Dame Helen Mirren had a grand ol’ time at the Academy Awards last night (March 4), despite not being up for any awards.
First, she handed the Oscar for Best Actor to fellow countryman Gary Oldman, who told his 98-year-old mother Kathleen to “put the kettle on” in his acceptance speech. (Side note: That’s going to be one helluva cuppa when he gets home.)
Then she strutted her stuff on stage in the style of a game show hostess, modeling the jet ski that host Jimmy Kimmel announced would be the prize for whoever gave the shortest acceptance speech.
…hey girl hey!!!!? #Oscars pic.twitter.com/9VtTDPqvU7
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) March 5, 2018
Move over, Vanna White! Now, we wouldn’t like to cast aspersions, but it’s possible Dame Helen’s dazzling performance might have been down to an incident on the red carpet earlier that night:
Helen Mirren takes a shot of tequila on the #Oscars carpet https://t.co/2xFYHDkscT pic.twitter.com/zTH83fxLov
— Variety (@Variety) March 5, 2018
All hail Queen Helen Mirren who just did a tequila shot on the red carpet, that's our girl
#Oscars
— Louisa Connolly-Burnham (@louisacburnham) March 5, 2018
As for the awards, Cold War epic The Shape of Water was the biggest winner of the night, winning four of its 13 nominations, with director Guillermo del Toro making sure he checked the envelope when it was named Best Picture.
He had just received the award from Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who presided over last year’s hoo-ha when La La Land was mistakenly named Best Picture over the real winner Moonlight.
Guillermo Del Toro checking the envelope to make sure it's really the shape of water is the greatest thing i've seen omg #Oscars pic.twitter.com/VKqdj3rxcu
— laura ✨ (@daisyrdley) March 5, 2018
This time the announcement was correct, with del Toro’s Cold War fantasy epic beating films such as Dunkirk, Lady Bird, Get Out, Phantom Thread, Darkest Hour and BAFTA Best Film winner Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to win the night’s biggest prize.
Meanwhile Allison Janney (I, Tonya) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri stars Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand won the three remaining acting awards, in an exact mirror of the BAFTA Film Awards last month.
Christopher Nolan‘s war epic Dunkirk and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s dark romance Phantom Thread took a clutch of technical awards.
Director Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, with 89-year-old James Ivory becoming the oldest winner of an Oscar when he won Best Adapted Screenplay for coming-of-age drama Call Me by Your Name.
Oh, and as for the most tantalizing award of the night: Phantom Thread costume designer Mark Bridges won the jet ski, albeit minus the dame demonstrating it.
And the Jet Ski goes to… Mark Bridges, costume designer for Phantom Thread, whose speech lasted 36 seconds. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/ayVAx3nCjX
— The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) March 5, 2018
The Los Angeles Times has a full list of winners.
Did this year’s Academy Awards live up to your expectations?