LOS ANGELES, Feb 25, (Agencies): Ben Affleck’s “Argo,” the story of how Hollywood, Canada and the CIA teamed up to rescue six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis, has earned best picture at the Academy Awards. From the White House, US First Lady Michelle Obama joined Jack Nicholson to help present the final prize. “There are eight great films that have every right, as much a right to be up here as we do,” Affleck said of the other best-picture nominees. In share-the-wealth mode, Oscar voters spread Sunday’s honors among a range of films, with “Argo” winning three trophies but “Life of Pi” leading with four. British actor Daniel Day-Lewis became the first person to win three best actor awards, taking the trophy for his monumental performance as Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War saga “Lincoln.”

“Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence triumphed in Hollywood’s big games, winning the best actress as a damaged soul in “Silver Linings Playbook,” while Taiwanese director Ang Lee pulled off a huge upset as best director for “Life of Pi.” Anne went from propping up leaden sidekick James Franco as a presenter at last year’s Academy Awards to hefting a golden statue of her own with a supporting-actress Oscar win as a doomed mother-turned-prostitute in the musical “Les Miserables.”

Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won his second supporting-actor Oscar for a Tarantino film, this time as a genteel bounty hunter in the slave-revenge saga “Django Unchained.” Tarantino also won his second Oscar, for original screenplay for “Django.” Ang Lee pulled off a major upset, won best director for the shipwreck story “Life of Pi,” taking the prize over Steven Spielberg, who had been favored for “Lincoln.”

