This year’s Oscars had cinematic flair and a grand setting. Too bad they couldn’t reshoot that ending
There was no question that the 93rd Academy Awards, broadcast Sunday on ABC, would be unique. That’s just how it goes in these pandemic times. What you get is never what you’ve gotten, and what you get is what you get.
Not every COVID-19-conscious awards show has been successful, but generally speaking, they have been at least as good — and as frustrating, as tolerable, as overlong — as the pre-pandemic variety. And for better or worse, they have been unavoidably novel, having to invent new approaches to shows that for years and years have barely differed.
Where to watch all the 2021 Oscar winners, including best picture
It’s not too late to watch this year’s Oscar-winning films, even if you weren’t able to catch them before Sunday’s ceremony.
Why Anthony Hopkins wasn’t at the Oscars to accept best actor
When Anthony Hopkins was announced as the winner for his performance in “The Father” with no one there to accept it, the decisions by the production team led by Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins meant that not only did they not get the finale they were hoping for, they basically got no ending at all. Which led many to ask, where was Anthony Hopkins?
Too good to be true: Glenn Close dancing to ‘Da Butt’ at the Oscars was scripted
It seems only fitting that the star of “Hillbilly Elegy” — the butt of the 2021 awards cycle — would perform “Da Butt” dance during the Oscars telecast.
While playing a game of “name that song” during an unexpected break in Sunday night’s proceedings, actor Lil Rel Howery turned the spotlight on screen icon Glenn Close, who floored the crowd — and the internet — with her bootylicious dance moves.
Who didn’t love the Oscars at Union Station? People trying to get a COVID test, for one
While the likes of Glenn Close, Daniel Kaluuya and Zendaya were quietly escorted into Union Station on Sunday for the 93rd Academy Awards, a different kind of procession was unfolding around the corner: Angelenos struggling to find a COVID-19 testing site that had been relocated from the front of the transit station to the backside of the complex to accommodate Oscars festivities.
Netflix and Disney dominate Oscars in streaming’s biggest year
Netflix and Walt Disney Co. dominated the entertainment industry conversation in a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and streaming. So why should the Oscars be any different?
Key Oscar takeaways: ‘Nomadland’ wins best picture, as Hollywood looks to rebound from pandemic
Capping a year that few in Hollywood will ever forget, much as they might want to, the 93rd Oscars ceremony Sunday night delivered an impassioned message that, while the movies may be down, they are far from out.
Anthony Hopkins is the Oscars’ upset victor for best actor
Although the late Chadwick Boseman was considered the front-runner heading into the 93rd Academy Awards, the Oscar for lead actor went to Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) in an upset victory on Sunday.
With ‘Nomadland,’ Frances McDormand now has more lead actress Oscars than Meryl Streep
In what was widely considered the tightest race in this year’s acting categories, Frances McDormand won the lead actress Oscar for her role in “Nomadland.” The win, McDormand’s third as lead actress, puts her in second place for most victories in the category, behind only four-time winner Katharine Hepburn.
How ‘Nomadland’ won best picture
“I wouldn’t ask for it any other way, which goes with a philosophy I have a lot of faith in: Everything happens for a reason,” Chloé Zhao says of her film, starring Frances McDormand. “It brought people closer together.”
“Nomadland,” which won the Oscar for best picture Sunday, had that effect on people.
‘Fight For You’ from ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ wins Oscar for original song
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” won the Academy Award for original song at the 93rd Oscars on Sunday.
“I did not expect to win this award,” said H.E.R. as she took the stage at Union Station. “I am so, so, so, so grateful, not only to win, but to be a part of such an important, important story.
“Musicians, filmmakers, I believe we have an opportunity and a responsibility,” she continued, “to tell the truth and to write history the way that it was and how it connects us to today and what we see going on in the world today.”
The original song Oscar winners also include Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas, who collaborated with H.E.R. on “Fight for You.”
The other nominees were:
- “Hear My Voice” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), music by Daniel Pemberton, lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
- “Husavik” (“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”), music and lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
- “Io Sì (Seen)” (“The Life Ahead”), music by Diane Warren; lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
- “Speak Now” (“One Night in Miami...”), music and lyric by Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Oscar watchers not happy about lack of film clips
Early on in the Oscars ceremony, Laura Dern noted that some things would be different about this year’s pandemic-changed show. Audiences do often seem hungry for the academy to change things up. But not too much, apparently.
‘Two Distant Strangers’ Oscar winner highlights toll of police violence in America
“Today the police will kill three people, and tomorrow the police will kill three people, and the day after that, the police will kill three people,” said Travon Free, writer and co-director of the Oscar-inning live-action short “Two Distant Strangers.” “Because on average in America, the police will kill three people a day, which amounts to about 1,000 people a year. Those people disproportionately happen to be Black people.”
