Mrs. Shullivan and I watched this year's Academy Awards as we do every year. We have been watching the awards since the 1950's and as such we have seen the AA shows when they were presented in black and white, through wars, and witnessed some of the best and some of the worst acceptance speeches, as well as some of the best hosts (Bob Hope, Hugh Jackman, and Billy Crystal) and some of the worst hosts (Jon Stewart, James Franco and Anne Hathaway).
The 2018 Academy Awards can best be described as playing it very, very safe. Jimmy Kimmel's monologues were tame at best and although he took some light jabs at the current United States President and the Vice-President, I believe the producers had heard enough about the far left wing opinions which has been hurting their past years box office figures, in other words, their personal incomes.
The most outspoken acceptance speech with merit and a standing ovation by her fellow women in theater was in my opinion a class act by this years Best Actress winner Frances McDormand. Ms. McDormand stood at the podium wearing a beautiful yet very conservative dress, wearing little to no makeup on her beautiful and sincere face to mask any deficiencies or highlight any reconstructed body parts. Unlike some of her extremely hypocritical fellow actresses/designers who annually show up with new faces (Jane Fonda, Donatella Versace and/or Renée Zellweger), or with less dress and more skin showing (this years abhorrent winners were Wendi McLendon-Covey, Taraji P. Henson and the near to full nude Albanian singer and actress, Bleona Qereti) Ms. McDormand emphasized that women were deserving to be treated with respect and be granted equal remuneration as the men, including rider clauses in their personal contracts (referring to the disparity between Mark Wahlberg's and Michelle Williams rider clauses for a required re-shoot with replacement actor Christopher Plummer).
The presenters and the winners were cautious in not placing an over emphasis on gun control, sexual misconduct, or partisan politics. That was in my opinion a wise move. Having said that, the entertainment value at this years awards show was lacking. from Kimmel's opening bland monologue, to the quickly shuffling film montagues that did not really provide any value,the saving grace was the awards themselves.
Yes, The Shape of Water was truly deserving of the four Academy Awards it received for Best Director, Best Picture, Production Design, and Original Score. The awards were strategically distributed across several films and countries but yet the viewing audience was apparently one of the smallest dating back to 1974. If Billy Crystal, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and/or Kevin Hart are reading this message is for you. Only you three could return the AA's to their previous lustre and entertainment value. Please consider hosting in 2019.
P.S. Please read my IMDB review of The Shape Of Water dated December 10th, 2017, where three (3) months prior I predicted that The Shape of Water would win for Best Picture. I hate to say "I Told You So"!
