It’s the glitziest night of the year, where Hollywood’s legends and bright young things compete for the film industry’s most coveted prize: the iconic golden statuette.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s awards ceremony.
- Oscars drops 2019 plans for wildly unpopular film category
- A Star Is Born review round-up: Lady Gaga is a triumph according to critics
- When is Bohemian Rhapsody released in the UK? What’s it about and who stars in it?
When are the Oscars taking place?
The 2019 Oscar ceremony will be held on Sunday 24th February 2019
Who are the 2019 Oscar nominees?
Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma – Netflix’s semi-autobiographical drama about a young housekeeper working for a wealthy family in 1970s Mexico – and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite (a fictionalised period drama about Queen Anne’s relationship with her aides) lead the pack in 2019. Each have 10 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (x2 in the case of The Favourite, for Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone). A Star is Born and Vice are also rather prominent, with eight noms apiece (both are also up for best picture).
Elsewhere, Black Panther earned an historic nomination for Best Picture (it’s the first superhero movie to ever be included in the category), and debutants Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and Yalitza Aparicio (Roma) scored nods on their first ever film roles. And Christian Bale, who won Best Actor gongs at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards for his portrayal of former US vice president Dick Cheney in Vice – has also been nominated, with Best Actress also contested by Glenn Close, Olivia Colman and Regina King are all in the running for Best Actress.
However, though the Academy has made efforts to diversify its member base in recent years, the Best Director category remains all-male, with Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots) and Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) both losing out to Spike Lee (BlackkKlansman), Pavel Pawlikowski (Cold War), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), Alfonso Cuaron (Roma) and Adam McKay (Vice).
Who else was snubbed from the Oscar nominations?
While Bradley Cooper has been nominated elsewhere for A Star is Born, you could forgive him for feeling aggrieved that he missed out in the Best Director category. Rob Lowe certainly thinks he deserved it…
Bradley Cooper was robbed for Best Director. Clearly.
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) January 22, 2019
British bio-drama Mary Queen of Scotts was also surprisingly absent from all the major categories, including the acting shortlists which snubbed Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan.
Plus, Timothée Chalamet (My Beautiful Boy), Claire Foy (First Man), Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) and Toni Collette (Hereditary) were all overlooked, much to the chagrin of their fans.
The morning's most awful snub is surely Ethan Hawke in Best Actor. It's the biggest sweep by an actor across critics prizes that I can recall to have missed the Oscars since Peter Sarsgaard in Shattered Glass back in 2003.
— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) January 22, 2019
Where are the Oscars taking place?
This year’s Academy Awards will once again be held at the Dolby Theatre — formerly the Kodak Theatre — on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles.
How can I watch the Oscars in the UK?
If you’re in the UK, the ceremony will be aired by Sky with full broadcast details yet to be announced. For US viewers, the ceremony usually airs on ABC.
The red carpet arrivals are set to begin at around 12am UK time, with the ceremony kicking off at 1.30am.
Why isn’t Kevin Hart hosting the Oscars?
Kevin Hart stepped down as host of the Oscars following a backlash over his previous homophobic comments and tweets.
“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars,” he said in a post on Twitter.
“This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
“I’m sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love and appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.”
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
How will the Oscars work without a host?
It is as yet unclear what form the show will take without a host – and it will be the first time in 30 years that the Academy has decided to go ahead without an MC.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s producers are scrambling to reunite the cast of the Avengers (including the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Chris Evans) and other big-name celebrities to add some allure to the broadcast and bridge the gap between the various awards and musical segments.
The Golden Globes, before Ricky Gervais’ first run-out in 2009, traditionally took place without a host, and did just fine, so the Oscars should get through this squeaky bum period unscathed.
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited to see how the Hulk looks in a tux.
Who are the Oscars favourites?
If there is a world in which Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow does not win Best Original Song, I don’t want to live in it. This seems a dead cert, but no bookie is likely to be taking bets on categories outside the big four (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Director).
Green Book has emerged as the favourite to win Best Picture, after picking up the award at the Producer’s Guild Awards in January. Eight out of the last 10 films to win Best Picture have won at the PGAs in the build-up…
Alfonso Cuaron is currently leading the race for Best Director after picking up the award at the Golden Globes, Director’s Guild Awards and the Critic’s Choice Awards. The Director’s Guild is usually a strong indicator, correctly predicting the Best Director Oscar winner for 14 of the last 15 years.
Interestingly Cuaron’s Roma also picked up Best Picture at the DGAs, which puts it in strong contention with Green Book in the Oscars race.
