NO REEL SURPRISES (OSCARS 2012: THE RESULTS)

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It was a night when Hollywood paid its dues to its forefathers.

Michael Hazanavicius' silent film 'The Artist' ran away with the major honours at the Academy Awards while Martin Scorsese's homage to the pioneers of silent cinema 'Hugo' also scored big in the technical categories.

Northern Ireland's film industry got a major boost with Terry and Oorlagh George scooping the Best Short Film Oscar for their touching and beautifully shot post-Troubles drama 'The Shore'.

And Meryl Streep deservedly lifted a third statuette for her performance as a frail Margaret Thatcher in the otherwise weak 'The Iron Lady'.

The result of Best Picture was never really in doubt ever since Michael Hazanavicius' joyous homage to Hollywood cinema started to dominate the major award ceremonies from the Golden Globes to the BAFTAs to France's Cesars.

Like 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'The King's Speech' before it, 'The Artist' confirmed Hollywood's tendency in recent years to turn an underdog into an unstoppable force come Oscar time.

But it also confirmed the persuasive power of producer Harvey Weinstein who every year runs canny Oscar campaigns.

'The Artist' is a deserved winner of the Oscars but the challenge for Hazanavicius and his leading man, Jean Dujardin who beat George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Gary Oldman is to prove this was no flash in the pan.

Remember Roberto Benigni? The Italian comedian also scored big on Academy Awards night with the Holocaust movie 'Life is Beautiful' and then faded from view after a disastrous attempt to revive the 'Pink Panther' franchise.

Meryl Streep's third Oscar is a testament to her staying power as a performer. She appeared to have been possessed by the spirit of Margaret Thatcher in 'The Iron Lady' in what was a flawless performance and it would have been a travesty if Viola Davis had won the statuette for her performance in 'The Help'.

It isn't just that Streep is the Best Actress of her generation. She is cinema's Best Screen Performer.

While contemporaries like Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson have all shone at times in their career, they have lost their lustre in recent years and failed to match her consistency over the past 30-40 years. Streep has been top of the pile for that long while Sean Penn, Daniel Day Lewis, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt have taken the place of her male contemporaries.

Christopher Plummer's Best Supporting Actor was always in the bag for his performance as an elderly widower and father who comes out as a gay man in 'Beginners' .

Octavia Spencer also justified her frontrunner status in the Supporting Actress shortlist by capturing the Oscar for her performance in 'The Help' - the kind of solid American Civil Rights drama which the Academy was always going to want to reward.

The screenplay categories once again enabled Academy voters to recognise those films which failed to win the major awards and so Alexander Payne won his second adapted screenplay award for the Hawaiian family drama 'The Descendants' and Woody Allen won another original screenplay gong for his whimsical box office success 'Midnight in Paris'.

While Martin Scorsese was back to the role of bridesmaid in the major categories, 'Hugo' was rewarded in the technical categories for its pioneering use of 3-D technology - picking up awards for cinematography, visual effects, sound mixing, sound editing and art direction.

'Hugo' is an important film for 3-D drama which will now need Australia's Baz Luhrmann to push the technology to the limits when his adaptation of 'The Great Gatsby' hits our screens later this year.

While Ludovic Bource scooped the Best Original Music Score for 'The Artist', Flight of the Conchords songwriter Bret McKenzie's 'Man or Muppet' not surprisingly won The Best Original Song.

It was also good to see the Johnny Depp voiced cartoon western 'Rango' winning Best Animated Feature.

It was third time lucky for Terry George at the Oscars as 'The Shore' emerged victorious in the Best Short film category.

Viewers on BBC One Northern Ireland got to see on Oscar night this reconciliation drama starring Ciaran Hinds, Kerry Condon and Conleth Hill which was charmingly acted. 

Its victory is a major feather in the cap for Northern Ireland Screen and underlines the need or indigenous filmmakers to be encouraged to bring post-Troubles stories to the big screen.

But Northern Ireland Tourist Board chiefs should also make hay out of its smart choice of locations.

There were no real surprises (or should that be reel surprises?) at this year's Academy Awards. The winners were well signposted.

 Time to scan the film release schedule for next year's contenders.

 (This article originally appeared on Eamonnmallie.com)

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