The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) decision to present four Oscar awards during commercial breaks of the 91st awards ceremony has drawn severe criticism on social media. The Academy has been facing backlash ever since it made its announcemnet from fans and people hailing from the film fraternity including Best Director nominee Alfonso Cuaron.&nbsp; 
 
The four awards -- best cinematography, film editing, live action short and makeup and hairstyling -- will be announced during the ads and the winning speeches will edited to remove the winners' walk from their seats to the stage. Each speech will be aired separately later in the telecast. 
 
The decision has not gone down well with many, including filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, on social media. <a href="http://www.wionews.com/entertainment/oscars-best-actor-actress-nominees-to-get-usd-2000-worth-bottles-of-champagne-196966">Also read:&nbsp;Oscar's best actor, actress nominees to get bottles of champagne worth $2,000</a> 
 
Del Toro, who won the Best Director award for fantasy romance drama 'The Shape of Water' last year, tweeted, "If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but - Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself."

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If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but - Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/1095139999270367232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The filmmaker's post was retweeted by del Toro's Mexican counterpart, Alfonso Cuaron, who has received one of his Oscar nominations in the Best Cinematography segment for his black-and-white feature 'Roma' and is the frontrunner in the category.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/entertainment/oscars-2019-complete-list-of-nominees-192050">Check out the full list of nominees here.</a>

Cuaron, in a separate tweet, said it is not possible for cinema to exist without cinematography or editing.&nbsp; 
 
"In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing," he wrote.<a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/from-christian-bale-to-bradley-cooper-heres-what-oscar-best-actor-nominees-have-been-busy-with-192516">Also see:&nbsp;Christian Bale to Bradley Cooper, Oscars 2019 Best Actor nominees are a bunch of talent</a>

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In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing.
— Alfonso Cuaron (@alfonsocuaron) <a href="https://twitter.com/alfonsocuaron/status/1095296467244326913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Director Jason Reitman, the maker of films such as 'Juno' and 'Up in the Air', tweeted, "Editing is filmmaking. Say it ain't so, Oscars."

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Editing is filmmaking. Say it ain’t so, Oscars.
— Jason Reitman (@JasonReitman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonReitman/status/1095237859735269377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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For every young person who might watch the Oscars and dream of one day being an editor or cinematographer or make-up artist, I hope you enjoy all the musical numbers.
— Jason Reitman (@JasonReitman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonReitman/status/1095243384761896961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Mexican writer and director Issa Lopez wrote,"The fundamental role of @TheAcademy should be to recognise and showcase the talent and work of those who make movies better. By limiting the spotlight to those who already have it, it makes its core job null."

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The fundamental role of <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAcademy</a> should be to recognize and showcase the talent and work of those who make movies better. By limiting the spotlight to those who already have it, it makes its core job null.
— Issa López (@IssitaLopez) <a href="https://twitter.com/IssitaLopez/status/1095276929324904448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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One of the users pointed out to veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins' win for 'Blade Runner 2049'. He finally went home with the coveted award last year after being previously nominated 14 times. 
 
"So if we had these rules before we would have never seen Roger Deakins win his first Oscar. Such a terrible decision, you're supposed to be about celebrating movies, and cinematography and film editing are two of the most important parts of making a movie," the user said.

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So if we had these rules before we would have never seen Roger Deakins win his first Oscar. Such a terrible decision, your supposed to be about celebrating movies, and cinematography and film editing are two of the most important parts of making a movie.
— MSMartin (@MSMartin44) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSMartin44/status/1095087625705320449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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There were others with similar reactions.&nbsp;

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The Academy choosing to hand out the Oscar for Best Cinematography during a goddamn commercial break is just the latest hilarious misstep in what's shaping up to be one of the most ill-advised Oscars telecasts of all time.
— Scott Wampler™ (@ScottWamplerBMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottWamplerBMD/status/1095089607048351750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The only way to fix the Oscar controversy (of giving out 4 of the awards -- including cinematography and editing -- during the TV commercial breaks) is for the stars to say they won't show up for the show. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars2019?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars2019</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AllCategoriesMatter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AllCategoriesMatter</a>
— Jim The Screenwriter (@JimScreenwriter) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimScreenwriter/status/1095340298069143553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Soo... We're boycotting this year's Oscars, right? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PresentAll24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PresentAll24</a>
— Daga (@daga_broh) <a href="https://twitter.com/daga_broh/status/1095334742910631937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Academy president John Bailey, a celebrated cinematographer himself, had made the announcement in a letter emailed to the members on Monday. He also explained that the four delayed presentations will be streamed live online via Oscars official website. 
 
He said that the board of governors has committed to a three-hour show this year.&nbsp; 
 
At the annual nominees luncheon last week, this was one of the focal points emphasised by Bailey and the show's producers, Glenn Weiss and Donna Gigliotti. "When you head to the stage, move quickly. Show us how eager you are to get up there," Bailey said. 
 
He added the winners will have 90 seconds from the moment their name is called to reach the stage and complete their speech.

This year the ceremony will be livestreamed, which is a first for the Oscars. 
 
"And, with the help of our partners at ABC, we also will stream these four award presentations online for our global fans to enjoy, live, along with our audience.&nbsp; 
 
"Fans will be able to watch on Oscar.Com and on the Academy's social channels. The live stream is a first for our show, and will help further awareness and promotion of these award categories," Bailey said in the letter. 
 