Fresh off his win at the Golden Globes, Rami Malek has been widely tipped to pick up the Best Actor Oscar for his seamless portrayal of Freddie Mercury, although Christian Bale’s portrayal of Dick Cheney will give him a run for his money.
Glenn Close, who won at the Globes and tied with Lady Gaga at the Critics’ Choice Awards, is expected to take home the award for Best Actress – but Olivia Colman’s turn in The Favourite has also proven popular with awards bodies so far.
Who is performing at the Oscars?
The Academy has revealed details of the performers taking to the stage during this year’s ceremony. The evening’s entertainment will come from the Best Song nominees with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper set to take to the stage to perform their nominated song Shallow from A Star Is Born.
Cooper. Gaga. "Shallow." #Oscars
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 1, 2019
Also due on stage is Jennifer Hudson who will sing I’ll Fight from Oscar-nominated documentary RBG. Nominees Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will perform When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and a “special guest” will represent Mary Poppins Returns for a rendition of The Place Where Lost Things Go.
There had previously been some controversy around the Oscars set list, with disappointed fans lamenting the original decision to give performance slots to just two of the five nominated songs. The Academy responded to the feedback and reinstated slots for four of the five nominees, with Black Panther the only current omission – although that may change.
Will there be an Oscars Best Popular Film category?
In August 2018, The Academy announced it was planning on introducing a “best popular film” category to the awards show, to highlight achievements of genre films and blockbusters less likely to make the best picture category, such as Marvel’s Black Panther and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
However, after the decision proved unpopular, they changed their minds, and it was vetoed by the organisation’s board of governors.
They did, however, add that they may return to the idea in the future.
Will the Oscars have a Special Award this year?
No special award has been announced for this year’s ceremony as yet.
On certain occasions in the past, the Academy has handed out a Special Achievement Award for filmmakers who make an “exceptional contribution” to film.
In 1995, Pixar’s John Lasseter won for his part in making Toy Story the first feature length computer-animated film. In 2017, Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman) won for his virtual reality short, Flesh and Sand.
Who won the major awards at last year’s Oscars?
Guillermo del Toro’s magical realist romance The Shape of Water was the big winner at last year’s Academy Awards, converting four of its 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design.
Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell won in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, while Gary Oldman (The Darkest Hour) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) won the remaining actor gongs.
Elsewhere, Jordan Peele won for Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, and Pixar’s Coco won Best Animated Feature.
Who are the 2019 Oscars presenters?
Though the presenter line-up has yet to be announced, we know that, in Oscars tradition, the winners of the acting awards from last year are expected to return to present the awards to their opposite numbers.
That means Gary Oldman will be presenting the award for Best Actress, and Frances McDormand will be presenting the Best Actor award, with Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell due to present the supporting categories.
The rest, however, is a mystery…
Who votes for the Oscars?
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is made up of around 7,000 film professionals from around the world. In 2014, amidst the #OscarsSoWhite saga, it was revealed that 94 per cent of voters were white and 76 per cent were men.
Former president Cheryl Boone-Isaacs took action to change this in 2016, by launching an initiative to double the number of diverse members by 2020.
In June last year, it welcomed 928 new members, as part of this. These included Kendrick Lamar, Tiffany Haddish, Dave Chappelle, Mindy Kaling, Amy Schumer, Kumail Nanjiani, Wendell Pierce, Gina Rodriguez, Sarah Silverman, J.K. Rowling, Questlove and Jada Pinkett Smith.
The general population of the Academy has been a closely guarded secret for some time, but that appears to be changing…
What has happened in 2019’s awards season so far?
Bohemian Rhapsody was the surprise winner at the Golden Globes (after receiving mostly mixed reviews from critics but proving a hit with its audience), taking home the award for Best Picture, with lead Rami Malek also picking up the Best Actor award.
Though the Globes is voted for by just 65 journalists from the mysterious Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it still tends to have a knock-on effect for the Academy Awards (voting for the Oscars opened the day after the Globes took place), and the Queen biopic may well be a bigger player this year than the snootier critics among us had expected.
We’ve also seen some consistency in the acting categories in the two major ceremonies that have taken place thus far (the Globes and the Critics Choice Awards): Christian Bale, Glenn Close (though tying with Gaga at the CCAs) and Regina King won at both. Mahershala Ali was nominated at the Globes and won at the CCAs.
Roma, too, has been favoured by both awards committees. It won best picture and best director at the CCAs, and best foreign language film and best director at the Globes.
And Britain’s Olivia Colman has also won at both the Globes and the CCAs and picked up a Bafta nomination along with her co-stars Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.
Read on for our full assessment of this year’s contenders
from Radio Times http://bit.ly/2G7HXp2
