Who will present?
Last year’s winners – Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Renée Zellweger – as well as Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno and Reese Witherspoon and Zendaya.
Are the Oscars the same as the Oscars?
Yes.
What should you watch out for?
This year could be the first time that all four acting categories have been won by color nominees. That’s exactly what happened at the SAG Awards this month, and Oscar voters have followed for five of the last 10 years.
When it comes to the films themselves, David Fincher’s black and white Old Hollywood biopic “Mank” on the making of “Citizen Kane” tops all films with 10 nominations, including best picture and best director. But it’s a crowded race in second place with six nominations each for “The Father”, “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “Minari”, “Nomadland”, “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” – All for the best picture, along with Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman”.
Who do you think will win?
Our projectionist columnist Kyle Buchanan has some guesswork, but there could be a number of wildcard winners this year.
Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer in August at the age of 43, appears to be on hold to take home another posthumous win as best actor for his final film role as trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. “Nomadland” has the inside trail for best picture after wins at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards (and best director’s wins for Chloé Zhao at every event), but a sleeper choice like “The Trial of the Chicago 7” or “Minari”, which was relegated to one of the best foreign language film victories at the Globes, might surprise us.
