'The Artist,' 'Hugo' big winners at Academy Awards

"The Artist" become only the second silent film ever to win best picture at tonight's 84th annual Academy Awards, during which the movie picked up five awards, as did Martin Scorsese's "Hugo."

"The Artist" was named best picture.

The star-studded ceremony, led by host Billy Crystal, was held tonight in the location formerly known as the Kodak Theatre. Crystal, as he has apt to do, opened the show with a pre-taped segment in which he was inserted in many of this year's nominated films.

The show, which seemed to maintain a quick pace throughout, was punctuated by mostly short speeches and mostly funny interludes.

In addition to best picture, "The Artist" won for best director (Michel Hazanavicius) while French actor Jean Dujardin beat out a tough line-up of nominees led by George Clooney. Also taking home Oscars for their work on the film were Ludovic Bource for original score and Mark Bridges for costume design.

Meanwhile, "Hugo" was awarded for cinematography, art direction, sound mixing, sound editing and visual effects.

In another hotly contested race, 17-time nominee Meryl Streep took home the Oscar for best lead actress for her portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher over Viola Davis, who was nominated for her work in "The Help."

Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, who were tasked with transforming Streep into Thatcher, were honored  with the best makeup Academy Award.

The supporting actor and actress categories both went to the perceived frontrunners in Christopher Plummer for "The Beginners" and Octavia Spencer for "The Help."

'The Artist' wins seven awards at BAFTAs including best picture, director

"The Artist" picked up seven awards including best picture at the 64th BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, held today in the Royal Opera House in Covent Harden.

"The Artist" won 7 awards Sunday.

The silent film, which had earned 12 nominations, also took home the prize for best leading actor for Jean Dujardin and best director for Michel Hazanavicius, as well as original screenplay, cinematography, original music and costume design.

Meanwhile, the spy thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" was named outstanding British film for the year and was also awarded for best original screenplay.

Meryl Streep won best leading actress for her role as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The supporting categories went to the presumed frontrunners in Christopher Plummer ("The Beginners") and Octavia Spencer ("The Help").

In the animated category, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" beat out "The Adventures of Tintin" for the prize.

Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" was awarded for production design and sound. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," took home the prize for special effects.

The award show will air in the U.S. on BBC America tonight (Sunday) at 8 p.m. and again at 11:40.

A full list of the winners and nominees can be seen below:

'Rango' scores at Visual Effects Society Awards

Gore Verbinski's animated film "Rango" was the top winner at the 10th annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards held Tuesday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

"Rango" won four awards Tuesday.

The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.

"Rango" took home four awards, sweeping the animated film categories with wins for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture and Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.

In the live action arena, "Hugo," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" all took home two awards in the feature motion picture categories, while "Boardwalk Empire" and "Game of Thrones" each garnered a pair of awards in the television categories.

"Apes" won Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture while "Hugo" won Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture.

More than a thousand attendees--filmmakers, producers, directors and members of the visual effects community--gathered to recognize the year’s best work and the artists who created it.

Stan Lee received the Lifetime Achievement Award and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received the Georges Méliès Award at the show, which was hosted by Patton Oswalt. Antonio Banderas, Lou Ferrigno, directors Chris Miller, Marc Webb and Jennifer Yuh Nelson, and a host of luminaries were on hand to present awards. A surprise appearance by Martin Scorsese, whose film Hugo received two awards, was one of the evening’s highlights.

'Harry Potter,' 'Hugo,' 'Dragon Tattoo' win at Art Director Guild awards

The Art Directors Guild (ADG) presented its awards Saturday night helping to set two clear front runners for the Art Direction Academy Award.

"Harry Potter" was among the winners.

The guild splits its feature awards into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary.

"Hugo" took home the award for period films, while "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" was awarded in the fantasy category and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in the contemporary category.

"Hugo" and "Harry Potter" are among the five nominees for Best Art Direction at the Academy Awards along with "The Artist" as well as "War Horse" and "Midnight in Paris," neither of which were nominated by the guild.

In addition to Saturday night's win in the fantasy category, this year’s Art Directors Guild Cinematic Imagery Award was presented to the principal team behind the Harry Potter films as a whole, including producers David Heyman and David Barron; director David Yates; creator and author J.K. Rowling; screenwriter Steve Kloves; production designer Stuart Craig; art director Neil Lamont; and set decorator Stephenie McMillan.

In the realm of television, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" was awarded for One-Hour Single Camera Television Series and ABC's "Modern Family" for Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series. HBO's "Mildred Pierce" took home the prize for Television Movie or Mini-Series.

The black-tie ceremony announcing winners took place at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills with Paula Poundstone serving as host for the third consecutive year.

A Lifetime Achievement Award went to Emmy Award winning production designer Tony Walton. In addition, the ADG inducted the following legendary production designers from the past into its Hall of Fame: Robert Boyle, William Darling and Alfred Junge.

See below for a full list of nominees and winners.