By Travis Johnson
Guillermo del Toro’s monstrous – in the best possible way – love story, The Shape of Water, won Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards today, making it the first genre film to do so since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won in 2003. The Mexican fantasist also won Best Director. It was his first ever nomination in both categories, although his 2007 film, Pan’s Labyrinth, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film.
In the acting categories Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) won Best Actor and Actress, respectively, surprising precisely no one, while Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress for her turn as the spiteful matriarch in I, Tonya, and Sam Rockwell took home Best Supporting Actor for Three Billboards, which is sure to bug many.
Breaking a career-long drought with a career-best piece of work, esteemed Cinematographer Roger Deakins finally took home a statue for shooting Blade Runner 2049, while Australian editor Lee Smith won for his work on Dunkirk.
“A warm congratulations to Lee Smith for the well-deserved recognition of his editing work on Dunkirk. 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.” said Screen Australia CEO, Graeme Mason.
In the writing categories, Jordan Peele’s Get Out won Best Original Screenplay, while Call Me By Your Name‘s Luca Guadagnino, James Ivory, and Walter Fasano won Best Adapted Screenplay for their screen translation of André Aciman’s novel.
And in the remaining categories, the winners were:
Best Animated Feature Film – Coco
Best Costume Design – Phantom Thread
Best Documentary (Feature) – Icarus
Best Documentary (Short Subject) – Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Best Foreign Language Film – A Fantastic Woman
Best Makeup and Hair Styling – Phantom Thread
Best Music (Original Score) – The Shape of Water
Best Music (Original Song) – “Remember Me’ from Coco
Best Production Design – The Shape of Water
Best Short Film (Animated) – Dear Basketball
Best Short Film (Live Action) – The Silent Child
Best Sound Editing – Dunkirk
Best Sound Mixing – Dunkirk
Best Visual Effects – Blade Runner 2049