The Academy has not yet announcement a replacement for Kevin Hart as the host of this year's Academy Awards and it is being presumed that the Oscars will be a hostless ceremony.&nbsp; 
 
(With PTI inputs)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) decision to present four Oscar awards during commercial breaks of the 91st awards ceremony has drawn severe criticism on social media.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) decision to present four Oscar awards during commercial breaks of the 91st awards ceremony has drawn severe criticism on social media. The Academy has been facing backlash ever since it made its announcemnet from fans and people hailing from the film fraternity including Best Director nominee Alfonso Cuaron. The four awards -- best cinematography, film editing, live action short and makeup and hairstyling -- will be announced during the ads and the winning speeches will edited to remove the winners' walk from their seats to the stage. Each speech will be aired separately later in the telecast. The decision has not gone down well with many, including filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, on social media. Also read: Oscar's best actor, actress nominees to get bottles of champagne worth $2,000 Del Toro, who won the Best Director award for fantasy romance drama 'The Shape of Water' last year, tweeted, "If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but - Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself." If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but - Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself. — Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 12, 2019 × The filmmaker's post was retweeted by del Toro's Mexican counterpart, Alfonso Cuaron, who has received one of his Oscar nominations in the Best Cinematography segment for his black-and-white feature 'Roma' and is the frontrunner in the category. Check out the full list of nominees here. Cuaron, in a separate tweet, said it is not possible for cinema to exist without cinematography or editing. "In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing," he wrote.Also see: Christian Bale to Bradley Cooper, Oscars 2019 Best Actor nominees are a bunch of talent In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing. — Alfonso Cuaron (@alfonsocuaron) February 12, 2019 × Director Jason Reitman, the maker of films such as 'Juno' and 'Up in the Air', tweeted, "Editing is filmmaking. Say it ain't so, Oscars." Editing is filmmaking. Say it ain’t so, Oscars. — Jason Reitman (@JasonReitman) February 12, 2019 × For every young person who might watch the Oscars and dream of one day being an editor or cinematographer or make-up artist, I hope you enjoy all the musical numbers. — Jason Reitman (@JasonReitman) February 12, 2019 × Mexican writer and director Issa Lopez wrote,"The fundamental role of @TheAcademy should be to recognise and showcase the talent and work of those who make movies better. By limiting the spotlight to those who already have it, it makes its core job null." The fundamental role of @TheAcademy should be to recognize and showcase the talent and work of those who make movies better. By limiting the spotlight to those who already have it, it makes its core job null. — Issa López (@IssitaLopez) February 12, 2019 × One of the users pointed out to veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins' win for 'Blade Runner 2049'. He finally went home with the coveted award last year after being previously nominated 14 times. "So if we had these rules before we would have never seen Roger Deakins win his first Oscar. Such a terrible decision, you're supposed to be about celebrating movies, and cinematography and film editing are two of the most important parts of making a movie," the user said. So if we had these rules before we would have never seen Roger Deakins win his first Oscar. Such a terrible decision, your supposed to be about celebrating movies, and cinematography and film editing are two of the most important parts of making a movie. — MSMartin (@MSMartin44) February 11, 2019 × There were others with similar reactions. The Academy choosing to hand out the Oscar for Best Cinematography during a goddamn commercial break is just the latest hilarious misstep in what's shaping up to be one of the most ill-advised Oscars telecasts of all time. — Scott Wampler™ (@ScottWamplerBMD) February 11, 2019 × The only way to fix the Oscar controversy (of giving out 4 of the awards -- including cinematography and editing -- during the TV commercial breaks) is for the stars to say they won't show up for the show. #Oscars2019 #AllCategoriesMatter — Jim The Screenwriter (@JimScreenwriter) February 12, 2019 × Soo... We're boycotting this year's Oscars, right? #PresentAll24 — Daga (@daga_broh) February 12, 2019 × Academy president John Bailey, a celebrated cinematographer himself, had made the announcement in a letter emailed to the members on Monday. He also explained that the four delayed presentations will be streamed live online via Oscars official website. He said that the board of governors has committed to a three-hour show this year. At the annual nominees luncheon last week, this was one of the focal points emphasised by Bailey and the show's producers, Glenn Weiss and Donna Gigliotti. "When you head to the stage, move quickly. Show us how eager you are to get up there," Bailey said. He added the winners will have 90 seconds from the moment their name is called to reach the stage and complete their speech. This year the ceremony will be livestreamed, which is a first for the Oscars. "And, with the help of our partners at ABC, we also will stream these four award presentations online for our global fans to enjoy, live, along with our audience. "Fans will be able to watch on Oscar.Com and on the Academy's social channels. The live stream is a first for our show, and will help further awareness and promotion of these award categories," Bailey said in the letter. The Academy has not yet announcement a replacement for Kevin Hart as the host of this year's Academy Awards and it is being presumed that the Oscars will be a hostless ceremony. (With PTI inputs)

Academy faces backlash from Hollywood as it decides to give technical Oscars during ad breaks

Hollywood’s biggest night is around the corner as The Academy released the list of nominees in 24 categories for 91st Oscars today.&nbsp;

Actors Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominees.&nbsp;

The Oscars 2019 will take place on February 24 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

The full nominations list:&nbsp;

Best Picture:

'Black Panther' 
'BlacKkKlansman' 
'Bohemian Rhapsody' 
'The Favourite' 
'Green Book' 
'Roma' 
'A Star Is Born' 
'Vice'

Lead Actor:

Christian Bale, 'Vice' 
Bradley Cooper, 'A Star Is Born' 
Willem Dafoe, 'At Eternity’s Gate' 
Rami Malek, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 
Viggo Mortensen, 'Green Book'

Lead Actress:

Yalitza Aparicio, 'Roma' 
Glenn Close, 'The Wife' 
Olivia Colman, 'The Favourite' 
Lady Gaga, 'A Star Is Born' 
Melissa McCarthy, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/oscars-2019-meet-the-nominees-192058#black-panther-192024">Also see: Meet the nominees of Oscars 2019</a>

Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali, 'Green Book' 
Adam Driver, 'BlacKkKlansman' 
Sam Elliott, 'A Star Is Born” 
Richard E. Grant, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' 
Sam Rockwell, 'Vice'

Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, 'Vice' 
Marina de Tavira, 'Roma' 
Regina King, 'If Beale Street Could Talk' 
Emma Stone, 'The Favourite' 
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite'

Director:

Spike Lee, 'BlacKkKlansman' 
Pawel Pawlikowski, 'Cold War' 
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite' 
Alfonso Cuarón, 'Roma' 
Adam McKay, 'Vice'

Animated Feature:

'Incredibles 2', Brad Bird 
'Isle of Dogs', Wes Anderson 
'Mirai', Mamoru Hosoda 
'Ralph Breaks the Internet', Rich Moore, Phil Johnston 
'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse', Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Animated Short:

'Animal Behaviour', Alison Snowden, David Fine 
'Bao',&nbsp;Domee Shi 
'Late Afternoon', Louise Bagnall 
'One Small Step', Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas 
'Weekends', Trevor Jimenez

Adapted Screenplay:

'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs', Joel Coen , Ethan Coen 
'BlacKkKlansman', Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee 
'Can You Ever Forgive Me?', Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty 
'If Beale Street Could Talk', Barry Jenkins 
'A Star Is Born'&nbsp;Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters

Original Screenplay:

'The Favourite', Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara 
'First Reformed', Paul Schrader 
'Green Book', Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly 
'Roma', Alfonso Cuarón 
'Vice', Adam McKay

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/entertainment/oscars-2019-black-panther-creates-history-becomes-first-superhero-film-to-get-best-picture-nomination-192061">Also see:&nbsp;'Black Panther' creates Oscar&nbsp;history, becomes first superhero film to get best picture nomination</a>

Cinematography:

'Cold War' 
'The Favourite' 
'Never Look Away' 
'Roma' 
'A Star Is Born'

Best Documentary Feature:

'Free Solo' 
'Hale County This Morning, This Evening' 
'Minding the Gap' 
'Of Fathers and Sons' 
'RBG'

Best Documentary Short Subject:

'Black Sheep' 
'End Game' 
'Lifeboat' 
'A Night at the Garden' 
'Period. End of Sentence.'

Best Live Action Short Film:&nbsp;

'Detainment' 
'Fauve' 
'Marguerite' 
'Mother' 
'Skin'

Best Foreign Language Film:

'Capernaum'&nbsp;(Lebanon) 
'Cold War'&nbsp;(Poland) 
'Never Look Away'&nbsp;(Germany) 
'Roma'&nbsp;(Mexico) 
'Shoplifters'&nbsp;(Japan)

Film Editing:

'BlacKkKlansman': Barry Alexander Brown 
'Bohemian Rhapsody': John Ottman 
'Green Book': Patrick': Don Vito 
'The Favourite': Yorgos Mavropsaridis 
'Vice': Hank Corwin

Sound Editing:

'Black Panther': Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker 
'Bohemian Rhapsody': John Warhurst 
'First Man': Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan 
'A Quiet Place': Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl 
'Roma': Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay

Sound Mixing:

'Black Panther' 
'Bohemian Rhapsody' 
'First Man' 
'Roma' 
'A Star Is Born'

Production Design:

'Black Panther': Hannah Beachler 
'First Man': Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas 
'The Favourite': Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton 
'Mary Poppins Returns': John Myhre, Gordon Sim 
'Roma': Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez

Original Score:

'BlacKkKlansman': Terence Blanchard 
'Black Panther': Ludwig Goransson 
'If Beale Street Could Talk': Nicholas Britell 
'Isle of Dogs': Alexandre Desplat 
'Mary Poppins Returns': Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

Original Song:

“All The Stars” from 'Black Panther'&nbsp;by Kendrick Lamar, SZA 
“I’ll Fight” from 'RBG'&nbsp;by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson 
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from 'Mary Poppins Returns'&nbsp;by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman 
“Shallow” from 'A Star Is Born'&nbsp;by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice 
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” fromThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs'&nbsp;by Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson

Makeup and Hair:

'Border' 
'Mary Queen of Scots' 
'Vice'

Costume Design:

'Ballad of Buster Scruggs' 
'Black Panther': Ruth E. Carter 
'The Favourite': Sandy Powell 
'Mary Poppins Returns': Sandy Powell 
'Mary Queen of Scots': Alexandra Byrne

Visual Effects:

'Avengers: Infinity War' 
'Christopher Robin' 
'First Man' 
'Ready Player One' 
'Solo: A Star Wars Story' 
&nbsp;

Hollywood’s biggest night is around the corner as The Academy released the list of nominees in 24 categories for 91st Oscars today. Actors Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominees.

