The 90th Oscars recap through tweets …

If you thought this year’s Oscars were going to do something crazy or exciting, you haven’t been paying attention. Between the envelope-gate incident of 2017 and the fact that this was a “multiple of ten” anniversary, the 90th Annual Academy Awards was going to do everything it could to right the ship and ensure nothing overshadowed the winners’ list. And for the most part they succeeded—often at the detriment of the show itself. But that’s their fault for alway trying to make it more than what it is: an awards show. Hoping for more inevitably conjures missed expectations.

Jimmy Kimmel was back and unfortunately doubled-down on what was a very good performance last year to deliver much of the same. The jokes landed as though they had been pointed at one time before the producers dulled some of the edges. Rather than bring unsuspecting tourists to them, he brought celebrities to an unsuspecting theater-going audience in what was a misguided stunt if you take a step back and look at it objectively (I truly hope Ava DuVernay was in on it because Kimmel hijacked a screening of her new movie A Wrinkle in Time by interrupting it mid-scene with Oprah visibly still onscreen). And he had Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty back to let them do what they tried to do last year (present Best Picture) before the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants dropped the ball (it’s no coincidence that ABC had a camera on the Best Picture envelope before the final commercial break).

If anything, Kimmel’s shtick—”Price is Right” shenanigans included—showed us just how tone-deaf things can be despite having one’s heart in the correct place. He said everything right and made us laugh, but there simply wasn’t any electricity when compared with the unforgettable presenting pairs of Lupita Nyong’o/Kumail Nanjiani and Tiffany Haddish/Maya Rudolph. Here are POC who can share the same sentiments everyone else wanted to without that little voice in the back of their head saying, “Don’t go too far.” They can go too far because they’re living it. And that goes double for the women. If you’re going to highlight #TimesUp and #MeToo, let the marginalized groups those movements target hold the microphone. Set an example by giving them the voice rather than just a voice.

Outside the politics, humor, and all-around crystal-studded affair, however, the winners proved obvious too despite the nominee pool being so diverse and up-in-the-air. We anticipated surprises because many races appeared so close. And maybe they were. Maybe some victors found gold with a margin of one vote—we’ll never know. All we’re left remembering is how the potential for inspired choices was squandered so that many pundits found themselves with almost perfect ballots. (We all knew The Silent Child‘s unapologetically blatant PSA could win because it had already gotten this far. We just hoped it wouldn’t.)

Things got shaky in regards to Jordan Peele’s Get Out‘s much-deserved Screenplay Oscar considering reports of older Academy members refusing to watch it, but we thankfully were able to breathe a sigh of relief in the end. And when The Shape of Water took the big prize despite a rising tide of Three Billboards love amongst the guilds (and an even higher tide of derision on behalf of critics who seemed to love hating it), we shrugged our shoulders—happy for Guillermo del Toro and genre work in general while also disappointed the statue went to the film that represented a happy medium of old and new. This fishman seemed perfectly-catered to make the aging voters appear hip while letting the newcomers stay just on the right side of not rocking the boat too much.

In the end the nominee class is one that will not be forgotten anytime soon. Needing to have distinct winners amongst them was simply a byproduct of the system. After all, the producers did eventually stop putting their names on the screen when they won.

And now the tweets:

 

Artistic Goodness

Pre-Show Red Carpet

Opening Monologue

Best Supporting Actor

Get Out Gag

Best Hair/Make-Up & Best Costume

Best Documentary

“Mighty River” & Supercut

Best Sound Editing & Best Sound Design

Walmart’s “The Box” Commercial #1

Best Production Design

“Remember Me” & “Price is Right” #2

Best Foreign Film

Best Supporting Actress

Best Animated Short

Best Animated Film

“Mystery of Love”

Best Visual Effects

Best Editing

Movie Theater Bit

Best Documentary Short & Best Live Action Short

“Stand Up For Something” & Supercut

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography

“This Is Me”

Best Score

Best Song

In Memorium

Best Director

Best Lead Actor

Best Lead Actress

Best Picture

Aftermath

 

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