Oscars 2018
Read our coverage of this year’s nominated films.
Hello, and welcome to The New Yorker’s Oscar Live Blog, 2018 edition. While tonight will not be as arduous as a solitary journey across Antartica, we have readied ourselves with trail mix, energy bars, and an open Slack channel. We are expecting a long and glittery evening and, thanks to last year, we’ve learned to watch until the very end for twist endings. Jia Tolentino is embedded in the Dolby Theatre for the duration, and the cartoonist Jason Adam Katzenstein is at the live-drawing table. They will be joined by a cast of New Yorker characters to enjoy the spectacle of Hollywood’s biggest party for itself.
Photograph by Craig Sjodin / Getty
Best Picture
11:55 P.M.
“This is a door—kick it open and come in.” Those were the words spoken by Guillermo del Toro, accepting the Best Picture Oscar, for “The Shape of Water.” The overriding spirit at this year’s ceremony was one of inclusion: the friendly, inspirational, prepackaged kind. And what better movie to encapsulate it than “The Shape of Water,” a fairy tale for grownups about tolerance and cross-species love?
—Michael Schulman
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws del Toro’s victory:
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Best Actress in a Leading Role
11:40 P.M.
Frances McDormand wins, for “Three Billboards,” and then asks all the women nominees in the audience to stand up and be recognized. It’s a real, amazing moment. McDormand then ends her speech with two important words: “Inclusion Rider!” (An inclusion rider is a kind of equity clause requiring that available roles and positions reflect the diversity of the world at large, as Stacy Smith discusses in this TED Talk.)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
11:30 P.M.
It’s Gary Oldman, for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” Why do actors love to play Churchill? We’re glad you asked.
Who Will Win Best Picture?
11:27 P.M.
With fifteen-ish minutes until Best Picture, I still have no idea what’s going to win. There’s been big love for “Dunkirk” (Best Editing), “Get Out” (Best Original Screenplay), “Three Billboards” (Best Supporting Actor), and “The Shape of Water” (Best Director). All four have a decent chance of winning.
—Michael Schulman
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Best Director
11:25 P.M.
A win for Guillermo del Toro, who drops this powerful quote in his bid for a Jet Ski: “I am an immigrant, like many many of you. But the greatest thing that art does is erase the lines in the sand. And we should continue doing that.”
11:23 P.M.
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws a recurring awards-night motif:
Best Original Score and Best Original Song
11:16 P.M.
Alexandre Desplat wins his second Oscar, for “The Shape of Water”; and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez win Best Original Song, for “Remember Me,” from “Coco.” (Shout out to to Brooklyn, and to finding inspiration in Prospect Park.) We like Richard Brody’s idea for a third Oscar in this category:
Needs to be a category for Best Adapted Song—use of a song that already exists, whether placed on the soundtrack or performed in the film.
— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) March 5, 2018
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Cinematography
10:56 P.M.
Roger A. Deakins finally wins, the fourteenth time around, for “Blade Runner 2049.” He is greeted by a spot-on tweet from Naomi Fry:
best cinematography winner is the lost member of the who
— Naomi Fry (@frynaomifry) March 5, 2018
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Best Original Screenplay
10:44 P.M.
Standing O, fierce applause, and whooping all the way into the balconies for Jordan Peele!
—Jia Tolentino
Great Screenplay award-winners, both. James Ivory was widely expected to win Best Adapted Screenplay, for “Call Me by Your Name,” but it sure was great to see it happen. Best Original Screenplay was a much tighter race. Jordan Peele’s win, for “Get Out,” may be an indicator of its chances for Best Picture. And the fact that “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” didn’t win suggests that it has softer support in the Academy than it did in other awards organizations.
—Michael Schulman
—Jason Adam Katzenstein
Best Adapted Screenplay
10:42 P.M.
So thrilled for James Ivory. Bravo!
— Sarah Larson (@asarahlarson) March 5, 2018
James Ivory previously spoke with Sarah Larson about his life and work.
The #MeToo Montage
10:35 P.M.
