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The early hours of this morning saw the 90th Academy Awards take place on a night dominated by women and a love story involving fish.
Thankfully there was no mix-up drama like last year as the romantic fantasy The Shape of Water celebrated four Oscars wins which included the all-important Best Picture award ahead of the likes of Dunkirk, Get Out and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Rather fittingly, Hollywood legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the chance to present the main prize after that unfortunate incident involving La La Land and Moonlight….
Shape also scooped Best Director for Guillermo del Toro who became the third Mexican filmmaker to win the category in the past four years. The film also picked up Best Production Design and Best Original Score for composer Alexandre Desplat.
The next big winner was Christopher Nolan’s World War II blockbuster Dunkirk which claimed three gongs for Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing.
On a night full of predictable results, British star Gary Oldman was crowned Best Actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. The historical biopic also took home Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
Frances McDormand celebrated her second win in Best Actress for her powerful role as scorned woman Mildred Hayes in the comic-drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She delivered a strong speech which involved asking all the Oscar-nominated women in the room to stand up and be applauded as part of the #MeToo campaign.
McDormand’s co-star Sam Rockwell clinched Best Supporting Actor for playing diverse cop Jason Dixon while Allison Janney was named Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Tonya Harding’s abusive mother LaVona Golden in the sports biopic I, Tonya.
Elsewhere, Jordan Peele deservedly won Best Original Screenplay for his work on the horror hit Get Out whilst veteran James Ivory took home Best Adapted Screenplay for the romantic drama Call Me By Your Name.
As well as Darkest Hour, there were also double wins on the night for the sci-fi sequel Blade Runner 2049 and the Pixar animation Coco. The latter clinched Best Animated Film and Best Original Song (“Remember Me”) while the former picked up Best Visual Effects and an overdue Best Cinematography award for veteran Roger Deakins who finally won at the fourteenth attempt!
The period drama Phantom Thread clinched Best Costume Design while A Fantastic Woman (Chile) and Icarus were triumphant in Best Foreign Language Film and Best Documentary respectively.
One of the more unique wins on the night was for Rachel Shenton as the former Hollyoaks actress (Mitzeee Miniver) picked up Best Documentary Short for her work on The Silent Child. The Brit used sign language to thank the Academy for acknowledging the short which sees her play a friendly social worker who helps teach a young, deaf girl how to communicate.
Chat show host Jimmy Kimmel returned for a second stint and provided a memorable monologue that made references to the #MeToo campaign and the recent tragedy at Parkland School.
The full list of Oscar winners are:
BEST FILM
THE SHAPE OF WATER
BEST DIRECTOR
Guillermo del Toro, THE SHAPE OF WATER
BEST ACTOR
Gary Oldman, DARKEST HOUR
BEST ACTRESS
Frances McDormand, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sam Rockwell, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Allison Janney, I, TONYA
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT, Jordan Peele
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, James Ivory
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE SHAPE OF WATER, Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau & Jeff Melvin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049, Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
PHANTOM THREAD, Mark Bridges
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
DARKEST HOUR, David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick & Kazuhiro TsujiI
BEST EDITING
DUNKIRK, Lee Smith
BEST SOUND MIXING
DUNKIRK, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo & Mark Weingarten
BEST SOUND EDITING
DUNKIRK, Richard King & Alex Gibson
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049, John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert & Richard R. Hooverelson
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE SHAPE OF WATER, Alexandre Desplat
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
COCO, “Remember Me”
BEST ANIMATED FILM
COCO
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A FANTASTIC WOMAN (Chile)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
ICARUS, Bryan Fogel & Dan Cogan
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405
BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
DEAR BASKETBALL
BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
THE SILENT CHILD