'Birdman' gets new Oscars boost with Directors Guild win

Dark comedy "Birdman" got another pre-Oscars boost Feb. 7, winning the top prize at the Directors Guild of America honors as Hollywood gears up for the all-important Academy Awards this month.
      
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was crowned best director at the climax of the DGA show, barely two weeks before the Oscars on February 22.
      
The 51-year-old's success repeated that of fellow Mexican Alfonso Cuaron, who won the DGA top prize last year for "Gravity," and went on to win the Best Director prize at the Oscars.
      
"I never expected to be here talking to you tonight," Inarritu told his fellow filmmakers gathered at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Century City.        

"I'm openly humbled."       

The DGA awards are seen as a key predictor of Academy Awards success, particularly for the best director prize.
      
In the last 10 years, all but one DGA winner has gone on to win the Oscar for best director. The only exception was in 2013 when Ben Affleck was not nominated for director for "Argo," though the film did go on to take best picture at the Academy Awards.        

"Glee" star Jane Lynch hosted the star-studded event for 1,600 guests, while presenters on stage included Pierce Brosnan, Bradley Cooper, Jodie Foster, Bill Murray, Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand.
      
Inarritu beat out rivals Clint Eastwood ("American Sniper"), Richard Linklater ("Boyhood"), Morten Tyldum ("The Imitation Game") and Wes Anderson ("Grand Budapest Hotel") for the evening's biggest award.
      
"Birdman," about a washed-up film actor trying to revive his career on Broadway, is soaring ahead in Hollywood's annual awards season, having already won the top prize at the 21st...