Ergo,its Argo

But in a break from recent years,Oscar voters also found a way to take care of a wide variety of movies,especially Life of Pi,which won four trophies,including the best director honour for Ang Lee. Les Miserables joined Argo in taking home three awards,and Django Unchained was honoured with two,including one for Quentin Tarantino for best original screenplay.

I want to thank Canada, Affleck said in a rapid-fire speech,a reference to that countrys heroics in saving the diplomats who were the subject of his movie.

Still,Affleck was not nominated by the Academy for his directing,making Argo the first film to win best picture without an accompanying nomination for its director since 1990,when Driving Miss Daisy won the best-picture Oscar.

Lincoln,the most nominated film going into the night with 12 nods,left with two statuettes,including one for Daniel Day-Lewis as best actor,his third in that category. In a gracious acceptance speech,he thanked his beloved skipper, the films director,Steven Spielberg,and concluded by saying For my mother.

A flustered Jennifer Lawrence stumbled as she ascended the stairs en route to accepting the Oscar for best actress for Silver Linings Playbook,but recovered with a smile before saying,This is nuts.

The Oscars seemed to emulate the Grammy Awards,with more emphasis on centerpiece performancesby Adele,Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisandthan on the presentation of awards. The much-advertised musical tribute had it both ways,mixing clips from films with live performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones,from Chicago; Jennifer Hudson,in Dreamgirls; and the cast of Les Miserables.

Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress for her role as an emaciated prostitute in Les Miserables. It came true, she said softly after climbing onstage. Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for Django Unchained,something of a surprise given the Weinstein Co.s hard push for Robert De Niro for his role in Silver Linings Playbook.

There was a rare tie in the sound editing category,with Oscars going to Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. The last time there was a tie was in 1994 in the live-action-short category,according to an Academy librarian.

Michael Hanekes Amour,about an elderly couple coping with illness and death,won best foreign film.

After years of watching independent film companies or art-house-oriented subsidiaries dominate the Oscars,the major studios finally stepped into the limelight. Of the nine most-nominated filmsled by Lincoln,with 12,and Life of Pi,with 11seven were distributed by major studios.

The Weinstein Co.,with Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained,accounted for the other two.

The Oscars may go up and down in the ratings,but revenue from the show keeps rising. Last year the Academy took in a record 89.6 million from the show,up about 5 per cent from 85.5 million the year before.

Highlights

Michelle Obama announces Best Film via video,first First Lady to do so

Daniel Day-Lewis wins 3rd Best Actor Oscar,most for any actor

Argo first film since 1989s Driving Miss Daisy to take home Best Picture but not Best Director

Zero Dark Thirty,Skyfall tie for Sound Editingsixth such tie in Academy history

Best Picture: Argo

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis,Lincoln

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence,Silver Linings Playbook

Supporting Actor: Django Unchained ,Christoph Waltz

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway,Les Miserables

Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio,Argo

Cinematography: Life of Pi,Claudio Miranda

Production Design: Lincoln,Rick Carter and Jim Erickson

Film Editing: Argo,William Goldenberg

Visual Effects: Life of Pi,Bill Westenhofer,Guillaume Rocheron,Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott

Costume Design: Anna Karenina,Jacqueline Durran

Makeup: Les Miserables,Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Sound Editing: Tie: Skyfall,Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers,and Zero Dark Thirty,Paul N.J. Ottosson

Sound Mixing: Les Miserables,Andy Nelson,Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

Song: Skyfall from Skyfall,Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Animated Feature: Brave

Animated Short: Paperman

Documentary Short: Inocente

Live Action Short: Curfew

What went wrong

ARGO,AN AD FOR CIA

The elation that followed Irans first Oscar victory for the film A Separation,has been pushed aside by what many in Iran see as a politically motivated choice for this years best picture winner,Argo. With Michelle Obama being the surprise presenter of the award,Fars News,Irans hardline outlet,questioned her role,saying,In a rare occasion,the First Lady announced the winner for Best Picture for the anti-Iran film Argo. Others criticised the way Affleck referred to Iran in his acceptance speech when he said,I want to thank our friends in Iran who live under terrible circumstances.

WASHINGTON POST

JAYASHRI LOSES

Bombay Jayshri,the sole Indian nominee at this years Oscars,lost the Best Original Song trophy to British singer Adele,who won the statuette for her soulful rendition of the James Bond theme Skyfall. This is the very first James Bond theme to win an Oscar. The British songstress,who also performed the song at the ceremony,co-wrote it with Paul Epworth. Adele defeated Jayashris Pis Lullaby from Life Of Pi which she co-wrote with composer Mychael Danna and Norah Jones for Everybody Needs a Friend from Ted. PTI

WE SAW YOUR BOOBS

It was meant to be a tribute to some of the hardest working women in film. During his opening monologue,Seth MacFarlane took a moment to sing a tune titled We Saw Your Boobs. The song called out actresses in the audience who have exposed their chest in some of their most famous roles. Naomi Watts looked horrified when he mentioned her name while Charlize Theron avoided the camera. But the always jubilant Jennifer Lawrence relished at the nod,giving a hands up to the cameras.

DAILY MAIL

NOT-SO FAMILY GUY

Oscar host Seth MacFarlane casually slung a string of zingers at some of Hollywoods biggest names,including a musical tribute to female frontal nudity in the movies,as he launched the Academy Awards show. He started off joking that Argo was so top secret that the films director is unknown to the Academy. The barb was a not-so-subtle jab at the failure to nominate Ben Affleck as best director. MacFarlane described another best-film candidate,Django Unchained,as the slavery-era story of a man fighting to get back his woman who has been subjected to violenceor as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it,a date movie. It drew an audible groan from the audience. REUTERS