The 90th Academy Awards didn’t have an envelope mix-up this year, but the winner for Best Picture shocked most people. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water took home the statue for Best Picture. The ceremony was a platform for people to speak about whatever they wanted and proved to be one of the most powerful to date. Here’s what happened in Sunday’s ceremony:
The opening
For the opening, Jimmy Kimmel took a retro approach to honor the 90th ceremony. He took to the red carpet and audience to mock some of the attendees. He cut to a shot of Chadwick Boseman, who led the technologically advanced country of Wakanda in Black Panther.
“A country with a black leader — wouldn’t that be nice,” Kimmel said.
He also took time in his monologue to address the #MeToo movement. He walked to a larger version of the coveted statue and pointed out its endearing qualities: It keeps its hands where you can see them and doesn’t say anything rude.
“And best off, no penis,” Kimmel said. “We need more men like that in Hollywood.”
Speech time limit
During his opening monologue, Kimmel gave the audience some topics to talk about and said there really wouldn’t be a time limit on how long someone could speak, but he did give an incentive to the winners. At the click of a button, a screen rose and showed Helen Mirren in front of a new Jet Ski, and Kimmel announced that whoever gave the shortest speech would get it as a prize.
Halfway through the show, Kimmel decided to “sweeten the deal” with a trip to some lake in Arizona. The speech that won was costume designer Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread with 36 seconds.
Kumail Nanjiani steals the show
While presenting an award with Lupita Nyong'o, Kumail Nanjiani told the whole world that his real name is Chris Pine. Nyong'o said they were there to represent the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals Dreamers.
“I am from Pakistan and Iowa,” Nanjiani said. “Two places no one in Hollywood can find on a map.”
A first-time nominee for his movie, The Big Sick star easily stole the show with his witty comments.
'Remember Me' — for an awful performance
Three people from the cast of Coco performed •“Remember Me,” which was nominated for Best Original Song. But the performance will be known for how bad it was.
The guitar was too loud, and it got good only when Miguel came out. The song ended up winning despite its rocky start at the live ceremony.
Kobe Bryant wins an Oscar
Yes, you read that right — and the basketball player looked just as shocked. The tall build of Bryant looked extra big compared to the skinny microphone on stage that had to be raised about two feet when he spoke.
He said a nice thank you to his family, saying, “You are my inspiration.”
Movie theater crashers
Remember Gary from Chicago? Well, now we have Mike Young.
Kimmel took some of the biggest names in Hollywood across the street to a movie theater filled with people watching a preview of A Wrinkle in Time. Some of the people he took were Ansel Elgort, Mark Hamill, Guillermo del Toro, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gal Gadot and Margot Robbie.
Upon walking into the theater, Gadot said, “I don’t know if you know who we are.”
All of the movie stars brought in a whole bunch of candy and food, and they even had hotdog cannons. Kimmel did mention the distinct smell of marijuana in the theater, but whether he was exaggerating, the moviegoers probably appreciated the snacks nonetheless.
It sure beat the Girl Scout Cookies that Chris Rock sold.
The Silent Child
The best speech of the night came from a couple, Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton, who won for Best Live-Action Short for The Silent Child. The film is about a deaf child whose parents didn’t want her to learn sign language before going to school.
Shenton, who starred in Freeform’s Switched at Birth, promised the main character of the short that she would sign the entire speech — and that she did.
It was easily the most powerful speech of the night, reminding us all that bringing attention to important topics is one area in which the Oscars really excels.
Get Out wins Best Original Screenplay
When Jordan Peele walked onto the Dolby Stage, he was only focused on having the shortest speech of the night. He really wanted the Jet Ski.
But he walked off the stage being the first black person to win for Best Original Screenplay. That was a huge accomplishment, and it shows the way the Academy is heading.
Acting categories
To no one’s surprise, Gary Oldman won for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. But it was Frances McDormand who stole the night with her powerful speech and two great words.
The Three Billboards actress won for Best Actress in a Lead Role. She told the audience that if she passed out, they should pick her up because she had some things to say.
After thanking everyone, she asked all of the female nominees to stand up.
“Meryl, if you do it, everybody else will,” she said to Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep.
The female nominees stood, and she ended on two words: “Inclusion. Rider.”
An inclusion rider is a clause in a movie contract that allows for a certain level of diversity in films. The powerful move could be key to inviting more women, people of color and LGBT individuals into the filmmaking world. Though the last two words may have left a lot of people confused, she sure left a lasting impact on everyone in the audience.
Best Picture
What better way to announce the Best Picture winner than to bring out the people who mixed up the envelopes last year.
That’s right, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway — also known as Bonnie and Clyde — presented the night’s biggest award. Maybe they wanted to redeem themselves, which seems like a terrible move. Look at Steve Harvey — he wasn’t asked back to the Miss Universe Competition.
And this time it seemed they got it wrong again — in a different way, though — because The Shape of Water took home the biggest award of the night.
The film was up against Three Billboards, which won nearly every award leading up to the Oscars. This is the first time a director has won Best Director and Best Picture since Alejandro G. Iñárritu won for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
There is always a shocking win every year, and it came in the same category as last year.
