OSCAR SETBACK
Harassment scandals take centre stage
MARGOT Robbie may have missed out, but Australia got its Oscar moment yesterday with editor Lee Smith nabbing his very first statuette.
And Guillermo del Toro made sure to double check the envelope when Warren Beatty handed him the Best Picture gong — confirming his fantasy love story, The Shape of Water, had indeed been named Best Picture.
While first-time nominee Robbie was pipped by preevent favourite Frances McDormand for Best Actress, it was third time lucky for Lee Smith, who won Best Film Editing for his work on Christopher Nolan’s war epic and worldwide box office hit Dunkirk.
Smith had previously been nominated in 2004 for Peter Weir’s Master and Commander and again in 2009 for Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
The Sydneysider accepted the award from Matthew McConaughey and raved: “This is the most awesome thing that can happen to a guy like me.”
“Dunkirk was truly the most amazing film and I’m very fortunate to have worked on it,” said Smith.
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason was quick to congratulate Smith, whose win was the fourth for an Australian in the editing category in the past eight years.
“Lee’s international career is a credit to his talent and hard work, and continues an incredible track record for Australian editors at the Academy Awards,” he said.
While the 2018 Oscars turned out to be far less eventful after last year’s envelope mix-up, host Jimmy Kimmel did serve it up to disgraced Hollywood pariah Harvey Weinstein in his opening monologue.
Referring to Weinstein being expelled from the Academy, the comedian quipped: “There were a lot of great nominees, but Harvey deserved it most.”
Kimmel went on to label the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements as “positive change” and said if Hollywood successfully stopped sexual harassment in the workplace, the only other place women would have to deal with it was “all the time every other place they go”.
McDormand ran with the female empowerment theme in a forceful speech.
“If I fall over, pick me up, because I’ve got some things to say,” she began, before asking every female nominee in the house to stand up. “OK look around ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” she said, to much applause.
In his heartfelt speech, Best Actor winner, Darkest Hour star Gary Oldman, singled out his almost 99yearold mother, watching at home. “Put the kettle on, I’m bringing Oscar home.”
Nicole Kidman presented the Original Screenplay Oscar to popular winner Jordan Peele for his breakout hit Get Out, while Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress for her work alongside Robbie in I, Tonya.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’s Sam Rockwell dedicated his Supporting Actor win to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
No one film really dominated, with The Shape of Water winning four Oscars to Dunkirk’s three.