Hollywood’s biggest night is around the corner as The Academy released the list of nominees in 24 categories for 91st Oscars today. Actors Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominees. The Oscars 2019 will take place on February 24 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. The full nominations list: Best Picture: 'Black Panther' 'BlacKkKlansman' 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 'The Favourite' 'Green Book' 'Roma' 'A Star Is Born' 'Vice' Lead Actor: Christian Bale, 'Vice' Bradley Cooper, 'A Star Is Born' Willem Dafoe, 'At Eternity’s Gate' Rami Malek, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Viggo Mortensen, 'Green Book' Lead Actress: Yalitza Aparicio, 'Roma' Glenn Close, 'The Wife' Olivia Colman, 'The Favourite' Lady Gaga, 'A Star Is Born' Melissa McCarthy, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Also see: Meet the nominees of Oscars 2019 Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, 'Green Book' Adam Driver, 'BlacKkKlansman' Sam Elliott, 'A Star Is Born” Richard E. Grant, 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Sam Rockwell, 'Vice' Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, 'Vice' Marina de Tavira, 'Roma' Regina King, 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Emma Stone, 'The Favourite' Rachel Weisz, The Favourite' Director: Spike Lee, 'BlacKkKlansman' Pawel Pawlikowski, 'Cold War' Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite' Alfonso Cuarón, 'Roma' Adam McKay, 'Vice' Animated Feature: 'Incredibles 2', Brad Bird 'Isle of Dogs', Wes Anderson 'Mirai', Mamoru Hosoda 'Ralph Breaks the Internet', Rich Moore, Phil Johnston 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse', Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman Animated Short: 'Animal Behaviour', Alison Snowden, David Fine 'Bao', Domee Shi 'Late Afternoon', Louise Bagnall 'One Small Step', Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas 'Weekends', Trevor Jimenez Adapted Screenplay: 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs', Joel Coen , Ethan Coen 'BlacKkKlansman', Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?', Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty 'If Beale Street Could Talk', Barry Jenkins 'A Star Is Born' Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters Original Screenplay: 'The Favourite', Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara 'First Reformed', Paul Schrader 'Green Book', Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly 'Roma', Alfonso Cuarón 'Vice', Adam McKay Also see: 'Black Panther' creates Oscar history, becomes first superhero film to get best picture nomination Cinematography: 'Cold War' 'The Favourite' 'Never Look Away' 'Roma' 'A Star Is Born' Best Documentary Feature: 'Free Solo' 'Hale County This Morning, This Evening' 'Minding the Gap' 'Of Fathers and Sons' 'RBG' Best Documentary Short Subject: 'Black Sheep' 'End Game' 'Lifeboat' 'A Night at the Garden' 'Period. End of Sentence.' Best Live Action Short Film: 'Detainment' 'Fauve' 'Marguerite' 'Mother' 'Skin' Best Foreign Language Film: 'Capernaum' (Lebanon) 'Cold War' (Poland) 'Never Look Away' (Germany) 'Roma' (Mexico) 'Shoplifters' (Japan) Film Editing: 'BlacKkKlansman': Barry Alexander Brown 'Bohemian Rhapsody': John Ottman 'Green Book': Patrick': Don Vito 'The Favourite': Yorgos Mavropsaridis 'Vice': Hank Corwin Sound Editing: 'Black Panther': Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker 'Bohemian Rhapsody': John Warhurst 'First Man': Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan 'A Quiet Place': Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl 'Roma': Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay Sound Mixing: 'Black Panther' 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 'First Man' 'Roma' 'A Star Is Born' Production Design: 'Black Panther': Hannah Beachler 'First Man': Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas 'The Favourite': Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton 'Mary Poppins Returns': John Myhre, Gordon Sim 'Roma': Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez Original Score: 'BlacKkKlansman': Terence Blanchard 'Black Panther': Ludwig Goransson 'If Beale Street Could Talk': Nicholas Britell 'Isle of Dogs': Alexandre Desplat 'Mary Poppins Returns': Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman Original Song: “All The Stars” from 'Black Panther' by Kendrick Lamar, SZA “I’ll Fight” from 'RBG' by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from 'Mary Poppins Returns' by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman “Shallow” from 'A Star Is Born' by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” fromThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs' by Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson Makeup and Hair: 'Border' 'Mary Queen of Scots' 'Vice' Costume Design: 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs' 'Black Panther': Ruth E. Carter 'The Favourite': Sandy Powell 'Mary Poppins Returns': Sandy Powell 'Mary Queen of Scots': Alexandra Byrne Visual Effects: 'Avengers: Infinity War' 'Christopher Robin' 'First Man' 'Ready Player One' 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

Oscars 2019: 'The Favourite', 'Roma' lead with ten nominations each; 'Black Panther' creates history

Seems like Brie Larson and her beau of over five years, Alex Greenwald, have decided to part ways.

The 'Captain Marvel' star and her fiance have reportedly called off their engagement, according to E! Online.&nbsp;

"They have taken a step back from their engagement for the time being but they remain close," a source told the magazine.

The two reportedly started dating in 2013, following which the 29-year-old Academy Award-winning actor got engaged to Greenwald in May 2016.&nbsp;

The latter had popped the question to Larson during a trip to Tokyo. Greenwald has also largely been absent from Larson`s social media.&nbsp;

Their last photo on her Instagram is from the end of November.&nbsp;

"Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste." #CharlotteBronte," Larson had captioned the shot.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BqiEYoADKSZ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.” #CharlotteBrontë</a>

<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brielarson/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Brie</a> (@brielarson) on <time datetime="2018-11-23T18:07:17+00:00" style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;">Nov 23, 2018 at 10:07am PST</time>
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Seems like Brie Larson and her beau of over five years, Alex Greenwald, have decided to part ways. The 'Captain Marvel' star and her fiance have reportedly called off their engagement, according to E!

Seems like Brie Larson and her beau of over five years, Alex Greenwald, have decided to part ways. The 'Captain Marvel' star and her fiance have reportedly called off their engagement, according to E! Online. "They have taken a step back from their engagement for the time being but they remain close," a source told the magazine. The two reportedly started dating in 2013, following which the 29-year-old Academy Award-winning actor got engaged to Greenwald in May 2016. The latter had popped the question to Larson during a trip to Tokyo. Greenwald has also largely been absent from Larson`s social media. Their last photo on her Instagram is from the end of November. "Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste." #CharlotteBronte," Larson had captioned the shot. View this post on Instagram “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.” #CharlotteBrontë A post shared by Brie (@brielarson) on Nov 23, 2018 at 10:07am PST ×

'Captain Marvel' star Brie Larson calls off engagement with Alex Greenwald?

