Celebrities have picked their formal wear, the red carpet is rolled out and golden dudes are ready to be engraved. Because it’s oscar night eleven again.
The 94th Academy Awards are honoring the best of the best movies had to offer last year, and Hollywood is coming together – and navigating a whole bunch of COVID-19 protocols and testing – to celebrate a new crop of winners joining the Oscar pantheon.
There are some interesting story lines in the major categories, starting with best picture. The Netflix Western Epic “The Power of the Dog” dominated as an early favorite but the heartwarming Apple TV+ dramedy “CODA” has come on strong in recent weeks as a likely winner of Oscar’s biggest prize.
“King Richard” star Will Smith is expected to grab his first Academy Award win for best actor – though he faces competition from Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick… BOOM!”) and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), who defeated Smith in the category 20 years ago.
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After wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics Choice Awards, Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) has the pole position in the best actress race, though Kristen Stewart (“Spencers”), Olivia Coleman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) and Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) all loom as upset picks.
Here are all the highlights and winners from Sunday’s Oscar ceremony:
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Troy Kotsur wins best supporting actor for ‘CODA’
With fellow celebrities such as co-star Marlee Matlin clapping in American Sign Language, Kotsur took the stage to accept his Oscar – the first for a deaf male actor. “It’s amazing to be here on this journey. I can’t believe I’m here,” Kotsur says through an interpreter. He paid special thanks to his father, “the best signer” in his family who was no longer able to after a car accident paralyzed him from the neck down. “Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You’re my hero.” Kotsur also dedicated his Oscar win to the Deaf and disabled communities: “This is our moment.”
Disney’s ‘Charm’ snags best animated feature honor
It’s got a ton of great Lin-Manuel Miranda songs and now an Oscar to its credit: “Encanto” takes the trophy for best animated feature. “I’m so proud to be a part of a film that puts beautiful, diverse characters at its center,” says producer Yvett Merino.
And the visual effects prize makes it six for ‘Dune’
Sorry, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” you’re going home with no Oscars. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi spectacle nabs the honor for best visual effects.
‘Dune’ wins its fifth Oscar, for cinematography
The sci-fi film snags another technical achievement: best cinematography for Greig Fraser. “I’m so happy this is early because I can get to the bar,” he quips, thanking his family for letting “a middle-aged man go out and play in the sand dunes for six months.”
Ariana DeBose wins best supporting actress for ‘West Side Story’
Another Anita, another Oscar: Sixty years after Rita Moreno won the same category for her role in the original “West Side Story,” DeBose follows suit. “Yikes! What is this?” she says. “Now you see why Anita wants to be in America because even in this weary world we live in, dreams come true.” The first Afro-Latina actress and first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar, DeBose also paid tribute to Moreno: “Your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me.”
Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer read into the comedy for monologue
With her fellow hosts, Schumer’s bringing the jokes in the opening monologue. She quips that the Golden Globes should be in the “In Memoriam” segment (“They didn’t have any Black members!”) and also pointed out the threesome was hired together because “it’s cheaper than hiring one man.” She adds Sykes: “We’re going to have a great night. And for those in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”
Beyonce kicks off the Oscars singing ‘King Richard’ song ‘Be Alive’
This is how you start an epic awards show: Introduced by Venus and Serena Williams, Beyoncé opens the ceremony performing her nominated song “Be Alive” in a lavish production in Compton where the Williams sisters grew up.
‘Dune’ wins four technical awards on Oscar preshow
The sci-fi epic garnered honors for best original score, film editing, production design and sound in a ceremony before the main event. “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” nabbed the Oscar for makeup and hairstyling, “The Long Goodbye” starring Riz Ahmed won best live-action short, “The Windshield Wiper” won best animated short and “The Queen of Basketball” was named best documentary shortsubject.
Jane Campion poised for first directing win for ‘The Power of the Dog’
The “Power of the Dog” filmmaker took home her first Oscar in 1994 for original screenplay (“The Piano”), and after winning the top Directors Guild prize, she’s likely to nab best director on Sunday. (She’s the only woman in Oscar history to receive multiple Oscar nominations for directing.) Her competitors are Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”) and Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”).
