This Sunday’s Oscars ceremony is expected to be the most uncertain in years, with “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” vying for best picture and a number of acting contests that are too close to decide.
Conan O’Brien will host a Hollywood ceremony with songs from “KPop Demon Hunters.” There will be a number of suspenseful revelations that will culminate in the announcement of the year’s finest film, which is still up in the air.
Variety’s awards columnist Clayton Davis stated that “we’re not going to know who’s going to win until the final envelope is opened for best picture.”
“Both have a huge opportunity in order to break multiple Oscar records,” he stated to AFP.
With a staggering 16 nominations, Ryan Coogler’s popular vampire period horror thriller “Sinners” has already created Academy Award history.
The blues-infused race allegory has an opportunity to surpass “Ben-Hur,” “Titanic,” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” for the most Oscar victories by a single film, which stands at 11.
In the 98-year history of the Oscars, Coogler, best known for “Black Panther,” may become the first Black person to win best director.
Speaking to many Oscar voters, Davis said, “He’s only the seventh ever nominated,” adding that “the love for Coogler is undeniable.”
However, “One Battle,” a bizarre thriller about a retired revolutionary searching for his teenage daughter, has long been the front-runner of 2018 awards season.
It received 13 nods and has the potential to surpass the record for the most victories overall, set against a chaotic backdrop of extreme violence, immigration raids, and white nationalists.
Despite being one of the finest directors of American cinema in the twenty-first century, Paul Thomas Anderson, the film’s director, has never taken home any of his eleven prior nominations for movies like “There Will Be Blood” and “Boogie Nights.”
According to Davis, the thrilling competition between two “popular movies that people will know at home” should boost viewership even though “Sinners” was the greater commercial success.
‘STEAMROLLER’
The amount of doubt surrounding the acting honors this year is very exceptional, even though suspense about best picture doesn’t happen every year.
Timothee Chalamet had long seemed certain to win best actor for his forceful ping-pong player “Marty Supreme,” a year after he almost missed out on the award with his eerie Bob Dylan portrayal in “A Complete Unknown.”
However, the 30-year-old golden boy’s chances have plummeted due to a string of foolish remarks, the most recent of which dismissed ballet and opera as art forms that “no one cares about.”
Just before the Oscars voting closed this month, Michael B. Jordan, star of “Sinners” who plays two roles as twin brothers, earned the significant Screen Actors Guild’s Actor Award.
“This is a movie star performance that we don’t get very often… he’s really two steps away from the finish line,” Davis remarked, adding that he does not rule out Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”) or Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle”).
Additionally, there are rewards for supporting acting.
Sean Penn’s humorous yet terrifying soldier in “One Battle” may earn him a third acting Oscar.
However, he faces veteran Delroy Lindo, who received his first Oscar nomination at age 73 for “Sinners,” and international arthouse star Stellan Skarsgard (“Sentimental Value”).
Amy Madigan could be rewarded with a rare horror villain part in “Weapons,” while “One Battle” rebel Teyana Taylor or “Sinners” hoodoo healer Wunmi Mosaku could be chosen as supporting actresses.
The sole certainty seems to be Jessie Buckley, who portrays the wife of William Shakespeare in “Hamnet.”
“It’s been the steamroller all season. That’s the one thing you could take to the bank,” stated Davis.
The Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” and the bizarre political thriller “The Secret Agent” from Brazil compete for the title of best international film, which is perhaps the most difficult to decide of all.
Barbra Streisand is reportedly singing a tribute to her co-star Robert Redford from “The Way We Were,” who passed away in September, as O’Brien returns to host the Oscars for a second consecutive year.
The Oscar-nominated song “Golden” from the Netflix hit movie will be performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, the vocal voices of the fictional girl group HUNTR/X in “KPop Demon Hunters.”
ABC and Hulu will broadcast the Oscars live starting at 4:00 p.m. in Los Angeles (7 a.m. on Monday in Manila).
