“The Artist,” a black-and-white film with just a few words of dialog, won Oscars for best picture, director and actor as Hollywood continued to honor smaller-budget films.

Michel Hazanavicius captured best director for the mostly silent film and Jean Dujardin was honored as best actor for playing George Valentin, an aging film star unable to make it in talking pictures. Meryl Streep won best actress for playing Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” The Oscars were handed out last night at the 84th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles.

As in past years, academy voters shunned top-grossing films

focusing on lower-budget, less-seen movies such as “The Artist,” which cost about $15 million, according to Box Office Mojo, a researcher. Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” which tied “The Artist” with five awards, was the costliest at $170 million.

“When people love the movie, it’s not very difficult, because you’re not selling, you’re not promoting,” said Hazanavicius backstage. “You just smile and say, ‘thank you.’”

Streep, 62, captured her third Oscar for her portrayal of Thatcher, the former British prime minister. Her 17 lifetime nominations are tops for the industry, according to the academy’s database. Streep’s win was among the few upsets, based on betting lines from Paddy Power PLC, a British oddsmaker.

“It was like I was a kid again,” Streep said backstage. “I understand Streep fatigue, and it shocked me it didn’t override this thing tonight.”
Box Office

Of nine films nominated for best picture, “The Help” from DreamWorks Studios and Walt Disney Co. leads among fans with $206.7 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. “Hugo” has collected $115.8 million in worldwide ticket sales and “The Artist” has taken in $76.5 million.

With the Oscar, “The Artist” became the second silent film to win best picture. “Wings” was crowned outstanding picture at the first Academy Awards on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, steps from this year’s ceremony. “The Artist” was shot in Los Angeles.

“They must be going nuts in France right now,” Crystal said after the award for the 39-year-old Frenchman Dujardin.

The picture produced five awards for Weinstein Co., the closely held New York-based studio that distributed “The Artist” in the U.S. “Hugo” generated five Oscars for Viacom Inc.’s Paramount, which also grabbed best animated feature for “Rango.”

First Oscar

Christopher Plummer, 82, became the oldest Oscar winner for his role in the film “Beginners,” about a man who comes out as gay late in life. Octavia Spencer won best-supporting actress for her role as the sharp-tongued housemaid Minny Jackson in “The Help,” about the sometimes-tense relationship between black maids and the white women who employ them.

The nomination was Plummer’s second in more than 40 years of acting and his only win. The film, from Universal Pictures’ Focus Features, stars Ewan McGregor and took in $14.3 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum criticized President Barack Obama's apology for the burning of Qurans in Afghanistan, adding that Afghanistan should apologize to the U.S. for the deaths of four U.S. soldiers during six days of violence sparked by the incident.

"There was nothing deliberately done wrong here," Santorum said Sunday on ABC's "This Week". "This was something that happened as a mistake. Killing Americans in uniform is not a mistake. It was something that deliberate."

More than 30 people have been killed in clashes since it emerged Tuesday that copies of the Muslim holy book and other religious materials had been thrown into a fire pit used to burn garbage at Bagram Air Field, a large U.S. base north of Kabul. Protesters angry over Quran burnings by American troops lobbed grenades Sunday at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan and clashed with police and troops in a day of violence that left seven international troops wounded and two Afghans dead.
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Trouble found Danica Patrick again.
Danica Patrick (7) gets spun by teammate Cole Whitt (88).
(Getty Images)

Just 48 hours after smashing hard into a retaining wall in a qualifying race for Sunday’s Daytona 500, Patrick got clipped again, this time by her own teammate, Cole Whitt, sending her into a spin and eventually the wall just 50 laps into the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

“What the [expletive],” she yelled over her team radio. “He [expletive] hit me.”

After driving her damaged race car to the garage, Patrick jumped out, helmet still on, and stormed into her team hauler, leaving a trail of media behind her.

It was the second time in three days her race was ruined by a crash that was no fault of her own. Thursday she got bumped by Aric Almirola; Saturday it was Whitt.

“I don’t think it’s ever great when teammates come together,” she said afterward. “We’ll have to figure out what happened and move forward.”

As Whitt explained it, the two were trying to use the two-car draft to move to the front, with him playing the role of the pusher.

“We’re teammates,” he said. “We want our team to win. I mean, that’s why we were pushing each other anyways – we want to get our team up front together.”

When told Patrick expressed her dissatisfaction over the radio, Whitt responded, “I wouldn’t expect her to be happy about it. I wouldn’t be happy about it either. I don’t know why anyone would expect her to be like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s great.’ ”

The wreck ruined what could have been a storybook day for Patrick, who on Friday became just the second woman ever to win a pole position for a Nationwide Series race. Starting up front, Patrick teamed up with her boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to lead the first two laps of Saturday’s race.

She was running comfortably in the top 20 at the time of the accident. She wound up 38th.
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After yesterday’s shots of Camilla Belle wearing nothing but a bra and a blazer to some movie premiere, so frickin’ hot, this chick has got my attention. She’s just a sexy piece of ass. Here she is walking down the streets in her conservative little dress. I don’t care that she decided go out looking like a lesbian school teacher from the fifties, I still love her and I know that her tight body under there is incredible. More please.

Lots of guys want to go on a date with Taylor Swift. So, what makes 18-year-old Kevin McGuire from Somerdale, New Jersey any different from the pack of Swift's would-be suitors?

Well, there are a few things, which I'll go over in a minute. But, suffice to say, McGuire, who recently asked Swift via Facebook to be his prom date in June, stands out for the response he got. Swift declined the offer...but asked him to accompany her to a prestigious awards show in April, instead!Taylor Swift

How did this all happen? The backstory: McGuire has had a painful struggle with leukemia since he was 13 years old. He went into remission in 2010, but sadly relapsed and is currently battling cancer for a second time.

