Hi, I'm Paula Sanderson

Oscars 90 aka Oscars 2018 – were fine.  Nothing massive, but not a total snooze fest. Just a good event that went smoothly – which is really all the producers ever want. Here are some of the moments that stood out for me:

Red Carpet

Timothee Chalamet on the Red Carpet

So this was by far my favourite Red Carpet moment of the year. This is just such a magical moment for so many reasons. Bringing your mom, magic. Acknowledging and thanking the teacher that first saw your potential, magic. Giving a shoutout to public arts funding and your high school, magic! Just enjoy this little moment for what it is.

Taraji vs Ryan

Another little moment from the carpet everyone is talking about. So much shade, so much sass…

Best Dressed:

My favourite look of the night was Gina Rodriguez. But that’s just cause I love her so much.

Jimmy:

Opening Monologue

It was good. Not great, nothing to write home about, but it was good. Solid effort. Nothing bad about it. Almost felt small, it had a very low-key vibe. It wasn’t this big song and dance, very much just a guy standing and talking. Which isn’t a bad thing, but for the 90th year… maybe a song and dance would have been fun. However – the jabs in this made me laugh but I won’t remember them like I remember some of the jokes that Tina and Amy have made at the Globes…

Oscars Field Trip

This was the ‘Oscars’ Moment. Like the Ellen Selfie. Like Chris Rock’s kid selling Girl Scouts cookies. Like last years starline bus walking into the Oscars… The field trip was a great little moment.  But the real star of this whole moment was the Hot Dog Cannon. If nothing else… Armie Hammer and Ansel Elgort should win an Emmy for this moment of television history.

Speeches:

La La Land Redo

I think they should have said La La Land. That would have been funny. However, presenting best picture went much more smoothly for Warren and Faye this year. The Shape of Water won – which is great because it’s a made in Toronto movie and people who I know and care about were on the crew.  As much as I loved Dunkirk and would love to have seen Cillian and Harry on stage… this was a wonderful win.

The Jetski.

This needs to be a thing that people actually care about. Like I want to go to bed at a reasonable time. Let’s pick up the pace a bit here. Yes, you have a platform for change… and yes, you probably already have million so you don’t really need anyone to give you a JetSki… But for all us who have work on Monday morning – I really love Mark Bridges in this moment. Kept it quick and simple and won more than just an Oscar. Congrats on being my favourite person.

Frances McDormand’s inclusion rider.

Ok. So you didn’t go for the Jet Ski – you’re one of two I’ll let off the hook for this one. Your speech was weird and wonderful – but most importantly you made people look up ‘Inclusion Rider’. When all the female nominees all stood up – and then she said that they all need financing, and set up meetings after the parties. Just spectacular. This is what women supporting women looks like. If I had the money – I’d finance your project after this speech.

The Silent Child

Short films are arguably the most important category at the Oscars. If you win anything else, you’re probably already established and have a career. Winning the Shorts category (in Doc, Animation or Life Action) is your ticket in. This is the moment where a career is made. In this case, Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton are going to be household names within the next five years. I will put big money on them. Rachel is articulate, thoughtful and bonus – gorgeous. I got an email today from WIFT UK congratulating her on all her hard work getting here and I couldn’t agree more. She will be one to watch. Meanwhile, her fiance Chris is the supportive partner every man should try to be, which made him all that much more likeable. These two left the biggest impact on me throughout the night.

Snubs:

This is Me

I’m SO sad that this didn’t win the Oscar for best song. This performance was the best of the night, and everyone was captured by the power of the moment. I really wanted this to win. I love a Pixar Movie as much as the next person, but come on. A Hugh Jackman passion project with Zac Efron deserves some love…

Dunkirk + Chris Nolan

Actually, they did ok. But really we all got snubbed because the cast that includes Harry Styles and Cillian Murphy didn’t appear. So, whatever. Here are some photos of them to make up for their absence.