Month: March 2022

The Academy Awards have always loved a comeback story. This year, the Oscars are attempting to star in one, too. 

On Sunday, the Academy Awards will try to bounce back from a 2021 ceremony that was plagued by pandemic restrictions, a botched ending and record-low ratings. The 94th Academy Awards will return to their usual home, Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, and be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. (It’s also possible to stream it live on services like Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV and on ABC.com with provider authentication.) 

How much of the Oscars’ downturn should be chalked up to COVID-19? How much is it the new normal? These are just some of the questions that hang over an Academy Awards that feels like a crossroads for one of America’s most enduring pop-culture institutions, and still the most-watched annual show outside the Super Bowl. 

Can the Will Packer-produced awards shrug off the pandemic, reverse years of declining ratings for network TV award shows and coalesce a big-tent event for a fast-evolving movie landscape? In the interminable run-up to the springtime Oscars, many in the industry have been skeptical. Which leads us to the first of five questions heading into the show. 

Will the Oscars’ latest makeover work? 

The biggest drama heading into Sunday revolves around a broadcast that has been substantially retooled to stem the ratings slide. As if making up for several host-less years, this time there are three: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes. Will their combined star power move the needle at all? 

Facing pressure from ABC, the academy will also first present eight categories — production design, editing, sound, score, makeup and hairstyling, and the three short film awards — before the telecast begins. Clips of their wins and speeches will be edited into the show. Critics throughout the industry, though, have lined up to decry the change. The largest union representing behind-the-scenes workers, IATSE, on Monday called the decision detrimental to the “fundamental purpose” of the Oscars. 

So what will Packer do with the extra time? Beyoncé and Billie Eilish will perform their nominated songs. An eclectic group of presenters has also been announced, including some unexpected names like DJ Khaled, Tony Hawk, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Shaun White — so this could finally be the year that Judi Dench learns how to perform a “McTwist.” 

Will a streamer take home Best Picture? 

The two favorites both hail from streaming services, which have ever won best picture.

The lead nominee, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” up for 12 awards, had long been the presumed frontrunner, and possibly Netflix’s best chance yet to win Hollywood’s top award. But after back-to-back wins with the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild, Sian Heder’s deaf family drama “CODA” may have the edge. The film’s deep-pocketed backer, Apple TV+, has spent big to push a feel-good underdog indie to the front of the pack. If “CODA” wins, it will be the first time since 1932’s “Grand Hotel” that a film with fewer than four nominations (“CODA” has three) took best picture. 

Some predictions this year have been wildly off, though, so other nominees like Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” could still pull off an upset. 

How much will COVID-19 drag down the party? 

Last year’s Oscars decamped to Union Station for an intimate show with a small number of attendees and lots of social distancing. This year, a full stage show and red carpet is planned, albeit with uneven COVID-19 protocols.  

Attendees are required to submit two negative tests and proof of vaccination. Those presenting or performing don’t have to be vaccinated but need recent negative tests. Masks will be in the mix, too, for attendees sitting outside the orchestra at the Dolby and for media on the red carpet. After numerous attendees contracted the virus after attending the March 13 BAFTAs in London, several nominees have been quarantining, including Branagh and “Belfast” co-star Ciarán Hinds. With infection and hospitalization rates way down, Los Angeles County is set to lift many virus restrictions for indoor events on April 1, five days after the Oscars. 

Will Will Smith win his first Oscar? 

Nominated twice before for best actor (for “Ali” and “The Pursuit of Happyness”), Will Smith appears a lock to win his first Academy Award. Smith’s performance as Richard Williams, father to Venus and Serena, in “King Richard” has remained the most likely choice throughout the season. And the speech by the exuberant 53-year-old star should be one of the most lively of the night. A win, though, will have to come over some formidable competition — including the actor who bested Smith’s “Ali” performance 20 years ago: Denzel Washington, a winner then for “Training Day” and a threat this time for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” 

Who’s set to make history? 

Many of the top awards could feature some major milestones. Ari Wegner, cinematographer of “The Power of Dog,” may become the first woman to ever win that award. Her director, Jane Campion, is also poised to make history. Campion, the first women ever nominated twice for best director, is set to become only the third woman to win the category. It would mark the first time the directing award has ever gone to women in back-to-back years, after “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloé Zhao won last year. 

