Beverly Hills, Calif. ? The science-fiction blockbuster “Avatar” won best drama at the Golden Globes and picked up the directing honor for James Cameron on Sunday, raising the “Titanic” filmmaker’s prospects for another Academy Awards triumph.

It was a repeat of Cameron’s Globes night 12 years ago, when “Titanic” won best drama and the directing prize on its way to dominating the Oscars.

This time, though, instead of being “king of the world,” as Cameron declared at the Oscars, he has become king of an alien landscape, elevating space fantasy to enormous critical acclaim.

“‘Avatar’ asks us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to each other, and us to the Earth. And if you have to go four and a half light years to another, made-up planet to appreciate this miracle of the world that we have right here, well, you know what, that’s the wonder of cinema right there, that’s the magic,” Cameron said.

Winning the dramatic-acting honors were Sandra Bullock for the football tale “The Blind Side” and Jeff Bridges for the country-music story “Crazy Heart.” The crowd gave a standing ovation to Bridges, a beloved veteran generally overlooked for key Hollywood honors.

“You’re really screwing up my underappreciated status here,” Bridges said.

The son of late actor Lloyd Bridges, Bridges thanked his father for encouraging him to go into show business.

“So glad I listened to you, dad,” he said.

Bullock cited Michael Oher, the Baltimore Ravens rookie lineman whose life is the subject of “The Blind Side.” She plays a wealthy woman whose family took in the teenage Oher after discovering he was homeless.

“If I may steal from Michael Oher, I may not be the most talented, but I’ve been given opportunity,” Bullock said.

The acting prizes for musical and comedy went to Meryl Streep for the Julia Child story “Julie & Julia” and Robert Downey Jr. for the crime romp “Sherlock Holmes.” The supporting-performance Globes were won by Mo’Nique as an abusive welfare mother in “Precious” and Christoph Waltz as a gleefully bloodthirsty Nazi in “Inglourious Basterds.”

Downey thanked his frequent producing collaborator Joel Silver, the “guy that’s only restarted my career 12 times since I began 25 years ago.”

The Vegas bachelor bash “The Hangover” won for best musical or comedy, bringing uncharacteristic awards attention for broad comedy, a genre that often gets overlooked at Hollywood honors.

Though one of Hollywood’s biggest parties, the Globes bore somber remind-ers of tragedy in the real world, many stars wearing ribbons in support of earthquake victims in Haiti.

Pixar Animation’s blockbuster “Up” came away with the award for animated film.

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won the screenplay honor for “Up in the Air,” which Reitman also directed.

“Mad Men” won for best TV drama, while Michael C. Hall won for best actor in a TV drama for “Dexter,” in which he plays a serial killer with a code of ethics, killing only other murderers.

“Dexter” also won the supporting-actor TV honor for John Lithgow. Other TV winners included Juliana Margulies as best actress in a drama for “The Good Wife” and Toni Collette as best comedy actress for “The United States of Tara.”