"Argo" is the Best Picture winner in 2013.
The film, directed by Ben Affleck, won the Oscars' top prize at the 85th annual Academy Awards. Jack Nicholson led up to the announcement made by Michelle Obama, who surprised audiences with her appearance, led up to the announcement.
"Argo" was expected to win the Best Picture award after steamrolling through awards season. Affleck's film won prizes from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and BAFTA. The "Argo" win is historic, as it becomes only the fourth film in the 85-year history of the Academy Awards to win Best Picture without a nomination in the Best Director category. Affleck, who was also a co-producer on the film with George Clooney and Grant Heslov, was famously left off of the Best Director ballot.
"Argo" focuses on the extraction of six Americans trapped in Iran after the U.S. embassy was overtaken in November of 1979. The mission, which used a fake movie called "Argo" as cover, was the subject of a Wired magazine article published in 2007. Affleck himself stars as Tony Mendez, the CIA expert responsible for the six Americans, with character actors like Alan Arkin (an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor), John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Bryan Cranston, Chris Messina, Titus Welliver, Scoot McNairy and Victor Garber filling out supporting roles.
Crowned Best Picture winner in 2013, "Argo" defeated "Amour," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Zero Dark Thirty" for the honor. "Argo" also won two other Academy Awards, including Best Editing.
Last year, "The Artist" won Best Picture.
A full list of 2013 Oscars winners and more can be found in the live blog below.
