Two months late, the Oscars have finally arrived. Covid has wreaked its havoc in the film industry just like everywhere else, with cinema closing, shoots shut down, and cancellations everywhere you look. The awards ceremonies’ troubles appear trifling by comparison, but they are emblematic of what a bizarre year it has been.
The nominations themselves, though filled with excellent and interesting films, will always have a “year of the asterisk” feeling: with so many blockbuster and awards-bait films put off until cinemas can properly reopen, there’s a sneaking sensation that the line-up is not all it could have been. Maybe the near-total absence of significant commercial success in Hollywood is going to have a subliminal effect; it certainly looks like it will ensure the TV audience will be the lowest ever.
Covid regulations have also bent the telecast itself well out of shape. With the statement hire of Behind the Candelabra director Steven Soderbergh as part of the production team, the show has been moved from its normal theatre setting into Los Angeles Union Station, with participants limited to nominees and presenters, who get one guest each. Soderbergh has promised a “cinematic” show; but no one knows yet exactly what that means. There’s only one way to find out.
Some things we do know: the red carpet part of the night, where big-timers traditionally spent a couple of hours milling about, showing off their couture clobber and yacking to the media, has been reduced to just three photographers and virtual interviews. Masks won’t be required on camera, either. And if the Baftas two weeks ago are anything to go by, there will be carefully orchestrated movement in and out of the location to sustain social distancing. And in a reversal of the original plan, overseas participants will be Zooming in from hubs in London and Paris.
It could be great, it could be a disaster. We shall soon find out.
Timetable
Things are going to look a little different than usual.
In the US, the E! Channel starts its Live From the Red Carpet show at 1400 PT/1700 ET The 2021 Academy Awards Live. Then ABC starts the ball rolling with a 90-minute pre-show, Oscars: Into the Spotlight, which will start on ABC at 1530PT/1830ET and is due to contain, among other things, pre-recorded performances of the nominated songs. The official show telecast gets under way at 1700PT/2000ET and is due to finish three hours later. Anyone still not satisfied can stick around for Oscars: After Dark, starting at 2030PT/2330ET, and will, claim the network, “recap the ceremony’s must-see moments, show winners having their statuettes engraved and feature interviews moderated by film critic Elvis Mitchell”.
In the UK, you can watch it on Sky Cinema’s dedicated Oscars channel, Sky Cinema Oscars. Coverage starts at 2200 BST on Sunday with E!’s red carpet show, then joins the official telecast at 0030 on Monday morning, all the way through to 0415.
In Australia, Foxtel are showing E!’s Live From the Red Carpet from 0700 AEST on Monday 26. Channel 7 takes over at 1000, broadcasting the ceremony live until 1300.
Preparation
• Check out the full list of nominees.
• Here’s fashion’s Hannah Marriott on how the red carpet might play out this year.
• Peter Bradshaw’s slightly sceptical take on the Oscars’ radical credentials.
• A thoughtful essay on the Oscars’ identity crisis.
• A plea for recognition from those unsung heroes of the soundtrack: music supervisors.
• Why the Oscars is facing trouble in the long term.
• The trauma of getting your speech cut short.
• Xan Brooks’s fascinating discussion with Nomadland author Jessica Bruder.
• Some words with some of the big shots up for awards: Promising Young Woman’s Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell, Minari director Lee Isaac Chung and his star Steven Yeun, The Trial of the Chicago 7’s Sacha Baron Cohen, Mank director David Fincher plus his musical sidekick Trent Reznor, Sound of Metal’s Riz Ahmed. And chats with a couple of the short film contenders: The Present’s director, former stockbroker Farah Nabulsi, and Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, the team behind Two Distant Strangers.
• Can we also possibly draw your attention, so very humbly, to the fact that the Guardian has skin in the game? Our film Colette is up for best short documentary, and you can watch it here.
Final predictions
We’re nearly there. Everyone has had their say, including our very own Peter Bradshaw. If we actually knew any of this was true, we’d be down the bookies rather than bleating it out in the news media. But here it is anyway.
Best picture Nomadland
Best director Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Best actor Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Best actress Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Best supporting actor Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Best supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Best original screenplay Promising Young Woman
Best adapted screenplay Nomadland
Best documentary My Octopus Teacher
Best original song Husavik, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Best animated film Soul
Best international film Another Round
See you on the other side.
