Argo v Lincoln Oscars duel shows healthy Hollywood
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Director Ben Affleck (left) and director Steven Spielberg arrive for the 85th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in this Feb 4, 2013 file photo in Beverly Hills, California. The Oscars duel between Spielberg's Lincoln and Affleck's Argo casts a Hollywood legend against a directing young gun - but it also shows that Tinseltown's studios are in robust health. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The Oscars duel between Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Ben Affleck's Argo casts a Hollywood legend against a directing young gun - but it also shows that Tinseltown's studios are in robust health.
Hollywood majors have been edged out of the Oscars limelight in recent years: last year's best picture winner The Artist and 2011's The King's Speech were both distributed by the New York-based Weinstein Company.
Those two came after 2010's best picture The Hurt Locker, by mini-studio Summit Entertainment. The last major studio Oscar winner was 2009's Slumdog Millionaire, by Fox/Warner.
But the 2013 nominees show an impressive return to form.
