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Film

Best picture goes to 'The Shape of Water'

March 5, 2018

"The Shape of Water" has won the Academy Award for best picture. Gary Oldman and Frances McDormand have taken home the top acting honors, and Guillermo del Toro won best director.

Guillermo del Toro (L) accepts the Oscar for Best Picture for "The Shape of Water."
Image: Reuters/L. Jackson

All of Hollywood was waiting to see how Jimmy Kimmel would open the 90th annual Academy Awards. Would he deal with the sexual harassment scandals? Yes, he did.

The late-night host specifically mentioned the disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein by name and said he deserved to be expelled from the academy. He joked that the Oscar statuette is the ideal embodiment of the moment — "as he always keeps his hands where we can see them."

Kimmel also acknowledged the #MeToo and Time's Up movements against sexual misconduct and gender inequality, a major theme of the evening. He told the audience that we are living in a moment of cultural reckoning for inclusivity and sexual misconduct and that the industry couldn't turn a blind eye to bad behavior anymore. "The world is watching us," he said.

Read more: 90 years of the Oscars 

Awards spread evenly

The best picture award went to "The Shape of Water," a film nominated in 13 categories. Director Guillermo del Toro dedicated his win to all young filmmakers around the world. He reminisced about being a young boy in Mexico and dreaming of one day being at the Oscars. "Growing up in Mexico, I thought this could never happen," del Toro said. "It happens." He also took home the prize for best director, and the film was honored with a total of four awards.

Allison Janney won the award for best supporting actress, for her role in 'I, Tonya'Image: Reuters/L. Jackson

Gary Oldman won best actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in "The Darkest Hour."

"I would just like to salute Winston Churchill, who has been marvelous company on what can be described as an incredible journey," Oldman said while accepting his award for best actor.

The best actress award in a crowded field of talented women went to Frances McDormand for her role of a grieving mother in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." During her acceptance speech, she had all the women nominees and winners stand up and take a bow, and pushed for more funding for their projects. McDormand's speech, which called for stars to request an inclusion rider that will increase diversity on the film set, struck a chord with many who are pushing for more and greater representation. The idea, originally proposed in 2016 by the USC professor Stacy Smith, comes after data revealed that female nominees in categories such as best director and best cinematography have been sorely lacking in the Oscars' 90-year history.

Read more: What a history-making Oscar nomination reveals about gender equality in Hollywood

In a category filled with amazing performances, the winner of the statuette for best supporting actress was anyone's guess. Allison Janney ultimately won for her performance as the figure skater Tonya Harding's mother in the film "I, Tonya." The best supporting actor award went to Sam Rockwell for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

'Coco' wins best animated film

After 14 nominations, Roger Deakins won his first Oscar for cinematography for "Blade Runner 2049"Image: Reuters/L. Jackson

The award for documentary feature was given to "Icarus," which exposed the state-sponsored doping of Russia's Olympic athletes. Best foreign film went to Chile's "A Fantastic Woman," the story of love and loss starring the transgender actress Daniela Vega, which was a hit at the 2017 Berlinale. Pixar's colorful ode to Mexican culture, "Coco," won best animated film, as well as best song for "Remember Me."

"The biggest thank you of all to the people of Mexico," said "Coco" director Lee Unkrich. "Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters."

Germany was represented at the Academy Awards by Gerd Nefzer, who won an Oscar in the visual effects category for "Blade Runner 2049."

"It's a great moment in my life," he said, speaking to reporters backstage. "I never thought I would make it as a German special effects artist at the Oscars. It's incredible, I still can't believe it."

'Time's Up is not about the red carpet'

Unlike the Golden Globes' "blackout," when women wore black dresses to protest sexual misconduct, there was no similar movement on the Oscar red carpet.

"It's really important that you know that Time's Up is not about the red carpet," the powerhouse Hollywood producer Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal") said ahead of the ceremony.

