*Full list of winners in the order they were presented. For the biggest prizes, scroll down.
*New York Times staffers discuss & react live to the winners. Interesting stuff here.
- Host Jimmy Kimmel addresses #MeToo, Time’s Up, equal pay, women and people of color in the movie industry, historic wins & nominations, and more. Read the full transcript.
- Casey Affleck did not present Best Actress, breaking tradition. Read why.
- Jordan Peele Becomes First African-American to Win Best Original Screenplay. He was already brilliant on Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele,” so I’m glad to see him win.
- Roger Deakins, a legend, FINALLY wins Best Cinematography for Blade Runner 2049 after 14 nominations! Read all the movies he’s shot before, which includes stunning visual pieces like Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, and The Shawshank Redemption.
- Perhaps one of the most interesting & important wins of the night in terms of cinematic history: Guillermo del Toro becomes the 4th Mexican director in 5 years to win Best Director. The Academy has long favored American films, so this recent trend of a strong championship for the Central/South American industry is pleasantly surprising. If that weren’t enough, del Toro makes history again by directing the first film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and Best Picture at the Oscars. Save some for the rest of us, Guillermo.
- As I and almost everyone else predicted, The Shape of Water took home Best Picture.
- Did all winners deserve their statue? Variety disagrees: Biggest Oscar Snubs and Surprises Include ‘Lady Bird,’ ‘This Is Me’
Finally, as I have stated before, many critics and myself said that the race for Best Picture came down to The Shape of Water vs. Three Billboards, but the dark horse lurking in the background, we agreed, was Get Out. In fact, The Atlantic and the LA Times were a few outlets who pinpointed Get Out as the prospective winner. Following the momentum of fantastic movies about the African-American/African experience like Moonlight and Black Panther, many thought Get Out would and should be recognized for creating the “film of the moment” (LA Times)– but ultimately, the Academy chose the fantasy, The Shape of Water. Although a genre movie has been a rare pick in recent years, a horror movie would have been an even bolder choice than fantasy. (Horror won last with The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.)
*One of the best moments of the night: Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya offers a poignant, powerful response to a reporter describing the black experience as “boxes.”
**Highly recommended read: “Get Out” Should Win Best Picture, But Does The Movie Actually Need The Oscars? Article also includes links to several more interesting articles about this year’s movies at the bottom.
Further Reading:
Get Out should win Best Picture, but it won’t
The Academy didn’t have the guts to to give Get Out Best Picture
Nadia Jo 