Ronan Farrow talked to Annabella Sciorra in October about Harvey Weinstein:
https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow/status/970502366108659713
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Documentary Short Subject and Live-Action Short Film
10:16 P.M.
The dreaded make-or-break categories in the office Oscar pool. The presenters Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph won both of these categories:
https://twitter.com/Alex_Lily/status/970497182485958658
Tiffany Haddish has more energy, spontaneity, and must-watchability than anybody who’s been onstage so far. She stole the show announcing the nominees in January; she just stole it again. If the Academy isn’t signing her up to host next year, they’re fools. Fools!
—Michael Schulman
10:04 P.M.
People and things that have been thanked so far:
“The bird who elevated my performance”
“Germany”
“Matthew McConaughey! Awesome!”
—Michael Schulman
Best Film Editing
10 P.M.
We forget every year how hard it is to keep track of all these minor categories, but we are glad that they give us time to make a chicken sandwich. “Dunkirk” won this one. We’re jealous of Jia Tolentino and her snack box in the Dolby Theatre:
Photograph by Jia Tolentino
Sufjan Stevens
9:50 P.M.
We will always share a “Music Man” joke:
Nobody told Sufjan Stevens's voice, but his suit is predicting trouble, right here in River City!
— tad friend (@tadfriend) March 5, 2018
— Mr. Highlight Reel (Official) (@Papapishu) March 5, 2018
Kobe Gets an Oscar
9:41 P.M.
I think the entire row behind me was directly involved in “Dear Basketball” so I’m typing this quietly, but let me tell you—I drank several wines a few weeks ago and watched all the nominated shorts, and “Dear Basketball” is extremely not good!! “Garden Party” and “Revolting Rhymes” are wonderful, though. Everyone should watch them after several wines!
—Jia Tolentino
Photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
9:26 P.M.
Several men roared “YASSSSSSSSSSSS” when Allison Janney won. I attribute a small part of this victory to her near-identical performance in “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” a classic film robbed of the Oscars it deserved in its time.
—Jia Tolentino
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws Allison Janney’s acceptance speech:
9:26 P.M.
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws Miguel’s performance:
Production Design
9:20 P.M.
The first win of the night for “The Shape of Water.” And, by our count, the third pair of (excellent) glasses worn by a presenter, when you count Lupita Nyong’o:
"We are the actors you keep hearing about, but whose names you have trouble pronouncing" -Lupita Nyong'o and Kumail Nanjiani presenting at the #Oscars https://t.co/gGUxhy6d5o pic.twitter.com/Gm3AxmrWsK
— Variety (@Variety) March 5, 2018
9:14 P.M.
Notice that the envelopes this year have big, gold lettering on a black background. Last year, it was a hard-to-read red on gold. I’m sensing an emergency graphic-design meeting after last year’s Best Picture fiasco.
—Michael Schulman
9:11 P.M.
You can really feel it in the Dolby Theatre when people are well-liked in the industry: when Sam Rockwell won his award, people on the mezzanine craned their heads over the balcony with this sense of elated familiarity, as if a friend was about to come out of the arrivals gate at the airport.
If you’re at home texting furiously and scrolling through Instagram on commercial breaks, let me tell you: that is EXACTLY what everyone’s doing here in the theatre!
—Jia Tolentino
Sound Editing and Mixing
9:08 P.M.
“Dunkirk” wins for Sound Editing, and “Dunkirk” wins for Sound Mixing. Good job, “Dunkirk”! There is one unhappy Porg out there.
#WhoWouldSayNoToA Porg? pic.twitter.com/GydgJYXFSI
— Porg (@SpacePuffin_) March 2, 2018
Sharan Shetty writes: “ ‘Icarus,’ which just won Best Documentary, is Netflix’s first feature film to snag an Oscar. Given that the company plans to release eighty original movies this year—that’s in addition to the seven hundred original series—it probably will not be the last.”
9:04 P.M.
