midnight in paris – FILMdetail

The Artist won five awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, (Michael Hazanavicius) and Best Actor (Jean Dujardin).

Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) was awarded Best Actress, whilst in the supporting categories Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help) won for their respective roles.

Hugo was the big winner in the technical categories, winning Cinematography, Sound Editing and Mixing, Art Direction and Visual Effects.

The Artist also became the the first silent film to win Best Picture since Wings (1927), which won the same prize at the very first Academy Awards.

So in a year that has seen great changes as cinema shifts from celluloid to digital, there was something appropriate in the big winners being tributes to the silent era and one of its true pioneers, Georges Méliès.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Best Picture: THE ARTIST
Best Director: MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS – The Artist
Best Actor: JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist
Best Actress: MERYL STREEP – The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: OCTAVIA SPENCER – The Help
Best Original Screenplay: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay: THE DESCENDANTS – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Best Animated Feature: RANGO
Best Art Direction: HUGO – Dante Ferretti
Best Cinematography: HUGO– Robert Richardson
Best Costume Design: THE ARTIST – Mark Bridges
Best Documentary Feature: UNDEFEATED
Best Documentary Short Subject: SAVING FACE
Best Film Editing: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
Best Foreign Language Film: A SEPARATION
Best Makeup: THE IRON LADY
Best Original Score: THE ARTIST – Ludovic Bource
Best Original Song: THE MUPPETS – Man or Muppet
Best Animated Short Film: THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR MORRIS LESSMORE
Best Live Action Short Film: THE SHORE
Best Sound Editing: HUGO – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Best Sound Mixing: HUGO – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Best Visual Effects: HUGO – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann & Alex Henning

> Official Oscar site
> Explore the 84th Academy Awards in depth at Wikipedia

NATIONAL RELEASES

The Lion King 3D (Walt Disney): Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub (Matthew Broderick) flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King. Directed Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, this 3D re-release of the 1994 blockbuster recently topped the US box office. [Nationwide / U]

Johnny English Reborn (Universal): The comedy spy franchise based on a Barclaycard advert sees bumbling British spy Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) flushes out a spy in his follow-up assignment as he becomes embroiled in a plot by a team of assassin’s to kill the Chinese premier. [Nationwide / PG]

Midnight In Paris (Warner Bros.): Woody Allen’s most financially successful film ever is a romantic comedy about a family traveling to Paris for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better. Stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates. [Nationwide / 12A]

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (StudioCanal): A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own. Directed Troy Nixey, it stars Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison and Alan Dale. [Nationwide / 15]

ALSO OUT

Tyrannosaur (StudioCanal): Drama about a man plagued by violence and rage who gets a chance of redemption in the form of a Christian charity shop worker. Directed by Paddy Considine, it stars Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Ned Dennehy abd Matthew Rhys. [Selected cinemas / 18]

Perfect Sense (Arrow Films): A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions. Directed by David MacKenzie and starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green. [Selected cinemas / 15]

Four Days Inside Guantanamo (Dogwoof): Documentary about about the controversial visits of Canadian officials to Guantanamo to see 16-year-old terror suspect Omar Khadr. Directed by Luc Cote and Patrricio Henriquez.

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