Livewire – 90th Academy Awards: Time’s Up, Gun Control, and A Wide-Open Best Picture Race

The 90th Academy Awards kick off Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern live from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Jimmy Kimmel returns for the second straight year to host, and all eyes will be on him and the Oscars producers to see how the broadcast tackles perhaps the biggest scandal in Hollywood history, the continuing slew of allegations of sexual misconduct against dozens of the industry’s most prominent men, and the subsequent #MeToo movement.

This year’s Best Picture race is the most wide-open it’s been in years, with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a nominal favorite to win along with strong contenders The Shape of Water, Get Out, and Dunkirk. The acting races are less close, with Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney, and Sam Rockwell expected to win in their respective categories. Greta Gerwig will attempt to become the second woman to win the Best Director prize for her critically-adored hit Lady Bird, but Shape of Water helmer Guillermo del Toro is the favorite in the category.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Oscars without blatant, over-the-top political statements, and this year will be no exception as stars are expected to take to the red carpet wearing orange lapel pins to advocate for gun control measures following last month’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Celebrities will also likely reach again for their Time’s Up pins, which made their debut at the Golden Globes in January, to stand with victims of sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty will return to present Best Picture again this year, following last year’s epic mix-up which saw the pair announce La La Land as the winner over the real winner, Moonlight. Oscars producers are apparently hoping enough people stick around until the end to see if they can redeem themselves.

Follow along with Breitbart News’s Big Hollywood team right here for all the winners, live updates, commentary, and analysis from the show, and of course, all the latest in red-carpet fashion from Breitbart’s own John Binder.

All times Eastern. Latest updates at the top.

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10:00 p.m. – Kimmel: “Tonight we thank the moviegoing public. I don’t want us to just clap, I want to really thank them. So the people you see across the screen right now, they’re across the street at the TCL Theater.”

Kimmel enlists some actors to go over and surprise the audience at the movie theater next door, who are there seeing a preview of A Wrinkle in Time.

Nussbaum: This seems desperate. Why does the Oscars perpetually treat average people like they’re some strange, alien creatures?

9:56 p.m. – Matthew McConaughey presents the Oscar for Best Film Editing.

Winner: Lee Smith, Dunkirk

9:53 p.m. – Tom Holland and Gina Rodriguez present the award for Best Visual Effects.

Winner: Blade Runner 2049

9:44 p.m. – Sufjan Stevens performs “Mystery of Love” from Call Me By Your Name.

9:41 p.m. – Kobe winning an Oscar during the #MeToo movement is already setting off the Twitter reactions:

Kobe Bryant, accused rapist, just won an Oscar https://t.co/vsMklzUyaQ

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 5, 2018

So Harvey Weinstein gets kicked out of Hollywood and Kobe Bryant gets two jerseys retired and wins an Oscar in the same #metoo year. Simply amazing.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 5, 2018

9:40 p.m. – The Star Wars trio presents the award for Best Animated Feature:

Winner: Coco

Director Lee Unkrich: “And the biggest ‘Thank you’ of all, to the people of Mexico. ‘Coco’ would not exist without your endlessly beautiful culture and traditions. With ‘Coco,’ we tried to take a step forward toward a world where all children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look and talk and live like they do. Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters.”

“With ‘Coco,’ we tried to take a step forward toward a world where all children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look and talk and live like they do. Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters.” https://t.co/KGJMUsJlgf #Oscars pic.twitter.com/bx0qO2MadH

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 5, 2018

Eugenio Derbez describes ‘Coco’ as a film that pulls a “Mexican boy from the land of the living across the border to the land of the dead… in the afterworld there are no walls.” #Oscars2018 (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/SevrpEHpxO

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 5, 2018

9:36 p.m. – Kimmel brings on Kelly-Marie Tran, Oscar Isaac, and Mark Hamill from Star Wars to present the award for Best Animated Short Film.

Winner: Kobe Bryant, Dear Basketball

Kobe calls out Laura Ingraham over her “Shut up and dribble” line.

9:30 p.m. – Janney: “I did it all by myself.”

If she left it there, it’d be the best Oscars speech of all time. But of course, she didn’t.

9:26 p.m. – Mahershala Ali presents the award for Best Supporting Actress.

Winner: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

No surprises here.

9:24 p.m. – Rita Moreno, former Oscar winner for West Side Story, arrives onstage to present the award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Winner: A Fantastic Woman, Chile

9:20 p.m. – Kimmel jokes again that winners of the night’s shortest speech will win a two-day trip to a Days Inn in Burbank. He’s kidding, but the viewers surely aren’t laughing at this one.

