Bringing an end to one of the most wide open best picture races in years, “The Shape of Water” — a fantastical fable about a mute woman who falls in love with an aquatic creature — claimed the top prize Sunday night at the 90th Academy Awards, beating out a strong field of eight rivals that included box office hits like “Dunkirk” and “Get Out” as well as smaller, more intimate fare such as “Call Me By Your Name” and “Lady Bird.”
Marking a moment of redemption for the Academy Awards themselves, the award was presented by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, central players in last year’s shocking mix-up, in which the musical “La La Land” was mistakenly named best picture over the actual winner, “Moonlight.” (“This year, when you hear your name called, don’t get up right away,” returning host Jimmy Kimmel joked in one of several nods to the bungle throughout the night. “Give us a minute. We don’t want another thing.”)
In contrast to last year’s chaos, this year’s wins proceeded in an orderly fashion, with many awards going to first-timers.
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Lupita Nyong’o looks regal in gold and black. She makes our best-dressed list.
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Zendaya’s choice of dress lands her on our best-dressed list.
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Emily Blunt’s soft blue look scored points for us. She is on our best-dressed list.
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Mahershala Ali mixed different textures and no tie with this look and it paid off. He makes our best-dressed list.
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The internet can’t get enought of Timothée Chalamet. We can’t either. Here he is wearing white as he escorts his mother, Nicole Flender, to the Oscars.
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Viola Davis in bright pink is on our best-dressed list.
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Tiffany Haddish looks like a queen on the Oscars 2018 red carpet. We bow down. She’s on our best-dressed list.
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Chadwick Boseman is on our best-dressed list.
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Armie Hammer looks happy, as he should. He’s on our best-dressed list. That’s his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, in the photo at right.
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Allison Janney at the Academy Awards is on our best-dressed list.
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Helen Mirren in blue makes our best-dressed list.
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Mary J. Blige arrives at the Oscars and makes our best-dressed list.
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Whoopi Goldberg’s floral dress is a miss for us.
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Jennifer Garner’s look at the Oscars was a winner.
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Maya Rudolph’s red tunic is on our worst-look list.
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We are going against the grain on this one. Many might disagree but we have Nicole Kidman as a miss.
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Singer Andra Day missed the mark this time. She’s on our worst-dressed list.
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We are not sure if actress-singer Haley Bennett’s dress is organic or environmentally friendly, but it does not make a great look. She is on our worst-dressed list.
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Anne Clark, known as St. Vincent had a look at the Oscars that is a miss for us.
(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) OSCARS 2018 FULL COVERAGE »
Leading the night with 13 nominations, “The Shape of Water” won four prizes, including Guillermo del Toro’s first Oscar for directing, as well as for the film’s production design and score. But it was a year in which no single film ever emerged as front-runner, and academy members spread their affection accordingly, if predictably.
Gary Oldman, who has swept virtually every acting prize this season, won his first Oscar in the lead actor category for his turn as Winston Churchill in the period drama “Darkest Hour.” Frances McDormand followed her wins at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards with the lead actress prize for her performance as a grieving mother trying to spur the police to solve her daughter’s murder in the dark morality play “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
MORE: Watch Frances McDormand’s rousing speech that just fired up the Oscars »
The adapted screenplay prize went to James Ivory for “Call Me By Your Name.” It is his first Oscar, and at 89, he is the oldest winner in history. Original screenplay went to Jordan Peele, the first African American to win the award, for his racially charged horror smash “Get Out.”
Sam Rockwell took home the supporting actor award for his turn as a racist small-town cop in “Three Billboards,” while Allison Janney earned the supporting actress award for playing the foul-mouthed, emotionally abusive mother of figure skater Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya.” Both first-time winners, Rockwell and Janney had been considered the favorites in their categories.
Ironically, in a year that has been dominated by discussions of how women are treated and represented in Hollywood, the female-centric coming-of-age story “Lady Bird,” written and directed by Greta Gerwig — the first woman nominated in the directing category since 2010 — came away empty-handed, as did Steven Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers drama “The Post,” which starred Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and carried the sort of pedigree that in earlier years was considered catnip to Oscar voters.
But for the academy, a group that has weathered a string of public-relations crises in recent years — including the bitter #OscarsSoWhite controversy and last year’s embarrassing climactic blunder — the show offered a much-needed chance to turn the page.
“We can’t ruin this one,” Kimmel said in his opening monologue. “This is a special year. This is a big one…. Oscar is 90 years old tonight, which means he’s probably at home watching Fox News.”
