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Hollywood’s big movie night is upon us as the Oscars will be handed out at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles (from 1pm New Zealand Time).
It’s the evening when, this year, organisers are hoping there will be plenty of backslapping, rather than what went down at last year’s event.
Caught between a (Chris) Rock and a hard place, they’ve decided to revert back to the traditional single host in the form of the safe hands of US late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
That means only Matt Damon, who Kimmel has a long-running “playful feud” with, is likely to be the target of japes.
READ MORE:
* Oscars 2023: This year’s Best Picture nominees (and where you can watch them)
* Oscars 2023: The famous carpet isn’t red this year
* Oscars 2023: Who will win versus who should win
* When it comes to this year’s Oscars, more is more
To help you prepare for any lunchtime or afternoon water-cooler chat, Stuff to Watch has come up with a “cheat sheet” to make you sound like you’ve seen all the movies – and know what’s likely to unfold – today.
Danny Moloshok/AP
The 95th Academy Awards will be handed out on Monday afternoon (New Zealand Time).
The Host
The man who fronts Jimmy Kimmel Live! has previously emceed the Oscars in 2017 and 2018. No doubt he’s been chosen for being cool in a crisis, after he skilfully kept things together when all hell was breaking loose after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway received the wrong card when announcing Best Picture in 2017.
Kiwis might remember him for taking the mickey out of our beloved Shortland Street when he and Alec Baldwin parodied an infamous scene in 2017.
Uncredited/AP
The 10 movies up for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
The Best Picture Contenders
While there are a couple of flicks that virtually everyone has probably seen, it’s only very few who might have seen all 10 of the titles nominated for Best Picture. Here’s how to sum up each one in the few words (and, if you want to be extra swotty – there are links to Stuff to Watch’s reviews).
All Quiet on the Western Front: War is Hell – German Style.
Avatar: The Way of Water: Everything’s not so Smurfy on James Cameron’s Pandora once again.
The Banshees of Inisherin: Father Ted remade as Waiting for Godot. Colin Farrell is Father Dougal.
Everything Everywhere All At Once: A non-Marvel multiverse movie featuring the stars of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Halloween and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Elvis: Baz Luhrmann remixes The King.
The Fabelmans: Steven Spielberg revisits his childhood – this time without aliens.
Tár: Cancel culture hits classical music – starring Cate Blanchett.
Top Cruise: Maverick: Tom Cruise feels the need for speed – again.
Triangle of Sadness: The White Lotus – the European cruise ship edition.
Women Talking: #Me Too’s answer to 12 Angry Men.
Chris Pizzello/AP
Meet the Daniels: Scheinert, left, and Kwan, the directing duo behind Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Hot Favourites to Win
Best Picture: Everything Everywhere All At Once (with All Quiet on the Western Front and The Fabelmans as the dark horses).
Best Director: The Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once – the mavericks) or Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans – the veteran).
Best Actor: Brendan Fraser (The Whale – sentimental favourite) or Austin Butler (Elvis – because Hollywood loves a newbie and a musician biopic).
Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once – fan favourite) or Cate Blanchett (Tár – critics’ favourite)
Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once). Especially if his old mucker Harrison Ford presents the category.
Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everyhwere All At Once – because she gives the best speeches) or Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin – because she delivered the most memorable turn). Also don’t rule out the love for the imperious Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever).
Best Documentary: Navalny. Because since the Academy won’t give Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a slot, this is the best way to give the fingers to Vladamir Putin.
Best Animated Feature: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Because, well, everyone loves Guillermo.
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The second instalment of James Cameron’s space epic Avatar is expected to be the next step-up in visual effects, with each frame taking thousands of computer hours to render.
The One Award that could allow Kiwis to taste success
As has been our go-to for the past two decades, Best Visual Effects is where our interests lie today. Wellington’s Wētā FX were involved in three of the five nominees.
Avatar: The Way of Water: Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett.
The Batman: Anders Langlands.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: R. Christopher White.
The 95th Academy Awards ceremony will take place from 1pm this afternoon. Stuff will be live blogging both the big event the red carpet arrivals from late this morning.
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