My wife and I have a tradition: Every year, after the Oscars are over, we dance around the living room in grateful, weary celebration that yet another long awards season has finally come to an end.
Some seasons, of course, feel longer than others, and for reasons I’m still trying to make sense of, the one that concluded Sunday night felt close to interminable. We almost broke with tradition, barely managing a few beleaguered dance steps before collapsing and heading to bed.
I suspect we weren’t alone in our Oscar fatigue. If you’re feeling it acutely this week, it might have something to do with the sheer disjointedness of what has been both a season of celebration and a season of reckoning. That much was clear from Sunday’s telecast, with its whiplash-inducing pivots from the self-congratulation of Hollywood’s biggest party to the self-flagellation of Hollywood’s long-overdue grappling with decades’ worth of representational inequity and sexual misconduct.
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Guillermo del Toro celebrates the power of storytelling as he accepts the Oscar for directing “The Shape of Water.”.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Hamill walk among the crowd during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Actors Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty prepare to announce the best picture winner at the 90th Academy Awards.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren present the Oscar for lead actor.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Gary Oldman accepts his Oscar for lead actor in “Darkest Hour.”
(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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Keala Settle performs during the 90th Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Performers with Keala Settle wander into the audience during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Actress Nicole Kidman prepares to present the Oscar for original screenplay.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Guillermo del Toro delivers a speech after he won the directing Oscar for “The Shape of Water.”
(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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French composer Alexandre Desplat accepts his Oscar for original score for “The Shape of Water.”
(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Roger Deakins wins the Oscar for cinematography for “Blade Runner 2049” at the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lin-Manuel Miranda, left, and Emily Blunt present the award for best original song at the Oscars.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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Writer-director Jordan Peele is congratulated by “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya for winning the Oscar for original screenplay.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Eddie Vedder performs during the “In Memoriam” tribute at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Common and Andra Day perform a song from “Marshall” during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lee Smith wins the film editing Oscar for “Dunkirk,” with presenter Matthew McConaughey leading him offstage.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Nicole Kidman steps onto the stage to present the award for original screenplay at the Oscars.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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Actors Chadwick Boseman and Margot Robbie speak onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Sufjan Stevens sings during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Actor Matthew McConaughey speaks during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Filmmakers Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton accept the Academy Award for live action short film for “The Silent Child.”
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Comedian Dave Chappelle speaks onstage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Tiffany Haddish, left, and Maya Rudolph present the award for best documentary short subject at the Oscars.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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Gina Rodriguez presents John Nelson with the award for visual effects for “Blade Runner 2049” at the Oscars.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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Filmmaker Frank Stiefel accepts the Acaemy Award for short subject documentary for “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405.”
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Daniela Vega, star of foreign-language Oscar winner “A Fantastic Woman,” introduces a song performance during the 90th Academy Awards.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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NBA champ Kobe Bryant, left, and Glen Keane accept the Academy Award for animated short film for “Dear Basketball.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Director Sebastián Lelio accepts the Oscar for foreign-language film “A Fantastic Woman” from Chile.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Janney accepts the supporting actress Academy Award for “I, Tonya” during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Mark Rizzo, left, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten win the Academy Award for sound mixing for “Dunkirk.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Rita Moreno presents the award for best foreign language film at the Oscars.
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.”
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Natalia Lafourcade and Miguel perform on a colorful stage during the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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Greta Gerwig, left, and Laura Dern walk onstage to present the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Mary. J Blige performs “Mighty River” from “Mudbound” at the Oscars.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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Host Jimmy Kimmel delivers his opening monologue at the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 90th Academy Awards.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Director Steven Spielberg takes a photo with his phone during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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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.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Christopher Plummer looks for his seat before the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards.
Then again, you might simply be one of those incurable movie-awards addicts who were hoping — as we hope every year — that the motion picture academy would rise to the occasion and make better, bolder, more inspired choices than everyone was expecting.
It wasn’t meant to be. The show lumbered its way through a series of outcomes that had been preordained on the awards circuit for months, proving once and for all that the wrong choice doesn’t suddenly become the right one through repetition. As Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney stepped up to claim yet another round of statuettes, some of us staved off boredom by scanning the also-rans for their well-practiced “honor just to be nominated” reaction shots. (Hang in there, Willem Dafoe, and you too, Saoirse Ronan.)
That’s not to suggest, of course, that a win must be surprising in order to be deserved. In a night free of upsets, some of my own favorite outcomes were entirely expected, whether it was “Call Me by Your Name” earning its screenwriter, 89-year-old industry veteran James Ivory, his long-overdue first Oscar, or Mark Bridges winning costume design for his astute work on “Phantom Thread” (plus a jet ski for giving the night’s shortest speech).
