The 90th edition of the Academy Awards came and went Sunday evening, filling its nearly four hours with laughter and tears, self-mocking and self-celebration and more than a usual amount of music. Jimmy Kimmel hosted for a second time, handily.
It was, as always, a long flight, stimulating in its scenic views, enervating in its length. Compared to some earlier years, there was a decided lack of turbulence.
There were two main narrative thrusts to the evening, one looking backward, one looking ahead — looking ahead was also looking outward, to a more inclusive film industry.
The 90th Oscars ceremony was the reason for the first, which announced itself with a faux-historical, black-and-white newsreel opening and continued through the evening with well-edited montages featuring past winners of major categories. The message seemed to be that movies may have a long way to go in terms of diversity and representation but were always kind of woke: We have much to do, but we have done much.
FULL COVERAGE: Academy Awards 2018 | Red carpet | Winners room
The second had to do with Harvey Weinstein and the ugliness his exposure has revealed about the business, both sexual predators and insidious structural inequities. There were direct references to #MeToo and #TimesUp. Most direct of all was the appearance together of three women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd and Annabella Sciorra.
“This year many spoke their truth,” said Sciorra. “Slowly a new path has emerged.”
It was a theme throughout the night: “These four men and Greta Gerwig created their own masterpieces this year,” said Emma Stone presenting the award for directing. Frances McDormand, accepting an award for lead actress, asked all the evening’s female nominees to stand.
Popular culture drives social change. Unlike, say, Washington, D.C., Hollywood in recent years, or anyway months, has become a community where there are consequences not just to bad action but to inaction. Sometimes this is just lip service, but one can argue that lip service performed on such a massive public scale amounts to a change in the conversation.
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Costume designer Mark Bridges (“Phantom Thread”), with Helen Mirren in tow, rides onstage with the jet ski he won for having the fastest winners’ speech during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Guillermo del Toro and the cast of “The Shape of Water” assemble onstage after the film wins the top prize at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday.
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Guillermo del Toro celebrates the power of storytelling as he accepts the Oscar for directing “The Shape of Water.”.
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Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Hamill walk among the crowd during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Actors Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty prepare to announce the best picture winner at the 90th Academy Awards.
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Ashley Judd, from left, Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek present a Time’s Up segment during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren present the Oscar for lead actor.
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Jodie Foster, left, and Jennifer Lawrence present the award for lead actress, stepping in after Casey Affleck withdrew from the show.
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Nominees Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, Sally Hawkins and Meryl Streep hug after the lead actress award, which went to Frances McDormand, was announced.
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Frances McDormand accepts the award for lead actress for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, then prepares to say a few things.
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Gary Oldman accepts his Oscar for lead actor in “Darkest Hour.”
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Keala Settle performs during the 90th Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood.
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Performers with Keala Settle wander into the audience during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Actress Nicole Kidman prepares to present the Oscar for original screenplay.
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Guillermo del Toro delivers a speech after he won the directing Oscar for “The Shape of Water.”
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French composer Alexandre Desplat accepts his Oscar for original score for “The Shape of Water.”
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Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are overcome after winning original song for “Remember Me” from the animated film “Coco” during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Roger Deakins wins the Oscar for cinematography for “Blade Runner 2049” at the 90th Academy Awards.
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Writer-director Jordan Peele holds his Oscar for original screenplay for “Get Out” during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Lin-Manuel Miranda, left, and Emily Blunt present the award for best original song at the Oscars.
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Writer-director Jordan Peele is congratulated by “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya for winning the Oscar for original screenplay.
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Eddie Vedder performs during the “In Memoriam” tribute at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre.
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The crowd reacts as James Ivory wins the Oscar for adapted screenplay for “Call Me by Your Name” during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Common and Andra Day perform a song from “Marshall” during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Lee Smith wins the film editing Oscar for “Dunkirk,” with presenter Matthew McConaughey leading him offstage.
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Nicole Kidman steps onto the stage to present the award for original screenplay at the Oscars.
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Actors Chadwick Boseman and Margot Robbie speak onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Sufjan Stevens sings during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Actor Matthew McConaughey speaks during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Filmmakers Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton accept the Academy Award for live action short film for “The Silent Child.”
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Comedian Dave Chappelle speaks onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Tiffany Haddish, left, and Maya Rudolph present the award for best documentary short subject at the Oscars.