Troy Kotsur of “CODA” is in line to be the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar. His widely expected win would make him and his “CODA” co-star Marlee Matlin the only deaf actors to land Academy Awards. And supporting actress, which Ariana DeBose seemingly has sewn up for her breakthrough role in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” may see the first Afro-Latina and openly LGBTQ actor win in the category. A win for DeBose would come 60 years after Rita Moreno won for the same role, Anita, in the 1961 original. That would be the third time that two actors have won for playing the same role, following Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, and Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro as Vito Corleone. But we’ll have to wait and see if DeBose’s “West Side Story” co-star Rachel Zegler is there to cheer her on. 
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Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and other nominees for best original song will perform at Sunday’s Oscars, the show’s producers announced Tuesday.

Beyoncé will perform her nominated song “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” and Eilish and her brother and co-writer Finneas will perform “No Time To Die” from the James Bond film of the same name. 

Sebastián Yatra will perform “Dos Oruguitas,” the nominated song from “Encanto” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

Reba McEntire will sing writer Diane Warren’s “Somehow You Do” from the film “Four Good Days.” 

Van Morrison, who wrote and sings the nominated song “Down to Joy” from “Belfast,” will not be able to make the show because of his touring schedule. The song will not be performed. 

The original song Academy Award goes to the songwriter, not the artist who performs it, and whoever wins this year will get their first Oscar. 

That includes Beyoncé, a 28-time Grammy winner, who co-wrote “Be Alive” with Dixson. 

Warren was nominated this year for the 13th time but is still seeking her first win.

Miranda will join the elite “EGOT” club of winners of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony should “Dos Oruguitas” win. The song was tapped as the Oscar submission from “Encanto” before another Miranda-penned song from the Disney movie, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” became a runaway hit. 

The Oscars are returning to Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre after the pandemic sent the show to Union Station for a smaller, more intimate ceremony last year. 
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Russian and Belarusian swimmers, divers, water polo players and artistic swimmers will no longer be able to compete in the upcoming world championships over the war in Ukraine, swimming’s governing body announced Wednesday. 

Soon after the invasion, swimming’s governing body, FINA, said it would allow the swimmers to compete, but as neutral athletes who didn’t use national symbols. 

“Following the review of an independent risk assessment, the FINA Bureau met today and confirmed that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus will not take part (in the world championships),” FINA said. 

“FINA maintains its strongest condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” it said in a press release. 

The world championships will be held in Hungary in June. 

In the last world championships held in 2019, Russia got the third most medals after the United States and China. 

FINA also said it was investigating double Olympic backstroke champion Yevgeny Rylov over his alleged participation in a pro-Putin rally in Moscow last week. 

Governing bodies for many sports, including soccer, track, gymnastics, skiing and ice skating, have taken measures to ban or restrict Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing. 

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press. 

 
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“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler may get her Oscars moment after all. The 20-year-old actor has been invited to be a presenter at the ceremony, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter. 

The gesture came two days after Zegler, who plays Maria, posted on social media that she had not been invited to the awards and would be rooting for “West Side Story” from her couch. The Steven Spielberg film is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director and supporting actress for Ariana DeBose, who is expected to win. 

The post drew a lot of attention online as many couldn’t fathom why the lead of a best picture nominee wouldn’t have been invited to the ceremony or at least been asked to present an award. 

“I hope some last minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess,” Zegler wrote on Instagram Sunday. “Thanks for all the shock and outrage — I’m disappointed, too. But that’s OK. So proud of our movie.” 

Next role: Snow White

Best picture nominees are allotted a certain number of tickets by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which the film’s studio then doles out as they see fit. 

Presenters and individual nominees get a pair of tickets. And other spots in the room go to the broadcaster, sponsors and academy members, who can enter a lottery. 

Zegler is not nominated, but her next big role is as Snow White, which she is currently filming in London. Some wondered why The Walt Disney Co., which owns Oscars broadcaster ABC, wouldn’t want their new Snow White there in some capacity, like presenting or performing. Others saw it as a missed opportunity to have a rising young Latina star represented at the show. 

Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in the 1961 “West Side Story” and is a voting member of the Academy, tweeted that it was the Academy’s, “duty to find Rachel a seat at the Oscars. … When they say representation matters, this is what that means. Please do right by her.” 

Alec Baldwin tweeted that he would buy Zegler two tickets to the show. 

And “One Day at a Time” showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett tweeted at ABC and the Academy, “How about the rare time that Latine people have a movie nominated for an OSCAR you invite the lead. Latine people are 18.5% of this country. ENOUGH!” 

Tickets hard to get

Oscars tickets are always hot commodities, and this year are even more limited than usual because of efforts to maintain more space between guests to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Most Academy members have never gotten to attend. 