9:12 p.m. – Eugenio Derbez introduces Gael Garcia Bernal to perform the song “Remember Me” from the film Coco.

9:08 p.m. – Kumail Nanjiani and Lupita Nyong’o arrive to present the award for Best Production Design.

Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani delivered a message to ‘all the dreamers out there:’ ‘We stand with you’ #Oscars pic.twitter.com/rBCeRZlX5j

— UPROXX (@UPROXX) March 5, 2018

Nanjiani: “To all the Dreamers out there, we stand with you.”

Winner: The Shape of Water

9:06 p.m.:

Winners so far: white dudes white dudes white dudes white dudes a silent lady white dudes white dudes white dudes white dudes

— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) March 5, 2018

9:00 p.m. – Gonzalez and Elgort stay out to present for Best Sound Mixing.

Winner: Greg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, and Mark Weingarten, Dunkirk

8:58 p.m. – Eiza Gonzalez and Ansel Elgort present the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

Winner: Richard King and Alex Gibson, Dunkirk

8:56 p.m. –While the show indulges itself with another montage (after Kimmel repeatedly reminded viewers how overly long these shows are earlier), check out Nolte on Why America Didn’t See This Year’s Oscar Nominees.

8:55 p.m. – And here’s Matt Drudge:

Trump jokes last night at Gridiron much funnier than Kimmel’s Oscar monologue. Producers have laugh track and applause track amped up, while camera shots of audience don’t match any intensity. #oscarhasnopenis

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 5, 2018

8:51 p.m. – Clay Travis weighs in with a sentiment likely shared by millions of Oscar viewers right now:

That’s the most boring and least funny Oscar’s opening of all time. And the most political. These ratings are going to be a disaster.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 5, 2018

8:44 p.m. – Taraji P. Henson introduces a musical performance by Mary J. Blige, performing “Mighty River” from the movie Mudbound.

8:40 p.m. – Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig arrive on stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Winner: Brian Fogel and Dan Cogan, Icarus

8:37 p.m. – Kimmel keeps the Trump hits coming: “If the last two years have taught us anything it’s that reality can be depressing. But there’s always hope. Except at the White House, Hope quit on Wednesday.”

8:28 p.m. – Eva Marie Saint, Best Actress winner from On the Waterfront, presents the award for Best Costume Design.

“I just realized something. I’m older than the Academy. I’m very proud of that. Just keep moving.”

Winner: Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread

8:25 p.m. – Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer appear to present the award for Best Hair/Makeup.

Winner: Darkest Hour

No-brainer here. Gary Oldman WAS Winston Churchill in that fat suit.

8:23 p.m. – Nolte:

Wow. A Mel Gibson joke.

Jimmy Kimmel cutting the edge like it’s 2009!!

— Join the NRA Today!!!! (@NolteNC) March 5, 2018

8:20 p.m. – Rockwell thanks the “formidable Frances McDormand,” Woody Harrelson, the cast and crew, and “anyone who’s ever looked at a billboard.”

Also shouts out the late Philip Seymour Hoffman: “This is for my old buddy Phil Hoffman.”

8:18 p.m. – Viola Davis presents the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Winner: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

8:14 p.m. – Kimmel jokes that the show is too long and whoever delivers the shortest acceptance speech wins a jetski, which appears Price Is Right-style with Helen Mirren serving as the model.

“In a tie, the jetski will go to Christopher Plummer.”

8:12 p.m. – Kimmel Monologue:

A few bits:

“This year, when you hear your name called, don’t ge tup right away. Give us a minute. We don’t want another thing.”

“Oscar is 90 years old tonight, which means he’s probably at home right now watching Fox News.

“Oscar is the most beloved, respected man in Hollywood. Keeps his hands where you can see them. Never says a rude word, and most importantly, no penis at all. He’s literally a statute of limitations. And that’s the kind of men we need more of in this town.”

“Here’s how clueless Hollywood is: we made a movie called What Women Want, and it stars Mel Gibson.”

“What’s happening is long overdue. We can’t let bad behavior slide anymore. We need to set an example… if we can do that, women will only have to deal with sexual harassment every other place they go.

“The success of Black Panther is one of many positive success stories this year, for. black people and for Bob Iger.”

“If you’re a nominee tonight who isn’t making history, shame on you.”

“None other than President Trump called Get Out the best first three-quarters of a movie he’s seen this year.”

“Timothee is missing Paw Patrol to be here tonight.”

“We don’t make films like Call Me By Your Name to make money. We make them to upset Mike Pence.”

“Thanks to Guillermo, we’ll always remember this year as the year men screwed up so badly, women started dating fish.”

