“The Hurt Locker” scored the top film award from the Producers Guild of America, building new momentum for the Iraq war drama in the expanded Oscar race for best picture. The film about a risk-taking bomb disposal technician beat out such celebrated nominees as “Avatar,” ”Inglourious Basterds” and “Up in the Air.”
“The Hurt Locker,” starring Jeremy Renner and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, also bested the films “Star Trek,” ”District 9,” ”An Education,” ”Invictus,” ”Up” and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” at Sunday’s Producers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium, the latest kudofest in the run-up to the Academy Awards in March.
Assuming “The Hurt Locker” earns an Oscar best-picture nomination Feb. 2, it will have just as much competition as it did at the PGAs, which followed Oscar organizers lead and doubled the best-picture category to 10 nominees, aiming to bring a broader range of movies into the fold, which means a blockbuster could take the top category.
In other PGA film categories, “Up” won for animated feature and “The Cove” was lauded for documentary. The Harlem drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” was honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, a prize named after the late director that recognizes work which explores and addresses provocative social issues.
Four television shows were repeat winners from last year: AMC’s “Madmen” for drama TV; NBC’s “30 Rock” for comedy TV; Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” for live entertainment and competition TV; and CBS’ “60 Minutes” for nonfiction TV. The HBO TV film “Grey Gardens” snagged the prize in the long-form TV category.
Career achievement awards were bestowed on Sony Pictures chairman Michael Lynton and co-chairman Amy Pascal; Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter; and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Dollhouse” mastermind Joss Whedon.
Kamala Harris Receives Chairman’s Prize At NAACP Image Awards
Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.
"While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us," Harris said after receiving the NAACP's Chairman's Award. "The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people."
The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.
Harris, defeated by Trump in last year's presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state's attorney general.
In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump's actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America's future.
"Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask 'What do we do now?'" Harris said. "But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path."
Other winners of the Chairman's prize have included former... Read More