HOLLYWOOD, United States — Will
Hollywood go
political about Ukraine at the Oscars on Sunday? Will director Jane Campion
walk away with a golden statuette? Will records be broken? And will millions of
viewers ever get “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” out of their heads?
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Here are six things to watch for at the ceremony:
Ukraine
The optics of millionaires
giving each other prizes while war rages in Ukraine is a delicate issue for
producers to handle.
Host
Amy Schumer pitched for Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky to speak at the ceremony via video.
At a press conference, the show’s producer Will
Packer declined to “definitively say one way or another,” while co-host Wanda
Sykes quipped: “Isn’t he busy right now?”
Still, the show will address
Ukraine in an “organic”
and “thoughtful” way, Sykes added — and Oscar winners are almost certain to
mention Russia’s invasion throughout the night in their acceptance speeches.
‘Twitter Oscars’?
Producers have introduced
two prizes chosen by popular vote for the ceremony — a “fan favorite” film from
this year, and an “
Oscars cheer moment” from any movie in history.
While winners will not receive actual
Academy Awards, disgruntled critics complain that “real” prizes are being forced to
make way for a “Twitter Oscars,” given that a handful of awards will be
presented ahead of the main broadcast.
“As if we’re
going to have a random Twitter user hand an Oscar to Meryl Streep! That’s not
what’s happening,” said Packer.
“Sometimes the show has felt like ‘It’s just us,
just Hollywood, no one else is invited,’” he added.
“This year, we want it to be a little more open in
our embrace of the public.”
How the prizes will be handed out — and how the
experiment will be received — remains to be seen.
‘Godfather’ and Bond anniversaries
The gala will honor not just
the movies nominated this year, but also timeless classics such as “
The Godfather,” which turned 50 this week.
“We’re going to have Francis Ford Coppola’s classic,
we’re going to honor it. We got some surprises around that, wink, wink,” said
Packer.
Packer also hinted that “60 years of Bond” would be
“on the show.” The first 007 outing, “Dr No,” was released in 1962.
Billie Eilish is already set to perform her theme
song from latest Bond flick “No Time To Die.” What else is in store?
Power of the women
“Power of the Dog” director
Jane Campion recently suggested it was “time to claim a sense of victory” in
breaking Hollywood’s glass ceiling for women.
Sunday’s Oscars could further that claim.
Campion is expected to become the third female best
director in Oscars history — just a year after Chloe Zhao became the second
(“Nomadland”). Kathryn Bigelow was the first for “The Hurt Locker.”
More astonishingly, her cinematographer
Ari Wegner
is only the second woman nominated in her male-dominated field, after 94 years
of Oscars history. Can she become the first winner?
Anita repeat-er?
On the surface, Batman’s nemesis Joker, Don Corleone from “The
Godfather” and Anita from “West Side Story” do not have a great deal in common.
However, if
Ariana DeBose wins best-supporting actress — as widely expected —
it will be a rare instance of two performers winning Oscars for playing the
same fictional character.
Robert De Niro bagged his first Academy Award
playing the younger version of Marlon Brando’s mafia boss in “The Godfather:
Part Two,” while Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” followed up Heath Ledger’s
posthumous prize for “The Dark Knight.”
Can DeBose emulate the great Rita Moreno?
Bruno-no-no
“Hamilton” creator
Lin-Manuel Miranda is the frontrunner for best song with “Dos Oruguitas,” which will be
performed on Sunday -- but a different tune from Disney’s “Encanto” is more
likely to interest viewers.
Viral sensation “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” will be
performed live by its cast for the first time.
The catchy Latin pop song about a mysterious,
troublesome uncle has spawned over a million
TikTok videos, topped the
Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, and is Disney’s most popular song in years.
“If there is a song that unites people this year,
that is kind of the epitome, to me of what movies can do,” said Packer, noting
it has been sung by fans around the world “ad nauseum” this year.
“We’re going to help them out so they sing it a little bit
more. Our apologies to the parents,” he added.
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