‘Soul’ wins Oscar for original score
“Soul’s” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste have won the Academy Award for original score at the 93rd Oscars.
“God gave us 12 notes,” said Batiste in accepting the award. “It’s the same 12 notes Duke Ellington had, Bach had. It’s the same 12. Nina Simone ... I’m just thankful to God for those 12 notes, man.”
The other nominees were:
- “Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard
- “Mank,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- “Minari,” Emile Mosseri
- “News of the World,” James Newton Howard
- “Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
‘Sound of Metal’ wins Oscar for film editing
“Sound of Metal” won the Oscar for film editing at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday.
Film editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen took the stage at Union Station to thank his family, “Sound of Metal” director Darius Marder and the Deaf community as he accepted the award.
He also credited Denmark for its “bold” funding of the Danish film school, allowing students “to develop our craft and language for four years.”
The other nominees were:
- “The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos
- “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao
- “Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten
At the Oscars, Aaron Sorkin and Paulina Porizkova make it red carpet official as a couple
There’s a new power couple in Hollywood: writer Aaron Sorkin and supermodel Paulina Porizkova.
The two made it red carpet official Sunday at the 2021 Oscars, where Sorkin was nominated for original screenplay for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”
‘Mank’ wins Oscar for production design
“Mank” won the Oscar for production design at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday.
“When I was young I never realized this was a career that was even a possibility,” said set decorator Jan Pascale in accepting the award. “There were so many people that helped me along the way and guided me and I’m so grateful to all of them. Especially to my wife Louise, who inspires me every day.”
Production designer Donald Graham Burt is also part of “Mank’s” winning team.
The other nominees were:
- “The Father,” Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone
- “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton
- “News of the World,” David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan
- “Tenet,” Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas
‘If Anything Happens I Love You’ Oscar win turns spotlight on gun violence
On Hollywood’s biggest night the filmmakers behind animated short winner “If Anything Happens I Love You” dedicated their Oscar to victims of America’s ongoing gun violence epidemic.
“We dedicate this film to all those who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence,” said Will McCormack, who co-wrote and co-directed the 12-minute short with Michael Govier. “We deserve better than to live in a country where more than 100 people die by gun violence every single day.”
The lasting devastation of gun violence lies at the heart of “If Anything Happens I Love You,” which uses animated shadows to illustrate the emotions of an estranged couple forever altered by the tragic loss of their daughter.
The film, released by Netflix, is one of several Oscar-nominated shorts this year to grapple with difficult and urgent social issues.
Said McCormack: “We deserve better, we must do better, we will do better.”
After 8 Oscar losses, Glenn Close is now tied as the most nominated actor without a win
Actress Glenn Close has it all: a career spanning more than 40 years, three Golden Globes, three Tony Awards and three Emmys. She just doesn’t have an Oscar. Yet.
Close received a supporting actress nod in the 2021 Oscars for her role as Mamaw in “Hillbilly Elegy,” bringing her career total of Academy Award nominations to eight. She is now tied with Peter O’Toole, who died in 2013, for most acting nominations without a win. (O’Toole won the noncompetitive honorary Oscar in 2003.)
‘Minari’ breakout Yuh-Jung Youn makes Oscars history as first ever Korean acting winner
Break out the Mountain Dew and raise a glass: South Korea’s Yuh-Jung Youn made history Sunday night, winning the supporting actress Academy Award for her role as the mischievous but wise grandmother Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung’s family drama “Minari,” her American film debut.
‘Colette’ wins Oscar for documentary short
“Colette” won the Oscar for documentary short at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday.
“This film is a tribute to women everywhere in the world, of any ages, who are joining hands [to] fight for justice,” said producer Alice Doyard when accepting the award.
Directed by Anthony Giacchino, “Colette” follows former French Resistance fighter Colette Marin-Catherine as she travels to a Nazi concentration camp, making her way to Germany for the first time in 74 years.
The other nominees were:
- “A Concerto Is a Conversation”
- “Do Not Split”
- “Hunger Ward”
- “A Love Song for Latasha”
What you need to know about ‘My Octopus Teacher,’ the Oscars’ documentary feature winner
And the 2021 Oscar for documentary feature goes to … “My Octopus Teacher,” Netflix’s oddly moving look at the relationship that develops between a man and a cephalopod.
Early 2022 Oscars contender? Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ gets first trailer
Tonight, tonight won’t be just any night — because the first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is finally here.
