The Hurt Locker a blast at Critics

The Hurt Locker, a low-budget film about an American bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, won best picture at Friday's Critics' Choice Awards, an event that has an uncanny knack of foreshadowing Oscar success.

Its director, Kathryn Bigelow, was also honoured, beating a high-profile field that included her ex-husband, Avatar filmmaker James Cameron. Avatar won best action movie and five awards in new technical categories.

Jeff Bridges was named best actor for playing a drunken country singer in Crazy Heart, while the actress award was a tie between Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia and Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side.

Supporting actor awards went to Austrian actor Christoph Waltz for playing a malevolent Nazi in Inglourious Basterds and comedienne Mo'Nique, playing an abusive mother in Precious.

Inglourious Basterds won two other awards: for director Quentin Tarantino's original screenplay and for best ensemble. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won for their adapted screenplay for Up in the Air, and Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces for foreign-language film.

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