Academy Award winning writer James Ivory with presenters Chadwick Boseman and Margot Robbie.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )
I doubt anyone was too shocked or disappointed when the legendary cinematographer Roger A. Deakins (“Blade Runner 2049”) finally struck gold on his 13th nomination. And while you could feel the joyous electricity in the room when Jordan Peele won original screenplay honors for “Get Out,” his victory landed less with a shock than with a sigh of relief: At least one of the year’s best, most important movies wouldn’t leave the night empty-handed. (That indignity fell to Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” the latest pitch-perfect, character-driven indie to prove itself too good for the Academy Awards.)
Had “Get Out” gone further and pulled off an upset victory in the best picture category, providing the juicy semi-surprise that some of us were anticipating, Monday’s post-mortem headlines would have been markedly different. But a come-from-behind victory for Peele’s film — or “Lady Bird,” “Dunkirk,” “Call Me by Your Name” or “Phantom Thread,” to cite a few excellent alternatives — was not in the cards.
Instead, the ceremony marked the agreeable coronation of Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” a visually ravishing, dramatically stolid fantasy whose best picture trophy will make a nicely gilded bookend to its first major prize of the season, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. (Some depressing perspective: That was nearly six months ago.)
Not unlike “Get Out,” “The Shape of Water” offered up its own eerie supernatural tale of minorities rising up against a brutal white oppressor — a 2018 movie in ’60s Cold War drag, its themes driven home via passages of exquisite if strenuous lyricism and a few sadistic jolts of violence. It may be an absurd thing to say about a movie whose human protagonist (the wonderful, still Oscar-less Sally Hawkins) winds up seducing a sea creature, but I wish that, beneath its luscious aquamarine surface, “The Shape of Water” were a more genuinely surprising movie — more spontaneous and less complacent in its homage to the virtues of collective unity and individual difference.
Then again, that may be why “Shape” felt like an appropriate victor at a ceremony that, on the occasion of Oscar’s 90th birthday, seemed devoted to keeping surprises of any kind to a minimum. That sense of a rigidly micromanaged event proved curiously off-putting on a night when the industry sought to redress past wrongs and build bridges toward a more inclusive, justice-oriented future — a process that, if you’re doing it right, can never feel safe or easy, can never be tamed into submission.
For the most part, the academy continued its long tradition of squeezing powerfully intimate, urgent moments into a tidily entertaining and relentlessly self-flattering package. There were exceptions that broke through, of course, including McDormand’s thrilling rally cry of a speech, one of the evening’s unmistakable highlights.
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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)
There was also the stirring onstage appearance of Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek Pinault, three of Harvey Weinstein’s most outspoken accusers, who saluted their fellow silence breakers, as well as those who had made important recent strides for diversity and representation in the industry. Hayek Pinault’s quavering acknowledgment of how vulnerable she and her fellow presenters were feeling — “so full of emotion, a little bit shaky” — supplied one of the telecast’s most poignant, relatably human moments.
Much more relatably human than, say, the jarringly pointless earlier segment in which host Jimmy Kimmel and a handful of A-listers headed for the multiplex next door, intent on ambushing unsuspecting moviegoers with the sheer force of their celebrity. If ever there were a bit that should have been kept to a jet-ski-worthy minimum, it was this one: “Surprises,” if that’s the word, don’t get much more manufactured, or more patronizing.
You could understand why, of course, the academy was keen to micromanage everything in light of last year’s “Moonlight”/“La La Land” gaffe, a for-the-ages screw-up that couldn’t help but hover over this year’s more straitjacketed proceedings. Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the show with a jokey, tension-defusing acknowledgment of last year’s never-to-be-repeated mistakes. Precautions had been taken to ensure the security, the integrity and, most importantly, the legibility of the envelopes. The producers went so far as to bring back last year’s ill-fated presenters, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, for do-over best picture duty, which they pulled off without a hitch.
Funny, really, how so many of the players from that debacle — Kimmel, Beatty, Dunaway — were dutifully trotted back onstage, except for the ones who deserved the do-over most of all: the filmmakers, cast and crew of “Moonlight,” whose moment of glory was so memorably compromised last year. Imagine if the academy, in a moment of clear-eyed humility, had given producers Adele Romanski, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner the opportunity to speak about a movie that remains the most eloquent imaginable plea for compassion, empathy and the humanity of the marginalized.
Imagine if the Oscars, rather than offering up another canned montage of Hollywood classics, had seen fit to properly celebrate their most extraordinary best picture winner in recent memory, reminding us that the academy’s legacy extends well beyond this year’s crop of movies and their ability (or lack thereof) to move the ratings needle.
The moment for that has now passed, but it would have made for a lovely surprise on a night starved for them. And perhaps something more: an honest acknowledgment that, in matters big and small, the industry is ready to stop patting itself off on the back and start making amends.
Justin Chang was a film critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2016 to 2024. He is the author of the book “FilmCraft: Editing” and serves as chair of the National Society of Film Critics and secretary of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
