Following last year’s inadvertently overtly dramatic Oscars, one that will certainly go down in history, last night’s affair was a tad uneventful (perhaps a plus for the producers following 2017’s Best Picture debacle). The awards themselves held no real surprises, even in races that weren’t locks, the favourite inevitably walked away with the trophy. The skits, bits and speeches were entertaining enough, but there weren’t a huge amount of stand-out moments that will stick in the mind for year’s to come. All of which made it a little harder for those of us watching abroad to keep our eyes open into the early hours of the morning. At least all of the names were read out correctly.
Onto the awards themselves, and, as aforementioned, there were no real surprises. For the more casual awards-viewer, The Shape of Water’s Best Picture triumph may have come as a surprise due to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri sweeping up the Best Film awards at practically every other ceremony. However, it didn’t come as such a shock/upset as the Moonlight win last year, as the gradual backlash and increasingly divisive nature of Three Billboards, combined with the preferential voting system, meant that it was unlikely to claim the top prize at the Oscars. Instead the film which on paper – a mute woman falls in love with an amphibian creature during the Cold War – may have seemed a long shot, captured the heart’s of Academy voters. I would have been happy with either film, although there’s no denying the magic of Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy pic.
Del Toro’s win for Directing was expected and welcomed, and his win, coupled with his other award for Best Picture, mark what has become a rarity in recent Oscars – Picture and Director going to the same film. The four Acting gongs went to the unstopabble foursome of Sam Rockwell (Supporting Actor), Allison Janney (Supporting Actress), Gary Oldman (Leading Actor) and Frances McDormand (Leading Actress). The awards were well deserved for their tremendous performances, and especially celebrated as they went to actors who each had such brilliant and esteemed careers, and who, with the exception of McDormand, had somehow gone unrecognized previously. On that note, it was absolutely brilliant to see Roger Deakins finally get his hands on an Oscar – it’s about time – and provided one of the night’s great moments. It looks like the Oscar curse has now fully shifted to Amy Adams.
One of the slightly more surprising (I’m using the term loosely here), was Jordan Peele’s win for Original Screenplay for Get Out. Whilst Martin McDonagh had been sweeping up the award at other ceremonies, bar the WGA where Peele won (and McDonagh was ineligible), it wasn’t a huge shock when Peele won, it just wasn’t a lock. I was admittedly rooting a little more for Three Billboards, but I am also incredibly happy to see Peele get the statue – Get Out’s sole win. It is also insanely ridiculous that this is the 90th Oscars, and he is the first black man to win for Original Screenplay. It was great to see Call Me by Your Name get recognition as well with James Ivory’s Adapted Screenplay win (sporting a pretty unique shirt with Timothée Chalamet’s face on it).
As a whole, horror and fantasy won out – genres historically shunned by the Academy, perhaps indicating a change in the tides. There was also no big sweep of the awards, with them being spread out amongst numerous films.
In terms of the speeches, it was a pretty good night. A funny bit Jimmy Kimmel introduced at the start of the show – that the winner with the shortest acceptance speech would win a jet ski – worked really well as a running gag that gave the winners something to latch onto for laughs. Peele gave a speech of genuine gratitude towards so many people, including his film’s audience, speaking to how people hear films. Some of the most memorable speeches came from the acting winners, with Rockwell delivering one with great heart and his trademark wit (and beautifully dedicated to his friend Phillip Seymour-Hoffman), Oldman’s was touching, ending on telling his mum to put the kettle on – he’s bringing Oscar home. Janney’s began with the brilliant line of ‘I did it all by myself’, but it was McDormand’s whose brought the house down. It was a rousing call to arms for women in Hollywood, even asking every female nominee in the room to stand up (of course asking Meryl Streep specifically because ‘if you do it, they’ll all do it’), and then calling out all producers, agents and financiers to pay attention, as they have stories to tell. She ended with two words ‘inclusion rider’, something many of us had to Google, but is essentially a clause in an actor’s contract demanding at least 50% diversity in cast and crew. It was an extremely powerful speech, and easily the most memorable of the night.
There was minimal playing off, the orchestra respectfully stopping during Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s speech for Best Original Song (which incidentally makes Lopez the first person in history to achieve the remarkable feat of a double EGOT), as Lopez began to talk about his mother. However, after The Shape of Water’s Best Picture win, Guillermo del Toro gave a heartfelt and inspirational speech, following which the mic was cut off, and the music started playing as one of the other recipients just reached the microphone to make his speech. It was an abrupt, and rude-seeming ending to the whole night.
It being the 90th Oscars, there was a nice celebration of film through the ages throughout, with brief montages and a nice, abeit slightly strange, old fashioned introduction to the whole ceremony (which did have some funny gags). There was also an incredible revolving set on stage. One of the best VTs that played was one about diversity, and how Hollywood is and should be moving towards more diverse stories on screen. It was in this footage that Kumail Nanjiani made the most poignant point of the night, and put into words what people who are not straight white males have been feeling. “Some of my favourite movies are by straight white dudes about straight white dudes. And now straight white dudes can watch movies about dudes like me, and you relate. It’s not that hard. I’ve done it all my life.”
This came after an introduction from Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra (three Weinstein accusers) who brought a real sense of what was happening to the stage, and not a politically constructed nod to Time’s Up done to show support, but not a celebration of it. They thanked all who have come forward and all those who tell the stories of minorities, and pointedly talked about the changes Hollywood is going through. It was a show of real emotion on stage, and helped to ground the night in reality.
