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On a night where a variety of films came away with wins, “The Artist” came away the biggest winner at the Academy Awards, gaining Oscar gold for lead actor Jean Dujardin, director Michael Hazanavicius and Best Picture of the year.
Early on in the show “Hugo” was the most victorious of all films nominated, snagging five awards within the first 10 presented categories.
Ultimately, “The Artist” and “Hugo” each walked with the same amount of awards; signifying there wasn’t a top dog in this year’s race; however, the individual awards for Dujardin and Hazanavicius propelled “The Artist” to its Best Picture award at the end of the night, continuing what has now become a six year trend, where the film that wins the top award also brings home either best actor or best director.
Despite failing in its attempt to sweep the Academy Awards, as some had predicted it would, “The Artist” came away the top story of the evening, winning Best Original Score and Best Costume Design in addition to its three other awards.
Producer Thomas Langmann accepted the Best Picture award alongside Dujardin and Hazanavicius. In his acceptance speech, he thanked three people – Billy Wilder, Billy Wilder and Billy Wilder.
It was certainly a night of nostalgia, looking back to an era of the past and paying it tribute with praise and accolades.
“The Artist” wasn’t the only picture thriving off this theme. Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” a film about a writer entrenched in nostalgia in modern day Paris, was one of the night’s biggest surprises, upsetting “The Artist” in the Best Original Screenplay category for its only win of the evening.
In addition to “Midnight in Paris,” the only other best picture nominees to claim gold were “The Help” and “The Descendants.”
Octavia Spencer won her first ever Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, while fellow castmate Viola Davis couldn’t prevail over Meryl Streep in the Best Actress category.
Streep claimed her third Oscar for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in “the Iron Lady,” pulling off arguably the night’s biggest surprise. “Oh, come on,” said Streep after the win. “When they called my name I had this feeling that I could hear half of America going, ‘Oh c’mon, why her again?'”
As for “the Descendants,” the family drama starring George Clooney fell victim to “the Artist” in the Best Picture, Director and Actor categories; however, director-writer Alexander Payne (“Sideways”) won his second Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay along with screenwriters Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
Other notable winners were “Rango” in the Best Animated Feature Film category and “A Seperation” for Best Foreign Language Film.
Veteran actor Christopher Plummer won his first ever Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film “Beginners,” joining Spencer and Dujardin as first time winners.
The show overall was much better than last year’s production, which was critically panned, as hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway were shaky leading the ceremony.
This year’s host, Billy Crystal, a long time veteran Oscar presenter, controlled the show with humor, wit and, most importantly, confidence.
With the 2012 Oscars now in the book, the movie industry prepares for a year in film that could potentially be one of the best of all time with Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus,” Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” and Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” all slated to be released before the end of the year.