Disney’s 20th Century Studios unveiled its first look at the Oscar-winning director’s highly anticipated adaptation during Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast.
‘Soul’ gives Pixar its 11th feature Oscar. Here’s why co-writer Kemp Powers was not a nominee
Pixar does it again.
“Soul” won the Academy Award for animated feature Sunday night, making it the 11th film from the storied animation studio to take the prize since the category was created in 2002. But co-writer Kemp Powers was not nominated.
‘Sound of Metal’ wins Oscar for sound
“Sound of Metal” won the Oscar for sound at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday. The award was presented by the film’s star, actor Riz Ahmed.
Nicholas Becker accepted the award from abroad, while the members of the team who were in attendance took to the stage in Union Station.
“Fellini once said, ‘In the history of cinema, beyond the evolution of styles and techniques, what stays embodied in films is the human vitality,’” said Becker. “‘Whoever enjoys it receives the charge of energy, something pulsing and vibrant.’”
He attributed the positive reception of the film to the care, love and attention of the team.
In addition to Becker, the “Sound of Metal” sound team includes Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh.
The other nominees were:
- “Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
- “Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
- “News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
- “Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
Wait, what? Why Daniel Kaluuya’s Oscars speech thanked his parents for having sex
It’s not every day that you win an Oscar. So when it’s time to make the speech, every word counts.
That’s why it was a little jarring when Daniel Kaluuya, who took home the Oscar for supporting actor for his role in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” thanked his parents ... for having sex. Yes, really.
Short ‘Two Distant Strangers’ makes Oscars history. Here’s why it’s controversial
Compton’s Travon Free made history Sunday as the first Black filmmaker to win the Oscar for live-action short film.
Co-directed by Free and Martin Desmond Roe, “Two Distant Strangers” bested fellow nominees “Feeling Through,” “The Letter Room,” “The Present” and “White Eye.” Free also wrote the screenplay about a Black graphic artist (rapper Joey Badass) who gets stuck in a “Groundhog Day”-esque time loop that always ends in his killing by a white police officer (Andrew Howard).
‘Crip Camp’ team’s Oscar appearance marks ‘tipping point’ for disabled people
Diversity is about so much more than skin color, as evidenced by the 2021 Oscars red carpet, which on Sunday welcomed three people using wheelchairs — one of them with a service dog.
The trio were part of the team behind the nominated documentary “Crip Camp,” which tells the story of Camp Jened, a summer retreat in the Catskills where, from 1951 to 1977, many young people with disabilities first experienced the joys of community.
Why Chloé Zhao’s historic best director Oscar win matters
Nothing about Zhao’s filmmaking — observational smarts, fragmentary narratives, slow-building emotions, microscopic budgets, instinctive regard for the viewer’s intelligence — made her a natural candidate for Oscar glory. That’s why her triumph Sunday night is thrilling and no less remarkable for having been widely anticipated all season long. Her achievement is historic many times over.
Ann Roth is now the oldest woman to win a competitive Oscar
Ann Roth, who earlier this year had tied Agnés Varda and James Ivory as the oldest nominees in Oscar history at age 89, tied Ivory as oldest Oscar winner tonight when she collected the costume design prize for her work on the Netflix drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Florian Zeller thanks Anthony Hopkins, ‘the greatest living actor,’ as he accepts Oscar for ‘The Father’
Accepting the Academy Award for adapting his own 2012 play “Le Père” into the gutting family drama “The Father,” writer-director Florian Zeller gave thanks to star Anthony Hopkins, “the greatest living actor.”
“I wrote the script for him,” said Zeller, who shared the Oscar with collaborator Christopher Hampton. “To me he’s the greatest living actor and just the idea of working with him was like a dream. And I knew that it was not an easy dream to fulfill because I’m French, as you can hear. It was my first feature film and you know, it’s Anthony Hopkins.”
Hopkins, 83, is nominated for best actor tonight for his portrayal of an elderly man whose relationship with his daughter (Olivia Colman, up for supporting actress) provides a wrenching window into dementia.
How did a first-time director land Oscar winner Hopkins as his star? “Sometimes we close the door on what is possible and what is not possible,” said Zeller, thanking the actor for saying yes, “and I really wanted not to close the door and to follow my inspiration, my desire and my dream.”
“The Father” is up for six Academy Awards tonight, including best picture, editing and production design.
‘Ma Rainey’s’ hair and makeup team make history with Oscar win
The hair and makeup team behind “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson — made history when they were nominated for the Oscar, with Neal and Wilson being the first Black people recognized in the category. Now they have made history again as that category’s winners.