Assamese filmmaker Rima Das' critically acclaimed film 'Village Rockstars is out of the Oscar race. The film was India's official entry in the Best Foreign Language films category. &nbsp;Iram Haq's Norwegian drama 'What Will People Say', starring Indian actors also did not make the cut.&nbsp; 
 
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Monday announced that nine films have advanced to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards, according to the official Oscars website. 
 
So far only three Indian films have been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. 'Mother India', 'Salaam Bombay!' and 'Lagaan' made it to the top five in the category at the Academy Awards, but none have won the honour.

Hopes were also pinned on 'What Will People Say', which stars Indian actors Adil Hussain and Ekavali Khanna. It is set in Pakistan and Norway and traces how a Pakistani immigrant family deals with its teenage daughter`s affair with a local boy in Norway.&nbsp; 
 
A total of 87 films had originally been considered in the Foreign Language Film category. Among the shortlisted ones are 'Birds of Passage' (Colombia), 'The Guilty' (Denmark), 'Never Look Away' (Germany), 'Shoplifters'&nbsp;(Japan), 'Ayka' (Kazakhstan), 'Capernaum' (Lebanon), 'Roma' (Mexico), 'Cold War' (Poland) and 'Burning' (South Korea). 
 
Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron is excited about 'Roma' making it to the list. 
 
"Made the shortlist of the Oscars for foreign language," tweeted the Academy Award winner, whose film is set in the early 1970s and is a semi-autobiographical take on his upbringing in Mexico City. 
 
The movie, available on Netlfix, is among the front-runners for an Oscar this year. 
 
The Academy also announced shortlists for the Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Make-up And Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects categories. 
 
Nominations for the 91st Oscars will be announced on January 22, 2019, over a month ahead of the Oscars ceremony which is slated to be held on February 24, 2019.

Assamese filmmaker Rima Das' critically acclaimed film 'Village Rockstars is out of the Oscar race. The film was India's official entry in the Best Foreign Language films category.

Assamese filmmaker Rima Das' critically acclaimed film 'Village Rockstars is out of the Oscar race. The film was India's official entry in the Best Foreign Language films category. Iram Haq's Norwegian drama 'What Will People Say', starring Indian actors also did not make the cut. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Monday announced that nine films have advanced to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards, according to the official Oscars website. So far only three Indian films have been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. 'Mother India', 'Salaam Bombay!' and 'Lagaan' made it to the top five in the category at the Academy Awards, but none have won the honour. Hopes were also pinned on 'What Will People Say', which stars Indian actors Adil Hussain and Ekavali Khanna. It is set in Pakistan and Norway and traces how a Pakistani immigrant family deals with its teenage daughter`s affair with a local boy in Norway. A total of 87 films had originally been considered in the Foreign Language Film category. Among the shortlisted ones are 'Birds of Passage' (Colombia), 'The Guilty' (Denmark), 'Never Look Away' (Germany), 'Shoplifters' (Japan), 'Ayka' (Kazakhstan), 'Capernaum' (Lebanon), 'Roma' (Mexico), 'Cold War' (Poland) and 'Burning' (South Korea). Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron is excited about 'Roma' making it to the list. "Made the shortlist of the Oscars for foreign language," tweeted the Academy Award winner, whose film is set in the early 1970s and is a semi-autobiographical take on his upbringing in Mexico City. The movie, available on Netlfix, is among the front-runners for an Oscar this year. The Academy also announced shortlists for the Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Make-up And Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects categories. Nominations for the 91st Oscars will be announced on January 22, 2019, over a month ahead of the Oscars ceremony which is slated to be held on February 24, 2019.

Oscars 2019: Indian film 'Village Rockstar' by Rima Das is out of the race

They may be the most money-minting films at the box office, but superhero movies have not managed to make it big at the Oscars and Joe Russo believes the "stigma" attached to the genre is responsible for the snub.

Joe, along with his brother Anthony Russo, has helmed blockbuster Marvel films "The Winter Soldier", "Captain America: Civil War", the upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War"&nbsp;and its sequel. The director said it is unfortunate that the genre is ignored in major categories but he understands the Academy's intention of highlighting movies which are unable to grab the attention they deserve.

"The Oscars in a way help support movies that haven't got a lot of attention or deserve more attention. Superhero movies actually don't require a lot more attention. But I do feel it has been unfortunate that superhero films haven't been included in main categories. There is a stigma towards the films. We are making these movies because we are trying to tell the best stories we can and we have a lot of incredible fans whom we want to satisfy with our storytelling. Our direct connection is with the fans," Joe said.&nbsp;

The director says superhero movies have more to them then just "saving the world" and through their films, they always try to deliver a relevant message. "I grew up a comic book fan and a movie fan. I like movies with thematics and I like the complicated, rich storytelling. I want to go and see films. And if there is something deeper I could pull out of it, I do it. For us, it is very important to have dimensions in our stories. The theme of this movie ('Infinity War') is also relevant. It is about what it costs to be a hero in a complicated world and to see value of the cost. And, all the heroes have to answer that question. That is something the audience will relate to," he said.

Joe said, with "Infinity War", they have again tried to do something different by telling the story of the villain - Thanos, not the heroes. "It was important for us to make Thanos, who has just been a guy sitting on a chair with few cameos... More dimensionalised and complicated. It was important for us to make the audience feel the anger and empathy towards him at the same time. And we try to make these movies different from each other."

"People will understand when they see the movie. For us, the hero is only as good as the villain. What Thanos is bringing to the film is so intense. The cost heroes will pay is so much. This is something fans will see for the first time in a Marvel film. It is his moment to shine. It is his story," he said.