And the outrage has only intensified as more and more presenters with limited connections to the nominated movies or the movie business at all are announced. On Monday, producers revealed that DJ Khaled, Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater and Shaun White would all be presenting awards at the show, which will be broadcast live on ABC on Sunday starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. 

News of Zegler’s invitation to present came Tuesday afternoon. Zegler has yet to comment and it is still unclear if she’ll be able to attend on this short notice and with her Snow White production schedule. 

Representatives for the Academy, Disney and Zegler did not respond immediately to requests for comment. 
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An Oscar-nominated Danish documentary chronicling a gay Afghan refugee’s perilous journey to Europe tries to show that being a refugee is what happens to you, not who you are, its director told AFP.

“Flee,” an animated film which is up for three Academy Awards, is in the spotlight ahead of Sunday’s Oscars ceremony as the world witnesses another mass exodus, the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country.

“I really hope that we can give some nuance and some perspective,” director Jonas Poher Rasmussen told AFP in an interview held on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Being a refugee is not an identity. It’s a circumstance of life.”

In 2015, “we had Syrian refugees on the highways here in Denmark, and all over Europe. And I felt a need to give these people a human face,” he said.

The idea for the documentary stemmed from a conversation between the 40-year-old director and his childhood friend, dubbed “Amin” in the movie to protect his identity.

Amin arrived as a teenage refugee in Rasmussen’s small village near Copenhagen in 1996.

“The story is told from inside a friendship,” Rasmussen said. In the beginning, “I didn’t think about making a political film.” But his perspective changed over the 10 years between the film’s conception and the start of production.

Combining 2D, sketch animation and archive newsreel footage, “Flee” is as much a reflection on the agony of a refugee’s flight as the universal theme of man’s quest for a place in the world.

“I think people can really relate to the universality of the story,” Rasmussen said. “Most people at some point of their life look for that place where they feel they can be, honestly, who they are.”

The film also evokes parallels with the Taliban’s seizure of power again in Afghanistan last summer.

As a young boy and teenager in the 1980s and 1990s, Amin donned his sister’s dresses and later fantasized about secret crushes, such as Hollywood muscleman Jean-Claude Van Damme.

But he was not able to freely express his homosexuality.

His situation grew even more untenable with the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan in 1990s.

“It’s really a story about someone who’s had to flee himself all his life,” said Rasmussen. It is “about looking for a place in the world where you can be who you are, with everything that entails, with your sexuality, with your past, and everything else.”

Amin spent years not daring to speak about his past and his secrets, building up walls that prevented him from opening up to others.

Now married, he is thrilled that animation allowed him to tell his story incognito, without everyone he meets having to know his personal traumas and his innermost secrets, the director said.

“Flee,” which won the Sundance festival’s jury prize, has been nominated for three Academy Awards: best international film, best documentary, and best animated feature.

Ironically, Denmark is known for its ultra-restrictive immigration policy, even if it has eased its curbs during the Ukraine crisis.

Rasmussen said he was surprised by the success of “Flee.”

A former radio documentary-maker, he has made several other films, but the success enjoyed by his Danish contemporaries Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg has thus far eluded him.

This is his international breakthrough.

“At the beginning … our criteria for success was going to be a national TV broadcast here (in Denmark). And then the project grew and grew and grew and all of a sudden here we are with three nominations for the Academy Awards,” Rasmussen said. 
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As the war unfolds in Ukraine, the owner of Amazing Piñatas in Los Angeles, has found a creative way to help Ukrainian refugees. Originally from Nicaragua, Lorena Robletto tells VOA’s Verónica Villafañe why she wants to help.
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One million tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be sold for $26.50 (24 euros) each with availability for all 32 sports, organizers said Monday.

The Paris proposal to the International Olympic Committee sets the basic price lower than that of the 2012 London Olympics, where the tickets cost more than $31.

“This is something important for us,” Paris organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said. “This is a very strong promise to offer accessibility of everyone to Olympic sports.”

A centralized global sales program unveiled by Paris Olympics organizers calls for pricing nearly half of the 10 million total tickets at no more than $55 (50 euros).

For the 2024 Paralympics, prices start at $15.60 (15 euros), and about half of the 3.4 million tickets will cost no more than $27.50 (25 euros).

Paris aims to raise $1.22 billion (1.1 billion euros) in revenue — about 30% of its budget — from ticket sales, Estanguet said.

Hitting that target would lift ticket income for Paris above the $1 billion raised by London from more than 8 million tickets sold.

Tokyo organizers aimed for $800 million from ticket sales before the COVID-19 pandemic prevented fans from attending nearly all the events at the 2020 Games, which were postponed to 2021.

