The 90th Academy Awards was held last Sunday night at the iconic Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. Guillermo del Toro’s dark fairytale The Shape of Water reigned victorious, winning four Oscars including the coveted Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Director award. Heavy favorites Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), and Allison Janney (I, Tonya), took home their gold statues as the acting winners of Hollywood’s High Holy Night. To wrap up the movie year, we decided to dissect the historic Oscar ceremony, looking at everything from the actually festivities (what we loved and disliked about it), how well we did with our predictions, and also who we thought had the best red carpet look.
WHAT WE LOVED ABOUT THE SHOW
Old Hollywood Was There to Celebrate Oscar’s 90th Birthday – It was only right that the Academy invite back many of their past winners for their 90th birthday. Amongst the highlights were Eva Marie Saint (Best Supporting Actress winner for 1954’s On the Waterfront) who presented the Best Costume Design award to Phantom Thread’s Mark Bridges. Hollywood legends Christopher Walken, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Jane Fonda also made their presence felt on the Oscar stage as presenters. However, the appearance that had everybody buzzing was that of Rita Moreno’s. Moreno had won the Oscar in 1962 for her portray at Anita in the seminal musical classic West Side Story. At 86 years old, the legend danced down the stage with a youthful glow. People were also excited that Moreno decided to wear the same gown she wore back when winning Supporting Actress more than 50 years ago. Her black and gold floral dress was made by no other than Filipino fashion designer Pitoy Moreno.
Great Musical Performances and Heartfelt Speeches – Despite a tedious running gag that involved a jet ski, most winners kept their speeches concise and heartfelt. Supporting Actor winner Sam Rockwell even dedicated his Oscar to his late friend, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Oscars have always been a podium for raising social awareness. We applause this year’s crop of winners for keeping it Trump-free and focusing on other pressing matters that should be known to the public. The night was filled with conversation on such social issues like Time’s Up, #MeToo, soldier’s abroad, discrimination, and inclusion in the work force (more on this later). The ceremony also had exciting musical performances from one of the most diverse groups of Original Song nominees the Oscars have ever honored. Mary J. Blige was powerful in her performance of Mighty River from her movie Mudbound. The Common and Dianne Warren inspiring tune Stand Up for Something from Marshall touched the crowd. Sufjan Steven’s love theme Mystery of Love from Call Me by Your Name reminded everybody of romance. Gael Garcia Bernal, Miguel, and Natalia Lafourcade sang a multilingual version of Coco’s Remember Me. Lastly, the crowd went crazy for the self-love anthem This is Me from The Greatest Showman.
Frances McDormand’s Historic Speech – The best speech of the evening came near the end of the show, when Frances McDormand took to the stage to accept her award for Best Actress. McDormand’s feminist, rebellious attitude certainly struck a chord with the audiences. She encouraged every female nominee to join her by standing up. She then said, “Look around ladies and gentleman, because we all have stories to tell and projects to finance. Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple days, or you can come to ours, and we’ll tell you all about them.” With the recent take down of shamed producer Harvey Weinstein and the conversation about women and discrimination in the workplace, McDormand’s speech was timely and appropriate. She left the crowd by saying two words: “Inclusion Rider”. This became the most searched for word on the internet that day. According to a tweet by actress Whitney Cummings, an inclusion rider is “something actors put into their contracts to ensure gender and racial equality in hiring on movie sets. We should support this for a billion reasons, but if you can’t find a reason to, here’s one: it will make movies better.”
The Messages of Inclusion – This year’s Oscars were basically Trump-less. Hollywood’s elite decided it was time to shine the light on more socially relevant issues rather then politics. Actresses Ashley Judd, Annabelle Sciorra, and Salma Hayek (who were instrumental in the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements after sharing with the public their sexual harassment encounters with Harvey Weinstein) took to the stage to make a speech and introduce a video all about inclusion in Hollywood. The LGBTQ community was also well represented with the victory of Chile’s A Fantastic Woman in the foreign film category. It is only the second LGBTQ filled to win in this category, following 2000’s All About My Mother. The film is led by transgender actress Daniela Vega. James Ivory, an openly gay filmmaker, won his overdue Oscar for the romantic Call Me by Your Name. He became the oldest Oscar winner to date at 89 years old. People of color also made history at the 90th Academy Awards. Apart from being only the third person to be nominated for picture, director, and screenwriting for their first feature, Jordan Peele became the first African American to win the Oscar for Original Screenplay. Remember Me songwriter Robert Lopez became first ever double EGOT winner in history. An EGOT is somebody who has won all major entertainment awards: an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and Tony award. The night was also filled with presenters representing ethnicities from all over America. Celebrities and winners also stirred up the conversation on gun violence, sexual abuse, diversity, discrimination, and inclusion in Hollywood and around the world.