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Karen Gillian, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt, the film releases on April 27. 
&nbsp;

Joe said, 'There is a stigma towards the films. We are making these movies because we are trying to tell the best stories we can and we have a lot of incredible fans whom we want to satisfy with our storytelling'

They may be the most money-minting films at the box office, but superhero movies have not managed to make it big at the Oscars and Joe Russo believes the "stigma" attached to the genre is responsible for the snub. Joe, along with his brother Anthony Russo, has helmed blockbuster Marvel films "The Winter Soldier", "Captain America: Civil War", the upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War" and its sequel. The director said it is unfortunate that the genre is ignored in major categories but he understands the Academy's intention of highlighting movies which are unable to grab the attention they deserve. "The Oscars in a way help support movies that haven't got a lot of attention or deserve more attention. Superhero movies actually don't require a lot more attention. But I do feel it has been unfortunate that superhero films haven't been included in main categories. There is a stigma towards the films. We are making these movies because we are trying to tell the best stories we can and we have a lot of incredible fans whom we want to satisfy with our storytelling. Our direct connection is with the fans," Joe said. The director says superhero movies have more to them then just "saving the world" and through their films, they always try to deliver a relevant message. "I grew up a comic book fan and a movie fan. I like movies with thematics and I like the complicated, rich storytelling. I want to go and see films. And if there is something deeper I could pull out of it, I do it. For us, it is very important to have dimensions in our stories. The theme of this movie ('Infinity War') is also relevant. It is about what it costs to be a hero in a complicated world and to see value of the cost. And, all the heroes have to answer that question. That is something the audience will relate to," he said. Joe said, with "Infinity War", they have again tried to do something different by telling the story of the villain - Thanos, not the heroes. "It was important for us to make Thanos, who has just been a guy sitting on a chair with few cameos... More dimensionalised and complicated. It was important for us to make the audience feel the anger and empathy towards him at the same time. And we try to make these movies different from each other." "People will understand when they see the movie. For us, the hero is only as good as the villain. What Thanos is bringing to the film is so intense. The cost heroes will pay is so much. This is something fans will see for the first time in a Marvel film. It is his moment to shine. It is his story," he said. Starring Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Karen Gillian, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt, the film releases on April 27.

Joe Russo on Oscars snub: There is a stigma towards superhero films

Priyanka Chopra has been a regular on the Oscar red carpet for the past two years. Which is why when the actress did not make an appearance on the red carpet this year, fans wondered why she had given the ceremony a miss.&nbsp;

There were earlier reports as well that suggested that Priyanka would also be presenting at this year&#39;s Oscars. Turns out, the actress was unwell and hence gave the award ceremony a miss.&nbsp;

In an Instagram story, the actress wished her friends luck and cited her bad health as a reason for missing the Oscars. &quot;I wish all my friends nominated tonight all the very best! So sick but wishing everyone from bed! Can&#39;t wait to know the winners! #oscars2018,&quot; Priyanka wrote, along with a selfie of herself.

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Priyanka Chopra gave the Oscars a miss because of her health. (Instagram)
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Priyanka, though had made a brief appearance while announcing nominees of this year in a video released by the Academy in January this year.

On the work front, Priyanka has two English films in the pipeline- &#39;A Kid Like Jake&#39; and &#39;Isn&#39;t It Romantic&#39;- both films are slated for release later this year. Reports also suggest that she is reading Bollywood scripts but hasn&#39;t officially given her nod to any project yet.

Reports earlier had suggested that the actress would be presenting an award this year.

Priyanka Chopra has been a regular on the Oscar red carpet for the past two years. Which is why when the actress did not make an appearance on the red carpet this year, fans wondered why she had given the ceremony a miss. There were earlier reports as well that suggested that Priyanka would also be presenting at this year's Oscars. Turns out, the actress was unwell and hence gave the award ceremony a miss. In an Instagram story, the actress wished her friends luck and cited her bad health as a reason for missing the Oscars. "I wish all my friends nominated tonight all the very best! So sick but wishing everyone from bed! Can't wait to know the winners! #oscars2018," Priyanka wrote, along with a selfie of herself. Priyanka Chopra gave the Oscars a miss because of her health. (Instagram) × Priyanka, though had made a brief appearance while announcing nominees of this year in a video released by the Academy in January this year. On the work front, Priyanka has two English films in the pipeline- 'A Kid Like Jake' and 'Isn't It Romantic'- both films are slated for release later this year. Reports also suggest that she is reading Bollywood scripts but hasn't officially given her nod to any project yet.

Here's why Priyanka Chopra did not attend the Oscar ceremony this year

As screenwriter James Ivory walked up on the stage on Sunday night to receive the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, he created history. Ivory is the oldest Oscar Winner in the history. 
This was Ivory&#39;s first win but fourth nomination.&nbsp; 
 
The 89-year old won the award for the film Call Me By Your Name. The writer-director-producer threw major support goal on the red carpet as well.Instead of going with the conventional white button-down shirt under his tuxedo, Ivory donned a white shirt with a twist -the face of 22-year-old star of the film, Timothee Chalamet printed on it. 
 
The romantic-drama had been nominated for three more awards, apart from Adapted Screenplay, in 2018 - Best Picture, Original Song, and Lead Actor.Interestingly, Ivory is also the oldest-ever BAFTA winner as well for the same movie.&nbsp;

As screenwriter James Ivory walked up on the stage on Sunday night to receive the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, he created history.

As screenwriter James Ivory walked up on the stage on Sunday night to receive the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, he created history. Ivory is the oldest Oscar Winner in the history. This was Ivory's first win but fourth nomination. The 89-year old won the award for the film Call Me By Your Name. The writer-director-producer threw major support goal on the red carpet as well.Instead of going with the conventional white button-down shirt under his tuxedo, Ivory donned a white shirt with a twist -the face of 22-year-old star of the film, Timothee Chalamet printed on it. The romantic-drama had been nominated for three more awards, apart from Adapted Screenplay, in 2018 - Best Picture, Original Song, and Lead Actor.Interestingly, Ivory is also the oldest-ever BAFTA winner as well for the same movie.