His older sister, Victoria, impressed with her brother's bravery and character, started a Facebook campaign with the hope of granting his greatest wish--convincing Swift to attend prom with him.

"All throughout Kevin's treatment he kept his character intact, remained playing basketball, and even started varsity football as a freshman," Victoria McGuire explained on Facebook. "Kevin is the kindest, most noble 18-year-old a person could even fathom meeting, and through out his ups and downs Kevin never even questioned 'why me?'

"Nothing, and I mean NOTHING brightens Kevin's day more than Taylor Swift," she continued. "Kevin DESERVES more than anyone a special event in his life."Kevin McGuire's photo on the Facebook campaign

Victoria's idea caught the attention of local news, who interviewed her about it. "[Kevin] said 'who would want to go to the prom with me? I am going to be bald, my appearance is going to change,'" she told an NBC affiliate. "We both looked at each other and I said, 'What if I got Taylor Swift to go to the prom with you?'"

So it looks like Audrina Patridge took my advice about spending all your time in a bikini when you have fake tits, because here she is in one at the DKNY Jeans Beach House. And all I have to say is WOW! She’s got one sweet ass tight body! Enjoy.

Teen Mom 2 bad girl, Amber Portwood, was released from jail earlier today after spending over two months in the slammer! That’s the most time any celebrity’s spent behind bars since… well, since ever!

According to reports, the 22-year-old was told to report to Sister 2 Sister Ministries to begin a drug rehabilitation program, but the halfway house refused to treat the reality star because “she’s too wild and has too much negative energy to benefit from the program.”


Right, because most drug addicts are demure and completely open and willing to accept treatment from total strangers. Good call Sister 2 Sister - way to extend a hand to those in need!

A judge order will also require Amber to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet until such time as the court rules that she is stable enough to have it removed.

In an unprecedented Hollywood event, 22-year-old actress Lily Collins recently announced that she “… never did do the whole drinking, drugs [thing]…That wasn’t ever me and is never gonna be me.”

What? A second generation A-list celeb (her father is pop musician Phil Colins) who isn’t interested in the L.A. party scene? That’s unheard of – even for a Brit!

Of course we kid. We’re sure there are plenty of celebrities out there who are just like Lily, but she’s so freaking cool that we couldn’t pass this story up!

Allen, who will star in this year’s other Snow White-themed movie, Mirror Mirror, opposite Julia Roberts, is also the cover girl for this month’s issue of Nylon Magazine and in an exclusive interview with the mag, she opens up about life growing up in the English countryside and steering clear of drugs and alcohol.

Growing up in the English countryside, I would go out into the fields and create my own stories, and I would run around as if I was in a movie… That’s why for me, playing Snow White was a crazy dream come true, because I’ve always been someone who would read books and then go and make a movie in my head.

I have no idea what will happen after Mirror Mirror but I love that I can still do what I want to do on a weekend, like go to the flea market. I don’t ever want that to stop… I won’t want to suddenly have to sacrifice parts of myself, and I don’t feel like I am, knowing that people are going to be more interested in my personal life. I never did go out and party! I never did do the whole drinking, drugs…That wasn’t ever me and is never gonna be me.

While most eight-year-olds dream of getting a new bike or maybe a doll for their birthday, little Poppy Burge will be getting something more extravagant - £8,000 of vouchers to spend on plastic surgery.

Her surgery-obsessed mother Sarah, known as The Human Barbie, has spent £500,000 on enhancing her own looks and wants Poppy to be just like her.

For Christmas she gave her daughter, whose two front teeth are yet to come through, £7,000 of vouchers for lipsocution.

Miss Burge first made the headlines in 2010 when she confessed to teaching her then six-year-old daughter to pole dance.

And last year the mother-of-three, who lives in a £500,000 four-bedroom home in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, boasted that she gave a £6,000 breast enlargement voucher to her daughter.

There will be an X-Factor style competition in which her friends will have to strut down a catwalk and the world's largest rabbit, which is 4ft long, has also been hired to make an appearance.

Each reveller will take home spray tan vouchers, a signed photo of Poppy and Sarah and luxury chocolates in party bags worth £200 each.

Miss Burge, a former nurse, is more than capable of paying for the lavish parties and gifts thanks to the lucrative business she runs organising plastic surgery and swinging parties and writing erotic novels.

There is an uncanny meeting of minds between Sriprakash Jaiswal and the BJP. The BJP agrees with Jaiswal not on his first presumption that the Congress will form the government in Uttar Pradesh, but on the assertion that the Centre may impose President's Rule in the state.

The principal opposition party believes that the most likely scenario in UP is that of a 'very hung house', with the incumbent BSP and not the main challenger SP emerging as the single largest party.

The BJP will occupy the third place, followed by the Congress on the unenviable position of number four. Poll managers in the BJP are rapidly coming to the conclusion that the BSP is not losing as much ground as the Congress's spin-doctors would have us believe.

The BSP has fielded 85 Muslims, followed by the SP with 84 and the Congress, which has given tickets to 60 Muslims. Still, the BSP is expected to suffer a fall of between 70 and 80 seats from the 206 it had got in 2007 - to between 130 and 140 seats in the ongoing poll.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,

But the sharp drop in the BSP's number is not getting consolidated in one player. Almost all parties gain - the BJP expects to take its tally from 50 to between 75 and 90 seats. The Congress too stands to gain - from the current 22 seats to over 50 seats.

But contrary to popular perception, the main challenger to Mayawati, the SP, is not going to improve as much as the various surveys claim. The SP had sent 97 MLAs to the UP assembly in 2007. The number is now expected to rise, but not enough to ensure that it becomes the single largest party. In short, the BSP's losses are not the SP's gains.