Share

Shape Of Water wins big at Oscars on activism-fuelled night

ABC’s telecast of the 90th Oscars was watched by 26.5 million viewers on Sunday, the smallest TV audience on record for the ceremony. “We need to set an example”, he said.

Advertisement

Not that any of this year’s winners were, in isolation, hair-tearers.

Elsewhere at the ceremony, Kimmel surprised cinemagoers at a nearby screening of A Wrinkle in Time by interrupting their viewing to bring snacks along with the likes of Armie Hammer, Margot Robbie, Ansel Elgort Lupita Nyong’o, Mark Hamill, and Guillermo del Toro. We’ve already seen Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney and most of the others on the circuit. The film came out more than a year before this year’s Oscar ceremony, which is an impressive feat.

Guillermo del Toro paid tribute to Mexico, to immigrants and to the borderless “world of filmmakers” as he accepted Oscars for best director and best picture Sunday night.

“But I thought the Mike Pence stuff, the Fox News stuff, but it all feels so political all the time and it feels very anti-Trump and anti-Republican”, she continued. But even the promise of that kind of drama didn’t seem to lure in additional viewers this year.

Allison Janney as expected clinching the Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘I, Tonya.’ This is her first Oscar and nomination. Richard Jenkins, who played the heroine’s next-door neighbor and gay best friend did not win, nor did his co-stars Octavia Spencer and Sally Hawkins.

The actress said she was grateful to “I, Tonya” screenwriter Steven Rogers.

“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 was because it was March of previous year”. “We all know Hollywood is predominantly filled with liberals but it would just be nice if we could take a beat on politics, we’re all so ensconced in it”. There is also a correlation between the box-office numbers for Best Picture front-runners and total audience viewership. “I’m not going to stop any bad behavior with my jokes”.

Early returns for the four hour telecast indicate that this may be the lowest-rated Oscars in modern history. Although this year’s drop-off for the Academy Awards looks to be particularly steep, and probably a bit depressing to ABC execs (and the movie industry), it’s hardly apocalyptic.

Advertisement

“I think that it’s nearly necessary now”.

Jimmy Kimmel