kathryn bigelow was nominated for "the hurt locker."for "inglourious basterds" and lee daniels for "precious" and up in the air. >>> a french canadian cat thought it needed to chase a bear from its porch. here's the video. >> i guess the bear just wanted the trash and the cat wasn't having it at all. that's the story we dug up for a viral video. >>> a vitamin may help people with signs of a serious mental illness. you're going to hear which vitamin can slow the progress of schizophrenia.

james cameron's "avatar" and kathryn bigelow's "the hurt locker" each got nine nods. for the first time since 1943 instead of five, there are ten best picture contenders. last summer the academy decided to expand the category in the hopes of including more worthy popular movies and perhaps getting a bigger audience for the oscar telecast itself. "up" is the second animated feature nominate as best picture. jeff bridges is considered the one to beat in the lead actor category. he's up against george clooney, morgan freeman, colin firth and jeremy renner for his multiple role in "the hurt locker." it is the 12th time meryl streep has been nominated as best actress. helden mirren is a -- helen mirren is a past oscar winner. the first time for carey mulligan and gabourey sidibe. sandra bullock is expected to take home the oscar for "the blind side." >>> this is a "showbiz tonight" news break exclusively on hln and this is the buzz today. cbs rejected a super bowl ad for mancrunch.com. the man behind the site is calling that decision unfair. >> we were faced with discrimin