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Jordan Peele and Nicole Kidman backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Host Jimmy Kimmel and Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro are shown with producer J. Miles Dale backstage at the Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) backstage at the 90th Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar winner Guillermo Del Toro poses with Jimmy Kimmel pal Guillermo Rodriguez at the 90th Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins and winner Frances McDormand talk backstage at the Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Alexandre Desplat backstage at the 90th Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer have a laugh while Helen Mirren and Frances McDormand talk nearby after the Oscars. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Host Jimmy Kimmel chats with Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer as Helen Mirren and Frances McDormand talk nearby backstage at the Oscars. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Host Jimmy Kimmel holds onto Helen Mirren, seated on the jet ski won by Mark Bridges, who earned an Oscar in costume design for “Phantom Thread.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Gary Oldman, after winning for lead actor. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lead actor Gary Oldman (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lead actor Gary Oldman, with Helen Mirren, center, and Jane Fonda. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Frances McDormand after winning lead actress for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lead actress Frances McDormand (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lead actress Frances McDormand with Jodie Foster, center, and Jennifer Lawrence. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Guillermo Del Toro after winning for directing “The Shape of Water.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Director winner Guillermo Del Toro (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Alexandre Desplat after winning for original score for “The Shape of Water,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Guillermo del Toro after winning for best director and presenter Emma Stone backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lin-Manuel Miranda, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, with presenter Emily Blunt after winning for original song, backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Robert Lopez and Emily Blunt backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Alexandre Desplat after winning for original score for “The Shape of Water,” backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Roger Deakins, the cast of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and the audience, from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Roger Deakins, after winning for cinematography for “Blade Runner 2049,” with presenter Sandra Bullock backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Jordan Peele and Nicole Kidman backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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James Ivory with presenters Chadwick Boseman, left, and Margot Robbie after winning for adapted screenplay for “Call Me by Your Name” backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Annabella Sciorra, left, Salma Hayek and Ashley Judd backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Activist Tarana Burke, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Janney, winner for best supporting actress in “I, Tonya,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Jordan Peele after winning best original screenplay for “Get Out,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Jordan Peele onstage after winning best original screenplay for “Get Out,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Glen Kean, right, and Kobe Bryant winning best animated short film for “Dear Basketball,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lee Smith winning best film editing for “Dunkirk” with Matthew Matthew McConaughey, from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant winning best animated short film for “Dear Basketball,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Janney hugs Margot Robbie after Janney won for supporting actress for “I, Tonya,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Janney backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Performance for the movie “Coco,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Gael Garcia Bernal backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Gael Garcia Bernal, from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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James Ivory after winning for best adapted screenplay for “Call Me by Your Name” backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Lee Smith after winning for editing for “Dunkirk,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Gina Rodriguez and Tom Holland backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Adrian Molina, left, Lee Unkrich, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt and Darla K. Anderson from “Coco” backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Sam Rockwell after winning best supporting actor in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” with presenter Viola Davis, from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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BB-8, the droid from the “Star Wars” movies, backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Rita Moreno backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Ansel Elgort and Eiza Gonzalez backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Mary J. Blige backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Mary J. Blige backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar statues backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Janney onstage after Janney won for best supporting actress for “I, Tonya,” from backstage at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
In recognition of that 90th anniversary, returning producers Jennifer Todd and Michael De Luca stuffed the show with the sort of classic-film highlight reels and extravagant musical numbers that have often been a hallmark of the Oscars throughout its history. In a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to trim the show’s typically bloated running time, Kimmel offered a brand-new jet ski to the winner who delivered the evening’s shortest acceptance speech.
But beneath the warm veneer of nostalgia, there were major land mines to navigate involving issues of representation and inclusion, lending the evening a sometimes uneasy push-and-pull between an upbeat celebration of all that Hollywood stands for and a sober critique of where it falls short of its own lofty ideals.
In the weeks leading up to the Oscars, many speculated about how the show — the very purpose of which is to present the film industry in the best possible light — would address the sexual harassment scandals that have roiled Hollywood in recent months and dominated earlier awards ceremonies this season. In October, the academy expelled disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein, a man who for a time was virtually synonymous with the Oscars, and announced new standards of conduct that its members are expected to uphold.
In his opening monologue, Kimmel sought to walk a fine line, calling out the industry for its intractable ills — from misconduct toward women to its lingering blind spots in terms of representation — while insisting that the Oscars are “a night for positivity.”
WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel’s Oscars opening monologue »
Going relatively easy on President Trump compared with his first time hosting last year, Kimmel instead devoted a large portion of his opening monologue to the industry’s treatment of women. With the exception of Weinstein, he didn’t call out any of the other men who’ve been accused of sexual harassment in recent months by name. Instead, he took a broader swipe at Hollywood’s men as a whole.
“Oscar is the most beloved and respected man in Hollywood, and there’s a very good reason why,” Kimmel cracked. “Just look at him: Keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word and, most importantly, no penis at all. He is literally a statue of limitations — and that’s the kind of men we need more of in this town.”
Turning more serious, he continued, “What happened with Harvey and what’s happening all over was long overdue. We can’t let bad behavior slide anymore. The world is watching us. We need to set an example.”
Three of the dozens of women whose accusations against Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement — Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek — took the stage to speak of their hopes that this year will be a watershed for the industry.
“We work together to make sure that the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality,” Judd said. “That’s what this year has promised us.”
Yet even as the academy has taken dramatic steps in recent years to diversify its historically overwhelmingly white and male ranks, Kimmel noted that only 11% of films are directed by women, which, he said, is just “nuts.”
Pointing to two of the past year’s biggest box office hits, “Black Panther” and “Wonder Woman,” he cracked, “I remember a time when the major studios didn’t believe a woman or a minority could open a superhero movie — and the reason I remember that time is because it was March of last year.”
Among the night’s other winners, Roger Deakins, who has been nominated for cinematography 14 times, finally won, for the sci-fi film “Blade Runner 2049,” beating out a field that included Rachel Morrison, who became the first woman ever nominated in the category, for “Mudbound.”
Accepting his award for directing “The Shape of Water,” the Mexican-born Del Toro cited his immigrant roots to reinforce the show’s dominant theme of inclusion, offering what amounted to a kind of mission statement for the academy as it looks ahead to its centennial and beyond.
“I think the greatest thing our art does and our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand,” he said. “We should continue doing that when the world makes them deeper.”
But it was McDormand who truly captured the spirit of the evening — and the shifting power dynamics in Hollywood — when, accepting her award, she asked all of her fellow female nominees in every category to stand in recognition.
“Look around, everybody, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” McDormand said. “Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple of days, or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best, and we’ll tell you all about them.”
josh.rottenberg@latimes.com
Twitter: @joshrottenberg
