The 95th Academy Awards brings well-respected stars and behind-the-scenes actors from across the film industry to Los Angeles this Sunday for Hollywood’s biggest night of the year.
The ceremony, which will be hosted for the third time by late-night personality Jimmy Kimmel, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET at LA’s Dolby Theater. ABC will broadcast the show live, with options to live stream the event on its app or website (using a verified cable or satellite provider).
In addition to the nominees, expected attendees at the Oscars include numerous presenters such as Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monae and more.
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The show will also include musical sets by Rihanna performing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Rahul Sipligunj and Kala Bhairava, who will sing MM Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”; and Lenny Kravitz, who will provide the evening’s “In Memoriam.” Lady Gaga was originally scheduled to perform Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick but was later canceled due to scheduling conflicts, an Oscars producer confirmed this week.
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s mind-blowing sci-fi knockout, leads this year’s Oscar nominations with 11 nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with at least one in each major category. Close behind are Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and the German-language Netflix film “All Quiet on the Western Front” by director Edward Berger, each with nine nominations.
This image released by A24 Films shows, from left, Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in a scene from Everything Everywhere All At Once. Allyson Riggs/A24 films via AP
The distribution of the contenders for the most prestigious awards this year looks different than at the last two Oscars. While projects supported by streaming services garnered many of the top accolades in 2022, the tide turned in 2023 to honor a slew of larger-than-life films that performed well at the box office and drew audiences back to theaters . They’ll be accompanied by hard-hitting drama and semi-factual films, and as usual, the award in several leading Oscar categories could be something for everyone. Here’s what to expect from the top awards show competitions.
best picture
Arguably the most coveted award of the evening, the Oscar for Best Picture will be chosen from a competitive pool of 10 nominees. This year’s contestants cover a wide range of genres, styles and themes, with popcorn picks like Top Gun: Maverick going up against several critically acclaimed films, many of which have a darker tone, even the satires.
Clear frontrunners in the Best Picture race are: Everything Everywhere All At Once, creators Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s chaotic sensation whose genre-bending storyline delivered audiences exactly what the title promised; ‘Tár’, Todd Field’s psychological drama which had a strong start at the festivals and became an instant favorite with critics; The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s deadpan tragicomedy that returned to its roots as a playwright and was hailed as a clever allegory of the Irish Civil War; and The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical family drama that enchanted movie buffs and critics alike.
Each film has already received recognition this awards season, with Everything Everywhere All At Once, Tár, The Banshees of Inisherin and The Fabelmans taking Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and top spots occupied Golden Globes, possibly foreshadowing how they will fare at the Oscars.
Cate Blanchett as Orchestra Conductor in “Tár”. focus functions
The excitement surrounding Sunday’s ceremony largely makes “Everything Everywhere All At Once” the obvious choice for best picture given its impressive track record of nominations and previous wins. As well as topping the Oscars list, he also won top honors at the SAG, Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Writers Guild Awards, a record equal to only four previous Academy Award winners for Best Picture became: “American Beauty”, “No Country for Old Men”, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Argo”. But because Everything Everywhere All At Once rebels against structural and narrative conventions, an analogue prequel has never been seen in this Oscar category, and some argue it may be too outlandish to garner a majority of AMPAS’ votes.
German anti-war film ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ may be the dark horse in the Oscars’ best picture race, although critics disagree over whether the film is as strong as it intended. Edward Berger’s remake of the American World War I epic of the same name – which won the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture, among several other awards – received top honors at this year’s British Academy Film Awards, earning widespread critical acclaim despite a relative lack of publicity in the US The success of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2019 Best Film nomination “Roma” and Bong Joon Ho’s 2020 winner “Parasite” paved the way for other foreign language films to be taken seriously in this category. Also, the story shows that war stories do well at the Oscars.
A scene from All Quiet on the Western Front. Netflix
But an argument could be made that one of this year’s Best Picture nominees would be a plausible candidate for the win. The category is rounded off by the blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water”, the also commercially very successful biopic “Elvis”, the social satire “Triangle of Sadness” and the sobering drama “Women Talk.”
Best Actress
The Oscar category for Best Actress was a source of controversy when the nominations were announced at the end of January. In an unusual twist, Andrea Riseborough, who starred in the small independent film To Leslie as an addict seeking recovery, received a nomination after a relatively short but passionate grassroots campaign led by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett is also nominated for “Tár”.
Riseborough’s nod drew public backlash as neither Viola Davis nor Danielle Deadwyler were expected to be nominated for their roles in The Woman King and Till, although both received pre-Oscar recognition. The omission of Davis and Deadwyler meant no black women would be competing for that year’s Best Actress award, and the resulting allegations of corruption prompted the Academy to launch an investigation into Riseborough’s nomination and determine if it was fair. Her nomination was not revoked following the investigation.
Viola Davis in TriStar Pictures’ The Woman King. Ilze Kitshoff
That aside, the Best Actress competition has turned into a pretty close race between Blanchett, whose portrayal of the downfall of a famous conductor in the character study “Tár” was cited as a career achievement for the two-time and eight-time Oscar-winning actor, and Michelle Yeoh, whose starring role as a laundromat owner in Everything Everywhere All at Once was nudged into the multiverse in Everything Everywhere All at Once and has received comparable praise.
