Oscars live blog 2018

By Jacob Skubish

Welcome to Oscars night! Follow along here all night long as Peter Coutu and I give our thoughts and reactions to the winners, losers, speeches, and everything in between.

10:58 p.m.

Jake: Final Oscars predictions results:

Jake: 19/24

Peter: 17/24

Audrey: 8/24

10:50 p.m.

Peter: My final thoughts: I didn't totally get The Shape of Water, and I think Get Out, Lady Bird, Dunkirk and Three Billboards would've been better choices. It was an underwhelming night, to be honest. See ya next year. 

10:47  p.m.

Peter: Does anyone know what Del Toro's prescription is?

10:46 p.m.

Jake: So in the end, the film that wins is the one that matters least to our cultural conversation. The Shape of Water was fine, but it's a movie for the movie industry. Get Out, and Lady Bird: these were the movies for us. I take solace in the field of films we had this year, which were more inclusive and diverse than ever before.

10:46 p.m.

Jake: Blech. Eh. Meh.

10:42 p.m.

Peter: "Inclusion rider" is about to be the most googled phrase of all time. Or was it "inclusion writer?"

10:40 p.m. 

Peter: Jimmy still exists?

10:37 p.m.

Peter: That was easily the best speech of the night, and what I thought the whole ceremony would be like. 

10:30 p.m.

Peter: I went with heart over head with my best actress prediction, and it ultimately cost me the win tonight :( It should've been Robbie. 

10:29 p.m.

Peter: Oldman bringing the Oscar home for tea is an awesome closer to his speech. 

10:28 p.m.

Jake: After Oldman's win, here's where we stand with our Oscars predictions:

Jake: 18/22

Peter: 17/22

Audrey: 8/22

10:25 p.m.

Jake: Another favorite wins: Oldman for Best Actor. Would have loved to have seen a Chalamet win, and speech, in this category. Also: another Oscar winner mired with abuse allegations amidst all the #MeToo talk.

10:23 p.m.

Peter: I've seen Raging Bull pop up in montages a few times throughout the night, and it always reminds me that the movie was an all-time snub at the 1981 Academy Awards. 

10:21 p.m. 

Peter: That House of Cards trailer was awesome. 

10:20 p.m.

Peter: Some people probably won't be thrilled with that decision, but Del Toro was the huge favorite there. Gerwig (+800) and Peele (+3300) would've both been sizable upsets. 

10:15 p.m.

Jake: Del Toro wins Best Director as the odds-on favorite, giving a fine speech. Another predictable outcome, if well deserved.

10:13 p.m.

Peter: The Oscars taking a break during commercials to remind us that they'll be right back makes me so mad EVERY time it happens. 

10:03 p.m.

Peter: Remeeeemmmmmbeeeeeeer meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

10:02 p.m.

Peter: Every time I see Lin-Manuel Miranda, I think about how his acting in Curb Your Enthusiasm is the best thing he's ever done. 

10:00 p.m.

Peter: Just had a taco break but still kept commenting #BloggingAintEasy.

9:55 p.m.

Peter: After that performance, it's "Remember Me" or bust.

9:53 p.m.

Jake: Please do not let this shrieking ballad from the circus movie win best song!!!

9:49 p.m.

Peter: That military tribute was just as moving as the rest of the montages tonight, a problem as #MeToo should be taking center stage given the current movement we're in. 

9:41 p.m.

Jake: Where is Jimmy Kimmel? He hasn't been on the show in a really long time. More importantly, does that even matter?

9:33 p.m.

Jake: Update from our Oscars predictions:

Jake: 13/16

Peter: 11/16

Audrey: 6/16

9:29 p.m.

Jake: This montage about representation is fine, but again, it feels self-congratulatory.

9:18 p.m.

Peter: I am shocked Jake liked that movie theater bit. 

Also, I love it when people just talk straight through the music meant to play them off. 

9:12 p.m.

Jake: Documentary Short: the first category that Peter, Audrey and I all got wrong. Should've seen it coming: Hollywood loves an L.A. story.

9:11 p.m.

Jake: I enjoyed that bit in the movie theater, though. I'm a sucker.

9:08 p.m.

Peter: I surely wouldn't be cheering if Jimmy interrupted a movie I was watching. If I was a betting man (I am), I would guess that Jake would be annoyed too — the maddest I have ever seen him was when a baby kept crying during Annihilation. 

9:05 p.m.

Peter: This ceremony has paled in comparison to the Golden Globes so far, sadly. Also, as Jake and I are so close in our predictions, I am starting to really regret picking Margot Robbie for best actress. I liked her best, but she's unlikely to actually win the award. 

9:01 p.m.

Jake: Isn't this bit where we thank the moviegoers just a less interesting version of the bit where they brought 'normal' people into the ceremony itself? I agree with Peter: more than just mentions of representation on screen on the expulsion of Harvey Weinstein, the form of the ceremony should have changed. The audiences that love the movies are changing, and so are the technologies we use to consume the movies. This ceremony needs to change with us.

9:00 p.m.

Peter: At this point, this really just feels like any other Academy Awards. I was expecting something a bit different for the first Oscars after #MeToo. 

8:57 p.m.

Jake: Update from our Oscars predictions:

Jake: 11/13

Peter: 10/13

Audrey: 5/13

8:55 p.m.

Peter: (War for the Planet of the Apes should've won.)

