Anore, The Brutalist and Conclave vie for Oscars glory
Jake Coyle |
The 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles will bring to a climax one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory.
The ceremony at the Dolby Theatre starts 11am AEDT on Monday with Conan O’Brien hosting for the first time.
Los Angeles is still recovering from wildfires that devastated neighbourhoods earlier this yea with Oscar producers saying this year’s show will celebrate the city’s resilience.
The lead nominee is Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, with 13 nominations, but that film has seen its chances crater following uproar over years-old offensive tweets by its star, Karla Sofía Gascón, the first openly trans actor nominated for best actress.
The favourite is Sean Baker’s Anora, about a sex worker who weds the son of a Russian oligarch. The Neon release, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner, won with the producers, directors and writers guild. The only movie with the same resume to not win best picture is Brokeback Mountain.
Its closest competition is Conclave, the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes. It won at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, wins that came just as Pope Francis was taken to hospital for double pneumonia. Oscar voting concluded before the Pope fell ill.
Also in the mix are The Brutalist, nominated for 10 awards, and the musical hit Wicked, also with 10 nominations. Several of the early craft Oscars could be shared between Wicked and Dune: Part Two.
While the supporting acting categories feature overwhelming favourites in Zoe Saldana (Emilia Pérez) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), both best actor and best actress are close contests.
In best actress, Demi Moore (The Substance) is most likely to win, but Mikey Madison (Anora) or Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) could pull off the upset.
Adrien Brody is favoured in best actor for his performance in The Brutalist. But Timothée Chalamet stands a decent chance of beating him, for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The 29-year-old Chalamet, who won at the Screen Actors Guild, would become the youngest best actor winner ever, edging Brody’s record, set in 2003 in his win for The Pianist.
This year’s Oscars arrive after a turbulent year for the film industry.
Ticket sales were down three per cent from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain.
Last year’s telecast, propelled by the twin blockbusters of Oppenheimer and “Barbie,” led the Oscars to a four-year viewership high, with 19.5 million viewers. This year, with smaller independent films favoured in the most prominent awards, the academy will be tested to draw as large of an audience.
With a not particularly starry array of best song nominees, the academy has done away with performances of original songs this year. But there will be music, including a performance by Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah.
Last year’s acting winners – Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr, Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph – will also take part in the ceremony. Though the academy initially said it would bring back the “fab five” style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organisers have reportedly abandoned those plans.
The ceremony will be taking place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead last Wednesday at their New Mexico home.
AP