Fans wanting to secure tickets for Paris events can start toward the end of this year in a process overhauled to include buyers worldwide. Previously, tickets were sold in the host country and a network of agents worldwide handled sales elsewhere.

Estanguet said the new system should “limit the frustration” of people who previously specified their preferred tickets with no guarantee of getting them.

Instead, a two-month registration period will let prospective buyers sign up for a lottery that will allocate the winners a time slot next February of several hours to choose the tickets they want for multiple sports sessions.

“We can then guarantee that if you buy those tickets, you will receive them,” Estanguet said.

Single tickets for events will go on sale in May 2023, and a third sales phase will start toward the end of next year.

Estanguet said a new ticketing portal managed by French companies would also offer a resale platform.

Asked if discussions were made about limiting portal access for residents of Russia and Belarus because of the invasion of Ukraine, Estanguet said no decision was needed for several months.
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Final preparations are underway for the 94th Academy Awards and a long awaited return to Hollywood’s glamorous normalcy after a muted ceremony and ratings low last year. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2022 Oscars, including where to watch the live show, who’s expected to win and what the big controversies are this year. 

When are the Oscars?

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ABC. 

Who is hosting the 2022 Oscars?

Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes are taking the stage to co-host the ceremony, which has been without an emcee for the past three years. Producer Will Packer said each woman brings something different to the show. 

Who is presenting?

Show producers will continue adding names throughout the week, but at the moment stars expected to hand out awards Oscar night include Bill Murray, Lady Gaga, Kevin Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, Zoë Kravitz, Anthony Hopkins, Lily James, Daniel Kaluuya, Mila Kunis, John Leguizamo, Simu Liu, Rami Malek, Lupita Nyong’o, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock, Naomi Scott, Wesley Snipes, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Yuh-jung Youn, Ruth E. Carter, Halle Bailey, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Shawn Mendes, Tyler Perry, Tracee Ellis Ross, Stephanie Beatriz, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Garner, H.E.R., Tiffany Haddish, Tony Hawk, Elliot Page, Kelly Slater and Shaun White.

Which movies are nominated for best picture at the 2022 Oscars?

The 10 movies competing for best picture this year are: “Belfast”; “CODA”; “Don’t Look Up”; “Drive My Car”; “Dune”; “King Richard”; “Licorice Pizza”; “Nightmare Alley”; “The Power of the Dog”; “West Side Story.” Here’s the full list of 2022 Oscar nominations. (( https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022 )) 

What were the most surprising Oscar snubs?

There were a lot of surprises Oscar nominations morning. 

Some exclusions that stood out include Denis Villeneuve, whose “Dune” got the second most nominations (10) behind “The Power of the Dog” (12) including best picture, but who failed to get a directing nomination for himself. 

The best actress category was especially brutal this year, leaving out Lady Gaga for “House of Gucci,” Jennifer Hudson for “Respect,” Caitriona Balfe for “Belfast” and Renate Reinsve for “The Worst Person in the World.” 

What are the predictions for the winners on Oscar night? 

“The Power of the Dog” is the presumed frontrunner for best picture and best director, for Jane Campion, but there is also the possibility that “CODA” will take best picture, especially after it won at the Producer’s Guild Awards. Either way, it’ll be the first time a streaming service has won best picture. Other likely winners include Will Smith for best actor (“King Richard”), Jessica Chastain for best actress (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Troy Kotsur for best supporting actor (“CODA”) and Ariana DeBose for best supporting actress (“West Side Story”). 

What else can we expect from the Oscars?

Organizers have promised that they will keep the broadcast to three hours and Packer (whose films include crowd pleasers like “Girls Trip”) wants to make it as entertaining as possible while still honoring the nominees and winners. 

“The show will flow, not unlike a movie, in that there will be different themes and a different feel and different energy throughout the night,” Packer said in an interview with IndieWire. “It will not feel or look or sound like one show for three hours. It’s taking you through the course of this cinematic journey.” 

Best song nominees like Beyoncé, Van Morrison and Billie Eilish are also in talks to perform. 

Are there any controversies this year?

The Oscars are so high profile that every year someone is upset about something (especially when changes are involved) but this year the biggest controversy is over the decision to present some awards before the live broadcast begins and edit them into the show later. The eight awards are for shorts (live action, animated and documentary), editing, score, hair and makeup, sound and production design. The decision has its defenders, but also an army of high-profile detractors, including Campion, Villeneuve, Steven Spielberg, Chastain and Penelope Cruz. 

