The last time we were at the Oscars, there was an envelope snafu that created a bit of a problem announcing the actual winner of Best Picture. So with the 90th edition of the Academy Awards, it was unavoidable that this year would be all about the envelope. From the dramatically redesigned packaging in large bold print that clearly stated the category to Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty back again for a do-over to present the final award, it was made clear that the Oscars had gotten their act together.
Jimmy Kimmel was also back as host and he kicked off the show with his reliably dry and low-key sense of humor. He touched on the accountants, the nominees, agents, ”Black Panther” and yes, even the President, jabbing them with his gentle stings of funny punchlines. He was less successful with his attempts of running gags. One involved keeping acceptance speeches short and to encourage that, the person with the shortest one would win a jet-ski (with Best Costume Design winner, Mark Bridges being the ultimate victor). The other was interrupting an audience next door in a theater watching a sneak-peek of "A Wrinkle of Time" and dragging some stars from the audience to surprise them and give them snacks. Neither idea sounds good on paper and definitely fell flat in execution.
The presenters this year were an incredibly diverse line-up that featured the usual suspects (Jennifer Garner, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock) but also inspired choices like popular Mexican Actor, Eugenio Derbez, comedian, Dave Chappelle, Wes Studi, Christopher Walken, Zendaya (star of the sleeper hit musical, “The Greatest Showman”) and Daniela Vega who starred in the Best Foreign-Language Film winner, “A Fantastic Woman” and became the first openly transgender actress to present on the program. There were dynamic pairings of female performers ranging from a heavenly comedy duo (that will hopefully soon be on screen together), Tiffany Haddish with Maya Rudolph; living legend, Helen Mirren meets another living legend, Jane Fonda and an unlikely comedy duo, Jennifer Lawrence together with Jodie Foster who deliver unexpected humor due to Foster on crutches. And the appearance of the ageless previous Oscar winners, Rita Moreno and Eva Marie Saint, who humorously pointed out that she’s actually older than Oscar, brought some additional class to the evening.
“The Shape of Water” was the big winner, taking four awards including Best Picture. While this fantasy drama would not have been my first choice for that honor, the filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro was my pick for Best Director. Most of the Best Picture nominees took home at least one award although the deserving “Lady Bird” and “The Post” left empty-handed. The winners in the acting categories all fell in line with the predictions as Gary Oldman’s amazing transformation in to Winston Churchill earned him the Best Actor Prize. Allison Janney received the Actress in a Supporting Role award for her wicked turn as skater, Tonya Harding’s mother and the duo from “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri”, Sam Rockwell took the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as a dimwitted, racist cop and Best Actress went to Frances McDormand as an angry, grieving mother.
Much like the envelope situation, there was another subject that occurred last year that was also going to be unavoidable not to mention on the show. With the disgraceful scandal of Harvey Weinstein and the fallout which lead to the downfall of many other powerful men in the business who abused their positions, women came together to demand an end of harassment and misconduct in Hollywood. Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and a visibly nervous, Annabella Sciorra, each having publicly revealed their harrowing experience with Weinstein, came together to present a clip highlighting the Time's Up movement and encourage more diversity in film. But it was McDormand in her acceptance speech that drove the point home in a way that was offbeat, dramatic and quite shrewd. Before referring to an "inclusion rider" (which really isn't a thing-- yet), she had the female nominees in all categories stand-up together as a visual way to put Hollywood on notice that they have stories to tell and ready to take a meeting to make that happen.
Finally, I have to give a special shout-out to that spectacular Oscar stage this year. This elaborate set (designed by Derek McLane) was as Jane Fonda referred to as “orgasmatronic”. Also the clip montages that played throughout the show were impressively well-done. And to Roger Deakins, the outstanding cinematographer that has greatly influenced the look of modern cinema for over thirty years, who finally took home a long overdue Oscar after thirteen previous nominations in this category.
Here is the complete list of winners from the 2018 Academy Awards:
Best Picture: “The Shape of Water”
Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Best Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
Best Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory, “Call Me by Your Name”
Best Actress: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Best Film Editing: Lee Smith, “Dunkirk”
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, “Blade Runner 2049”
Best Production Design: Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau, “The Shape of Water”
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, “Phantom Thread”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick, “Darkest Hour”
Best Foreign Language Film: “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
Best Animated Feature: “Coco”
Best Animated Short: “Dear Basketball”
Best Live Action Short Film: “The Silent Child”
Best Documentary Feature: “Icarus”
Best Documentary Short Subject: “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water”
Best Original Song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, “Remember Me” from “Coco”
Best Sound Mixing: Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo, “Dunkirk”
Best Sound Editing: Alex Gibson and Richard King, “Dunkirk”
Best Visual Effects: John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer, “Blade Runner 2049”
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