In terms of Time’s Up, this year was always going to be characterised by it, and it was done tastefully and didn’t overpower the ceremony as a whole (perhaps to appease the ‘I don’t want your politics’ crowd), and with the 90th anniversary, it definitely placed a greater focus on women in film. It could have gone further perhaps, it felt a little tame. There were less rousing moments of pure emotion than perhaps at other ceremonies such as the Golden Globes, but it didn’t shy away from it. Of the speeches, McDormand’s had the most pointed reference to it, and in their performance of their Original Song Stand up for Something Andra Day and Common added references to that, and to the current gun debate, to their nominated piece. It felt raw and it provided another of the most powerful moments of the night. There has already been controversy, however, that Kobe Bryant won, having been accused of rape previously, something that was settled out of court. Questions have been posed around whether the Academy have a serious commitment to the change and to support movements such as Time’s Up, or is it more just for show?
With Jimmy Kimmel returning as host, he delivered a well-balanced monologue that delved into the important issues – even going so far as to say names. It was a good take down, and it was direct – it didn’t just allude to matters – but also had well placed jokes. They were at the right people’s expense, tasteful and not evasive of the issues. He didn’t try to sweep everything under the rug straight a way. There was also the nice, slight tweak in saying ‘women and men’ as opposed to the norm ‘men and women’. He also made a pointed reference to Parkland and the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, an important moment, and an issue that perhaps didn’t get as much play over the night as it may have expected to have.
One of the funniest bits of the night was the jet-ski, initially modeled by Helen Mirren, that became a running gag due to its many references in acceptance speeches. It also added a light moment to a slightly chaotic ending (the playing off mentioned above), as Mark Bridges (winner for his brilliant Costume Design for Phantom Thread and the giver of the shortest speech of the night), appeared on stage wearing a life-jacket, clutching his Oscar and riding his jet-ski, with Helen Mirren sat behind him. It was an inspired bit that actually worked really well (it was even added to by the inclusion of a holiday to a place that may make more sense to Americans).
There were less skits and bits throughout the show, perhaps to account for the video montages, or just to help the show along in general. A flip of last years stunt where a bus load of tourists suddenly found themselves in the Dolby Theatre, Kimmel took a group of stars across to interrupt a screening at the Chinese Theatre. This has been viewed by some as a bit condescending, but it looked like fun and added a light moment. Overall though, there wasn’t quite as much banter or joking thread throughout the ceremony – the jokes that were there had a great success rate, but they were a little few and far between. Likewise, probably due to last year, there were fewer references to Kimmel’s show, albeit a couple of Damon-Kimmel feud quips made it in. The jokes at the nominees’ expense at in the monologue were also done well, and there were few controversial ones.
Of course, there were lots of references to envelope-gate. The show even went so far as to film the envelope sat on a stand at the side of the stage, and Kimmel made a few quips about it, mostly in a self-depriciating manner. It was nice to see Warren Beatty and Fay Dunaway back again (‘on the 51st anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde), and it was clear there had been an envelope redesign so even those of us at home could tell which award was going to be read out – they were taking no chances. The best reference to it though had to be Del Toro grabbing the envelope, checking it and holding it up to the camera grinning and nodding upon the announcement of The Shape of Water’s win. It was all in good spirit.
As for the presenting, as usual it was a mixed bag. Of course there were the cringey jokes, or the actors who seem so bizarrely wooden considering their profession. There were certainly some stand outs though, primarily Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph. The pair were absolutely hilarious and had the whole theatre in fits of laughter, joking about everything from high-heels to race, and the campaigns have already begun for them to resume hosting duties next year (which would no doubt be incredible). In a less expected turn, the pairing of Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster also turned out to be very funny, with Foster coming on on crutches and exclaiming that Streep ‘I, Tonya-ed’ her, and the pair (plus Streep) playing it out really well. Lupita N’yongo and Kumail Nanjiani were also great – Nanjiani was predictably hilarious – and made an impassioned plea for the dream act (it is great that was given the spotlight).
The Oscars also handled Casey Affleck pulling out of his presenting duties well, having to mix up the tradition of the previous Best Actor winner presenting Best Actress and vice-versa. They maintained the tradition in the supporting categories, but chose to put two female stars as the presenters for each award, and left Emma Stone (last year’s Best Actress winner) to present Directing. She pulled her own Natalie Portman-style stunt in referencing the nominees as ‘these four men and Greta Gerwig’. It was a moment that felt triumphant and defiant in pointing out the ridiculous gender disparity in the field (Gerwig is only the 5th woman ever nominated in that category), however, has received some valid criticism for overlooking the fact that Peele is only the 5th black man nominated, and del Toro too is one of only a handful of Latino men nominated. At a time in the industry dominated by gender politics, it is easy to see why that was what came to mind, but upon reflection at not-4am, it does appear a little problematic (although I doubt any of that was intentional on Stone’s part).
In terms of the musical performances, they broke up the show nicely. Andra Day and Common easily gave the most powerful one of the night, and the most memorable. Unlike in previous years, few were upbeat so as to shake up the atmosphere.
Overall, the 90th Oscars were a little uneventful and predictable, and perhaps not quite as charged, overall, as some may have hoped. It had its moments, although a little few and far between, but produced a crop of worthy winners, and maintained the spotlight on important issues.
Oh, and they got all of the winners right. They’re definitely on the up in that respect.
