The best picture award went to "The Hurt Locker,'' whose director, Kathryn Bigelow, became the first woman to take the best director prize.
The choice surely will leave the academy open to another round of charges that its tastes are hopelessly out of touch with rank-and-file moviegoers, since it ****** up the opportunity to give its top prize to "Avatar,'' a film that has made more than $2.5 billion worldwide.
