Sunday, February 26th, 2012 in Hollywood the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured the best in film for 2011. As always the fashions, hits and misses, were at the front and centre. Comedy sketches also hit and missed and after an 8 year absence, Billy Crystal returned as host of the awards ceremony for the ninth time. Crystal stepped in after original host, Eddie Murphy and ceremony producer Brett Ratner scandalously quit after Ratner used a gay slur during the pre-production.
The televised ceremony included tributes to those members the academy lost this year, a special performance by Cirque du Soleil on top of the presentation of 24 categories. Also highlighted were the Governors Awards, which were presented in November 2011; receiving the Academy Honorary Award were actor James Earl Jones and make-up artist Dick Smith. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award went to Oprah Winfrey.
Going into the awards, Martin Scorcese’s Hugo lead the pack with eleven nominations, closely followed by The Artist with ten.
And Oscars went to:
Best Picture
The Artist – Thomas Langmann
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Best Actor
Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
Best Actress
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields
Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson
Best Writing – Original Screenplay
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Best Animated Feature
Rango – Gore Verbinski
Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation (Iran) in Farsi – Asghar Farhadi
Best Documentary – Feature
Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard Middlemas
Best Documentary – Short Subject
Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Best Live Action Short Film
The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
Best Animated Short Film
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
Best Original Score
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Best Original Song
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets – Bret McKenzie