Read Regina King’s poignant speech that just opened the Oscars
“It has been quite a year, and we are still smack dab in the middle of it,” King said, beginning her poignant monologue with a reference to the recent conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty last week of murdering George Floyd.
The tragic story behind Oscar-winning international feature ‘Another Round’
Denmark secured its fourth Academy Award on Sunday night, this time for a life-affirming movie about friendship and alcohol as Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round” won the Oscar for international feature.
“Another Round,” or “Druk” as it is known in Danish, is an ode to life and all its perils. Its premise, though, is based on Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud’s theory that humans are born with an alcohol blood level 0.05% too low. In layman’s terms, “Another Round” tests the bounds of what it would mean to get drunk, and then stay drunk, at a consistent level every day.
Starring Mads Mikkelsen, “Another Round” pushes the bounds of such an experiment, taking viewers through an emotional exploration into escapism and humanity. The movie’s heavy topics took on an even deeper resonance after Vinterberg’s 19-year-old daughter, Ida, died in a car accident four days into shooting “Another Round.”
Emerald Fennell is the first woman to win a screenwriting Oscar since 2008
Emerald Fennell has won the original screenplay Oscar for her feature directorial debut, “Promising Young Woman,” the first female filmmaker to do so since Diablo Cody in 2008.
Regina King kicks off the Oscars with movie-quality opening credits
Who’s going to pull off the ultimate heist during the Oscars?
Regina kicked off the telecast of the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday, strutting into Union Station with a purpose as the extended credits for the show ran across the scene.
Nobody was going to get in the way of her mission.
She picked up an Oscar statuette along the way without missing a step, until she reached the stage. Then she had a small stumble before quickly recovering.
“Live TV, here we go,” she said to open the event.
H.E.R. brings some fight to ‘Fight for You’
Musically speaking, H.E.R.’s Oscar-nominated “Fight for You,” from “Judas and the Black Messiah,” is more or less a rewrite of Marvin Gaye’s early-1970s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”
But the 23-year-old R&B singer, who last month won a Grammy for song of the year with “I Can’t Breathe,” made a splash of her own at Sunday’s ceremony in a powerful and funky performance of “Fight for You” that she began from behind a drum kit and finished as a kind of visual tribute to “Judas and the Black Messiah’s” hero, the late Fred Hampton of the Black Panthers.
Matthew McConaughey (and the Oscars) want you! To go back to the movies
Matthew McConaughey wants your butt back in movie theater seats.
Holding court in front of Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse theaters, the 2014 Oscar winner led an Academy Award pre-show segment touting the impending return of movie theaters after the industry-wide closures and financial challenges wrought by the pandemic.
“Movie theaters! They employ over 150,000 Americans. They are the unsung heroes who help bring movie magic to the big screen,” he said, sharing the spotlight with testimonies of theater employees offering odes to the big screen and movie theater popcorn.
“Theaters are coming back,” promised McConaughey.
Hollywood’s studios joined the effort, lending footage from some of the industry’s biggest upcoming blockbusters, including “Fast 9,” Disney’s “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise,” MGM’s “No Time To Die,” and Warner Bros.’ “Space Jam,” “The Suicide Squad” and the space epic “Dune.” Many titles had been delayed due to COVID-19 and are now the industry’s biggest, brawniest draws as exhibitors hope audiences return to theaters this summer.
Eagle-eyed watchers noted one curious appearance in the #TheBigScreenIsBack video, a zombie tiger from Zack Snyder’s upcoming Netflix action pic “Army of the Dead,” suggesting the streamer will figure into the movement to get theaters back in business.
The Oscar song performances aren’t live. Is that a bad thing?
Was anything lost by having the nominees for original song pre-record their performances for Sunday’s show?
I’d argue that so far they’ve lacked the high-wire energy that a real live showing offers. It’s hard to shake the awareness, after all, that if one of these folks flubbed anything, they’d surely just do another take.
But Leslie Odom Jr.’s moving rendition of “Speak Now” — from “One Night in Miami,” in which he plays the gospel and R&B legend Sam Cooke — showed that that the not-before-an-audience setup could also yield dividends. His performance of this intimate acoustic soul tune felt like a private reverie in the best way.
You’ve been warned: There will be at least 5.5 hours of Oscar programming tonight
Get the popcorn, Raisinets and massive fountain soda ready: The 2021 Oscars are going to be a long, long televised event. Here’s the full (5.5-hour!) schedule:
The Oscars open with Sweden’s Adele and cute kids in fisherman sweaters
For an Oscars like no other, a (pre-) show opener like none in memory.