Kimmel also suggested celebrities could use their platforms to encourage others to join gun control marches inspired by the survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting.

8:02 p.m. – Two minutes. It only took two minutes for the jabs against the president to start, and Kimmel’s not even on stage yet.

8:00 p.m. – Showtime.

7:54 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Now that the red carpet’s winding down, it’s tough to beat Nicole Kidman as the fashion queen of the night. She’s wearing a royal blue gown with a structured sweetheart bodice and a giant bow around her waist. Truly, only a look that Nicole could pull off at the Oscars.

7:50 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Emma Stone is simple, classic, and demure in this luxurious Louis Vuitton satin pantsuit. Take notes JLaw, this is what class looks like!

7:45 p.m. – Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig says if you ask any daughter about their relationship with her mother, you’d get a long, complicated answer, and we should be making movies about subjects with long, complicated answers.

7:43 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Lady Bird actress Saiorse Ronan is pretty in pale pink in this monochromatic gown and heels combo that’s giving me Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy vibes.

7:35 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Jennifer Lawrence does her best Jennifer Aniston impersonation in this basic Christian Dior A-line dress with spaghetti straps. Her makeup looks way too heavy. Can barely see her eyes.

Ladies and Gentlemen: JENNIFER SHRADER LAWRENCE 😂💖 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/qducAXQADq

— Elli (@imcrazyforjen) March 5, 2018

7:33 p.m. – Timothee Chalamet is on the red carpet. At 22, he’d be the youngest ever Best Actor winner if he could pull it off tonight for his role in Call Me By Your Name.

But he won’t win. Gary Oldman’s got it locked up.

7:25 p.m. – Guillermo del Toro talks about lessons he hopes audiences get from The Shape of Water: “Empathy for the other.”

7:22 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – I, Tonya actress Margot Robbie channels her inner ice queen wearing a custom-made Chanel dress by Karl Lagerfeld. Perfection!

7:16 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update: Actress Viola Davis brings a pop of color to the Oscars red carpet in a simple hot pink gown with a matching pink clutch.

7:14 p.m. – Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, two of the women central to Hollywood’s #MeToo movement, speak about the Time’s Up initiative on the red carpet.

“I want people to know this movement isn’t stopping,” Sorvino said. “We want to take our activism and our power into action and change things for every woman everywhere working in any workplace.

7:12 p.m. – Taraji P. Henson on the challenge of working on the action film Proud Mary: “Fear doesn’t exist in my universe. I wouldn’t get anything done if I was afraid.”

7:05 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Actress Laura Dern glows in white at the Oscars red carpet in this Calvin Klein asymmetrical gown.

6:53 p.m. – Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman hits the red carpet, and talks about a conversation he had with Denzel Washington after the success of his film.

“It was a fun conversation, the first thing he said was, ‘You owe me money. I came to collect.’”

6: 51 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Baby Driver actress Eiza Gonzalez rocks a sporty yellow halter-dress at the Oscars, a much needed break from the overly-elegant gowns of fellow actresses.

6:48 p.m. – Richard Jenkins on his advice to aspiring actors: “If you’re meant to do this, you will find a way. and I know it seems like everybody’s an actor, but there’s room for everybody.”

6:45 p.m. – Salma Hayek interviewed on the red carpet about whether she speaks with her young daughter about women’s issues in Hollywood: “She calls herself a feminist already, even before all this. She identifies with it, she’s very proud of it. I feel relived that I know the new generations will have it easier.”

6:43 p.m. – Binder Fashion Update – Best Supporting Actress nominee Allison Janney (I, Tonya) arrives on the Oscars red carpet in a beautiful, sleek red gown by Reem Acra, the best she’s looked all awards season.

6:35 p.m. – Early arrivals on the Oscars red carpet include Get Out director Jordan Peele and actress Allison Williams, Three Billboards star Sam Rockwell, and The Shape of Water‘s Richard Jenkins, who’s among many wearing the Time’s Up lapel pin tonight.

Red Carpet – 6:30 p.m. – E! is trying to avoid any potential embarrassment with its Ryan Seacrest situation by setting up a 30-second time delay on its red carpet coverage. Seacrest is hosting the pre-show festivities just one week after he was accused of repeated sexual misconduct by one of his former stylists, and publicists have reportedly been instructing their clients to avoid him on the red carpet, if at all possible.

E! suffered a black eye at the Grammys when Debra Messing asked one of their correspondents on-air during the pre-show why the network doesn’t believe in equal pay, referring to the well-publicized departure of longtime E! personality Catt Sadler over the pay disparity between her and a male colleague.

Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

Follow John Binder on Twitter: @JxhnBinder