'The Artist' and 'Hugo' Win 5 Awards Each

 Michel Hazanavicius and his Directing Oscar for The Artist

FEB 27, 2012 - As predicted, The Artist was the big winner at the 84th Academy Awards, taking away five Oscars, including Best Picture. Michel Hazanavicius won for Directing and Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor award for the black-and-white French film. The Artist also won for Costume Design and Original Score. 

It was a big night for Meryl Streep who took her third Oscar for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. This was a surprise for me as I had expected Viola Davis to win for her role in The Help. All my other predictions for the major awards came true.

Octavia Spencer won the Supporting Actress statue for her role in The Help and favourite Christopher Plummer won Supporting Actor for his part in Beginners.

Hugo was the other big winner as it picked up awards for Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

Billy Crystal hosted the Oscar ceremony on ABC, which took place at the Hollywood And Highland Center, formerly the Kodak Theatre, in what marked his ninth stint.

Here are the winners:

Best Picture: The Artist

Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

Actor:  Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer in The Help

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Animated Film: Rango (Gore Verbinski)

Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris - by Woody Allen 

Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants - by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Original Song: Man or Muppet from The Muppets (Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie) 

Original Score: The Artist - Ludovic Bource

Visual Effects: Hugo

Documentary (Feature): Undefeated

Sound Mixing: Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Sound Editing: Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall 

Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran

Makeup: The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland 

Costume Design: The Artist - Mark Bridges 

Art Direction: Hugo

Cinematography: Hugo - Robert Richardson 

Short Film (Animated): The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore
Documentary (Short Subject): Saving Face

Short Film (Live Action): The Shore