 
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The last musher has arrived in Nome, ending the 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race across Alaska.

Musher Apayauq Reitan of Kaktovik, Alaska, crossed the finish late Saturday night, winning the Red Lantern award and $1,000 for being the final sled dog team to reach the Bering Sea coastal community on Alaska’s western coast.

Reitan also extinguished the widow’s lamp on the burled arch that towers over the finish line, a tradition that means there are no other mushers on the trail.

The world’s most famous sled dog race started for 49 mushers March 6 north of Anchorage. The nearly 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) trail took them over two mountain ranges, along the frozen Yukon River and then along the Bering Sea ice on Alaska’s western coast.

Twelve mushers scratched, half of them on Friday during a vicious storm that hammered mushers with high winds as they attempted to make the final 77 miles (124 kilometers) to Nome.

Brent Sass, a Minnesota native now living in Eureka, Alaska, won the race Tuesday.
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“CODA” won the top prize at Saturday night’s Producers Guild Awards, giving momentum to the possibility that the small film could have a big night at next week’s Oscars.

The story of three adult family members who are deaf and a fourth who is not and seeks a singing career beat out bigger contenders including “The Power of the Dog,” “Dune” and “West Side Story” to take an award that — more often than not — goes on to win the Academy Award for best picture.

“This movie has been an amazing ride, it was such a special one to make, there was so much love and so much heart put into it,” said Fabrice Gianfermi as he accepted the award with his “CODA” co-producers Philippe Rousselet and Patrick Wachsberger at the 33rd PGA Awards.

An American Sign Language translator, who had been off to one side of the stage throughout the night’s speeches, stood front and center during the “CODA” acceptance and another stood in front of the stage to translate for the three actors from the film who are deaf: Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant.

“CODA,” an acronym for “children of deaf adults,” is nominated for three Oscars at the March 27 ceremony, including best adapted screenplay for writer-director Sian Heder and best supporting actor for Kotsur, who is expected by most to become the first actor who is deaf since Matlin in 1987 to win an Oscar.

After it won best ensemble at last month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards it began to appear “CODA” could get real consideration for best picture. The odds may be getting better. The top PGA award winner has gone on to win the top Oscar in three of the past four years and 10 of the past 13. Academy Award voting closes Tuesday.

The PGA Awards, an untelevised show from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles honoring producers of film and television, is as much like a company awards banquet as a typical awards show, with no speeches cut short for time or curses bleeped out.

Issa Rae, producer of “Insecure” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” accepted the guild’s Visionary Award.

Ninety-year-old Rita Moreno, star of the both the 1961 and 2021 versions of “West Side Story,” accepted the guild’s Stanley Kramer Award, which honors someone who has combined a career of artistry and activism.

“This business has taken tenacity and hard work,” Moreno said. “Advocating for issues of social justice for the last 60 years, it’s been exhausting, exhilarating and life-giving.”

Moreno said the night itself was both joyful and exhausting after taking the stage at 11 p.m. local time, nearly three hours into the show.

“I was really getting tired,” she said. “My buttocks are a bit sore.”

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, stewards of the “Star Wars” universe and producers of many other notable motion pictures, were honored for their careers with the PGA’s Milestone Award.

Presenter Steven Spielberg, whose films have been produced by both Lucas and Kennedy, called them “two titans” who are “still just like kids playing in a sandbox.”

Lucas acknowledged that his favorite achievement may not be the most popular among his peers, including the one who introduced him Saturday.

“The thing I’m the most proud of is digital cinema. That was something that I worked on for 20 years. Spent many many millions of dollars to make it happen,” Lucas said. “Some still don’t believe in it. Where’s Steven?”

Spielberg, standing in the wings, acted out the operation of a traditional film camera, to laughs from the crowd.

“But we’re all friends,” Lucas said.

“Summer of Soul” won the PGA’s documentary film category and “Encanto” won the award for animated movies. Both are also nominated for Oscars.

In the PGA’s television categories, awards went to the producers of “Succession,” “Mare of Easttown” and “Ted Lasso.”

Greg Berlanti, producer of shows including “Dawson’s Creek” and several series from the D.C. comic universe, was given the guild’s Norman Lear Award and was praised for advancing LGBTQ characters and storylines.

Outgoing co-presidents of the guild Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher were tearful as they expressed joy that they could finally see their gathered peers in person after two years during which the pandemic forced the show to go virtual.

They praised their fellow producers for keeping the industry alive during their tough tenure.

“Hollywood loves a comeback story,” Fisher said, “and boy, yours is one for the ages.” 
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