And the Oscar goes to...

(Photo: On the Red Carpet)

So, Oscars 2012 are over and while many categories were what we thought they would be, a few managed to eke some surprises.  It was so comforting to see Billy Crystal again after the debacle hosting of last year and hear the Oscar song medley, "It's a wonderful night for Oscar..." again.  This year, it felt like all the categories kept rolling along smoothly with presenters giving out two awards each time.  It was a well-organized show that didn't feel too overlong.  While the first half of the show clearly belonged to Hugo, The Artist came back strong in the last half to pick the big awards of the night.   I was delighted that Midnight in Paris won for Original Screenplay, my pick for best film of 2011.  It was wonderful to see Rango and the animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore win, I loved both of them the first time I saw them.  Also, The Muppets won an Oscar for Best Song.  Hopefully, this means more Muppet movies.  

I thought the set pieces introducing each of the technical categories like sound, editing and music was very well done indeed.  We do watch the Oscars for the big stars and the glamour quotient but it's mostly because of the hard work and dedication of a crew that film looks so good and it's nice to see them honored and have their moment in the spotlight too.  Iran's Asgar Farhadi had a beautiful speech that proves that movies can provide a common voice to people across all cultures.  When Ludovic Bource (a newcomer) won for Best Original Score for The Artist, he instantly went to shake the hands of the other nominees, Howard Shore and legend John Williams.  Classy, classy move.  You've just earned yourself another fan.  And finally in the night's most pleasant surprises, Meryl Streep won over Viola Davis in the Best Actress category for The Iron Lady.  A previous two-time winner, she had counted herself out for winning and she gave a great speech about maintaining friendships and thanking her longtime makeup artist who also won tonight.  This proves why she really is the best actress ever.  One last thought, let's have the "Scorsese" drinking game at every awards show, yeah?  Even Marty approves!

(Photo: Access Hollywood)

Best Picture: The Artist

Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Actor in a Leading Role: Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

(Photo: Guardian UK)

Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Animated Feature Film: Rango

(Photo: Essence)

Art Direction: Hugo, Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Cinematography: Hugo, Robert Richardson

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

Writing (Original Screenplay): Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen

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

Sound Editing: Hugo, Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Sound Mixing: Hugo, Tom Fleischman and Jon Midgley

Costume Design: The Artist, Mark Bridges

Foreign Language Film: A Separation, Iran

Visual Effects: Hugo, Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

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

Music (Original Score): Ludovic Bource, The Artist

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

Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Documentary Short Subject: Saving Face

Short Film Animated: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Short Film (Live Action) : The Shore