It’s been a bit of a weird run-up to the Oscars this year, what with the shadow of The Slap still hanging over it and the deployment of a crisis team to deal decisively with any untoward events. Added to which an unseemly squabble over the best actress nominees, in which a high-powered “grassroots” campaign on behalf of Andrea Riseborough ran into the film industry’s attempts to promote diversity, has cast a sorry pall over a portion of the proceedings. Meanwhile, reports suggest that the Academy has (again) knocked back a request by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to address the assembled throng.
With all that rumbling away in the background, what are the odds that an actual awards show might break out? The producers have played it safe by recalling Jimmy Kimmel as host, and are no doubt hoping to keep improving the TV ratings away from the calamitous pandemic-era trough in 2021. Lots of fancy names – Harrison Ford, Emily Blunt, Michael B Jordan – are filling out the presenters’ slots, but there’s no word on the return of #OscarsFanFavorite and #OscarsCheerMoment.