Ovation
Lawrence took a fall on her way to the stage, tripping on the steps. “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell,” Lawrence joked as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. At 22, Lawrence is the second-youngest woman to win best actress, behind Marlee Matlin, who was 21 when she won for “Children of a Lesser God.” Lawrence also is the third-youngest best-actress contender ever, earning her first nomination at age 20 two years ago for her breakout role in “Winter’s Bone,” the film that took her from virtual unknown to one of Hollywood’s most-versatile and sought-after performers.
With a monumental performance as Abraham Lincoln, Day-Lewis became the only performer to win three best-actor Oscars, adding to the honours he earned for “My Left Foot” and “There Will Be Blood.” He’s just the sixth actor to earn three or more Oscars, tied with Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan with three each, and just behind Katharine Hepburn, who won four. Hathaway, whose perkiness helped carry her and the listless Franco through an ill-starred stint as Oscar hosts two years ago, is the third performer in a musical to win supporting actress during the genre’s resurgence in the last decade.
“It came true,” said Hathaway, who joins 2002 supporting-actress winner Catherine Zeta-Jones for “Chicago” and 2006 recipient Jennifer Hudson for “Dreamgirls”. Hathaway had warm thanks for “Les Miz” co-star Hugh Jackman, with whom she once sang a duet at the Oscars when he was the show’s host.
Hathaway’s Oscar came for her role as noble but fallen Fantine in the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash that was based on Victor Hugo’s epic novel of revolution, romance and redemption in 19th century France.
“Life of Pi” also won for Mychael Danna’s multicultural musical score that blends Indian and Western instruments and influences, plus cinematography and visual effects.
“I really want to thank you for believing this story and sharing this incredible journey with me,” Lee said to all who worked on the film, a surprise blockbuster about a youth trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
A veteran performer in Germany and Austria, Waltz had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood when Tarantino cast him as a gleefully evil Nazi in 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds”, which won him his first Oscar.
Alive
“I have to cast the right people to make those characters come alive,” said Tarantino, who won previously for “Pulp Fiction. “And boy, this time, did I do it. Thank you so much, guys.”
Waltz has since done a handful of other Hollywood movies, but it’s Tarantino who has given him his two choicest roles. Backstage, Waltz had a simple explanation for why the collaboration works.
“Quentin writes poetry, and I like poetry,” Waltz said.
Oscar host Seth MacFarlane opened with a mildly edgy monologue that offered the usual polite jabs at the academy, the stars and the industry. He took a poke at academy voters over the snub of Ben Affleck, who missed out on a directing nomination for best-picture favorite “Argo,” a thriller about the CIA’s plot to rescue six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis. “The story was so top secret that the film’s director is unknown to the academy,” MacFarlane said. “They know they screwed up. Ben, it’s not your fault.”
“Argo” also claimed the Oscar for adapted screenplay for Chris Terrio, who worked with Affleck to create a liberally embellished story based on an article about the rescue and part of CIA operative Tony Mendez’s memoir.
Terrio dedicated the award to Mendez, saying “33 years ago, Tony, using nothing but his creativity and his intelligence, Tony got six people out of a bad situation.”
“Argo” came under criticism from some Canadians, including former ambassador to Iran Ken Taylor, who protected several Americans at great personal risk during the crisis. Taylor is portrayed in the movie, however he said it minimises Canada’s role in the Americans’ rescue.
Taylor said earlier this week he hoped Affleck would say a few words acknowledging Canada’s role should the film win best picture. Affleck briefly mentioned Canada in his acceptance speech.
The foreign-language prize went to Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke’s old-age love story “Amour,” which had been a major surprise with five nominations, including picture, director and original screenplay for Haneke and best actress for Emmanuelle Riva, who turned 86 on Sunday and would be the oldest acting winner ever.
The top prize winner at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, “Amour” follows the agonizing story of an elderly man (Jean-Louis Trintignant) tending his wife (Riva) as she declines from age and illness.
Haneke thanked his own wife for supporting him in his work for 30 years.
“You are the center of my life,” Haneke said.
The Scottish adventure “Brave,” from Disney’s Pixar Animation unit, was named best animated feature. Pixar films have won seven of the 12 Oscars since the category was added.
“I just happen to be wearing the kilt,” said “Brave” co-director Mark Andrews, who took the stage in his trademark Scottish garment.
The upbeat musical portrait “Searching for Sugar Man” took the documentary feature prize. The film follows the quest of two South African fans to discover the fate of acclaimed but obscure singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, who dropped out of sight after two albums in the 1970s and was rumored to have died a bitter death.
“Thanks to one of the greatest singers ever, Rodriguez,” said “Sugar Man” director Malik Bendjelloul.
There was a rare tie in one category, with the Osama bin Laden thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” and the James Bond tale “Skyfall” each winning for sound editing.
Tribute
William Shatner made a guest appearance as his “Star Trek” character Capt James Kirk, appearing on a giant screen above the stage during MacFarlane’s monologue, saying he came back in time to stop the host from ruining the Oscars.
“Your jokes are tasteless and inappropriate, and everyone ends up hating you,” said Shatner, who revealed a headline supposedly from the next day’s newspaper that read, “Seth MacFarlane worst Oscar host ever.”
The performance-heavy Oscars also included an opening number featuring Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum, who did a classy dance while MacFarlane crooned “The Way You Look Tonight.” Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt then joined MacFarlane for an elegant musical rendition of “High Hopes.”
Halle Berry introduced a tribute to the Bond franchise, in which she has co-starred, as the British super-spy celebrated his 50th anniversary on the big-screen last year with the latest adventure “Skyfall.” Shirley Bassey sang her theme song to the 1960s Bond tale “Goldfinger.” Later, pop star Adele performed her theme tune from “Skyfall,” which won the best-song Oscar.
Barbra Streisand injected some musical sentiment into the show’s segment memorialising Hollywood figures who died in the past year as she sang “The Way We Were,” the Oscar-winning song she did in the film of the same name.
A salute to the resurgence of movie musicals in the last decade included Oscar winners Zeta-Jones singing “All That Jazz” from “Chicago” and Hudson doing “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls.” Hathaway and Jackman joined cast mates of best-picture contender “Les Miserables” to sing songs from their musical.
Academy officials said all performances were sung live.
Fans had pondered how far MacFarlane the impudent creator of “Family Guy,” might push the normally prim and proper Oscars. MacFarlane was generally polite and respectful, showcasing his charm, wit and vocal gifts.
MacFarlane did press his luck a bit on an Abraham Lincoln joke, noting that Raymond Massey preceded “Lincoln” star Daniel Day-Lewis as an Oscar nominee for 1940’s “Abe Lincoln in Illinois”.
“I would argue that the actor who really got inside Lincoln’s head was John Wilkes Booth,” MacFarlane wisecracked, earning some groans from the crowd. “A hundred and 50 years later, and it’s still too soon?”
Acknowledge
The former Canadian ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it was good to hear Ben Affleck thank Canada after Affleck’s film “Argo” won the Oscar for best picture.
“Argo” came under criticism from some Canadians, including former ambassador Ken Taylor, who said he felt slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics. Taylor says it minimizes Canada’s role in the Americans’ rescue.
Taylor had hoped Affleck would acknowledge Canada’s role. Affleck briefly thanked Canada in his acceptance speech Sunday.
Taylor said Monday he was pleased to hear it and said under the circumstances it was fine.

