From Billy Crystal to Angelina Jolie's leg to one actress' arrest at an after-party, Hollywood's biggest night delivered the glitz, the glam and the gowns.

"Meryl Streep's dress was very Goliath. The tail, it was very outrageous for her age."

The Hollywood heavyweights rocking the red carpet sent the Twittersphere into a spiral with some 3.8 million social media mentions during the broadcast.

Fans just couldn't keep quiet about the silent film that took the awards show by storm, The Artist. Taking home the golden guy for best picture and giving Jean Du Jardin the trophy for best actor.

But of all the highs and lows, it was just how high that slit on Angelina Jolie's dress went that had tongues wagging.

"I know Angelina's stance was the talk of the night."

The daring thigh-high slit showcasing Jolie's right leg led to its own Twitter page and before the telecast was even over had at least 10,000 followers.

1. Cinematography: "Hugo."

2. Art Direction: "Hugo."

3. Costume Design: "The Artist."

4. Makeup: "The Iron Lady."

5. Foreign Language Film: "A Separation," Iran.

6. Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

7. Film Editing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

8. Sound Editing: "Hugo."

9. Sound Mixing: "Hugo."

10. Documentary Feature: "Undefeated."

11. Animated Feature Film: "Rango."

12. Visual Effects: "Hugo."

13. Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."

14. Original Score: "The Artist."

15. Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets."

16. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants."

17. Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris."

18. Live Action Short Film: "The Shore."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Saving Face."

20. Animated Short Film: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore."

21. Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

22. Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist."

23. Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady."

24. Best Picture: "The Artist."

___

Oscar winners previously presented this season:

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Oprah Winfrey.

Honorary Award: James Earl Jones.

Honorary Award: Dick Smith.

Gordon E. Sawyer Award: Douglas Trumbull.

Award of Merit: ARRI cameras.

Among other prizes for the black-and-white comic melodrama were best actor for Jean Dujardin and director for Michel Hazanavicius.

The other top Oscars went to Meryl Streep as best actress for "The Iron Lady," Octavia Spencer as supporting actress for "The Help" and Christopher Plummer as supporting actor for "Beginners."

"The Artist" is the first silent winner since the World War I saga "Wings" was named outstanding picture at the first Oscars in 1929 had a silent film earned the top prize.

"I am the happiest director in the world," Havanavicius said, thanking the cast, crew and canine co-star Uggie. "I also want to thank the financier, the crazy person who put money in the movie."

PHOTOS: From the red carpet to the stage, the glamour of the Oscars

The win was Streep's first Oscar in 29 years, since she won best actress for "Sophie's Choice."

She had lost 13 times in a row since then. Streep also has a supporting-actress Oscar for 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer."

MORE: Full list of 2012 Oscar winners

"When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, 'Oh, no, why her again?' But whatever," Streep said, laughing. "I really understand I'll never be up here again. I really want to think all my colleagues, my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends. Really, this is such a great honor but the think that counts the most with me is the friendship and the love and the sheer job we've shared making moves together."

Streep is only the fifth performer to receive three Oscars. Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan all earned three, while Katharine Hepburn won four.

The 82-year-old Plummer became the oldest acting winner ever for his role as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in "Beginners."

"You're only two years older than me, darling," Plummer said, addressing his Oscar statue in this 84th year of the awards. "Where have you been all my life? I have a confession to make. When I first emerged from my mother's womb, I was already rehearsing my Oscar speech."

The previous oldest winner was best-actress recipient Jessica Tandy for "Driving Miss Daisy," at age 80.

Completing an awards-season blitz that took her from Hollywood bit player to star, Spencer won for her role in "The Help" as a headstrong black maid whose willful ways continually land her in trouble with white employers in 1960s Mississippi.

Spencer wept throughout her breathless speech, in which she apologized between laughing and crying for running a bit long on her time limit.

"Thank you, academy, for putting me with the hottest guy in the room," Spencer said, referring to last year's supporting-actor winner Christian Bale, who presented her Oscar.

Dujardin became the first Frenchman to win an acting Oscar. French actresses have won before, including Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche.

"Oh, thank you. Oui. I love your country!" said Dujardin, who plays George Valentin, a silent-film superstar fallen on hard times as the sound era takes over. If George Valentin could speak, Dujardin said, "he'd say ... 'Merci beaucoup, formidable!'"

Claiming Hollywood's top-filmmaking honor completes Hazanavicius' sudden rise from popular movie-maker back home in France to internationally celebrated director.