Oscars 2018: James Ivory becomes the oldest winner at 89

It was a night when Mexico and Me Too Movement got the most acknowledgment as Guillermo del Toro, Coco won big at the 90th Academy Awards. &nbsp;Del Toro won Best Director for his film Shape Of Water which also won the Best Film Award while Coco won the Best Animated Feature Film award along with Best Song.&nbsp; 
 
Academy in its own way made a statement which highlighted the importance of inclusion giving out a strong message the Donald Trump. The award ceremony also saw Frances McDormand delivering the best speech of the night as she went up on the stage to accept her Best Actress award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/oscars-2018-full-list-of-winners-34699">Here&#39;s the complete list of winners</a> 
 
In her acceptance speech, McDormand thanked her family and asked all the other female nominees to stand up. She also urged producers to back small and independent films 
&quot;I have two words to leave with you tonight, &#39;inclusion&#39; and &#39;writer&#39;,&quot; an emotional McDormand said.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-sridevi-shashi-kapoor-honoured-at-oscars-in-their-in-memorium-segment-34689">Also see: Bollywood stars Sridevi and Shashi Kapoor remembered at the Oscars</a> 
 
Veteran actor Gary Oldman took home the Best Actor award for his stupendous performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-oscars-2018-all-the-notable-looks-from-the-red-carpet-34659">Also see: Oscars red carpet</a> 
 
&quot;I would just like to salute Sir Winston Churchill, who has been marvellous company on what can be described as an incredible journey,&quot; Oldman told the Oscars audience on Sunday. 
 
Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel tackled Hollywood`s sexual misconduct scandal with jokes on a night heavy with nods to activism on issues ranging from LGBT issues and school shootings to sexism and racism. 
 
Gay romance Call Me by Your Name&nbsp;won best-adapted screenplay and racial satire &quot;Get Out&quot; won best original screenplay. 
 
A Fantastic Woman,&nbsp;Chile`s groundbreaking story about a transgender woman, played by transgender actress Daniela Vega, won best foreign language film. 
 
Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney took home their first Oscars for their supporting roles Three Billboards&nbsp;and independent ice-skating movie I, Tonya,&nbsp;respectively.

Del Toro won Best Director for his film Shape Of Water which also won the Best Film Award while Coco won the Best Animated Feature Film award along with Best Song.

It was a night when Mexico and Me Too Movement got the most acknowledgment as Guillermo del Toro, Coco won big at the 90th Academy Awards. Del Toro won Best Director for his film Shape Of Water which also won the Best Film Award while Coco won the Best Animated Feature Film award along with Best Song. Academy in its own way made a statement which highlighted the importance of inclusion giving out a strong message the Donald Trump. The award ceremony also saw Frances McDormand delivering the best speech of the night as she went up on the stage to accept her Best Actress award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Here's the complete list of winners In her acceptance speech, McDormand thanked her family and asked all the other female nominees to stand up. She also urged producers to back small and independent films "I have two words to leave with you tonight, 'inclusion' and 'writer'," an emotional McDormand said. Also see: Bollywood stars Sridevi and Shashi Kapoor remembered at the Oscars Veteran actor Gary Oldman took home the Best Actor award for his stupendous performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Also see: Oscars red carpet "I would just like to salute Sir Winston Churchill, who has been marvellous company on what can be described as an incredible journey," Oldman told the Oscars audience on Sunday. Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel tackled Hollywood`s sexual misconduct scandal with jokes on a night heavy with nods to activism on issues ranging from LGBT issues and school shootings to sexism and racism. Gay romance Call Me by Your Name won best-adapted screenplay and racial satire "Get Out" won best original screenplay. A Fantastic Woman, Chile`s groundbreaking story about a transgender woman, played by transgender actress Daniela Vega, won best foreign language film. Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney took home their first Oscars for their supporting roles Three Billboards and independent ice-skating movie I, Tonya, respectively.

Oscars 2018: Frances McDormand, Oldman, Shape Of Water win top honours as the Academy talks about inclusion

The star-studded event was certainly full of some fun moments backstage. Celebrities at the Oscars 2018 gave us a little peek at the backstage action as they shared their zestful moments with us.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/oscars-2018-live-updates-three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-34656">Follow the live updates on the Oscars 2018 here!</a>

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Backstage at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YasiinBey?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YasiinBey</a> <a href="https://t.co/b3OGpzmBj4">pic.twitter.com/b3OGpzmBj4</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/970489536647118849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Backstage at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/TiffanyHaddish?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tiffanyhaddish</a> <a href="https://t.co/a5mUuDvuuE">pic.twitter.com/a5mUuDvuuE</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/970497065896706049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Backstage at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/MayaRudolph?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mayarudolph</a> <a href="https://t.co/BctFzw4COf">pic.twitter.com/BctFzw4COf</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/970497178459258880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Backstage at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/AshleyJudd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashleyjudd</a> <a href="https://t.co/WV72GQUT9G">pic.twitter.com/WV72GQUT9G</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/970496788074455040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Backstage at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lin_manuel</a> <a href="https://t.co/BjFgebiMfC">pic.twitter.com/BjFgebiMfC</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/970501667585105920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Stars made full use of the video camera attached backstage and gave us a little insight into what goes on behind-the-scenes

