‘The Favourite’ vs ‘Roma’
The films by Yorgos Lanthimos and Alfonso Cuarón have the most nominations for an Oscar award in the ceremony taking place in the early hours of the morning
If there were a statuette for the most checkered Oscars, this year would be nominated. First actor and comic Kevin Hart dropped out as the host over homophobia allegations in tweets he made years ago, making this year’s ceremony the first in 30 years without a presenter.
In Spain, the 91st edition of the Academy Awards will be broadcast on Movistar Estrenos, with the red carpet at 12.30am, and the gala itself at 2am.
Yet, the Hart controversy is just one incident dogging this year’s gala. The organisers gave up on the idea of announcing some winners in the commercial breaks to save time, as well as the idea of introducing a new popular film category to recognise mainstream movies. Kendrick Lamar pulled out of performing his nominated hit from the Black Panther film, All the Stars, and Lady Gaga’s protests of the decision to reduce the number of Oscar-nominated musical performances from five to two led the organisers to backpedal.
Despite the lack of a host, the ceremony will of course have lots of stars handing out awards, such as Jennifer Lopez, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlize Theron, Michael Keaton, Helen Mirren, Javier Bardem, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy and Jason Momoa.
As for the awards, the films Roma and The Favourite have 10 nominations each. Roma director Alfonso Cuarón knows what it is like to triumph at the Oscars, having won two for Gravity (2013), while The Favourite, a British black comedy set in the 18th century and directed by Greek Yorgos Lanthimos lags behind Roma with the bookies. Another comedy, Green book, starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, is nominated for five awards, while Vice and A Star is Born have eight each, with Black Panther up for seven.