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Five Things to Watch for at the Oscars

Michelle Yeoh attends the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, US, February 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Michelle Yeoh attends the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, US, February 26, 2023. (Reuters)
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Five Things to Watch for at the Oscars

Michelle Yeoh attends the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, US, February 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Michelle Yeoh attends the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, US, February 26, 2023. (Reuters)

The 95th Academy Awards take place Sunday, with wacky multiverse movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once" leading the nominations with 11.

Late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel returns to host the Oscars for a third time. His first stint ended with the infamous mix-up that saw "La La Land" accidentally named best picture in 2017.

Assuming the correct envelopes are handed out this year, here are five other things to watch out for on Hollywood's biggest night:

Rihanna and 'RRR' but no Gaga

All five best song nominees are invited to perform live at the Oscars.

That means pop superstar Rihanna will grace the stage, just weeks after her long-awaited Super Bowl halftime show, at which she revealed she is pregnant.

She will sing "Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," while Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and "Everything Everywhere" star Stephanie Hsu will perform "This Is A Life."

Perhaps the biggest spectacle will be "Naatu Naatu," the infectious showstopper from India's "RRR," which has recently had audiences dancing in their seats in Hollywood movie theaters.

Sadly, there will be no Lady Gaga. Nominated for "Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick," she is unavailable as she is "in the middle of shooting a movie," Oscars producers say.

Lenny Kravitz will bring further stardust to the gala, performing music to accompany the annual "In Memoriam" tribute.

Best actress history?

This closely fought category is likely to buck tradition and break records.

If Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere") beats Cate Blanchett ("Tar"), she will become the first Asian woman to claim the best actress prize.

Should Blanchett win, she will become just the eighth actor in history to win three Oscars.

Meanwhile, Andrea Riseborough would surely be the most unlikely ever winner, having earned her nomination for obscure indie film "To Leslie" thanks to a controversial campaign by celebrity pals of the film's cast and crew.

Finally, there is the question of who presents the award.

Traditionally, it is the previous year's best actor winner.

Given Will Smith is serving a decade-long Oscar ban (see below), that doesn't seem very likely.

Slap chat

Just as it is impossible to write an Oscars preview this year without mentioning "The Slap," expect the ceremony to address the incident.

For those living under a rock, Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock on stage during last year's Oscars for cracking a joke about his wife.

Rock himself got the ball rolling last weekend, joking in a live Netflix special that he recently rooted for the slave master who beats Smith's character in his latest movie "Emancipation."

Oscars organizers say the plan is to "acknowledge it" -- presumably in Kimmel's opening monologue -- and then swiftly "move on."

But will the various presenters and winners be able to keep Smith's name out of their mouths?

Marvel-ous Bassett

Will Angela Bassett "do the thing?"

Before she became the subject of a viral meme -- courtesy of Ariana DeBose's cringeworthy rap lyrics at the BAFTAs -- Bassett was best known for her enviable acting CV.

With acclaimed films like "What's Love Got to Do with It" and "Boyz n the Hood," to name a few, it is surprising she has never won an Oscar.

It would be even more surprising if her first win came for a superhero movie.

But that appears a likely outcome, after her role as Queen Ramonda in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" earned the first-ever Oscar acting nomination for a Marvel film.

She will have to see off Jamie Lee Curtis ("Everything Everywhere") and Kerry Condon ("The Banshees of Inisherin") to pull off the win.

'All Quiet' makes noise

Karl Marx said history repeats itself -- the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.

He probably wasn't talking about the Oscars, but if "All Quiet on the Western Front" wins best picture, it will be the first film to essentially win Hollywood's biggest prize twice.

The original, English-language screen adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's anti-war novel won top honors way back in 1930, at just the third-ever Oscars.

Should this year's German-language version win, it will be Netflix's first best picture win -- just a year after Apple pipped it to become the first streamer to collect Hollywood's biggest prize.

If there is any film that can stop the "Everything Everywhere" juggernaut on Sunday, it's probably this one.

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Entertainment

‘Sinners,’ ‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Advance in Oscars Shortlists 

US film director Ryan Coogler poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the European Premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square, central London, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
US film director Ryan Coogler poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the European Premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square, central London, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
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‘Sinners,’ ‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Advance in Oscars Shortlists 

US film director Ryan Coogler poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the European Premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square, central London, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
US film director Ryan Coogler poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the European Premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square, central London, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)

Ryan Coogler’s bluesy vampire thriller “Sinners,” the big screen musical “Wicked: For Good” and the Netflix phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters” are all a step closer to an Oscar nomination.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released shortlists for 12 categories Tuesday, including for best song, score, international and documentary film, cinematography and this year’s new prize, casting.

“Sinners” and “Wicked: For Good” received the most shortlist mentions with eight each, including makeup and hair, sound, visual effects, score, casting and cinematography. Both have two original songs advancing as well. For “Wicked” it’s Stephen Schwartz’s “The Girl in the Bubble” and “No Place Like Home.” For “Sinners,” it’s Ludwig Göransson, Miles Caton and Alice Smith’s “Last Time (I Seen the Sun),” and Göransson and Raphael Saadiq’s “I Lied to You.”

The “KPop Demon Hunters” hit “Golden,” by EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick, was another shortlisted song alongside other notable artists like: Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner for “Train Dreams”; John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin for the “F1” song “Drive”; Sara Bareilles, Brandi Carlile and Andrea Gibson for “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from “Come See Me In the Good Light"; and Miley Cyrus, Simon Franglen, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for “Dream as One” from “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Diane Warren also might be on her way to a 17th nomination with “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless.”

