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The eccentric Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, did a tidy sweep of the 80th Annual Academy Awards last night in Los Angeles, staking claim to the two of the evening's biggest prizes: best picture and best directior.

Their bloody thriller No Country For Old Men also took home best supporting actor for Spanish actor Javier Bardem who plays a twisted assassin, and best adapted screenplay, bumping Canadian Sarah Polley, whose film Away From Her was a contender in that category.

In their acceptance speech for best director, the brothers were brief, thanking the Academy members for "letting us play in our corner of the sandbox."

Joel Coen discussed how filmmaking has always been a part of their lives.

"Ethan and I have been making stories with movie cameras since we were kids. In the late sixties when Ethan was 11 or 12, he got a suit and a briefcase and we went to the Minneapolis International Airport with a Super 8 camera and made a movie about shuttle diplomacy called Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go. And honestly, what we do now doesn't feel that much different from what we were doing then."

As widely expected, Daniel Day-Lewis took home the best actor award for his portrayal of a driven oilman in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. In accepting his second Oscar (the first was for My Left Foot), Mr. Day-Lewis thanked the Academy for his statue, which he called "the closest thing I'll ever come to getting a knighthood," after he kneeled in front of presenter Helen Mirren who pretended to touch his shoulder with the trophy. Canadians, nominated for a handful of Oscars this year, were shut out in every category, including best actress for Halifax-born Ellen Page, who starred as a cheeky pregnant teen in Jason Reitman's Juno. The 21-year-old Ms. Page lost last night to Marion Cotillard in the French film La Vie en Rose about the legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf.

On stage, Mr. Bardem thanked his mother in Spanish, adding a special salute to the Coen brothers "for being crazy enough to think I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts in history over my head."

The best supporting actress award went to Tilda Swinton, who seemed genuinely shocked to get the top prize. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Swinton thanked director Tony Gilroy "who walks on water," and her co-star George Clooney, whom she complimented for "the seriousness and dedication" [he brings to his] art.

"Seeing you climb into that rubber suit from Batman & Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch. You rock, man," Ms. Swinton told her co-star.

Montreal-born Mr. Reitman's Juno earned its writer Diablo Cody a first-time Oscar for best original screenplay.The broadcast opened with a suave Jon Stewart noting that the writers' strike did little to dim the wattage of glamour and glitz at this year's Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. "You're here. You're here. I can't believe it," Mr. Stewart said to the assembled crowd of roughly 3,000. "What an exciting night. The past 3½ months [of the strike] have been very tough. But the fight is over. So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex."

In his monologue, Mr. Stewart noted there's never before been a slate of best picture and best actor nominees focused on so many demented misfits at odds with society, referring to the likes of Mr. Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp's murderous barber in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; and Mr. Bardem's assassin whom the comic described as a Hannibal Lecter-type murderer with a Dorothy Hamill wedge cut.

"Tonight we look beyond the dark days to focus on this year's slate of psychopathic killer movies," Mr. Stewart quipped. "What's happened? Does this town need a hug? All I can say is thank God for teenage pregnancy."

The award for best visual effects was handed to The Golden Compass, while Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street took home best art direction. Best animated short went to Peter & The Wolf, which beat out two Canadian films, Madame Tutli-Putli and I Met The Walrus.

The sweet Irish love story, John Carney's Once, took home best original song for the track Falling Slowly. Taxi To The Dark Side won best feature-length documentary.And the winners are...

The 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony were held in the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles last night. Here are some of the winners.

Best Picture

No Country for Old Men

Best Director

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

No Country for Old Men

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis,

There Will Be Blood

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem,

No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay

Diablo Cody, Juno

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

No Country for Old Men

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Ratatouille

Best Makeup

La Vie en Rose

Best Original Song

Falling Slowly, from Once

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

There Will Be Blood

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Atonement

Best Art Direction

Sweeny Todd

Best Film Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Foreign Language Film

The Counterfeiters (Austria)

Best Visual Effects

The Golden Compass