This year's Academy Awards held few surprises -- favored movies like Michel Hazanavicius' predominantly silent The Artist and Martin Scorsese's 3D opus Hugo, which both led the nomination count, also walked away with most of the statues.
But there are always a few unexpected moments, the slightly awkward acceptance speeches which actually feel genuine, the show-stealing appearance that sticks in your memory. This year's highlights included Jean Dujardin's heavily accented merci after winning Best Actor for The Artist and Octavia Spencer's tearful freakout while accepting Best Supporting Actress for The Help.Meryl Streep, who has received more nominations than anyone else in Oscar history, took home her third statue -- and her first in three decades -- winning for Best Actress in The Iron Lady.
First-time winner Christopher Plummer became the oldest-ever Best Supporting Actor, at age 82, taking home the gold for Beginners.
Uggie, the canine costar from Best Picture The Artist, was one of the evening's most welcome surprises on the big stage. He even dressed for the occasion, sporting a jaunty bow tie.
Perhaps the most memorable moment came on the red carpet, before the ceremony even began, as Sacha Baron Cohen -- promoting his upcoming movie The Dictator -- dumped "Kim Jong-il's ashes" all over Ryan Seacrest. It was just that kind of evening.
Here's the complete list of Oscar 2012 winners. How did your predictions stack up?
Winners of the 84th Academy Awards
Best Picture
The Artist -- WINNER
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Directing
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist -- WINNER
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist -- WINNER
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady -- WINNER
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners -- WINNER
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help -- WINNER
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon and Jim Rash -- WINNER
Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan
The Ides of March, Screenplay by George Clooney and Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Artist, Written by Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
Margin Call, Written by J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen -- WINNER
A Separation, Written by Asghar Farhadi
Foreign Language Film
Bullhead, Belgium
Footnote, Israel
In Darkness, Poland
Monsieur Lazhar, Canada
A Separation, Iran -- WINNER
Animated Feature Film
A Cat in Paris, Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2, Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Puss In Boots, Chris Miller
Rango, Gore Verbinski -- WINNER
Art Direction
The Artist, Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Hugo, Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo -- WINNER
Midnight in Paris, Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Cinematography
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richardson, Hugo -- WINNER
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
Costume Design
Lisy Christl, Anonymous
Mark Bridges, The Artist -- WINNER
Sandy Powell, Hugo
Michael O'Connor, Jane Eyre
Arianne Phillips, W.E.
Film Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kevin Tent, The Descendants
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- WINNER
Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball
Documentary (Feature)
Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Pina, Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard Middlemas -- WINNER
Makeup
Albert Nobbs, Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, and Yolanda Toussieng
The Iron Lady, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland -- WINNER
Music (Original Score)
The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams
The Artist, Ludovic Bource -- WINNER
Hugo, Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias
War Horse, John Williams
Music (Original Song)
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie -- WINNER
"Real in Rio" from Rio, Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson
Hugo, Tom Fleischman and John Midgley -- WINNER
Moneyball, Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco, and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, and Stuart Wilson
Sound Editing
Drive, Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Ren Klyce
Hugo, Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty -- WINNER
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse, Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Richardson
Hugo, Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman, and Alex Henning -- WINNER
Real Steel, Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor, and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Documentary (Short Subject)
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad, James Spione
Saving Face, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy -- WINNER
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Short Film (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday, Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg -- WINNER
La Luna, Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost, Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
Raju, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
The Shore, Terry George and Oorlagh George -- WINNER
Time Freak, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic, Hallvar Witzø