Symbolism
This wasn’t your typical Oscar viewing party. In the West Bank village whose struggle to regain land taken by Israel was portrayed in an Oscar-nominated documentary, activists huddled around a campfire before dawn Monday to watch the ceremony. For added symbolism, they pinned the screen to a tent just meters (yards) away from Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, which cut off the village of Bilin from much of its land. Some smoked water pipes, huddled in sleeping bags or warmed their hands over the fire as actors in gowns and tuxedos performed on a stage half-way around the world. The documentary, “5 Broken Cameras,” did not win, and some said they were disappointed. But protest organizer Abdullah Abu Rahma says the Oscar nomination gave Bilin’s struggle a big push.

Disappointment
Relatives of the young Afghan star of “Buzkashi Boys” expressed more pride than disappointment upon learning on Monday that the Oscar-nominated movie didn’t win. Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz, both 14, donned tuxedos for the ceremony after traveling from Kabul to Los Angeles for a trip down the red carpet. The 28-minute movie is about two penniless young boys — a street urchin and a blacksmith’s son — who are best friends and dream of becoming professional players of buzkashi, a particularly rough and dangerous game that somewhat resembles polo: Horseback riders wrangle to get a headless goat carcass into a circular goal at one end of the field.

Fawad’s brothers got up early to watch the show, which began at 6 a.m. Monday in Kabul, on an Internet feed provided by The Associated Press. They didn’t flinch as actor Jamie Foxx announced that “Curfew” was the winner in the live action short film category. “Although the movie didn’t win, I’m very happy that Fawad made it to such a place. I’m very happy for him. At the same time he is my brother and I miss him,” said Fawad’s 19-year-old brother, Ahmad Jawad Mohammadi.

Glory
Taiwan basked in reflected glory Monday after film-maker Ang Lee won the best director Oscar for fantasy epic “Life of Pi”, which he shot on the diplomatically isolated island where he was born.
Taiwan Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai sent a congratulatory telegram to Lee, probably the island’s most famous living son, promptly after the news broke that he had won his second Academy Award for directing.
“I’m very pleased to hear that you... have won the Oscar honour. We feel very proud of you,” she said, according to the ministry.
The Oscar came as a rare chance for Taiwan, living in the shadow of giant neighbour China, to savour the global limelight after the small island found its way into Lee’s acceptance speech.
“I (could) not make this movie without the help of Taiwan. We shot there,” the 58-year-old said.
“I want to thank everybody there who helped us, especially the city of Taichung,” he added, referring to Taiwan’s third-largest city, where the majority of “Life of Pi” was filmed.

Winners
* Best picture: “Argo”
* Best director: Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
* Best leading actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln”
* Best leading actress: Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”
* Best supporting actor: Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”
* Best supporting actress: Anne Hathaway in “Les Miserables”
* Best foreign language film: “Amour” (Love)
* Best animated feature: “Brave”
* Best original screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”
* Best adapted screenplay: Chris Terrio, “Argo”
* Best original score: “Life of Pi”
* Best original song: “Skyfall,” music and lyrics by Adele and Paul Epworth
* Best production design: “Lincoln”
* Best cinematography: “Life of Pi”
* Best costume design: “Anna Karenina”
* Best documentary feature: “Searching for Sugar Man”
* Best documentary short: “Inocente”
* Best film editing: “Argo”
* Best makeup and hairstyling: “Les Miserables”
* Best short animated film: “Paperman”
* Best short live action film: “Curfew”
* Best sound editing: “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall”
* Best sound mixing: “Les Miserables”
* Best visual effects: “Life of Pi”