Age of The Nerd
Despite the reports of this year’s Academy Awards broadcast showing lower than normal ratings, we have to say that overall it was a fairly solid telecast. This year more than ever people were streaming the awards show, as so many have turned to “cord-cutting” and according to digital marketing agency Adtaxi there has been significant change in the way audiences view and engage with award shows.
There were so many fantastic films, actors, actresses, directors and crew nominated this year, that we can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for the members of the Academy to cast those deciding votes on who would win and who would lose.
Each year Age of the Nerd completes our annual list of picks and it was definitely a tight race, as in many of the categories it was truly anyone’s game. We were thrilled to see that this year the Academy definitely took a chance on a few winners, going outside the box with a few choices, especially when it came to the Oscar awards for both Best Picture and Best Director.
Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape Of Water” was truly a fantastic piece of cinema and definitely deserving of the evenings highest honor, as well as, Del Toro’s win for Best Director. What makes this win even more fitting is that it just so happens to be the 60th anniversary of the film’s main inspiration “The Creature From The Black Lagoon”.
Many felt that the award for Best Actor would end up going home with actor Daniel Day Lewis considering that the “Phantom Thread” is supposed to be his last film, however Gary Oldman ending up taking home the coveted prize for his spectacular portray of Winston Churchill in “The Darkest Hour”, while actor Sam Rockwell picked up Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missiouri” and Allison Janney nabbed Best Supporting Actress for her exceptional portrayal of figure skater Tonya Harding’s mother in “I, Tonya”.
During the telecast it was also incredibly moving to witness the show of solidarity among women brought together by actress Frances McDormand as she accepted her award for Best Actress for her superior job in the film “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri”. She made a historic call to action for more inclusion of diversity in Hollywood. She supports having an inclusion rider including in contracts that not only includes the cast of a Hollywood project, but the crew members as well. The result can lead to a Hollywood A-lister ensuring gender, racial, LGBTQ and disability equality via his or her contracts. It started the trend of the hashtag #InclusionRider on social media!
Speaking about diversity and disability, it should also be noted that the film “The Silent Child”, which features an incredibly accurate and authentic portrayal of a disability took home the Oscar for Best Live Action Short. As it tells the story of a deaf four year old child named Libby played by Maisie Sly, who also happens to be deaf herself. This is important to note as the majority of films winning for portrayal of disability often feature actors without the actual disability.
It should also be noted that while fellow best actress nominee Sally Hawkins did not win the nights big award for her role in winning Best Picture film “The Shape of Water” she too played a role of a person living with a disability that she herself doesn’t have and did a tremendous job. In the film she portrays a janitor with no speech who falls in love with an amphibian held captive at the laboratory where she works.
It was a night of firsts for women, people of color (Jordan Peele, first black screenwriter to win best original screenplay) and the LGBTQ community (A Fantastic Woman features a transgender storyline with an openly trans actor in the lead role), among others. Ashley Judd, Anabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek Pinault specifically drew attention to the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements during a special segment.
“We work together to make sure the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality,” Judd said. “That’s what this year has promised us.”
Following their speech, a video outlined how the Academy is working to increase its diversity and inclusion efforts – from gender and race to those who are transgender. However, sadly people with disabilities, the largest minority group in the U.S. that also cuts across every demographic, were left out of this segment. That may have been the one downfall of the evening.
The success of films like Blank Panther, Wonder Woman and Coco prove that diversity wins.
“I remember a time when the major studios did not believe a woman or an African American could open a superhero movie,” host Jimmy Kimmel said in his opening monologue. “It was March of last year.”
Pixar’s Coco took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Its producers talked about the importance of including all.
“Coco is proof that art can change and connect the world,” Darla K. Anderson said. “This can only be done when we have a place for everyone and anyone who feels like an other to be heard.”
“With Coco we tried to take a step forward toward a world where all children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look and talk and live like they do,” Lee Unkrich added. “Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters.”
Pixar has long been a leader in diversity and inclusion and has the opportunity to continue to lead by example by including more people and characters with disabilities in their future films.
You can see a full list of this year’s winners below:
Best Picture:
“The Shape of Water” (WINNER)
“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Actress:
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (WINNER)
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Actor:
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” (WINNER)
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
Director:
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro (WINNER)
“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
Original Song:
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez (WINNER)
“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige
“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
Original Score:
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat (WINNER)
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams
“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell
Cinematography:
“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins (WINNER)
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen
Original Screenplay:
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele (WINNER)
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh
“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
Adapted Screenplay:
“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory (WINNER)
“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
Live Action Short Film:
“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton (WINNER)
“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.
“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen
Documentary Short Subject:
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel (WINNER)
“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon
“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright
“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner
Film Editing:
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith (WINNER)
“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory
Visual Effects:
“Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer (WINNER)
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick
“Kong: Skull Island,” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlan
“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist
Animated Feature:
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson (WINNER)
“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito
“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo
“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha
“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman
Animated Short:
“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant (WINNER)
“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray
“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer
Supporting Actress:
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” (WINNER)
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
Foreign Language Film:
“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile) (WINNER)
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)
Production Design:
“The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau (WINNER)
“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Sound Mixing:
“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo (WINNER)
“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill
“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick
Sound Editing:
“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King (WINNER)
“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green
“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood
Documentary Feature:
“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan (WINNER)
“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman
“Faces Places,” JR, Agnès Varda, Rosalie Varda
“Last Men in Aleppo,” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Soren Steen Jepersen
“Strong Island,” Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes
Costume Design:
“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges (WINNER)
“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran
“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira
“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle
Makeup and Hairstyling:
“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick (WINNER)
“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten
Supporting Actor:
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (WINNER)
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”
