2012 Oscars 84th Academy Awards

2012 Oscars 84th Academy Awards

  • The 84th Academy Awards announced its winners on February 24, 2012.
  • The venue was the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles.
  • Billy Crystal took on the hosting duties for the ninth time in his career.
  • Films released during the 2011 calendar year were eligible for the awards.
  • Noteworthy Moments:
    • The Artist took home the Best Picture, making it the first silent feature to win the award since Wings in 1929.
    • Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for The Iron Lady, her first win in 29 years.
    • Christopher Plummer became the oldest actor to win an Oscar at the age of 82 for his supporting role in Beginners.
    • Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Help, receiving a standing ovation.
  • Trivia:
    1. Billy Crystal’s hosting stint was last-minute; he replaced Eddie Murphy, who withdrew after Brett Ratner resigned as the ceremony’s producer.
    2. The Artist‘s Uggie became the first dog to be invited to leave his paw prints outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
    3. Sacha Baron Cohen, invited for Hugo, came dressed as his character from The Dictator and spilled “ashes” on Ryan Seacrest.
    4. A tribute to the James Bond franchise was notably absent, despite 2012 being its 50th anniversary.
    5. The awards ceremony ran for 3 hours and 14 minutes, making it one of the shorter Oscars broadcasts in recent years.

2012 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
The Artist – Thomas Langmann, producer (WINNER)
The Descendants – Jim Burke, Jim Taylor, and Alexander Payne, producers
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Scott Rudin, producer
The Help – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, and Michael Barnathan, producers
Hugo – Graham King and Martin Scorsese, producers
Midnight in Paris – Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, producers
Moneyball – Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, and Brad Pitt, producers
The Tree of Life – Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, and Bill Pohlad, producers
War Horse – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers
Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist (WINNER)
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Best Actor:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin (WINNER)
Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
George Clooney – The Descendants as Matthew “Matt” King
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley
Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane
Best Actress:
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher (WINNER)
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Lisbeth Salander
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe
Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields (WINNER)
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as The Renter
Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson (WINNER)
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan Price
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page
Best Original Screenplay:
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen (WINNER)
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Margin Call – J. C. Chandor
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings (WINNER)
Hugo – John Logan based on the book entitled The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon
Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin based on the book by Michael Lewis
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor (posthumous nomination) and Peter Straughan based on the novel by John le Carré
Best Animated Feature Film:
Rango – Directed by Gore Verbinski (WINNER)
A Cat in Paris – Directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico and Rita – Directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Puss in Boots – Directed by Chris Miller
Best Foreign Language Film:
A Separation (Iran) in Persian – Directed by Asghar Farhadi (WINNER)
Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French – Directed by Michaël R. Roskam
Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew – Directed by Joseph Cedar
In Darkness (Poland) in Polish – Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French – Directed by Philippe Falardeau
Best Documentary – Feature:
Undefeated – T. J. Martin, Daniel Lindsay, and Rich Middlemas (WINNER)
Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
Best Documentary – Short Subject:
Saving Face – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge (WINNER)
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin (posthumous nomination)
God Is the Beggir Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Best Live Action Short Film:
The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George (WINNER)
Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
Raju – Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren
Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø (nomination revoked)
Best Animated Short Film:
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (WINNER)
Dimanche – Patrick Doyon
La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Best Original Score:
The Artist – Ludovic Bource (WINNER)
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams
Best Original Song:
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets – Music and Lyrics by Bret McKenzie (WINNER)
“Real in Rio” from Rio – Music by Sérgio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyrics by Siedah Garrett
Best Sound Editing:
Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty (WINNER)
Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Best Sound Mixing:
Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley (WINNER)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, and Stuart Wilson
Best Art Direction:
Hugo – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo (WINNER)
The Artist – Art Direction: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Midnight in Paris – Art Direction: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse – Art Direction: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Best Cinematography:
Hugo – Robert Richardson (WINNER)
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski
Best Makeup:
The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland (WINNER)
Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa Tomblin
Best Costume Design:
The Artist – Mark Bridges (WINNER)
Anonymous – Lisy Christl
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
W.E. – Arianne Phillips
Best Film Editing:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter (WINNER)
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants – Kevin Tent
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen
Best Visual Effects:
Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning (WINNER)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Richardson
Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor, and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, and John Frazier
Academy Honorary Award:
James Earl Jones.
Dick Smith
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
Oprah Winfrey