On Sunday 4th March, Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars convened in the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, for the 90th Academy Awards. There was laughter, a few surprises and even Helen Mirren atop a jet ski (more on that later). Here are my best moments from this year’s Oscars.
The Shape of Water
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Guillermo Del Toro won his first Oscar for Best Director. However, one of the bigger shocks of the night was Del Toro’s The Shape of Water winning Best Picture over the BAFTA’s pick of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Thankfully this year Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were handed the correct envelope for Best Picture!
The Jet Ski
One of the issues for any award show is acceptance speeches. The winners are feeling emotional and overwhelmed; this is their moment and boy oh boy are they going to make the most of it. Of course, it’s fair enough to thank your family and all those who have supported you, but you’ve gotta keep it short and sweet!
That’s why this year Jimmy Kimmel offered a jet ski as a prize to the winner who gave the shortest speech, as presented by the ever-glamourous national treasure that is Helen Mirren. The winner of the ski was in fact Phantom Thread’s costume designer Mark Bridges, who rode the ski out wearing a life jacket with Helen Mirren whilst giving the royal wave – what a legend.
The Epic Speech
During her acceptance speech for the Best Actress award after her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Frances McDormand championed all women in the film industry, from actresses to directors, cinematographers to sound editors. “And now I want to get some perspective,” McDormand said, all jokes now aside, “if I may be so honoured to have all the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight.”
This powerful show of unity from the female nominees was particularly apt given the tense political climate in Hollywood over the past few months. McDormand then called for more female representation in film stating, “I have two words to say: Inclusion Rider”.
For those who don’t know – and there are many of us – an ‘inclusion rider’ is a clause in a contract that means a diverse cast and crew are required to hire someone. In other words, it’s a practical solution for Hollywood’s obvious diversity issue (see: the four male and one female Best Director nominees).
The Trip to the Movies
In typical WTF Oscars fashion, Jimmy Kimmel and a swarm of celebs crashed a screening of A Wrinkle In Time to give out snacks to unsuspecting randomers enjoying a trip to the movies. Ansel Elgort handled the hot dog canon with pure joy, Gal Gadot declared, “this is so much better than the Oscars” while other celebrities like Mark Hamill and Margot Robbie handed out sweets, chocolate and huge sandwiches.
One lucky audience member, Mike, was selected by Kimmel to introduce the hosts of the next award, Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph, for the best documentary short. Moral of the story – go to the cinema when the Oscars are on!
Edited by Tia Ralhan
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