The Academy Award winners have finally been announced.  The show took place February 26, 2012 and was hosted for the ninth time by Billy Crystal.  The two big award winners were The Artist and Hugo.  Hugo (my favorite film of 2011) won five awards, but was nominated for eleven awards total.  Hugo took home the awards for Best Sound Editing (Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty), Best Sound Mixing (Tom Fleischman and John Midgley), Best Art Direction (Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo), Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson), and Best Visual Effects (Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning).

The other big award winner was the modern silent film, The Artist (another great film).  It won five very prestigious awards with ten nominations total.  It won awards for Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Original Score (Ludovic Bource), Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges), and the most prestigious award of all, Best Picture (Thomas Langmann).

Other big winners were Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) for Best Actress, Christopher Plummer (Beginners) for Best Supporting Actor, and Octavia Spencer (The Help) for Best Supporting Actress.  Ultimately, everyone who won an Oscar more than deserved it.  I can’t wait to see what other great films will come out this year.  For a full list of winners click here.