2017 Academy Award Winners

BEST PICTURE - The Shape of Water
BEST DIRECTOR - Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
BEST ACTOR - Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
BEST ACTRESS - Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Allison Janney, I Tonya
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Jordan Peele, Get Out
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
BEST ANIMATED FILM - Coco
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - A Fantastic Woman
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM - Icarus
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Blade Runner 2049
BEST FILM EDITING - Dunkirk
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - Blade Runner 2049
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - The Shape of Water
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - Phantom Thread
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING - Darkest Hour
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - "Remember Me", Coco
BEST SOUND EDITING - Dunkirk
BEST SOUND MIXING - Dunkirk
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT - Heaven Is A Traffic Jam on the 405
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT - The Silent Child
BEST ANIMATED SHORT - Dear Basketball

The Shape of Water - Movie Review

Starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Doug Jones, Nick Searcy and David Hewlett.
Written by Guillermo Del Toro & Vanessa Taylor.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

★★★

This 1950's period fairy tale is of course what Guillermo Del Toro would come up with. What if the Creature from the Black Lagoon fell in love, and that love was requited?

Sally Hawkins gives Frances McDormand and Saoirse Ronan a run for their award-nomination money as Elisa, a mute cleaning lady at an important government facility. One night a sadistic Fed (Michael Shannon) brings in a strange water creature he found in the Amazon (which is freshwater but the movie claims it's saltwater). He wants to study it by torturing it and eventually dissecting it, but Elisa sees into its soul - his soul - and sees an intelligent being.

It takes place during the Cold War, so there's that red paranoia at play. When Soviets do show up, it reminded me of Hail Caesar more than anything.

Solid support comes from Octavia Spencer as Elisa's co-worker, Richard Jenkins as Elisa's closeted artist roommate, and Michael Stuhlbarg as a sympathetic scientist.