Two views of the Dolby’s stage design, by Jia Tolentino and Jason Adam Katzenstein, respectively:
Photograph by Jia Tolentino
Best Documentary
8:52 P.M.
https://twitter.com/Alex_Lily/status/970474994215063553
Agnès Varda was the sentimental favorite for Alexandra Schwartz, but the award went to the anti-doping exposé “Icarus”: Read Schwartz’s recent essay and talk with Varda.
8:47 P.M.
Jimmy Kimmel, in his monologue, mentioned Carmine Caridi, the actor who, before Harvey Weinstein, was the only person to be expelled from the Academy. Caridi is a curious case: he was Francis Ford Coppola’s first choice to play Sonny Corleone, in “The Godfather,” but lost the part to James Caan. (A producer thought he was too tall to play off Al Pacino.) He built a respected career as a character actor before his expulsion for screener-sharing. Kimmel said that the culprit was “Seabiscuit”; in fact, it was “Something’s Gotta Give.”
—Sharan Shetty
Makeup and Hairstyling, and Costume Design
8:42 P.M.
Rachel Syme talked to Mark Bridges about all those amazing clothes: “ ‘Phantom Thread’ is about genius and obsession and fashion, but it’s also a love story, a portrait of the work that goes into stitching two lives together. Read more.
8:35 P.M.
“Darkest Hour” wins for Makeup and Hairstyling, and “Phantom Thread” for Costume Design, but, really, Eva Marie Saint is ninety-three and all the viewers on Twitter are losing their mind about how great she looks.
!!!! Hero https://t.co/hYCQ3DNGRk
— Paige Williams (@williams_paige) March 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/lkoturner/status/970471404150734848
8:24 P.M.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Missed it; am astonished by the supposed appeal of the performance.
— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) March 5, 2018
Well. that was a surprise. Everyone had Willem Dafoe—even The Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot. Richard Brody is 0 for 1, but we anticipate a strong finish.
One question for tonight from Michael Schulman: Will there be an upset in any of the remaining three acting categories? All have strong front-runners—Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, and Gary Oldman—and Rockwell’s win is the first non-surprise. Good speech, though!
8:19 P.M.
“This is a night for positivity,” Jimmy Kimmel said in his opening monologue. We’ll see about that, but his speech was chummy and conciliatory—calling out Harvey Weinstein and the pay gap without making anyone uncomfortable about anything, for better or worse.
—Michael Schulman
8:13 P.M.
Tad Friend wins for the first Trump tweet of the evening:
Trump anxiously adjusting his set: "Why's this thing in black and white? Why?" He fires John Kelly.
— tad friend (@tadfriend) March 5, 2018
The Opening Monologue
7:55 P.M.
The red carpet winds down (Rachel Syme will have a review later this evening) and we await Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue. Will he mention Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo?
Jia Tolentino writes, “The lights are strobing in the Dolby Theatre—the big voice is booming out last call to take your seats! People are putting down their tiny popcorn bags and finishing their white wine and rushing in to discover friends sitting right next to them: ‘Fancy seeing YOU here,’ everyone is squealing.”
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws Jimmy Kimmel:
7:48 P.M.
The scene before the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre:
Photograph by Jia Tolentino
7:45 P.M.
Jason Adam Katzenstein draws Timothée Chalamet on the red carpet:
7:42 P.M.
I realized that a lot of actors are in more than one nominated film, so I made this helpful chart. IT’S ALL CONNECTED.
—Michael Schulman
Happy Oscar Day! I’m reposting my Oscar conspiracy art. IT’S ALL CONNECTED. pic.twitter.com/EGaBQITSjV
— Michael Schulman (@MJSchulman) March 4, 2018
Photograph by Rick Rowell / Getty
7:18 P.M.
Early contenders for red-carpet winner are Adam Rippon, in a Jeremy Scott harness; James Ivory, the eighty-nine-year-old screenwriter of “Call Me by Your Name,” in a Timothée Chalamet-print shirt; and Rita Moreno, wearing the same (stunning) dress she wore to accept her Oscar, in 1962, for “West Side Story.”
—Michael Schulman
Sourse: newyorker.com
