‘Moonlight,’ not ‘La La Land,’ takes best picture — really
LOS ANGELES — “Mo o n - light” took home the Academy Award for best picture, a major surprise to anyone who turned off the telecast after “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as the top film.
Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway paused repeatedly before hesitantly reading out that the Oscar for best picture was awarded to “La La Land.” Moments later, the “La La Land” team began giving thank-you speeches, then dropped the bombshell that the picture didn’t actually win and that “Moonlight” took the prize, leading to several moments of confusion.
Beatty came back to the microphone and explained that the reason he paused repeatedly was that the envelope he opened said “Emma Stone, La La Land,” so he kept looking toward Dunaway trying to figure out what to do. “I wasn’t trying to be funny,” he said.
With that, the stunned producers of “Moonlight” took the stage — still filled with members of the “La La Land” team — to give their own thanks.
I t w a s a b i z a r r e a n d unprecedented conclusion to the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted 89th Academy Awards, which seesawed between jabs at Donald Trump and passionate arguments for inclusivity.
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle’s celebrated musical, was up for a record-tying 14 nominations, and it took a while to start cleaning up. But as the night went on, its haul began piling up, winning awards for cinematography, production, score and the song “City of Stars.” Chazelle also won the Oscar for best director, and Emma Stone won for best actress.
The show kicked off with J u s t i n Ti mberl a ke d a n c - ing down the Dolby Thea t r e a i s l e s , s i n g i n g h i s ebullient song “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the animated film “Trolls.” It was an early cue that the Oscars would steer, at least in part, toward festiveness rather than heavy-handedness. Protests, boycotts and rallies have swirled ahead of Sunday
Enjoy a recap of our favorite red-carpet looks from the Oscars,
night’s Oscars. But host Kimmel, in his opening monologue, quickly acknowledged that he “was not that guy” to heal a divided America.
Kimmel instead struck an irreverent but sarc astic tone, singling out Meryl S t re e p, whom Pre s i dent Donald Trump derided as “overrated” after her fiery Golden Globes speech last month. Listing some of her credits, Kimmel said Streep has “phoned it in for over 50 films.” He led a standing ovation for the “overrated” actress conclude before adding a pointed punchline: “Nice dress, by the way,” he said. “Is that an Ivanka?”
L ater, Kimmel t weeted direc tly to Trump on air, asking if he was “up” and that Meryl Streep “says hi.”
T h e s u p p o r t i n g a c t o r wins for Viola Davis, who co-starred in Denzel Wash- ington’s August Wilson adaptation “Fences,” and Mahershala Ali, the “Moonlight” co-star, were both widely e x p e c t e d . T h e i r awa rd s marked the first time in more than a decade that multiple Oscar acting honors went to black actors.
“I became an artist, and thank god I did, because we are the only profession to celebrate what it means to live a life,” said Davis, the best supporting actress winner. “So here’s to August Wilson, who exhumed and exalted the ordinary people.”
Ali won best supporting actor for “Moonlight.” He glowed on the stage as he informed the crowd that he and his wife, Amatus SamiKarim, welcomed a daughter four days earlier. The actor thanked his wife for “being such a soldier through the process.” “Moonlight” also won for best adapted screenplay.
Both stuck to more private reflections over politics. But a more blunt pro- test came from a winner not in attendance. Best foreign film for the second time went to Asghar Farhadi, director of Iran’s “A Salesman.” Farhadi had said he wouldn’t attend because of Trump’s travel band to seven predominantly Muslim nations. Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian astronaut, read a statement from Farhadi.
“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight,” it read. “My absence is out of respec t for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.”
The broadcast often veered between such strong personal statements and Kimmel’s efforts to keep things a little lighter with bits reminiscent of his late-night show. Shortly before he led a dazed, unsuspecting tour group into the theater, presenter Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor, declared: “As a migrant worker, as a Mexican, and as a human being, I am against any wall.” Rich Moore, one of the three directors of Disney’s best animated film winner “Zootopia,” described the movie as about “tolerance being more powerful than fear of the other.”
Mel Gibson’s World War II drama “Hacksaw Ridge” was, surprisingly, the evening’s first double winner, taking awards for editing and sound mixing. Gibson, for a decade a pariah in Hollywood, was seated front and center for the show and was a frequent presence throughout.
“Manchester by the Sea” won for best original screenplay, and later star Casey Affleck won best actor.
Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America” took best documentary, making it — at 467 minutes — the longest Oscar winner ever, beating out the 1969 Best Foreign Language Film winner “War and Peace” (431 minutes). Edelman’s documentary, while it received an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release, was seen by most on ESPN as a serial, prompting some to claim its place was at the Emmys, not the Oscars.
Edelman dedic ated the award to the victims of the famous crime, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.