Yes, No Country Won the DGA (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - The Oscar odds are with the Coen brothers.

Joel and Ethan Coen claimed the Directors Guild of Americas feature prize Saturday for No Country for Old Men, assigning them and their thriller to the front-runners seat at the Kodak Theater.

As Academy Award buffs can and will tell you, since the DGA handed out its first awards in 1949, only six DGA winners have failed go on to capture the Best Director Oscar. And as the same buffs can attest, with the Best Director Oscar usually goes the Best Picture Oscar.

The DGA win is the first for the Coens, who have collaborated on a slew of genre-bending movies since 1984s Blood Simple. Joel Coen previously was nominated for a DGA for 1996s Fargo, the chipper wood-chipper dramedy that earned the siblings a screenplay Oscar and Frances McDormand, Joel Coens wife, a Best Actress trophy.

The Coens are up for four Oscars next month: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and, dont let the Roderick Jaynes nom de plume fool you, Best Editing.

In scoring the DGA, the Coens defeated three of their Oscar rivals: Michael Claytons Tony Gilroy, The Diving Bell and the Butterflys Julian Schnabel and, There Will Be Bloods Paul Thomas Anderson. They also downed Into the Wilds Sean Penn, who isnt in the Academy Awards field, and Junos Jason Reitman, who is.

The nonwinners should take heart: Twice this decade, the DGAs pick hasnt become the Academys pick. And three times, the Best Picture and Best Director prizes have been split among two movies.

Chicagos Rob Marshall was the last DGA winner to lose on Oscar night; Crash (Best Picture) and Brokeback Mountain (Best Director) were the last movies to go halvsies.

The 60th annual DGA Awards--a dinner, not a TV show, so thusly insulated from this seasons strike drama--boasted name presenters, including Oscar nominees Daniel Day-Lewis, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard.

AMCs Mad Men and ABCs Pushing Daisies were honored for TV Drama and Comedy Series Directing, respectively. HBOs Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee won the miniseries/TV movie category, while CBS The Amazing Race added to its Emmy haul with a DGA for reality series direction.