Oscars 2018: Jordan Peele Makes History with Best Original Screenplay Win

Jordan Peele. Photo: CNN

“This is history in the making right here”, host Jimmy Kimmel opened the 90th annual Academy Awards with a monologue. Hollywood’s biggest and most glamorous night held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

There was indeed a couple of historical moments at the 90th Academy Awards and one of such moments was when comedian and filmmaker Jordan Peele collected the ‘Best Original Screenplay’ award for his film Get Out. The movie was nominated in four categories, however, its single win reportedly makes Jordan Peele the first African-American recipient of a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ Academy Award.

Meanwhile, Frances McDormand who won the ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri delivered a speech, which seemed to be in support of women in Hollywood, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. This saw the women stand up to applaud her after she said “If I may be so honoured to have all the female nominees stand with me. All the filmmakers, the producers, the writers, the composers”.

Furthermore, the New York Times has a detailed report on how Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani made an appeal on behalf of “Dreamers” before introducing the ‘Best Production Design’ award. The “Dreamers” are undocumented immigrants in the US, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which was reportedly ended by the Trump administration in September, 2017.

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Oscars 2018: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ Wins Best Picture

The Movie Database/Fox Searchlight

Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy drama The Shape of Water was a big winner at the 90th annual Academy Awards considering its four wins, including ‘Best Picture’.

The movie was nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category with Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Get Out, The Post, Phantom Thread, Lady Bird and Call Me by Your Name.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins (as Eliza Esposito), Doug Jones (as Amphibian Man), Michael Shannon (as Strickland), Octavia Spencer (as Zelda), Lauren Lee Smith (as Elaine Strickland), among others.

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Shawn Mendes, DaVido and Lil’ Kleine are the 2017 MTV EMAs’ Biggest Winners

MTVEMA.com/ghanadat.com/SpotifyCanadian singer Shawn Mendes, popular Nigerian artiste DaVido and Dutch rapper Lil’ Kleine were the biggest winners at the 24th annual MTV European Music Awards (EMAs), held recently at the SSE Arena in London.

Eminem, who picked up the ‘Best Hip-Hop’ award and the UK’s Stormzy, performed at the ceremony hosted by Rita Ora. There were also performances by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes.

Shawn Mendes was presented with not less than four prizes including awards in the ‘Best Artist’, ‘Best Canadian Act’ and ‘Biggest Fans’  categories. The teenager was also the winner of the ‘Best Song’ award for There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.

Pere crooner DaVido picked up the award for ‘Best African Act’, as well as, ‘Best Worldwide Act’  prize. Similarly, actor and rapper Lil’ Kleine (from the Netherlands) won the ‘Best Dutch Act’ and ‘Best Worldwide Act’ awards.

Other winners include America’s sweetheart Camila Cabello (‘Best Pop’), Coldplay (‘Best Rock’), Fifth Harmony (‘Best US Act’), Ed Sheeran (‘Best Live Act’), Anitta (‘Best Brazilian Act’) and Dua Lipa (‘Best New Act’).

Camila Cabello | via InstagramCompton rapper Kendrick Lamar won in the ‘Best Video’ category, while Zayn Malik picked up the ‘Best Look’ award. Taylor Swift had six nominations but did not leave with any award. However, the ‘Global Icon Award’ went to U2.

Evidently, DaVido could not contain his excitement in a series of social media posts. After he was presented with the ‘Best Worldwide Act’  award, he posted an image with the following caption in upper case letters “AHHH ANOTHER 1!!!! 2 EMA’S !!!! THIS SHIT EMOTIONAL !!! SAY HELLO TO MTV EMA’S 2017 BEST AFRICAN ACT AND BEST WORLDWIDE ACT”.

Davido | via InstagramThe official website of the MTV EMAs says the awards are “about the fans just as much as they are about their favorite artists.” adding that “Fans determine the night’s winners by voting for their favorite artists in the weeks leading up to the show”.

 

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Oscars 2017: Barry Jenkins’ ‘Moonlight’ wins Best Picture

GoldDerby/Instagram

GoldDerby/Instagram

It is celebrations galore for the cast and crew of Moonlight, considering that the Barry Jenkins-directed movie won in the ‘Best Picture’ category at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday night, February 26, 2017.

However, the announcement of Moonlight‘s win came after a mix-up, which saw presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway initially announce Damien Chazelle’s musical La La Land as the winner.

British Vogue reported that La La Land producer Fred Berger was in the process of delivering an acceptance speech on behalf of the La La Land team when producer Jordan Horowitz declared:

“No, there’s a mistake, Moonlight, you won Best Picture – this is not a joke.”

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Vogue.co.uk

After the Moonlight team took to the stage to claim the prize, Beatty immediately explained to a confused audience that he was handed the wrong envelope.

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Vogue.co.uk

Meanwhile, US Weekly reported that PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm in charge of the Oscars balloting and the delivery of winning envelopes, issued an official apology on Monday morning for the mix-up:

“We sincerely apologize to ‘Moonlight,’ ‘La La Land,’ Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.”

Other winners are Casey Affleck in the ‘Best Actor’ category for his role in Manchester by the Sea, Emma Stone in the ‘Best Actress’ category for La La Land.

