Tomorrow evening, the DGA will announce its winner for 2009. Below are our fearless predictions on who’s going to win.

Directors Guild of America

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker (Unanimous)

Analysis

Wesley Lovell: I have a hard time fathoming any other result, but if there is, you can exopect tongues to be wagging about what it means for the Oscar race. If Cameron wins, Avatar receives a huge boost for the Oscars. The DGA has successfully predicted the Academy winner for Best Director 52 out of 60 times with one incident early on reflecting a different year’s outcome. So, the likelihood of this winner carrying over is staggering, though it does happen, twice even in just the last decade. If Bigelow wins, paired with the PGA victory, Best Picture may be more solidly in Hurt Locker’s favor. If James Cameron wins, Bigelow might still win the Oscar, but Avatar is very likely to pick up Best Picture. If Tarantino wins, Inglourious Basterds gets a big nudge, as do Up in the Air (if Reitman wins) and Precious (if Lee Daniels wins). But, really, any other result is highly unlikely.
Peter J. Patrick: This is Bigelow’s year. She’s won almost every precursor there is. The absurdity of the Golden Globe win by James Cameron will not be repeated here.
Tripp Burton: This is going to be one of the most telling awards to come before the Oscars. Who they choose here should be very telling of the direction that the Academy may go. My money is on Kathryn Bigelow…it is the most “directorly” of the films nominated, it combines great acting with big action set pieces and she has that force of being the first woman to really compete for this award. I see the tide turning her way, and it is going to continue with the DGA.
Wes Huizar: Comments TBA