Very few surprises at last night's Academy Awards ceremony where The Artist clean sweeped the major awards, taking Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Hazanavicius and Best Actor for Jean Dujardin. The black and white silent film masterpiece also took Best Original Score and Best Costume to win five awards in total. Martin Scorsese's love letter to cinema Hugo also racked up five wins, winning the technical categories including Best Cinematography for Robert Richardson. As we suspected she might the moment the film was announced 18 months ago, Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for her portrayal of former British prime minister Maggie Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Completely dominant at the Oscars, this was Streep's 17th nomination but her first win in almost twenty years. In the supporting categories, Christopher Plummer took Best Supporting Actor becoming the oldest winner of an Oscar at 82. The Help's Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress. Best Adapted Screenplay went to Alexander Payne, Jim Rash and Nat Faxon for The Descendants. Best Original Screenplay went to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris. "Man or Muppet" won Best Original Song for The Muppets! Best Animated to Rango. Full list of winners below;
BEST PICTURE
The Artist War Horse The Tree of Life Moneyball The Descendants Midnight in Paris The Help Hugo Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist Alexander Payne - The Descendants Martin Scorsese - Hugo Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
BEST ACTOR
Jean Dujardin - The Artist Demian Bichir - A Better Life Brad Pitt - Moneyball George Clooney - The Descendants Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs Viola Davis - The Help Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer - Beginners Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn Jonah Hill - Moneyball Nick Nolte - Warrior Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer - The Help Berenice Bejo - The Artist Jessica Chastain - The Help Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Separation - Iran Bullhead - Belgium Footnote - Israel In Darkness - Poland Monsieur Lazhar - Canada
BEST ANIMATION
Rango A Cat in Paris Chico and Rita Kung Fu Panda 2 Puss in Boots
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius Bridesmaids - Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig Margin Call - JC Chandor A Separation - Asghar Farhadi
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash Hugo - John Logan The Ides of March - George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon Moneyball - Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin. Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
BEST ART DIRECTION
Hugo - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo The Artist Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 Midnight in Paris War Horse
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hugo - Robert Richardson The Artist The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo The Tree of Life War Horse
BEST SOUND MIXING
Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Moneyball Transformers: Dark of the Moon War Horse
BEST SOUND EDITING
Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty Drive The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Transformers: Dark of the Moon War Horse
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Man or Muppet, from The Muppets - music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie Real in Rio from Rio - music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown and lyrics by Siedah Garrett
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Artist - Ludovic Bource The Adventures of Tintin Hugo Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy War Horse
BEST COSTUMES
The Artist - Mark Bridges Anonymous Hugo Jane Eyre W.E.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Undefeated Hell and Back Again If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Pina
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Saving Face The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement God is the Bigger Elvis Incident in New Baghdad The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
BEST FILM EDITING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall The Artist The Descendants Hugo Moneyball
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore Dimanche/Sunday La Luna A Morning Stroll Wild Life
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
The Shore Pentecost Raju Time Freak Tuba Atlantic
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Real Steel Rise of the Planet of the Apes Transformers: Dark of the Moon
BEST MAKE-UP
The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J Roy Helland Albert Nobbs Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 .