One of the highest profile shortlist categories is the best international feature, where 15 films were named including “Sentimental Value” (Norway), “Sirât” (Spain), “No Other Choice” (South Korea), “The Secret Agent” (Brazil), “It Was Just an Accident” (France), “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia), “Sound of Falling” (Germany) and “The President's Cake” (Iraq).

Notable documentaries among the 15 include “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow,” “The Perfect Neighbor,” “The Alabama Solution,” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “Cover-Up” and Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a co-production between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline.

The Oscars' new award for casting shortlisted 10 films that will vie for the five nomination slots: “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners,” “Sirāt,” “Weapons,” and “Wicked: For Good.” Notably “Jay Kelly and “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” did not make the list.

Composers who made the shortlist for best score include Göransson (“Sinners”), Jonny Greenwood (“One Battle After Another”), Max Richter (“Hamnet”), Alexandre Desplat (“Frankenstein”) and Kangding Ray (“Sirāt”).

For the most part, shortlists are determined by members in their respective categories, though the specifics vary from branch to branch: Some have committees, some have minimum viewing requirements.

As most of the shortlists are in below-the-line categories celebrating crafts like sound and visual effects, there are also films that aren’t necessarily the most obvious of Oscar contenders like “The Alto Knights,” shortlisted in hair and makeup, as well as the widely panned “Tron: Ares” and “The Electric State,” both shortlisted for visual effects. “Tron: Ares” also made the lists for score and song with Nine Inch Nails' “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”

The lists will narrow to five when final nominations are announced on Jan. 22. The 98th Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air live on ABC on March 15.

Entertainment

Netflix Boss Promises Warner Bros Films Would Still be Seen in Cinemas

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos poses during the avant-premiere of TV serie "Emily in Paris" season 5, at the Grand Rex, in Paris on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Blanca CRUZ / AFP)
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos poses during the avant-premiere of TV serie "Emily in Paris" season 5, at the Grand Rex, in Paris on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Blanca CRUZ / AFP)
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Netflix Boss Promises Warner Bros Films Would Still be Seen in Cinemas

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos poses during the avant-premiere of TV serie "Emily in Paris" season 5, at the Grand Rex, in Paris on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Blanca CRUZ / AFP)
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos poses during the avant-premiere of TV serie "Emily in Paris" season 5, at the Grand Rex, in Paris on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Blanca CRUZ / AFP)

Netflix will continue to distribute Warner Bros. films in cinemas if its takeover bid for the storied studio is successful, the streaming service's chief executive Ted Sarandos said in an interview Tuesday in Paris.

"We're going to continue to operate Warner Bros. studios independently and release the movies traditionally in cinema," he said during an event in the French capital, while admitting his past comments on theatrical distribution "now confuse people".

Previously, Sarandos had suggested that the cinema experience was outdated, surpassed by the convenience of streaming.

The Netflix boss was being interviewed by Maxime Saada, head of France's Canal+ media group, in a Paris theater that was presenting Canal+'s projects for 2026, Agence France Presse reported.

Netflix only began to produce its own programs a dozen years ago, Sarandos explained, so "our library only extends back a decade, where Warner Bros. extends back 100 years. So they know a lot about things that we haven't ever done, like theatrical distribution."

In early December, Netflix announced that it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to acquire most of the group for $83 billion.

However, doubts remain about whether the deal will be approved by regulators, and in the meantime television and film group Paramount Skydance has made a counter-offer valued at $108.4 billion.

If Netflix's bid is successful, it would acquire HBO Max, one of the world's largest media platforms, and it would find itself at the head of a movie catalogue including the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings sagas, as well as the superheroes of DC Studios.

Entertainment

Donna Summer Is Posthumously Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Donna Summer. (Reuters)
Donna Summer. (Reuters)
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Donna Summer Is Posthumously Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Donna Summer. (Reuters)
Donna Summer. (Reuters)

There are giants, and then there is Donna Summer. The Queen of Disco and then some, known for such timeless tunes as “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Bad Girls,” “Dim All the Lights,” “On the Radio” and “She Works Hard for the Money,” has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the hall said.

Summer, who died in 2012 at age 63, was welcomed into the Songwriters Hall on Monday at a ceremony at The Butterfly Room at Cecconi’s in Los Angeles. It was led by Academy Award-winning songwriter Paul Williams. Summer's husband, Bruce Sudano and their daughters Brooklyn Sudano and Amanda Sudano Ramirez were in attendance.

“Donna Summer is not only one of the defining voices and performers of the 20th century; she is one of the great songwriters of all time who changed the course of music,” said Williams in a statement. “She wrote timeless and transcendent songs that continue to captivate our souls and imaginations, inspiring the world to dance and, above all, feel love.”

Summer's smooth blend of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco and electronica launched numerous chart-topping hits in the ‘70s and ’80s as well as three multiplatinum albums. She won five Grammys. She was unstoppable — both as a performer and a writer.

“It’s important to me because I know how important it was for Donna,” said Sudano in a press release. “The backstory is, with all the accolades that she received over her career, being respected as a songwriter was always the thing that she felt was overlooked. So, for her to be accepted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame I know that she’s very happy ... somewhere.”

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.

The annual Songwriters Hall of Fame gala does not usually include posthumous inductions; those are reserved for separate events.

Songwriter Pete Bellotte — known for his work with Summer on “Hot Stuff,” “I Feel Love” and “Love To Love You Baby” — is a current nominee for the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame class. “Love To Love You Baby” was co-written with Summer and producer Giorgio Moroder. One of Summer's best-known hits, the song has been sampled many times, including in tracks by Beyoncé, LL Cool J and Timbaland.

The 2026 inductees will be announced in early 2026.