The Oscars are finally over. The front-runner, The Artist, won the awards race by picking up Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Costume Design, and Best Score. There were also some big upsets as "locks" like The Tree of Life for Best Cinematography and Rise of the Planet of the Apes for Best Visual Effects were no match for Hugo, which ended up taking those categories and three more (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Art Direction). As for nice surprises...not really (unless you loved Hugo).It was a forgettable year for the Oscars, and Billy Crystal, turning in his safe, predictable, and family-friendly routine was the perfect fit for a year that screamed "Don't rock the boat!" Last year's Oscars took a chance on pairing Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and the show was a mess. This year, they played it safe and the ceremony was still dull. Quite simply, there was no films to root for and the "upsets" were for the establishment. It was also funny to have the show and actors celebrate the theater when audiences are moving to OnDemand services, and studios are trying to make the theatrical release window even shorter.  Hit the jump for a full list of the winners, click here for mine and Adam Chitwood's Oscar predictions (he did way better than me), and click here for my live-blog of the ceremony.BEST PICTURE: The ArtistBEST DIRECTOR: Michael Hazanavicius - The ArtistBEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin - The ArtistBEST ACTRESS: Meryl Streep - The Iron LadyBEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer - BeginnersBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer - The HelpBEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in ParisBEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The DescendantsBEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A SeparationBEST ANIMATED FEATURE: RangoBEST ART DIRECTION: HugoBEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: HugoBEST COSTUME DESIGN: The ArtistBEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: UndefeatedBEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: Saving FaceBEST FILM EDITING: The Girl with the Dragon TattooBEST MAKEUP: The Iron LadyBEST ORIGINAL SCORE: The ArtistBEST ORIGINAL SONG: The MuppetsBEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris LessmoreBEST SHORT FILM (LIVE-ACTION): The ShoreBEST SOUND EDITING: HugoBEST SOUND MIXING: HugoBEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Hugo
Winners of the 84th Academy Awards; THE ARTIST Wins 5 Including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor
Oscar winners 2012. Winners of the 84th Academy Awards included The Artist for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Jean Dujardin).