After last year’s Covid-dogged TV ratings disaster, the 2022 Oscars arrive in the grip of a full-blown identity crisis. Will anyone watch, will it be too boring, are they dissing the small fry, too mean, too cuddly, too many hosts, not enough hosts…? It’s safe to say the organisers are walking a tightrope, with TV masters ABC reading the riot act on the one hand, and unsung industry figures furious about being denied their few seconds in the spotlight and planning protests.
Added to that are the usual PR shenanigans, with Power of the Dog director Jane Campion coming the most spectacular cropper so far, after copping a load of flak for appearing to knock the Williams sisters. It’s also not helping that Los Angeles is in the grip of a new Covid surge with one or two laying part of the blame on Bafta. Local regulations means that the participation of a number of high profile names is in the balance, pending tests.
So what do we know? Three main hosts have been “tapped”, as they say: Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer (the latter mildly embarrassing herself by pitching they get Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the show via videolink). There’s a whole ton of fancy presenters lined up, including West Side Story star Rachel Zegler who basically had to beg for a slot after no one gave her a ticket. On top of the customary performances from the song nominees (Beyoncé! Billie Eilish! Not Van Morrison, who says he can’t make it because he’s on tour!), the Oscars will see the first ever live version of smash-hit We Don’t Talk About Bruno, which wasn’t actually nominated. And hold on to your hats as two “popular” awards get their first run-out: the Oscars Fan Favorite and the Oscars Cheer Moment.
In terms of the wider significance of the show, this might be the moment that the upstart streamers finally break through and dislodge Old Hollywood. The best picture race looks like a straight fight between Apple’s Coda and Netflix’s The Power of the Dog; the trad studios’ best hopes are West Side Story and Belfast. (The latter in particular seems to have been steadily going back in the betting since its barnstorming audience award triumph at the Toronto film festival, which often presages a best picture win. But maybe not this year.)
Timetable
In the US: The E! channel gets things underway with its Brunch at the Oscars at 11:00 PT/14:00 ET, then moves to Live From the Red Carpet show at 14:00 PT/17:00 ET. ABC starts its live coverage with a retrospective On the Red Carpet warm-up at 10:00 PT/13:00 ET, before starting its Oscars Red Carpet live show at 13:30 PT/18:30 ET. Actual ceremony coverage gets under way at 17:00 PT/20:00 ET, and is due to finish at 20:00 PT/23:00 ET.
In the UK: The clocks going forward this weekend means the experience will be marginally less painful than usual if you want to watch live. E! will be doing its Live from the Red Carpet show from 22:00, and Oscars Night Live starts on Sky Cinema Oscars at 23:00. The awards show itself starts at 01:00 on Monday morning, wrapping up at 04:15.
In Australia: The red carpet show gets going on E! at 08:00 AEDT, but if you don’t have cable it will be starting on the 7Plus app at 09:30 AEDT. The full ceremony starts on Channel 7 at 11:00 AEDT, finishing at 14:00 AEDT.
Preparation
• Here’s the full list of who’s up for what – and what our chief critic Peter Bradshaw thought about it
• This is what Guardian writers had to say about the various best picture nominees
• Get a load of the Oscars’ catering arrangements
• What happened when the nominees got together for a spot of lunch
• The films that should have been there, but aren’t
• We’ve had some words with the awards contenders: Jane Campion, Olivia Colman, Kristen Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Kenneth Branagh, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Paul Thomas Anderson and Andrew Garfield. Knock yourselves out.
• Last year the Guardian only went and won an Oscar – have a watch of it here. We didn’t get nominated this time, but we did win a Bafta, which is just as good. So have a look at that as well.
Final predictions
Here’s what Peter Bradshaw is thinking, but let’s face it, who knows anything any more? Bearing that in mind, here’s our last best guess.
Best picture Coda
Best director Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Best actor Will Smith, King Richard
Best actress Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Best supporting actor Troy Kotsur, Coda
Best supporting actress Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Best original screenplay Belfast
Best adapted screenplay Coda
Best documentary Summer of Soul
Best original song Be Alive, King Richard
Best animated film Encanto
Best international film Drive My Car
It should be quite a night.