Hazanavicius had come in as the favorite after winning at the Directors Guild of America Awards, whose recipient almost always goes on to claim the Oscar.

The win is even more impressive given the type of film Hazanavicius made, a black-and-white silent movie that was a throwback to the early decades of cinema.

Other than Charles Chaplin, who continued to make silent films into the 1930s, and Mel Brooks, who scored a hit with the 1976 comedy "Silent Movie," few people have tried it since talking pictures took over in the late 1920s.

The only other filmmaker from France to win the directing Oscar is "The Pianist" creator Roman Polanski, who was born in France, moved to Poland as a child and has lived in France since fleeing Hollywood in the 1970s on charges he had sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Hazanavicius, known in his home country for the "OSS 117" spy comedies but virtually unheard of in Hollywood previously, won a prize that eluded half a dozen of France's most-esteemed filmmakers, including Jean Renoir, Francois Truffaut and Louis Malle, who all were nominated for directing Oscars but never won.

Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo" won five Oscars, including the first two prizes of the night, for cinematography and art direction. It also won for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.

The visual-effects prize had been the last chance for the "Harry Potter" franchise to win an Oscar.

The finale, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," had been nominated for visual effects and two other Oscars but lost all three. Previous "Harry Potter" installments had lost on all nine of their nominations.

The teen wizard may never have struck Oscar gold, but he has a consolation prize: $7.7 billion at the box office worldwide, including $1.3 billion from "Deathly Hallows: Part 2," last year's top-grossing movie.

"And yet they only paid 14 percent income tax," Oscar host Billy Crystal joked about the "Potter" franchise.

Another beloved big-screen bunch, the Muppets, finally got their due at the Oscars. "The Muppets" earned the best-song award for "Man or Muppet," the sweet comic duet sung by Jason Segel and his Muppet brother in the film, the first big-screen adventure in 12 years for Kermit the frog and company.

Earlier Muppet flicks had been nominated for four music Oscars but lost each time, including the song prize for "The Rainbow Connection," Kermit's signature tune from 1979's "The Muppet Movie."

"I grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets on TV. I never dreamed I'd get to work with them," said "Man or Muppet" writer Bret McKenzie of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords," who joked about meeting Kermit for the first time. "Like many stars here tonight, he's a lot shorter in real life."

Filmmaker Alexander Payne picked up his second writing Oscar, sharing the adapted-screenplay prize for the Hawaiian family drama "The Descendants" with co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Payne, who also directed "The Descendants," previously won the same award for "Sideways."

Payne said he brought along his mother from Omaha to the Oscars, and that she had demanded a shout-out if he made it onstage.

"She made me promise that if I ever won another Oscar I had to dedicate it to her just like Javier Bardem did with his Oscar. So mom, this one's for you. Thank you for letting me skip nursery school so we could go to the movies."

Woody Allen earned his first Oscar in 25 years, winning for original screenplay for the romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris," his biggest hit in decades. It's the fourth Oscar for Allen, who won for directing and screenplay on his 1977 best-picture winner "Annie Hall" and for screenplay on 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters."

Allen also is the record-holder for writing nominations with 15, and his three writing Oscars ties the record shared by Charles Brackett, Paddy Chayefsky, Francis Ford Coppola and Billy Wilder.

No fan of awards shows, Allen predictably skipped Sunday's ceremony, where he also was up for best director and "Midnight in Paris" was competing for best picture. Best-picture front-runner "The Artist," which ran second to "Hugo" with 10 nominations, won two Oscars, for musical score and costume design.

"Rango," with Johnny Depp providing the voice of a desert lizard that becomes a hero to a parched Western town, won for best animated feature. "Someone asked me if this film was for kids, and I don't know. But it was certainly created by a bunch of grown-ups acting like children," said "Rango" director Gore Verbinski, who made the first three of Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.

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 medley.

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.

Crystal's return as host seemed appropriate on a night that had Hollywood looking back fondly on more than a century of cinema history. The top two nominees - "Hugo" and "The Artist" - are both love songs to early cinema. Add the Marilyn Monroe tale "My Week with Marilyn" - which earned Michelle Williams a best-actress nomination as the Hollywood's greatest sex goddess and Kenneth Branagh a supporting-actor nomination as Oscar winner Laurence Olivier - and the show's producers had a ready-made script for a night of fond recollection and backslapping about show business

ABC7's Stephen Tschida takes us to some of the pre-parties, including the D.C. Film Society's 20th annual Oscar party.

