Blockbuster sci-fi epic¹ Avatar has been named best film drama at the Golden Globe awards, boosting its chances of further glory at the Oscars in March.

鸿篇巨著科幻电影《阿凡达》荣获金球奖最佳电影奖，大大增加了三月份奥斯卡的获奖机会。

avatar

Its director James Cameron was also honoured at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep won the best actress prizes, with Jeff Bridges and Robert Downey Jr taking home their male equivalents等同物.

Ricky Gervais hosted the event, the first of 2010's major Hollywood awards.

Presented each year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association好莱坞海外记者协会, the Globes often indicate who and what will go on to receive Academy Awards奥斯卡金像奖.

Television shows are also celebrated² at the gala, where prizes are divided between dramas and comedies or musicals.

Cameron's double victory was a vindication³辩护，证明无罪 of the 55-year-old's faith in his ambitious有雄心的 and costly⁴ computer-generated fantasy.

His best director prize also saw him triumph over his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, nominated in the same category for Iraq drama The Hurt Locker⁵.

"This is the best job in the world," he said as Avatar was named best film. "What we do is make entertainment for a global audience."

The Canadian film-maker previously⁶ won a Golden Globe for directing Titanic⁷, which went on to win 11 Academy Awards in 1998.

But he steered⁸ clear of the self-aggrandising language of his "king of the world" Oscar acceptance speech, heaping praise upon对……大加称赞 Bigelow, and addressing his actors in Na'vi, the language created for his blockbuster巨型炸弹，轰动 film.

As Cameron accepted his prizes, it was revealed that Avatar had remained top of the US box office for a fifth week.

Worldwide takings for the film now stand at $1.6 bn (£979m), setting it on course to top Titanic's $1.8 bn (£1.1bn) haul this week - which would make it the top-grossing film of all time.