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Gina Rodriguez presents John Nelson with the award for visual effects for “Blade Runner 2049” at the Oscars.
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Filmmaker Frank Stiefel accepts the Acaemy Award for short subject documentary for “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405.”
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Daniela Vega, star of foreign-language Oscar winner “A Fantastic Woman,” introduces a song performance during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Actor Matthew McConaughey introduces the film editing nominees onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
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“The Last Jedi’s” BB-8 accompanies actors Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill and Kelly Marie Tran onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in L.A.
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NBA champ Kobe Bryant, left, and Glen Keane accept the Academy Award for animated short film for “Dear Basketball.”
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Host Jimmy Kimmel interacts with his 9-year-old self in a skit during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Director Sebastián Lelio accepts the Oscar for foreign-language film “A Fantastic Woman” from Chile.
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Allison Janney accepts the supporting actress Academy Award for “I, Tonya” during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Mark Rizzo, left, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten win the Academy Award for sound mixing for “Dunkirk.”
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Rita Moreno presents the award for best foreign language film at the Oscars.
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Presenters Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani give a shout-out to “all the Dreamers out there” onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Jeffrey A. Melvin, from left, Paul Denham Austerberry and Shane Vieau accept the Academy Award for production design for “The Shape of Water.”
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Singers Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade perform “Remember Me” from the animated film “Coco” onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Natalia Lafourcade and Miguel perform on a colorful stage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Actors Eiza Gonzalez and Ansel Elgort walk onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Director Bryan Fogel, right, celebrates next to producer Dan Cogan, bottom, after they won the Oscar for documentary feature for “Icarus” during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Greta Gerwig, left, and Laura Dern walk onstage to present the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars.
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Taraji P. Henson speaks onstage, introducing a performance by Mary J. Blige, during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Mary. J Blige performs “Mighty River” from “Mudbound” at the Oscars.
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Sam Rockwell accepts the suppoorting actor Academy Award for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” at the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Actress Helen Mirren presents the jet ski that Oscar winners could take home if they have the shortest speech during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Host Jimmy Kimmel motions towards the Oscar statue, speaking about its characteristics that make Oscar “the ideal man,” during the opening monologue during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Host Jimmy Kimmel delivers his opening monologue at the 90th Academy Awards.
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Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 90th Academy Awards.
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Someone dressed as the amphibious creature from “The Shape of Water” is guided through the crowd during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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Director Greta Gerwig walks through the crowd in the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood before the Academy Awards show begins.
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Director Steven Spielberg takes a photo with his phone during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
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“Mudbound” and “Black Panther” cinematographer Rachel Morrison greets others before the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards in the Dolby Theatre.
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Meryl Streep greets Jennifer Lawrence before the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards in the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Christopher Plummer looks for his seat before the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This year’s Oscars felt especially diverse — diverse enough for Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph to joke about the number of performers of color. (Haddish: “When we came out together, you were thinking, ‘Are the Oscars too black now?’” Rudolph promised more white people to come.)
It is a show in which men thank their husbands and women thank their wives, and it goes out around the world.
Age too was on display: Christopher Plummer, 88, nominated as a supporting actor for “All the Money in the World,” was the subject of more than one joke. But there were also James Ivory, 89, winning in the adapted screenplay category for “Call Me by Your Name”; presenters Rita Moreno, 86, wearing her 1962 Oscar dress, still and always the dancer; and Eva Marie Saint, a spritely 93, older than Oscars themselves.
Kimmel, for his part, seems made for this job — a mainstream performer who is sensitive to the winds of change, he is equally adept calling out injustice and calling for a party. He introduced the broadcast as a night for “positivity” and though this was on the way to a joke about “Black Panther” crushing a host of inspiring films at the box office that weekend, “Black Panther” crushing at the box office was itself part of the narrative of positivity.
But there was also a running bit about the giver of the shortest acceptance speech winning a jet ski. It was awarded to “Phantom Thread” costume designer Mark Bridges, who rode in on it at the end, accompanied by Helen Mirren (“not included”).
“This is the home stretch,” said Kimmel as best picture hoved into view, at which point, “nothing could possibly go wrong.” Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, victims of last year’s envelope mixup, were invited back for a do-over. They resisted any impulse to announce “La La Land” as the winner — it was “The Shape of Water.” I would not have been that strong.
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