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MANILA, Philippines – The Oscars wrapped up on Sunday, March 4 (Monday, March 5, Manila time) with The Shape of Water winning Best Picture and Guillermo del Toro winning Best Director. (FULL LIST: Oscars 2018 winners)
Of course, the ceremony was not without some memorable moments.
1. Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue
Jimmy Kimmel returned for the second time as host, addressing, as only Jimmy Kimmel can, the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and last year’s “Envelopegate,” where La La Land was announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight.
2. Screen legends Eva Marie Saint, Rita Moreno, and Christopher Walken
As the Academy celebrates its 90th year, some of its past winners, such as stars Eva Marie Saint, Rita Moreno, and Christopher Walken returned as presenters. Moreno, who won her Best Supporting Actress award in 1962 for West Side Story got every Pinoy talking when she appeared in an updated version of the same dress she wore 56 years ago, created by the late Filipino designer Pitoy Moreno.
3. The cast of Star Wars and BB-8’s appearance
The cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, led by Mark Hamill, presented two awards. BB-8, the lovable droid, was also there and got everyone gushing.
4. Kobe Bryant gets an Oscar
NBA superstar Kobe Bryant added an Oscar to his achievements, winning for the animated short film Dear Basketball.
5. Jimmy and a group of stars surprise moviegoers at TCL Chinese Theatre
Jimmy and a number of celebrities, led by The Shape of Water director Guillermo del Toro, Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, Star Wars‘ Mark Hamill, and Black Panther‘s Lupita Nyong’o, surprised moviegoers at the TCL Chinese Theatre with some food to thank them for watching and supporting films.
6. Social responsibility
The awards show also highlighted socially relevant issues. Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani gave their support to the Dreamers, having come from foreign countries themselves. The Dreamers are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era program that protects undocumented children from deportation. Under the Trump administration, the fate of the Dreamers remains uncertain.
Rapper Common also talked about the Dreamers during his performance of “Stand Up for Something.”
Guillermo del Toro also commented on the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policy in his acceptance speech for Best Director.
“The greatest thing that our industry does is erase the line in the sand,” declared Del Toro. “We should continue doing that when the world tells us to make it deeper.”
The show also paid tribute to the military, with actor Wes Studi introducing the video.
7. Spotlight on Time’s Up, #MeToo, and a different Oscars format
In the wake of the downfall of Hollywood heavyweights such as Harvey Weinstein – who was accused of sexual harassment – the women of Hollywood led by Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciora, Salma Hayek, and Mira Sorvino took their Time’s Up initiative to the Oscars, vowing to make sure that changes would be implemented.
The Oscars also tried a different way of presenting awards this year. Instead of using last year’s winners as presenters for the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda presented the Best Actor award, while Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence were given the task of being the presenters for Best Actress.
Emma Stone, who won Best Actress last year for La La Land, was given the honor of presenting the Best Director award won by Guillermo del Toro.
8. Eddie Vedder’s In Memoriam tribute
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder took to the Oscars stage to honor some of Hollywood’s luminaries who died in the past year, with his rendition of “Room at the Top.”
9. Frances McDormand’s powerful speech
Frances McDormand scored her second Oscar for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. In her acceptance speech, she asked all female nominees in the auditorium to stand up.
“We all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” she said, pointing to the women in the audience who were standing.
“Don’t talk to us about it at the parties. Invite us into your office in a couple days or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best, and we’ll tell you all about them.”
10. A second chance for Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway
Last year, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the award for Best Picture and found themselves in the middle of envelopegate. This year, the two returned to present the same award and got it right, with The Shape of Water winning Best Picture. Of course, there were some jabs inserted in their spiel about last year’s mistake.
What was your favorite Oscars moment this year? Let us know in the comments section! – with reports from Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com
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