After months of expensive promotions, the Oscars finally arrive on Sunday, with all eyes on the race between “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” for Hollywood’s most coveted prize, best picture.
Ahead of the star-packed gala, pundits are looking at the Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer political thriller “One Battle” for Michael B. Jordan’s bluesy vampire is said to be neck and neck with the horror “Sinners,” but too many acting awards are impossible to call.
Any film “could break a lot of Oscar records,” Variety Awards editor Clayton Davis told AFP.
But “until the final envelope for Best Picture is opened, we won’t know who will win.”
The ceremony – live on ABC and Hulu from 4pm (2300 GMT) in Los Angeles – will be hosted for the second year by comedian Conan O’Brien and will feature live musical performances from “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Sinners”.
As political tensions rise and war intensifies in the Middle East, Los Angeles police have tightened security on the streets of Hollywood.
Inside the theater, both front-runners have a chance to break the all-time Oscar wins record — 11 shared between “Ben-Hur,” “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
“Sinners,” the story of the gangster twins’ return home to the supernatural and isolated Deep South in the 1930s, has already made Academy Awards history with its 16 nominations.
Read moreRyan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire film ‘Sinners’ makes Hollywood history with 16 Oscar nominations
Ryan Coogler, previously known for “Black Panther,” could become the first black person to win the best director award in the 98-year history of the Oscars.
But “Sinners” will have to surpass this season’s frontrunner, “One Battle,” about a washed-up, off-grid revolutionary whose teenage daughter is being hunted by a white supremacist soldier in a time of immigration raids and political extremism.
Its director Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the great auteurs of contemporary US cinema, but has won none of his previous 11 nominations for films including “There Will Be Blood” and “Boogie Nights”.
One Oscar voter, who asked to remain anonymous because Academy members cannot reveal their ballots, told AFP they voted for Anderson “because of her work” but admitted the choice was “very tough”.
“It’s time. I think the Academy will respect” Anderson, he said.
“But that’s not to say Ryan Coogler isn’t equally deserving.”
Tight races
While suspense over Best Picture doesn’t happen every year, what’s really unusual this time around is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting awards.
Timothee Chalamet had a long-standing appearance as a 1950s ping-pong player in “Marty Supreme.”
But recently a series of unsolicited comments dismissing ballet and opera as art forms that “nobody cares about” have dented the 30-year-old’s golden boy’s chances.
An anonymous pollster said he would try to defuse the controversy because “we value work and not personality,” while Michael B. Jordan predicted he would win a “tight race.”
The “Sinners” star plays two roles as twin brothers and won the leading Screen Actors Guild’s actor award this month before Oscar voting closed.
“It’s a movie star performance that we don’t get very often,” said Davis, who wouldn’t rule out DiCaprio or Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”).
Supporting acting awards are also up for grabs.
Sean Penn could win a third acting Oscar for the comic and terrifying soldier in “One Battle.”
But he’s up against international arthouse favorite Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”) and veteran Delroy Lindo, who won his first Oscar in ’73 for “Sinners.”
A supporting actress could see a rare horror villain role for Amy Madigan in “Weapons,” or go to “One Battle” revolutionary Teyana Taylor or “Sinners” hoodoo healer Wunmi Mosaku.
The only sure thing is best actress nominee Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare’s wife in “Hamnet.”
“It’s been a steamroller all season. You can take it to the bank,” Davis said.
KPop, Redford honors
For best international film, Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” will compete with Brazilian surrealist political thriller “The Secret Agent.”
Robert Redford, who died in September, and Rob Reiner, who was murdered in December, will be honored in the annual memorial category for recently canonized icons.
Oscar producers declined to comment on reports that Barbra Streisand will sing a tribute to her “The Way We Were” co-star.
Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind “KPop demon hunters” fictional girl group HUNTR/X, perform the Oscar-nominated song “Golden” from the Netflix smash movie.
(With FRANCE 24 AFP)
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