Highs, lows and bows
Oscars special
DESPITE a strong presence on the red carpet, the Irish Oscar nominees left the 90th Academy Awards emptyhanded.
Three-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan missed out on the Best Actress award, which went to Frances McDormand.
Martin McDonagh’s ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ had been tipped to win the Best Screenplay award, but it went to Jordan Peele’s horror ‘Get Out’.
Daniel Day-Lewis was pipped to the post by Gary Oldman in the Best Actor category, while Consolata Boyle lost out to Mark Bridges for his costume design in ‘Phantom Thread’.
The Best Animated Feature went to
Pixar’s ‘Coco’ not Cartoon Saloon’s ‘The Breadwinner’.
Yesterday, Cartoon Saloon founder Paul Young said while they would have preferred a different outcome they still had a blast at the ceremony.
“Weare obviously disappointed,” he told the Irish Independent.
“But our expectations were of a win for ‘Coco’. There is such awareness and love for that film here and it’s very good.”
He added that ‘Coco’ was “a love letter to Mexico, which is important today”.
Director of the film Nora Twomey said she was delighted to “walk the red carpet representing the cast and crew who made the film”.
The animation company headed to Elton John’s ultraextravagant after-party for “a bit of a boogie”.
Ronan also let her hair down after the award ceremony and made a beeline for the ‘Vanity Fair’ Oscar Party in Beverley Hills, with ‘Lady Bird’ director Greta Gerwig.
Once inside, Ronan reportedly kicked off her high heels, and tucked in to one of the 1,700 In-N-Out burgers served through the night. Ronan’s Calvin Klein dress was made with a detachable train enabling a quick costume change. “So she can party her ass
off,” the actress’ stylist Elizabeth Salesman said.
As waiters filled up glasses, Ronan caught up with her ‘Lady Bird’ co-star Timothée Chalamet.
A host of others celebrities including Emma Watson, Mary J Blige, Jennifer Garner, Margot Robbie, Sarah Silverman, Emily Ratajkowski and Kate Upton also attended the event.
Clearly, everyone was eager to decompress at the end of a marathon awards season.
Earlier in the evening, Ronan had walked the red carpet with her mother Monica who said she was “so proud” of everything her daughter had achieved.
The ceremony opened with host Jimmy Kimmel joking that after a year of sexual misconduct allegations, the Oscar statuette was the “perfect man”.
“He keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word, and, most importantly, no penis at all. He is literally a statue of limitations,” he joked.
Many jokes were made about last year’s Best Picture envelope snafu.
Presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were given the chance for a redo.
“What happened last year is Waterhouse under the bridge,” Kimmel quipped.
Allison Janney won Best Supporting actress for her portrayal of Tonya Harding’s mother in ‘I, Tonya’.
At 89, James Ivory became the oldest Oscar-winner for his adapted screenplay for ‘Call Me By Your Name’.
Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic ‘Dunkirk’ picked up three technical awards.
However, the big winner on the night was Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy ‘The Shape of Water’, a romantic fable about a janitor who falls in love with a sea creature.
The film was awarded Best Director and Best Picture and del Toro encouraged the next generation of filmmakers.
McDormand delivered the speech of the evening when she asked all the female nominees to stand up. “Look around,” she said. “We all have stories to tell and projects we need financing.”