WHAT WE DISLIKED ABOUT THE SHOW
That Jet Ski Joke and some of Jimmy Kimmel’s other gags – The running gag began when host Jimmy Kimmel declared that whoever had the shortest speech would win a jet ski. The jet ski then came to the Oscar stage and was presented to the audience like a game show, complete with Helen Mirren acting like a showgirl. Although we love it when the Academy lets their hair down, this became distracting. We feel like it took away a lot from winners, who kept mentioning it during their speeches after being reminded about shortening their air time multiple of times. We also didn’t think a lot of Jimmy Kimmel’s gags were too funny. Especially when he brought his “younger self” to the stage to introduce the cast of Star Wars. Unfortunately, we felt that it just prolonged the program (the show was over three hours long without commercial breaks). However, we do commend Kimmel for some things, including inviting Hollywood stars such as Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Mark Hamill, and Ansel Elgort, to surprise an audience next door who thought they were there for a special screening of A Wrinkle in Time.
OUR PREDICTIONS – WHAT WE GOT WRONG AND WHAT WE GOT RIGHT
Best Motion Picture of the Year
THE WINNER: The Shape of Water
OUR PREDICTION: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Call Me By Your Name or Dunkirk
Best Director of the Year
THE WINNER: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
OUR PREDICTION: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Best Actor in a Leading Role
THE WINNER: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
OUR PREDICTION: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Best Actress in a Leading Role
THE WINNER: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
OUR PREDICTION: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
THE WINNER: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
OUR PREDICTION: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
THE WINNER: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
OUR PREDICTION: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Best Original Screenplay
THE WINNER: Get Out
OUR PREDICTION: Get Out
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Get Out or Lady Bird
Best Adapted Screenplay
THE WINNER: Call Me by Your Name
OUR PREDICTION: Call Me by Your Name
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Call Me by Your Name
Best Animated Feature
THE WINNER: Coco
OUR PREDICTION: Coco
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Coco
Best Original Song
THE WINNER: Coco, Remember Me
OUR PREDICTION: Coco, Remember Me
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Coco, Remember Me
Best Original Score
THE WINNER: The Shape of Water
OUR PREDICTION: Phantom Thread
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Phantom Thread
Best Sound Editing
THE WINNER: Dunkirk
OUR PREDICTION: Dunkirk
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Baby Driver
Best Sound Mixing
THE WINNER: Dunkirk
OUR PREDICTION: Dunkirk
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Baby Driver
Best Production Design
THE WINNER: The Shape of Water
OUR PREDICTION: The Shape of Water
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: The Shape of Water
Best Cinematography
THE WINNER: Blade Runner 2049
OUR PREDICTION: Blade Runner 2049
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Blade Runner 2049
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
THE WINNER: Darkest Hour
OUR PREDICTION: Wonder
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Wonder
Best Costume Design
THE WINNER: Phantom Thread
OUR PREDICTION: Phantom Thread
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Phantom Thread
Best Film Editing
THE WINNER: Dunkirk
OUR PREDICTION: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: Baby Driver
Best Visual Effects
THE WINNER: Blade Runner 2049
OUR PREDICTION: War for the Planet of the Apes
WHO WE WANTED TO WIN: War for the Planet of the Apes
WHO WON THE RED CARPET THIS YEAR?
Velvet tuxedos were a big thing on the Oscar red carpet this year. We thought that Baby Driver Ansel Elgort did it best. He wore a dark green tuxedo with black trousers by Tom Ford and looked like an old Hollywood movie star. RUNNERS-UP: Call Me by Your Name boys Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer looked cool in a white tuxedo and red velvet tuxedo, respectively.
Nicole Kidman is always a vision on the red card. This year she rocked it out in a custom blue Armani Prive gown with an oversized ribbon. Although the internet has had mixed feelings about her look, we think she killed it! RUNNERS-UP: Jennifer Lawrence in a glitzy piece by Christian Dior and Lupita Nyong’o bringing out her inner Wakana Warrior in a gold piece by Atelier Versace.
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By Chino R. Hernandez
