2018 Oscar Awards

The descriptor that most comes to mind when I think of this year’s Oscars is “by-the-numbers.”  Nearly every award shook out pretty much the way I thought it would, and the ceremony felt super long, despite repeated winking “attempts” on host Jimmy Kimmel’s part to keep things moving along.  While I was happy with a number of the awards and enjoyed quite a few of the presenters/bits, my overall takeaway of the show was just a bit meh.

On the whole, I think Kimmel made for an affable if slightly bland host on his second outing.  I was amused by his self-deprecating references to the Moonlight/La La Land mix-up from last year, and given early indications that he was going to steer clear of #MeToo stuff, I was surprised at how much of his opening monologue addressed sexual harassment and predators in the industry (I especially liked the riff on how “Oscar” was the most respected man in Hollywood because you can see where his hands are at all times and he doesn’t actually have a penis, although Seth Meyers’s monologue at the Golden Globes was a lot more incisive.)  The “thank the audience” bit, with Kimmel and a troupe of celebrity volunteers from Gal Gadot to Lin-Manuel Miranda heading across the street to stage a filmed surprise for a group of moviegoers, was nice and I think better executed than the similar “tour bus” stunt Kimmel did last year.

Other stuff on the ceremony itself.  There were some really fun presenters.  I enjoyed Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence joking about Meryl Streep trying to I, Tonya them, Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph having a blast together, and several Latinx presenters (Rita Moreno, Oscar Isaac, and Lin-Manuel Miranda) getting hyped when their awards were won by Latinx films, namely A Fantastic Woman and Coco (side note:  I still like “Evermore” better than any of the best original song nominees, but if it couldn’t be there, I’m glad “Remember Me” won.  Its performance was great, and although Sufjan Stevens’s performance of “Mystery of Love” felt way too short, I dug both it and his striped jacket with what appeared to be a sea monster(?!) appliqued all over it.)  It was interesting to me how overtly political some of the presenters’ scripted lines were.  Not that I’m opposed to it at all – I’m just more used to it being in monologue jokes or acceptance speechers – but I wasn’t expecting as much as we got.  While the Time’s-Up-related moments made the most sense to intentionally include, since that’s a movement that began in Hollywood, I liked the stuff that was there just because, like Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani expressing Hollywood’s support for DACA.

Now, how ‘bout those awards, huh?  Like I said, not a lot of surprises.  The acting awards went exactly as expected, with Three Billboards getting lead actress and supporting actor, I, Tonya getting supporting actress (as one of the few non-best-picture nominees to get anything,) and Darkest Hour snagging lead actor along, predictably, with makeup.  By and large, the awards were pretty spread out among the best picture films, although Lady Bird and The Post were both shut out.  Dunkirk got most of the technical awards (film editing and the two sound categories,) and no surprise that Phantom Thread won for costume design.  Another non-best-picture nominee, Blade Runner 2049, snagged cinematography and visual effects, and I was happy for Coco’s wins in both animated film and original song.

The screenplay categories were the ones I was most unsure about going in.  I guess I’m not especially surprised about the adapted screenplay win for Call Me By Your Name, since it was the only best picture contender in its category, but while I was thrilled at Get Out’s win for original screenplay, I’d been really worried that it wouldn’t.  That was a packed category, and even though there were a lot of other great films in consideration there, I wouldn’t have been happy with anything other than Get Out winning because it was just.  That.  Good.

After that, I’d been hoping the win could propel Get Out to the other top awards of the night – direction and best picture were the other two awards that were somewhat in doubt for me – but it didn’t happen.  However, if it couldn’t be Get Out, I’m glad it was The Shape of Water (which, in addition to those two, also won production design and original score.)  I was happy for Guillermo del Toro, who has such interesting vision as a director, and I think the film itself is a worthy addition to the best picture pantheon.