Sandler received a record 11 nominations Saturday for the Razzies as star, producer or writer on three 2011 movies - "Jack and Jill," ''Just Go with It" and "Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star."

That more than doubled the previous record of five Razzie nominations held by Eddie Murphy for 2007's "Norbit."

Sandler's nominations include worst actor for both "Jack and Jill" and "Just Go with It" - and worst actress for "Jack and Jill," in which he plays a family man and his own twin sister.

Sandler also had two nominations as worst screen couple opposite Jennifer Aniston or Brooklyn Decker in "Just Go with It" and opposite Katie Holmes, Al Pacino or himself in "Jack and Jill."

As a producer, Sandler was credited with worst-picture and worst prequel, remake, rip-off or sequel nominations for both "Bucky Larson" and "Jack and Jill." He also shared in worst-screenplay nominations as a writer on both movies, and a worst-ensemble nomination for "Jack and Jill."

"It's almost karmic for someone to have made that much razz-able stuff in one year," said Razzies founder John Wilson. "He has angered someone really powerful, I would say."

Along with "Bucky Larson" and "Jack and Jill," worst-picture contenders are "New Year's Eve," ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."

"Jack and Jill" led with 12 nominations, with "Transformers" second with nine and "Breaking Dawn" right behind with eight.

Razzie nominations were released on the eve of the Oscars. Winners will be announced on April Fool's Day.

For worst actor, Sandler is up against "Bucky Larson" star Nick Swardson, along with Russell Brand for "Arthur"; Nicolas Cage for "Drive Angry," ''Season of the Witch" and "Trespass"; and Taylor Lautner for "Abduction" and "Breaking Dawn."

Swardson also was nominated for worst supporting actor for "Jack and Jill" and "Just Go with It."

For worst actress, Sandler is joined by another cross-dressing actor, Martin Lawrence in "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son." Also nominated were Sarah Palin for her documentary "The Undefeated"; Sarah Jessica Parker for "I Don't Know How She Does It" and "New Year's Eve"; and Kristen Stewart for "Breaking Dawn."

Several Oscar winners made the Razzies list, among them Cage (a best-actor winner for "Leaving Las Vegas") and Pacino (a best-actor winner for "Scent of a Woman"), who was nominated for worst supporting actor for "Jack and Jill."

Bill Condon, an Oscar winner for his "Gods and Monsters" screenplay, was among the worst-director nominees at the Razzies for "Breaking Dawn."

The group traditionally has announced its nominees the day before the Oscar nominations and its winners the night before the Oscars. But Wilson and the roughly 600 voting members for the Razzies decided to experiment with an April 1 date this time, figuring April Fool's Day was an ideal time for their mock ceremony.

"I have always wondered if we stepped slightly away from lockstep with the Oscars, what would happen," Wilson said. "We just kept hoping the Oscars would do their ceremony on April 2, but they just never did."

Today, they give us a look at how The Artist, a best movie favorite, used contemporary Hollywood locations and made them work for a silent movie set in the 1920s.

LAX is a hub of activity this weekend with filmmakers and celebrities from all over the world arriving for the Oscars. Most of them are bringing in their own entourage of stylists, make-up artists and hair dressers to make sure that when they hit the red carpet Sunday night, everything is just right.

Based on what we saw at the SAG awards and Golden Globes this year, we'd expect nothing less.

In the land of beautiful people, red carpets are where the stars come out to shine.

Thousands of cameras are flashing and a bold look can make magazine covers worldwide.

Most stars work with professional stylists to scour through hundreds of designers—looking for the perfect color, length and fit, but it’s not only about the dress.

"This is award season so these people have been working on their bodies, on their skin, who's doing their hair. It's about the total look," Paul Wharton, style expert.

PHOTOS: See the best of Oscar fashion.

So far, this award season, Emma Stone, Michelle Williams and Viola Davis have been showered with praise for their fashion selections.

On the other side of the spectrum, some critics have been tough on actresses like Zooey Deschanel and Octavia Spenser.

It's a subjective scenario and inevitably, someone's daring choice falls flat, but, style expert Paul Wharton says the goal for the celebrities is to radiate happiness—acting skills that come in handy when the world is watching.

“When you feel good, it comes across in the pictures it comes across in your personality—you glow, and it adds to you total fabulosity,” Wharton said.

