Los Angeles:
Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure Hugo won the first two prizes of the night at Sunday's Academy Awards, claiming the Oscars for cinematography and art direction.
It was a great start for Scorsese's film, which led contenders with 11 nominations.
"Marty, you're a genius as usual," said Hugo cinematographer Robert Richardson, who won his third Oscar after previous wins for JFK and Scorsese's The Aviator.
The wins for Hugo were a blow to best-picture favorite The Artist, which lost in both categories. The Artist ran second to Hugo with 10 nominations.
Billy Crystal got the show off to a lively start with a star-laden montage in which he hangs out with Justin Bieber and gets a nice wet kiss from George Clooney.
Back as Oscar host for the first time in eight years, Crystal also did his signature introduction of the best-picture nominees with a goofy song.
Before his monologue, Crystal appeared in a collection of clips inserting him in scenes from key nominees. The montage included re-creations from some 2011 films featuring Tom Cruise of Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol and Clooney's best-picture contender The Descendants, with the actor planting a kiss on Crystal.
Spoofing a scene from nominee Midnight in Paris, Bieber told Crystal he was there to bring in the 18-to-24-year-old demographic for the 63-year-old host.
It was a great start for Scorsese's film, which led contenders with 11 nominations.
"Marty, you're a genius as usual," said Hugo cinematographer Robert Richardson, who won his third Oscar after previous wins for JFK and Scorsese's The Aviator.
The wins for Hugo were a blow to best-picture favorite The Artist, which lost in both categories. The Artist ran second to Hugo with 10 nominations.
Billy Crystal got the show off to a lively start with a star-laden montage in which he hangs out with Justin Bieber and gets a nice wet kiss from George Clooney.
Back as Oscar host for the first time in eight years, Crystal also did his signature introduction of the best-picture nominees with a goofy song.
Before his monologue, Crystal appeared in a collection of clips inserting him in scenes from key nominees. The montage included re-creations from some 2011 films featuring Tom Cruise of Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol and Clooney's best-picture contender The Descendants, with the actor planting a kiss on Crystal.
Spoofing a scene from nominee Midnight in Paris, Bieber told Crystal he was there to bring in the 18-to-24-year-old demographic for the 63-year-old host.
