The Artist, Hugo win big at Oscars

HUGO might have earned more nominations but The Artist was the clear winner at today's 84th annual Academy Awards.

The silent film took home five Oscars including the all-important Best Picture award.

Hugo took an early lead, winning awards for Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects, but the animated feature failed to win any of the top five major categories.

The Artist staged a late comeback, with Jean Dujardin beating George Clooney in the prestigious Best Actor category and Michel Hazanivicius beating Martin Scorsese for the title of Best Director.

As widely expected, Meryl Streep won Best Actress for her powerful performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, which also won a gong for Best Makeup.

With Hugo and The Artist taking home so many awards, the rest of the field had to pick through the left overs.

Critically acclaimed dramas The Help, The Descendants, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Beginners went home with one award each.

Woody Allen won his third Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his imaginative French romp Midnight in Paris.

Kiwi funny man Bret McKenzie, one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, won his first gold statue for penning the song Man or Muppet for the film The Muppets.

Steven Spielberg went home empty handed after his war-time epic War Horse failed to convert any of its six nominations into wins.

Baseball drama Moneyball and Palme d'Or winner The Tree of Life, both starring Brad Pitt, also went home empty handed.

The Academy Awards will broadcast on digital channel Go! at 7.30pm tonight.

Full list of nominees/winners*

Best Picture

• War Horse
• The Artist*
• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• The Tree of Life
• Midnight in Paris
• The Help
• Hugo
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Actress

• Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
• Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Viola Davis, The Help
• Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady*
• Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Actor

• Demian Bichir, A Better Life
• George Clooney, The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin, The Artist*
• Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Director

• Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist*
• Alexander Payne, The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese, Hugo
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
• Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Supporting Actor

• Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
• Jonah Hill, Moneyball
• Nick Nolte, Warrior
• Christopher Plummer, Beginners*
• Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Supporting Actress

• Berenice Bejo, The Artist
• Jessica Chastain, The Help
• Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer, The Help*

Best Original Screenplay

• Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist
• Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris*
• J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
• Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants*
• John Logan, Hugo
• George Clooney, Beau Willimon and Grant Heslov, The Ides of March
• Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, Moneyball
• Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Music (Original Song)

• Man or Muppet from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie*
• Real in Rio from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

Music (Original Score)

• John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
• Ludovic Bource, The Artist*
• Howard Shore, Hugo
• Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• John Williams, War Horse

Visual Effects

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Hugo*
• Real Steel
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon

Best Animated Feature

• A Cat in Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango*

Documentary Feature

• Hell and Back Again
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
• Pina
• Undefeated*

Sound Mixing

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo*
• Moneyball
• Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
• War Horse

Sound Editing

• Drive
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo*
• Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
• War Horse

Film Editing

• Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Kevin Tent, The Descendants
• Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo*
• Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
• Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball

Best Foreign Feature

• Bullhead
• Footnote
• In Darkness
• Monsieur Lazhar
• A Separation*

Makeup

• Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle, Albert Nobbs
• Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady*

Costume Design

• Anonymous
• The Artist*
• Hugo
• Jane Eyre
• W.E.

Art Direction

• The Artist
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Hugo*
• Midnight in Paris
• War Horse

Cinematography

• The Artist
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo*
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse

Documentary Short Subject

• The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
• God Is the Bigger Elvis
• Incident in New Baghdad
• Saving Face*
• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Short Film (Animated)

• Dimanche/Sunday
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore*
• La Luna
• A Morning Stroll
• Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)

• Pentecost
• Raju
• The Shore*
• Time Freak
• Tuba Atlantic