Sean Penn threatens to ‘smelt’ his Oscar if Ukrainian President Zelenskyy doesn’t appear
Oscar host Amy Schumer made headlines this past week expressing her hope that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could beam in via satellite during the Oscars to highlight the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Penn took it a step further Saturday in to CNN interview, threatening to “smelt” his Oscars (for “Milk” and “Mystic River”) “in public” if the Ukraine leader doesn’t appear. All eyes will be on the Academy ceremony to see if it happens, but in an interview with USA TODAYSchumer’s fellow host Wanda Sykes expressed doubt: “He’s pretty busy, I don’t know if he has time for our little movie show.”
‘CODA’ star Troy Kotsur feels the love this awards season
Kotsur has run the table on the way to Oscar night and is expected to snag the best supporting actor trophy, which would make him the second deaf actor (and first male) to win an Oscar. (The first was his “CODA” co-star Marlee Matlin for “Children of a Lesser God” in 1987.) The supporting actor field features Kotsur as well as Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”), JK Simmons (“Being the Ricardos” ) and “Power of the Dog” co-stars Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
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Ariana DeBose dances her way to a potentially historic win
The “West Side Story” star has picked up every piece of hardware so far (SAG, Critics Choice, British Academy Film Awards) and is poised to take best supporting actress Sunday night. If it holds to form, DeBose will be the first Afro-Latina and first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. But first, she’ll need to be victorious in a category that includes Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Judi Dench (“Belfast”) and Aunjanue Ellis (“KingRichard”).
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Jessica Chastain moves ahead in a chaotic best actress race
The wildest acting category this Oscar season has been best actress, with lots of contenders and just five slots. Stewart and Cruz were snubbed by SAG but earned Academy Award nominations alongside Colman and Kidman, and Chastain – an outside contender late last year – has late momentum going into Oscar night. This would be Chastain’s first Oscar win for her, after previously being nominated for “The Help” (2011) and “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012).
Will Smith favored to win his best actor Oscar for ‘King Richard’
With his iconic “Training Day” performance, Denzel Washington upended “Ali” star Smith 20 years ago at the Academy Awards. They face each other again Sunday – Washington for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Smith for “King Richard” – but Smith is expected to come out on top this time. (Fun fact: He also picked up a Razzie this weekend, but a good Razzie.) Also up for best actor: Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick… BOOM!”), Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”) and Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”).
‘CODA’ is on a winning streak but ‘Power of the Dog’ looms
Jane Campion’s Western “The Power of the Dog” has gone from early front-runner for best picture to merit contending this awards season, being passed by “CODA” late in the game. The Sundance favorite about a deaf fishing family and their hearing daughter won best cast at SAG and an all-important Producers Guild Award (a bellwether since the PGA uses the same preferential ballot as the Oscars). Those two will be competing for the prized Academy Award against coming-of-age dramas “Belfast” and “Licorice Pizza,” Japanese film “Drive My Car,” sci-fi epic “Dune,” musical redo “West Side Story,” sports biopic “King Richard,” disaster satire “Don’t Look Up” and noir remake “Nightmare Alley.”
Check out classic Oscar best pictures before a new one is announced
Sunday will add a 94th film to Oscar’s history of best picture winners. And in honor of tonight’s Academy Awards, we watched all the past 93 best pictures and ranked them, from worst to best, with many of them available on demand and streaming if you want to binge a few before the main event tonight. What’s No. 1? Here’s a hint: Leave the gun, take the cannoli.
Ranked:All 93 Oscar best picture winners (yes, all of them)
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Wondering how to watch tonight’s Academy Awards? we got you
ABC will broadcast the Oscars live Sunday, and the show is also available for streaming on abc.com if you have your TV provider information. If you’re looking for red-carpet action/Oscar hype, ABC has two “On the Red Carpet Live! Countdown to the Oscars” pre-shows starting at 1 EDT/10 PDT on the network and 4:30 EDT/1:30 PDT on the streaming service ABC News Live, while E!’s “Brunch at the Oscars” pre-show starts at 2 EDT/11 PDT, with arrivals on “E! Live from the Red Carpet” at 5 EDT/2 PDT. ABC’s traditional “Oscars Red Carpet Show” airs at 6:30 EDT/3:30 PDT.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism