Oscars telecast combines new and old
Jimmy Kimmel back as host, while `Barbiegate' has raised some early controversy
LOS ANGELES >> After a winter barrage of award shows — the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Grammys — the grandaddy of them all, the Academy Awards, are around the corner. The 96th Oscars may be a coronation for “Oppenheimer,” which comes in with a leading 13 nominations, though other films, including “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” are in the mix.
Here's everything you need to know about this year's show:
When?
The Oscars will be held March 10 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 4 p.m. PST — one hour earlier than usual — and be broadcast live on ABC. A preshow will begin at 3:30 p.m. PST. This is your early reminder to set your clocks accordingly — it's the first day of daylight saving time in the U.S.
Who's presenting?
Last year's big acting winners are all coming back to present at the show (a tradition), including Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. The academy also announced that “Scarface” co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino are set to hand out awards (no word on whether it's together or not).
Other celebrities set to grace the Dolby stage include Oakland native Zendaya, Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Lange, Nicolas Cage, Mahershala Ali, Sam Rockwell and Luptia Nyong'o.
More names will be revealed as show day gets closer.
Streaming options?
The show will be available to stream via ABC.com and the ABC app with a cable subscription. You can also watch through services including Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV.
Who's hosting?
Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted last year's ceremony, will emcee for the fourth time. That ties him with fellow four-timers Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon, and leaves Kimmel trailing only Johnny Carson (five), Billy Crystal
(nine) and Bob Hope (11) among repeat Oscar hosts. “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times,” said Kimmel.
What nominated for best picture at the Oscars?
The ten nominees for best picture are: “American Fiction”; “Anatomy of a Fall”; “Barbie”; “The Holdovers”; “Killers of the
Flower Moon”; “Maestro”; “Oppenheimer”; “Past Lives”; “Poor Things”; and “The Zone of Interest.”
Who are the favorites?
Christopher Nolan's “Oppenheimer” is the frontrunner. Nolan, the best director favorite, is also poised to win his first Oscar. The best actress category could be a nail-biter between Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”). If Gladstone were to win, she would be the first Native American to win an Oscar. Best actor, too, could be a close contest between Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”).
Both would be first-time winners. Giamatti's costar Da'Vine Joy Randolph is favored to win best-supporting actress, while Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) is expected to win best-supporting actor. His closest competition is considered Ryan Gosling for “Barbie.”
`Barbie' snubs?
While “Barbie,” 2023's biggest box-office hit, comes in with eight nominations, much discussion has revolved around the nominations the film didn't receive. Greta Gerwig was left out of the directing category and Margot Robbie missed on best actress. In those omissions, some have seen reflections of the misogyny parodied in “Barbie,” while others have noted the tough reception comedies have historically had at the Oscars. The nominations for “Barbie” include bestadapted screenplay (by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach), best supporting actress for America Ferrera and two best song nominees in Billie Eilish's “What Was I Made For” and the Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt composition “I'm Just Ken.”
Are there any changes to the ceremony this year?
Though recent Oscars have been marked by everything from slaps, envelope snafus and controversies over which awards are presented live, this year's show comes in with no big changes (besides starting an hour earlier). All of the awards are to be broadcast live (though honorary prizes remain separated in the earlier, untelevised Governors Awards ). The academy is adding a new award for best casting, but that won't be until 2026.
What else?
Composer John Williams is nominated for his record 49th best-score Oscar, for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and 54th overall. Godzilla is going to the Oscars for the first time, with “Godzilla Minus One” notching a nomination for best visual effects. And for the first time, two non-English language films are up for best picture: the German language Auschwitz drama “The Zone of Interest” and the French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.”