Hollywood is gearing up for its biggest night of the year, as the stars get ready to attend the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles later.
Will Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dame Judi Dench and Troy Kotsur are among the nominees in the acting categories.
Director Jane Campion’s Western The Power of the Dog leads the field with 12 nominations going into the ceremony.
But it faces competition for the top award, best picture, from Apple TV’s Coda and Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast.
Follow the action live on the BBC News website from 23:00 BST on Sunday. Here are some things to look out for.
The battle of the streamers
The frontrunners for best picture are The Power of the Dog, starring Cumberbatch, and coming-of-age comedy-drama Coda, which focuses on the growing pains of the only hearing member of a deaf family.
To add extra intrigue to the contest, the former is a Netflix film, while the latter was bought and distributed by Apple after premiering at Sundance – with both bidding to become the first streamer to win the top award.
Looking to disrupt that duel on Sunday will be Sir Kenneth, whose film Belfast is based on his childhood in Northern Ireland at the start of the Troubles.
Will he or will he not?
Will Smith has already won best actor at multiple precursor ceremonies and looks likely to repeat his success at the Oscars
Will Smith has never won an Oscar, despite 30 years in the business.
The 53-year-old has come close twice before, being nominated for Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. This year, he is hot favourite to make it third time lucky for portraying the father of future tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams in King Richard.
He’ll be up against Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, Javier Bardem and his “mentor” Denzel Washington.
Smith told People that, at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards, Washington told him: “This is your year.”
Find out about the top 16 films in the Oscars raceOscars 2022: The nominations in full
Protests could turn ceremony on its head
Eight of the 23 awards this year will be pre-recorded in a bid to save time (and increase interest) during the telecast, which had record low viewing figures last year.
While the big awards will still be live, some of the so-called “below-the-line” categories – more technical awards like best editing, sound and production design – will have been presented off-air beforehand.
The move has been labelled as “divisive” by some members of the film industry, who have suggested we may see protests take the form of winners accepting their trophies upside down.
“We feel this decision has turned this night on its head and I do think you will see people reflecting that,” Karol Urban, president of the Cinema Audio Society (CAS), told PA Media.
David Rubin, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the event, told members last month that it had decided to “prioritise the television audience to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant”.
Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer will host the ceremony with Regina Hall
After three years without a host, a trio of female comic actors – Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes – will take the reins this year.
Schumer told former Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres on her chat show that she had no fears about taking on the role. “I am not nervous because I think that’s what stand-up does to you. It goes so bad that you just lose that fear.”
Sykes, meanwhile, said they were not “going to trash anyone” because they want “everyone to have a good time” when the ceremony returns to something approaching normal after the pandemic.
“None of us are mean-spirited,” Sykes told a press conference on Thursday.
Cinderella starring Camila Cabello is thought to be among the fan favourite contenders
The Academy has introduced a “fan favourite” category this year – a prize decided by public votes on social media and the organisation’s website.
The winning film won’t receive a gold statuette, so it’s more of a bonus category, introduced for younger and more online-skewing audiences.
“It’s not an Oscar and it’s not an award, it’s really just an acknowledgement,” ceremony producer Will Packer told Little Gold Men. “And to me, that’s a good thing. This ceremony doesn’t have to be all awards, bereft of entertainment, just all about the amazing artists and craftspeople. We can do both.”
(BBC)
