'Artist' wins big at Critics' Choice show

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- "The Artist" was named Best Picture and Michel Hazanavicius Best Director at the 17th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

The black-and-white ode to Hollywood's silent movie era also earned honors for Best Costume Design and Best Score and George Clooney picked up the Best Actor prize for his work in the contemporary family drama "The Descendants."

Viola Davis was presented with the Best Actress accolade for her performance in "The Help." The cast of the film, which was set in Mississippi during the civil rights movement, also won for Best Acting Ensemble and Octavia Spencer was singled out as Best Supporting Actress.

Christopher Plummer won the Best Supporting Actor title for "The Beginners" and the Best Original Screenplay prize went to Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris."

Newcomer Thomas Horn won the award for Best Young Actor/Actress for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "Rango" was named Best Animated Feature and "Bridesmaids" was declared Best Comedy.

Tying for Best Cinematography were "The Tree of Life" and "War Horse." The Best Art Direction award went to "Hugo" and Best Editing went to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel served as hosts of Thursday night's ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium. The show aired live on VH1.

Among the presenters were Vin Diesel, Kirsten Dunst, Donald Glover, Dustin Hoffman, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, Diane Kruger, Elizabeth Olsen, Patton Oswalt, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Jason Segel, Owen Wilson and Robin Wright.