"And those women you saw on the red carpet representing Time's Up are now off the red carpet working their butts off being activists," Rhimes said.

Instead, three actresses who had accused Harvey Weinstein of assault — Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra — were called on stage ahead of a video about the changes in the industry toward greater diversity and post-#MeToo. 

Read more: Greta Gerwig — Oscar-nominated female director still a rarity in Hollywood

Before he was thrown out of the film academy after a tsunami of sexual harassment and sexual abuse allegations, Weinstein was central to the Academy Awards over the past two decades. Indeed, one study claimed that Weinstein was thanked more often than God in acceptance speeches.

Tradition was also broken in another manner. Typically the previous year's best actor winner would present that statuette, but Casey Affleck, who won the award in 2017 for "Manchester by the Sea," withdrew amid a pair of sexual harassment accusations, which he has denied. In his place, Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence presented the best actress award.

WINNERS IN BOLD

Best picture

Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Actress in a leading role

Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
Meryl Streep (The Post)

Actor in a leading role

Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)

Director

Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)
Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water)

Music (original song)

"Mighty River" by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson (Mudbound)
"Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens (Call Me by Your Name)
"Remember Me" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Coco)
"Stand Up for Something" by Diane Warren and Lonnie R. Lynn (aka Common) (Marshall)
"This is Me" by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman)

Music (original score)

Hans Zimmer (Dunkirk)
Jonny Greenwood (Phantom Thread)
Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water)
John Williams (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
Carter Burwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Cinematography

Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049)
Bruno Delbonnel (Darkest Hour)
Hoyte Van Hoytema (Dunkirk)
Rachel Morrison (Mudbound)
Dan Lausten (The Shape Of Water)

Writing (original screenplay)

Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Screenplay by Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor; story by Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape Of Water)
Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Writing (adapted screenplay)

James Ivory (Call Me By Your Name)
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Disaster Artist)
Screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green; story by James Mangold (Logan)
Aaron Sorkin (Molly's Game)
Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees (Mudbound)

Short film (live action)

DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All Of Us

Documentary (short subject)

Edith + Eddie
Heaven Is A Traffic Jam On The 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

Film editing

Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos (Baby Driver)
Lee Smith (Dunkirk)
Tatiana S. Riegel (I, Tonya)
Sidney Wolinsky (The Shape Of Water)
Jon Gregory (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Visual effects

John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover (Blade Runner 2049)
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick (Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2)
Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus (Kong: Skull Island)
Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist (War For The Planet Of The Apes)

Animated feature film

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Short film (animated)

Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes

Actress in a supporting role

Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Octavia Spencer (The Shape Of Water)

Foreign language film

A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
The Insult (Lebanon)
Loveless (Russia)
On Body And Soul (Hungary)
The Square (Sweden)

Production design

Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer (Beauty And The Beast)
Dennis Gassner and Alessandra Querzola (Blade Runner 2049)
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer (Darkest Hour)
Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis (Dunkirk)
Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin (The Shape Of Water)

Sound mixing

Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis (Baby Driver)
Ron Bartless, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth (Blade Runner 2049)
Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo (Dunkirk)
Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier (The Shape Of Water)
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

Sound editing

Julian Slater (Baby Driver)
Mark Mangini and Theo Green (Blade Runner 2049)
Richard King and Alex Gibson (Dunkirk)
Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira (The Shape Of Water)
Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

Documentary (feature)

Abacus: Small Enough To Jail
Faces Places

Icarus
Last Men In Aleppo
Strong Island

Costume design

Jacqueline Durran (Beauty And The Beast)
Jacqueline Durran (Darkest Hour)
Mark Bridges (Phantom Thread)
Luis Sequeira (The Shape Of Water)
Consolata Boyle (Victoria & Abdul)

Makeup and hairstyling

Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick (Darkest Hour)
Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard (Victoria & Abdul)
Arjen Tuiten (Wonder)

Actor in a supporting role

Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)
Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Richard Jenkins (The Shape Of Water)
Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World)
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

av, bik/cmk, ct (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)

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