8:50 p.m.

Peter: Coco winning was the easiest prediction in the 90-year history of the Academy Awards. 

8:41 p.m.

Jake: Dear Basketball was a deserving film, but I was very uncomfortable with Kobe's win. On a night focused on calling out sexual harassment in Hollywood, we are honoring a man charged with rape, a case that seems to have been roundly forgotten.

8:38 p.m.

Peter: Mark Hamill just yelling "KOBEEEEEE" for the award is an all-time Academy Award moment. 

8:33 p.m.

Peter: I am decidedly NOT done with the jet ski bit yet. 

8:32 p.m. 

Peter: Ending with "I did this all myself" would've won Allison the jet ski. 

8:31 p.m.

Jake: All favorites in the major categories so far; I missed on Metcalf there. As a fan of The West Wing though, that was pretty cool to see Janney up there.

8:25 p.m.

Jake: The Oscars isn't reckoning with representation on screen so much as it is showing clips of powerful women from old movies. There is no recognition of past mistakes; it's more of a celebration of the industry. Not as powerful as a true grappling with Hollywood's history would be.

8:20 p.m.

Jake: SO done with this jet ski bit. Now, during all the speeches, that will be hanging around in the back of my head. Takes away from these performers' accomplishments.

8:16 p.m.

Jake: If there is any justice at the Oscars, "Remember Me" will win Original Song. That song WRECKED me during Coco.  But I'm growing increasingly worried that "This is Me," the big show tune from The Greatest Showman, is going to be the winner.

8:16 p.m.

Peter: Thank god Miguel came out for "Remember Me."

8:13 p.m.

Peter: Who is going to win the jet ski? Definitely not these guys. 

8:11 p.m.

Jake: Update from our Oscars predictions thus far:

Jake: 6/7

Peter: 5/7

Audrey: 2/7

7:59 p.m.

Peter: For some guest analysis, here is Theda Berry's insight for Dunkirk winning this award: "That one had a lot of sounds in it."

7:56 p.m.

Peter: This old movie montage is wonderful, but I will never understand doing this type of looking-back celebrations when it doesn't fall on a major anniversary, like the 100th.   

7:54 p.m.

Jake: These montages celebrating the movies are way, way too long. How about not clocking people's speeches, and cutting this instead?

7:51 p.m.

Peter: Twitter with a killer ad that I had no idea was for Twitter until the very end. 

7:45 p.m.

Jake: Update from our Oscars predictions thus far:

Jake: 3/4

Peter: 2/4

Audrey: 1/4

7:39 p.m.

Peter: Say something funny, Jimmy. 

7:34 p.m.

Peter: I'm pretty sure betting favorites are batting 1000 right now. Also, no commercial is going to top the explosive counter one that ran before the ceremony started. 

7:30 p.m.

Peter: Armie Hammer cannot be his real name, right? It just can't be.

7:29 p.m.

Jake: Notice how prominently labeled these envelopes are! No mistakes tonight, hopefully.

7:26 p.m.

Jake: It's a small thing, but the movie is called 'The Darkest Hour,' not 'Darkest Hour.' It really doesn't matter, but no one is saying 'Shape of Water.' Anyway, shout out to Armie Hammer's killer suit.

7:20 p.m.

Peter: And just like that, I'm 0-1 with my predictions. Terrific. As a pretty big favorite (-800), Sam Rockwell takes home the Academy Award for best supporting actor. 

7:15 p.m.

Jake: Is it just me, or is the background behind Viola Davis really disorienting?

7:14 p.m.

Peter: Who knew jet skis were that expensive?

7:11 p.m.

Peter: I, Tonya told the full story of Tonya Harding, discussing how hard it was for her whole life to be turned into a punchline by late night talkshow hosts, which just happened as Jimmy introduced Margot Robbie. 

7:07 p.m.

Peter: The first reference to Donald Trump came at two minutes in to the ceremony. Whatever the over/under for that one was, the under was an easy bet. Also, I'm a big fan of that old-timey intro for the 90th Academy Awards. 

7:05 p.m.

Jake: Kimmel's opening monologue: less jokes, more about Hollywood's sexual harassment problem and representation on screen. Shaping up to be the narratives of the night.

7:03 p.m.

Jake: First joke about reading the wrong name for Best Picture last year. Kimmel is turning it into a bit. I think it's kind of shitty, because Moonlight had its historic moment overshadowed. But let's joke about it. Good.

7:02 p.m.

Jake: You are not. It looks awful.

6:59 p.m.

Peter: I can't be the only one with this thought, but A Wrinkle in Time looks AWFUL, right?

6:56 p.m.

Jake: Finally done with these Red Carpet interviews. Time for the real thing.

6:45 p.m.

Peter: I just signed up for a free account on YouTube's live TV service, and, as a gut reaction, I like it way more than Hulu Live. It's coming across smoother and feels easier to use. But wow are these interviews still boring and tough to get through. If you're looking for something else to follow right before the ceremony starts, I suggest following New York Times' culture reporter Cara Buckley's Twitter: https://twitter.com/caraNYT

6:37 p.m.

Jake: These red carpet interviews are painful. Kumail Nanjiani was just told his relationship would last longer if he won tonight. Michael Strahan is VERY awkward. Bright spot has been Timothee Chalamet, who is an angel and should get 90% of this red carpet screen time.