Both Blanchett and Yeoh have already received awards at major awards this season, with Blanchett winning at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and BAFTAs and Yeoh at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards. The latter star’s chances of winning the Academy Award for Best Actress are boosted by her film’s unparalleled momentum.
Michelle Yeoh in Everything, Everywhere at Once. A24
This is Yeoh’s first Oscar nomination, and she was the first Asian actress to receive an award in that category when she received it. Yeoh would be the second black woman after Halle Berry to take home the award should she win.
Among them in the Best Actress category are Ana de Armas, who received critical acclaim for her intellectual interpretation of Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s controversial drama Blonde, and Michelle Williams, a five-time Oscar nominee whose portrayal in The Fabelmans was hailed as the film’s highlight.
Best actor
Whoever wins the best actor award at this year’s Academy Awards could prove to be one of the biggest surprises of the night, as four of the five nominees have gone neck and neck for every major acting award since the start of the current season . Austin Butler for “Elvis”; Brendan Fraser for The Whale; Colin Farrell for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Bill Nighy for “Living” all earned Critics Choice, Golden Globe and SAG Awards nominations before securing their spot in that Oscar race.
Fraser’s comeback performance as the reclusive English teacher in Darren Aronofsky’s psychodrama won top honors at the Critics Choice and SAG Awards, while Butler’s acclaimed portrayal of Elvis Presley was acclaimed by the rock and roll icon’s family and critics alike , won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama.
Best Actor Oscar nominees, from left: Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) and Bill Nighy (“ Life”). Warner Brothers; searchlight; A24; Classics from Sony Pictures
Farrell won the relevant comedy award at the Globes for his starring role in McDonagh’s film – which, worth it, marks the director’s return to the Oscars after Frances McDormand clinched her first win in 2018 with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri best actress received in two decades. Farrell’s performance on “Banshees” was hailed as one of the greatest of 2022. But the rousing reaction to Fraser, who garnered a standing ovation for The Whale at the Venice Film Festival and the London Film Festival that lasted long enough to make headlines, could tip the scales in his favour.
Paul Mescal concludes this year’s Best Actor category as the final nominee for his performance in Charlotte Wells’ critically acclaimed independent film, Aftersun, in her feature film debut.
The best supporting actress
At the start of the awards season, Angela Bassett’s future Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress seemed all but ruled out after the longtime Hollywood legend scooped the equivalent title at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards, plus a nod from the on-screen Actors Guild for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
While her ties to Wakanda Forever — the second installment in the popular franchise and another Marvel Studios blockbuster — likely make Bassett the Oscar-winning fan favorite, she vies among a bevy of fierce competitors to win many of who advanced to the top of the pack as the season progressed.
This year’s Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Hong Chau (The Whale), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu (both ” All everywhere at once”). Marvel Comics/Disney, A24 and Searchlight Pictures
Kerry Condon, nominated for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” took home Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs before Jamie Lee Curtis, nominated for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” took the equivalent title at the SAG Awards in a win fetched that might have been underestimated. Curtis’ co-star Stephanie Hsu is also nominated in this category for Outstanding Performance in Everything Everywhere, as is Hong Chau for Outstanding Performance in The Whale.
The result in this category is still a toss-up. But Curtis’ win at the SAG Awards, which has been predicted for best supporting actress at the Oscars in every but one year since 2010, could be a reliable indicator of how things are going.
Best supporting actor
Among this year’s Best Supporting Actor contenders, Ke Huy Quan could have the edge. He won the hearts of guild selectors, critics, and viewers with his emotional performance in All At Once, and returned to acting to play the role decades after retiring from the profession. (He was once a child star in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies.)
Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actor nominee for Everything Everywhere All at Once. CBS News
Quan received a Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and, in a historic win, the SAG Award for his work in the film. As with Yeoh, the fact that Quan is one of the faces of a film topping the awards show can only increase his chances of seeing that success at the Oscars.
Joining Quan in the Best Supporting Actor category are Brian Tyree Henry, who delivered a transformative performance opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Causeway that also received a nod at the Critics Choice Awards; Barry Keoghan, whose role in The Banshees of Inisherin earned him a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor; Brendan Gleeson, also for The Banshees of Inisherin; and Judd Hirsch for The Fabelmans.
Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman in The Fabelmans, co-written, produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures
Once it didn’t seem unthinkable that Hirsch would win. The 87-year-old has been an actor for almost 60 years. The Fabelmans is Hirsch’s second Oscar nomination since he was nominated in the same category for Ordinary People in 1980, and it recognizes his fleeting portrayal of an irascible relative in just a few memorable minutes of Spielberg’s nominated film.
Best Director
After back-to-back wins by women directors – Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” and Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog” – and despite a number of this year’s qualifiers including “Aftersun”, “The Woman King” and “Women Talking ,” becoming winners directed by women, only men are nominated for the Oscar for best director this year.
The nominees are Martin McDonagh for The Banshees of Inisherin, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans, Todd Field for Tár and Ruben Östlund. for “Triangle of Sadness”. Spielberg, a nine-time nominee in this category who last won in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan, initially seemed like a steal for the Best Director Oscar for The Fabelmans, his most personal work yet. But Kwan and Scheinert, who scooped directing awards on the powerhouse filmmaker at the Critics Choice and Directors Guild Awards, are more likely to win.
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