Mahershala Ali and Viola Davis won in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ categories for their performances in Moonlight and Fences respectively.

viola-davis-win-bittersweet

Kevin Winter/Vanity Fair

It is pertinent to note that, Viola Davis, who came close to winning in the ‘Best Actress’ category in 2011 for The Help, reportedly had her lead performance in Fences submitted last fall in the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category toward the 89th Academy Awards, according to Vanity Fair.

Nonetheless, her Oscar win makes her the first black woman to win Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards for acting.

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Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney | via Instagram

La La Land director Damien Chazelle also picked up an Oscar in the ‘Best Director’ category, while Barry Jenkins picked up the ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ award for Moonlight, which he penned with original playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. Moonlight is Jenkins’ sophomore directorial effort after Medicine for Melancholy (2008) .

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News: Oscars 2017 Nominations: The Full List of Nominees

oscars-logo-gold-statue-620x360

The Oscars | via goldderby.com

The Academy Awards, no doubt, is the most anticipated event in Hollywood, considering the fact that the Oscars are regarded as the highest honours when it comes to film. The anticipation for the 89th Academy Awards has been heightened by the announcement of the Oscars 2017 nominations.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the nominations were announced on Tuesday by Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs who presented all the 24 categories. La La Land leads with a total of 14 nominations, rubbing shoulders with Oscars biggest winners in history like James Cameron’s Titanic and the All About Eve movie.

la-la-land-movie-2016

‘La La Land’ | via HollywoodNews.com

Below is the full list of nominees retrieved from THR’s website:

Best Picture

Arrival (Produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde)

Fences (Produced by Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black)

Hacksaw Ridge (Produced by Bill Mechanic and David Permut)

Hell or High Water (Produced by Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn)

Hidden Figures (Produced by Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams and Theodore Melfi)

La La Land (Produced by Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt)

Lion (Produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder)

Manchester by the Sea (Produced by Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and Kevin J. Walsh)

Moonlight (Produced by Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner)

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Actor

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Arrival (Eric Heisserer)

Fences (August Wilson)

Hidden Figures (Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi)

Lion (Luke Davies)

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney)

Best Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water (Taylor Sheridan)

La La Land (Damien Chazelle)

The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou)

Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)

20th Century Women (Mike Mills)

Best Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner)

Moana (John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer)

My Life as a Zucchini (Claude Barras and Max Karli)

The Red Turtle (Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki)

Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer)

Best Documentary Feature

Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo)

I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck)

Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman)

O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow)

13th (Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish)

Best Foreign-Language Film

Land of Mine (Denmark)

A Man Called Ove (Sweden)

The Salesman (Iran)

Tanna (Australia)

Toni Erdmann (Germany)

Best Cinematography

Arrival (Bradford Young)

La La Land (Linus Sandgren)

Lion (Greig Fraser)

Moonlight (James Laxton)

Silence (Rodrigo Prieto)

Best Film Editing

Arrival (Joe Walker)

Hacksaw Ridge (John Gilbert)

Hell or High Water (Jake Roberts)

La La Land (Tom Cross)

Moonlight (Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders)

Best Costume Design

Allied (Joanna Johnston)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Colleen Atwood)

Florence Foster Jenkins (Consolata Boyle)

Jackie (Madeline Fontaine)

La La Land (Mary Zophres)

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

A Man Called Ove (Eva von Bahr and Love Larson)

Star Trek Beyond (Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo)

Suicide Squad (Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson)

Best Original Score

Jackie (Mica Levi)

La La Land (Justin Hurwitz)

Lion (Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka)

Moonlight (Nicholas Britell)

Passengers (Thomas Newman)

Best Original Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” from La La Land (Music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)

“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” from Trolls (Music and lyrics by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster)

“City of Stars,” from La La Land (Music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)

“The Empty Chair,” from Jim: The James Foley Story (Music and lyrics by J. Ralph and Sting)

“How Far I’ll Go,” from Moana (Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Best Production Design

Arrival (Production design: Patrice Vermette; Set decoration: Paul Hotte)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Production design: Stuart Craig; Set decoration: Anna Pinnock)

Hail, Caesar! (Production design: Jess Gonchor; Set decoration: Nancy Haigh)

La La Land (Production design: David Wasco; Set decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco)

Passengers (Production design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set decoration: Gene Serdena)

Best Sound Editing

Arrival (Sylvain Bellemare)

Deepwater Horizon (Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli)

Hacksaw Ridge (Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright)

La La Land (Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan)

Sully (Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman)

Best Sound Mixing

Arrival (Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye)

Hacksaw Ridge (Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace)

La La Land (Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson)

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth)

Best Visual Effects

Deepwater Horizon (Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton)

Doctor Strange (Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould)

The Jungle Book (Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon)

Kubo and the Two Strings (Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould)

Best Animated Short

Blind Vaysha (Theodore Ushev)

Borrowed Time (Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj)

Pear Cider and Cigarettes (Robert Valley and Cara Speller)

Pearl (Patrick Osborne)

Piper (Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer)

Best Documentary Short

Extremis (Dan Krauss)

4.1 Miles (Daphne Matziaraki)

Joe’s Violin (Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen)

Watani: My Homeland (Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis)

The White Helmets (Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara)

Best Live-Action Short

Ennemis Interieurs (Selim Azzazi)

La Femme et le TGV (Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff)

Silent Nights (Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson)

Sing (Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy)

Timecode (Juanjo Gimenez)

According to THR, the 2017 Academy Awards, to be broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m. PT by ABC, will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The venue is the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.

 

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