In the first of five performances of the tunes nominated for original song, Molly Sandén — a Swedish singer with pipes to recall those of Adele — beamed into Sunday’s Academy Awards from the tiny fishing town of Husavik, Iceland, to sing “Husavik (My Hometown)” from Netflix’s “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.”
And she didn’t beam in alone: Sandén, wearing an iridescent blue-green coat/gown, was backed by an adorable choir of children dressed in fisherman sweaters to deliver the over-the-top power ballad written by Rickard Göransson, Fat Max Gsus and Savan Kotecha for the Will Ferrell/Rachel McAdams comedy about the global pop song competition.
The performance was touching. It was dramatic. It was a true Scandinavian vibe on Hollywood’s biggest night.
Yes, there is an Oscars red carpet this year. We’ve got photos to prove it
After an awards season that started off with luxe loungewear seen from stars’ homes and hotel rooms around the world, we’re ending the journey with the Oscars on Sunday — and, in what might seem like a return to normalcy this pandemic year, there’s a red carpet.
We’ll be updating this red-carpet photo gallery as the evening goes on and the stars, guests and nominees arrive.
See yourself in iconic Oscars fashions
Thanks to augmented-reality technology, trying on an Oscar-caliber gown can be almost as easy as taking a selfie. We’ve looked back at the last half-century of Academy Awards fashion — the 1970s through the 2010s — and picked a single memorable look from each of those decades.
Oscars flashback: When Halle Berry won her historic Oscar, she was dressed in Elie Saab
Halle Berry won her historic Oscar 19 years ago in Elie Saab’s burgundy floral-embroidered dress, which propelled the Lebanese designer to global fame overnight. Since then, Saab has created a series of standouts favored by celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Hudson, Julia Roberts and Sandra Oh.
Forget the Oscar ratings. This is what will matter.
In any year, producing the Oscars telecast can be a thankless job. No matter how you trick it out, the show is three-plus hours of live television, essentially an endless succession of people reading lists and making acceptance speeches. Start playing off winners mid-speech to stay on schedule and people complain; let winners talk and people complain even more when the show runs long.
Last year, the biggest question the Oscars faced was whether or not “Parasite” would become the first non-English-language film to win best picture (it did, along with three other awards.)
This year there are so many questions it’s hard to know where to begin.
Oscars flashback: When celebrities, and the world, didn’t have to social distance
Once upon a time, celebrities wanted to discuss who they were wearing, and it was my job to talk to them about it.
This was long before the term “social distancing” invaded our daily vernacular courtesy of the pandemic.
This awards season, which is unlike any other, I’ve found myself reflecting on those brief exchanges with Hollywood’s biggest names, candid moments that live on in my memory and on old recordings — some so ancient they were documented on an iPod classic.
What’s at stake for the 2021 Oscars? More than just a few awards
In the run-up to the Academy Awards, Hollywood is normally bursting with excitement. Red carpets are vacuumed. Gowns are fitted. Speeches are nervously practiced in front of mirrors.
But, although much of that preparation has still been happening — the show, after all, must go on — the Oscars ceremony is taking place against a backdrop that is far from festive. With the film industry struggling to emerge from a pandemic that has upended business models and decimated balance sheets, the overall mood around town heading into the show, which will be held in person at Union Station, the Dolby Theatre and via numerous satellite hookups around the world, is more one of existential anxiety than razzle-dazzle celebration.
What time are the Oscars? Who is presenting? Everything you need to know
After a two-month postponement, the 93rd Academy Awards is almost here. The Oscars ceremony is set to be historic, with its most diverse nominations to date and an in-person ceremony that will not permit a Zoom option for nominees.
Here is everything you need to know about tonight’s Oscars ceremony.
Final predictions for winners in all 23 Oscar categories
The producers of this year’s Oscars have promised that the first 60 seconds of the show will “make your knees buckle.” As my knees have remained firmly in place for the many (so many) years that I’ve watched the Academy Awards, I cannot begin to predict what that moment might entail.
But I can comb through all 23 Oscar categories (yes, one fewer than previously as the academy has combined sound mixing and sound editing) and offer some thoughts. Keep the smelling salts handy.
Masks, a limited red carpet, more: How the Oscars are happening in person
Pandemic or no pandemic, the show must go on — and when it comes to Hollywood’s biggest night, Zoom just won’t cut it.
After pushing back the Oscars two full months, from the awards show’s usual perch in late February to tonight, the film academy is determined to put on as glitzy and glamorous a telecast as possible — red carpet twirls, teary acceptance speeches and all — while strictly abiding by the latest pandemic safety protocols.
Here’s how it has come together.