Last year, the stars had to try and radiate happiness even though it was freezing outside as temperatures were in the 30s. Now, we are looking at sunny skies and temperatures in the 70's so conjuring up happy feelings is likely not going to be a problem.

Aladeen is Sacha Baron Cohen's character in his upcoming film "The Dictator," and Cohen planned to walk the red carpet dressed as Aladeen. Seems the academy has problems with the publicity stunt.

In a call to the "Today" show this morning, Aladeen said normally he would be impressed by what he called "an act of cowardice by a faceless regime." But he says this is personal.

Aladeen says if he doesn't have his Oscar tickets by midday Sunday, there will be "unimaginable consequences." Like what? The general says oil prices will be raised.

"The Dictator" opens May 11.

Arch Campbell has more with the breakout star.

But as consolation, those who don't win will get a taste of our area - in brownie form.

A year and a half ago, Leigh Lambert, the owner of Takoma Park-based Naughty Bits Brownies, opened a bakery after renting out a kitchen at Capital City Cheesecake on Carroll Avenue.

This weekend, she'll cater to her swankiest audience yet - Oscar nominees.

"For a baker, this is the equivalent of going to Hollywood and making it big," Lambert said.

Each nominee that doesn't win an Oscar this year will go home with a gift bag containing, among other things, a stash of Lambert's brownies, including a limited-edition "Starlet" creation, which was made solely for the big night.

"I wanted something that was really over the top and totally a celebration of glam and glitz," Lambert said. "I got to channel my inner 7th-grade girl and let her out."

What make these brownies so special, though, are the even more limited-edition chocolate-covered pop rocks, which come from a company in Barcelona and are no longer made.

The pop rocks that top each brownie, which are misted with an edible gold spray, make the Starlet bubbly. It adds a personal flair that Lambert has infused in much of her Naughty Bits business, in which she says she likes to be "flirty and sassy."

"It gives this effervescence; that sort of taste experience...it's like chocolate champagne," she said. "I wanted something that was beyond just a flavor."

1. Best Picture: "The Artist," ''The Descendants," ''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," ''The Help," ''Hugo," ''Midnight in Paris," ''Moneyball," ''The Tree of Life," ''War Horse."

2. Actor: Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"; George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"; Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"; Brad Pitt, "Moneyball."

3. Actress: Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"; Viola Davis, "The Help"; Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"; Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"; Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn."

4. Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"; Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"; Nick Nolte, "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"; Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

5. Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"; Jessica Chastain, "The Help"; Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"; Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"; Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

6. Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"; Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Bullhead," Belgium; "Footnote," Israel; "In Darkness," Poland; "Monsieur Lazhar," Canada; "A Separation," Iran.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants"; John Logan, "Hugo"; George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, "Moneyball"; Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

9. Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"; J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation."

10. Animated Feature Film: "A Cat in Paris"; "Chico & Rita"; "Kung Fu Panda 2"; "Puss in Boots"; "Rango."

11. Art Direction: "The Artist," ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," ''Hugo," ''Midnight in Paris," ''War Horse."

12. Cinematography: "The Artist," ''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," ''Hugo," ''The Tree of Life," ''War Horse."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," ''Hugo," ''Moneyball," ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon," ''War Horse."

14. Sound Editing: "Drive," ''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," ''Hugo," ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon," ''War Horse."

15. Original Score: "The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams; "The Artist," Ludovic Bource; "Hugo," Howard Shore; "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias; "War Horse," John Williams.

16. Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets," Bret McKenzie; "Real in Rio" from "Rio," Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

17. Costume: "Anonymous," ''The Artist," ''Hugo," ''Jane Eyre," ''W.E."

18. Documentary Feature: "Hell and Back Again," ''If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," ''Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," ''Pina," ''Undefeated."

19. Documentary (short subject): "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," ''God Is the Bigger Elvis," ''Incident in New Baghdad," ''Saving Face," ''The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom."

20. Film Editing: "The Artist," ''The Descendants," ''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," ''Hugo," ''Moneyball."

21. Makeup: "Albert Nobbs," ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," ''The Iron Lady."

22. Animated Short Film: "Dimanche/Sunday," ''The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," ''La Luna," ''A Morning Stroll," ''Wild Life."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Pentecost," ''Raju," ''The Shore," ''Time Freak," ''Tuba Atlantic."

24. Visual Effects: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," ''Hugo," ''Real Steel," ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes," ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

But before they're announced, Arch Campbell looks into his crystal ball to predict tomorrow's nominees.