Winners of the 90th Academy Awards

                          

Full of glitz, glamour, talent, and entertainment, the 90th Academy Awards reminded us why we love watching movies so much.  They take us to new places and fill our hearts and minds with wonder. 

So many of the nominees were amazing, so choosing just one winner in each category was almost painful.  Here is the list of all the winners!

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”

Best 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”

Best 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.”

Best 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

Best 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”

Winter's Tale movie review

Movie Title:   Winter's Tale

PG-13, 2 hours 9 minutes

Grade:  B-

In a Nutshell:   Not to be confused with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale , this time-traveling tale is filled with a wonderfully talented cast: Colin Farrell (Total Recall ), Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind ), William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman ), Eva Marie Saint (On The Waterfront ), Russell Crowe (Gladiator ), and Matt Bomer (White Collar: The Complete First Season).  Will Smith surprises in an evil role as Lucifer.

This chick flick has a little touch of Somewhere in Time romantic magic, but with even more fantastical whimsy that requires a suspension of belief to enjoy and sometimes to understand.  The cinematography is visually stunning, but the film is a bit of a slushy mess, like a New York winter.  Still, there are some profound moments of truth in a film that tries very hard to inspire and dream.

Uplifting theme:   We are told at the beginning of the movie “What if the stars are not what we think?  What if the light from afar doesn’t come from the rays of distant suns, but from our wings as we turn into angels?  Destiny calls to each of us and there is a world behind the worlds where we are all connected, all part of a great and moving plan. Magic is everywhere around us.  You just have to look.  Look, look closely.  For even time and distance are not what they appear to be.”

One of the demons says to Lucifer “No matter how far we tip the scales our way, no matter how many of them we turn dark, nothing seems to break their capacity for hope.  They pass it back and forth like the flu at a pre-school fair.  We’re losing, Lucifer.”

Things I liked:

• I love movies about hope.  Hope is a powerful thing.
• I love movies with twists.
• Absolutely beautiful movie score by Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Things I didn’t like:

• The film is written, produced and directed by one person: Akiva Goldsman.  Perhaps a few more perspectives could have helped the movie flow better and clean up the plot holes and narrative problems.
• I felt like I was missing something by not having read the book first.
• The idea that we go through life with all of its hardships, pains and sorrows only to become a star in the end seemed unsatisfying when what you really want is for the star-crossed lovers to be reunited.

Inspiring lines:

•  “Is this why we love at all, to save?”  - Peter Lake
• “What if we are all unique and the universe loves us equally, so much so that it bends over backwards across the centuries for each and every one of us and sometimes we are just lucky enough to see it?”  - Beverly Penn
• “No life is more important than another and nothing has been without purpose.  Nothing. What if we are all part of a great pattern that we may some day understand?  And one day, when we have done what we, alone, are capable of doing, we get to rise up and reunite with those we have loved the most forever embraced?”  - Beverly Penn

Tips for parents:   Premarital relations, fight scenes, a few scary demon moments.