Silent movie "The Artist" triumphed at the Oscars on Sunday (February 27), taking home five awards for best film, best actor for Jean Dujardin and best director for Michel Hazanavicius, as well as for musical score and costume design. "The Artist" centers on a fading Hollywood star in 1927, when silent movies were overtaken by talkies.
The Academy also gave a best actress Oscar to Meryl Streep for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," marking Streep's third Academy Award in 17 nominations. An emotional Octavia Spencer won her first Oscar for her supporting actress role as a sassy maid in "The Help." Veteran Christopher Plummer made history by becoming the oldest winner ever at age 82 with his best supporting actor role as an elderly gay man in "Beginners." And "A Separation" won the Oscar for best foreign language film, becoming the first Iranian movie to win the honor.
A star's body part proves more popular than the average person. Angelina Jolie's right leg now has its own unofficial Twitter feed, which picked up thousands of followers after she wore a black velvet Versace dress with a split up her right leg at the Oscars. She showed off her famous stem on the red carpet and while presenting the best adapted screenplay award.
Despite all the attention paid to the Oscars this weekend, box office numbers were strong with military drama "Act of Valor" claiming the No. 1 spot, beating expectations with an estimated $24.7 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales. "Act of Valor" stars real-life, active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs alongside professional actors in a fictional story about a mission to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent. Some scenes used live fire rather than visual effects.
Roselle Chen, Reuters.
