'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:

'The Grey' leaves the competition for the wolves

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" froze the competition, taking the weekend box office crown with $19.6 million, leaving its competition for the wolves.

The film earned $19.6 million.

Last weekend's number one film, "Underworld Awakening" dropped to second place with $12.3 million for a two-week total of $44 million. The film has a ways to go before it recoups its reported $70 million production budget. It's $40 million foreign total to date should help with that though.

The bounty hunter comedy "One for the Money" debuted in third place with $11.5 million, while George Lucas' "Red Tails" fell two stops to number four, grossing $10.3 million in its second weekend.

The third wide-release debut was "Man on a Ledge," which had to settle for fifth place and $8 million.

Several Academy Award best picture nominees saw their theater counts jump after last week's announcements, with the George Clooney-staring "The Descendants" jumping back into the top ten at number eight with $6.4 million. The film is now is full wide release with more than 2,000 screens.

"The Artist" finished just out of the top 10 in 12th place after expanding to almost 900 screens, grossing $3.3 million for the weekend, raising its total to $16.7 million.

The complete list of the weekend's top 10 grossing films is:

1. "The Grey," $19.6 million (New)
2. "Underworld Awakening," $12.3 million (Total: $44.9 million)
3. "One for the Money," $11.5 million (New)
4. "Red Tails," $10.3 million (Total: $33.7 million)
5. "Man on a Ledge," $8 million (New)
6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $6.9 million (Total: $20.9 million)
7. "Contraband," $6.7 million (Total: $56.5 million)
8. "The Descendants," $6.4 million (Total: $58.7 million)
9. "Beauty and the Beast 3D," $5.3 million (Total: $41.1 million) 
 10. "Haywire," $4 million (Total: $15.2 million)