Going to the movies means many different things to many different
people. It's the midnight premier that's the highlight of your summer.
It's a good way to kill time. Sometimes, it's the perfect first date.
All the hard work the actors and actresses put into their movies
matters now. The touching moments that are shared with the
world, the sweat and the tears, boil down to this. This is where it
counts. Welcome to the Academy Awards.
Also referred to as The Oscars, this night is dedicated to recognizing
the actors and actresses in movies who did exceptional work
and stood out above the rest. The movies receiving awards
are from the previous year, 2011.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
hosted the awards at the Highland Center in Hollywood,
California. They were broadcasted live on
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, at 9 p.m. EST on the ABC
television network.
It started out with a montage of many familiar
movie scenes, all trying to convince Billy Crystal
to host the 84th Academy Awards. He finally gave
in; making this the 9th Academy Awards show he's
hosted.
"The movies have always been a place for us … to
laugh, to smile, to cry, to text," Crystal joked.
As the night carried on, it was clear who the favorite competitor
was. "Hugo," directed by Martin Scorsese, won five
awards including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction,
Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects.
The other movie that won multiple times was "The
Artist," for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Costume Design,
Best Original Score, Best Director, and the most prestigious
award of the night, Best Picture. Lastly, "The Iron
Lady" won awards for Best Makeup and Best Actress in a
Leading Role. "The Iron Lady" was Meryl Streep's 17th acting
nomination.
"The Help" was nominated multiple times, but only won
one award. Tearfully accepting the award for Best Actress In
A Supporting Role was Octavia Spencer for her role as Minny
Jackson. The award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to
Christopher Plummer for his movie "Beginners."
The writing awards went to "The Descendants" for Best
Adapted Screenplay and "Midnight In Paris" for Best Original
Screenplay.
The short film awards went to "The Shore" for Best Live Action,
"Saving Face" for Best Documentary Short and "The Fantastic
Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" for Best Animated
Short.
Other awards went to Iran's "A Separation" for
Best Foreign Language Film, "The Girl With The
Dragon Tattoo" for Best Film Editing, "Undefeated"
for Best Documentary Feature, "Rango"
for Best Animated Feature Film and "Man
or Muppet" from "The Muppets" for Best
Music Original Song.
Other awards that were given out were
the Academy Honorary Award, which was
awarded to James Earl Jones and Dick Smith.
Also, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
went to Oprah Winfrey.
Every cut, every action and every line
came down to this night. While it was
a night dominated by great movies,
directors, and writers in Hollywood,
none of this would have
been possible without the fans
watching from home. Keep an
eye out for your favorite actors
and actresses this year, because
you might see them nominated for
next year's Academy Awards. Until
then, as they say in Hollywood, "It's a
wrap."