The star-studded event was certainly full of some fun moments backstage. Celebrities at the Oscars 2018 gave us a little peek at the backstage action as they shared their zestful moments with us. Follow the live updates on the Oscars 2018 here! Backstage at the #Oscars with #YasiinBey pic.twitter.com/b3OGpzmBj4 — The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 5, 2018 × Backstage at the #Oscars with @tiffanyhaddish pic.twitter.com/a5mUuDvuuE — The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 5, 2018 × Backstage at the #Oscars with @mayarudolph pic.twitter.com/BctFzw4COf — The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 5, 2018 × Backstage at the #Oscars with @ashleyjudd pic.twitter.com/WV72GQUT9G — The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 5, 2018 × Backstage at the #Oscars with @lin_manuel pic.twitter.com/BjFgebiMfC — The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 5, 2018 ×

Watch: Stars delight backstage at Oscars 2018

There is an art to recycling -- especially if it&#39;s your winning dress for an event you have worn previously.&nbsp;

We are talking about Rita Moreno who looked elegant walking in her 1962 Oscar gown that underwent some changes to become her 2018 gown. Her black and gold dress was created in Manila and was strapless to start with but this time around she made it into a bustier that she paired with matching black gloves, and heavy accessories. She wore a black headband, a black and gold collar necklace, a chunky bracelet and earrings.&nbsp;

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Legend and badass Rita Moreno, wearing the same dress she wore to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oscars</a> in 1962. <a href="https://t.co/d5V7Pbyqiu">pic.twitter.com/d5V7Pbyqiu</a>
&mdash; Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) <a href="https://twitter.com/devancoggan/status/970438987704922112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Rita had earlier tweeted:&nbsp;&ldquo;Wait till you see what I&rsquo;m wearing!!!&rdquo;

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Wait till you see what I&#39;m wearing!!! <a href="https://t.co/X9oem3aPdO">https://t.co/X9oem3aPdO</a>
&mdash; Rita Moreno (@TheRitaMoreno) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRitaMoreno/status/968563567086665730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Interestingly, Rita won Oscar in 1962 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in film&nbsp;&quot;West Side Story&quot;. At the time, she told Ryan Seacrest:&nbsp;&ldquo;I would think it would tarnish.&rdquo;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-oscars-2018-all-the-notable-looks-from-the-red-carpet-34659" target="_blank">Also See:&nbsp;Oscars 2018: From best to worst, all the red carpet looks</a>

Rita is one of the just 12 people who hold an EGOT -- Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. For everything that happened at Oscars today, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/oscars-2018-live-updates-three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-34656" target="_blank">click here</a>.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Her dress was made of obi sash from the Philippines -- that is a traditional garb for Japanese women that accompany their kimonos

There is an art to recycling -- especially if it's your winning dress for an event you have worn previously. We are talking about Rita Moreno who looked elegant walking in her 1962 Oscar gown that underwent some changes to become her 2018 gown. Her black and gold dress was created in Manila and was strapless to start with but this time around she made it into a bustier that she paired with matching black gloves, and heavy accessories. She wore a black headband, a black and gold collar necklace, a chunky bracelet and earrings. Legend and badass Rita Moreno, wearing the same dress she wore to the #Oscars in 1962. pic.twitter.com/d5V7Pbyqiu — Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) March 4, 2018 × Rita had earlier tweeted: “Wait till you see what I’m wearing!!!” Wait till you see what I'm wearing!!! https://t.co/X9oem3aPdO — Rita Moreno (@TheRitaMoreno) February 27, 2018 × Interestingly, Rita won Oscar in 1962 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in film "West Side Story". At the time, she told Ryan Seacrest: “I would think it would tarnish.” Also See: Oscars 2018: From best to worst, all the red carpet looks Rita is one of the just 12 people who hold an EGOT -- Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. For everything that happened at Oscars today, click here.

Rita Moreno wore her same 1962 Oscars gown today

It has been 90 years since the Hollywood&rsquo;s biggest awards&rsquo; night, Oscars has existed and it&rsquo;s only grown bigger in scale.

From dictating sartorial choices on the red carpet that have gone to become trendsetters for the year, to making the right political and social appearance on the highly televised event -- Oscars is one platform no one can or try to ignore for the sake of its assembly every year.

As the world prepares for the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday night, we take a look at what the leading ladies of Hollywood who went on to win the Best Actress award at the gala in this decade, chose to wear while winning the coveted statuette for their best work in the respective year.

Winning actresses and their choice of dress this decade:

Sandra Bullock won for her role in The Blind Side

2010 was all about metallic shimmer as Sandra Bullock opted for a radiant Marchesa gown for the big night. The gown was metallic with sheer bodice and a figure-hugging skirt that had a small train for some panache. Bullock topped the look with some pink on her lips.

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Sandra Bullock won for her role in The Blind Side (Twitter)
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The year brought shimmer metallic to fashion like silver, gold. 

Natalie Portman won for her role in Black Swan

In 2011, as Natalie Portman won for her mysterious dark role in Black Swan, she stunned everyone at the red carpet with her choice of a purple gown from the fashion-forward brand, Rodarte. Glowing with pregnancy, Portman&rsquo;s dress also had an elegant neckline complete with strings of sequence and stones with neatly stitched dress material acting as a crisscross on the front, one that accentuated the growing baby bump. Side swept hair just added to the whole look.

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Natalie Portman won for her role in Black Swan (Pinterest)
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It made way for unconventional colours to take centre-stage.&nbsp; 

Meryl Streep won for her role in The Iron Lady

In 2012, Meryl Streep took home her third Oscar playing Margaret Thatcher in the movie while wearing an all-gold wrap-style dress from Lanvin. The dress had a dramatic neckline, which Streep carried with elan.

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Meryl Streep won for her role in The Iron Lady (Pinterest)
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The year gave new definition to wearing all gold. 

Jennifer Lawrence won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook

2013 saw Jennifer Lawrence stepping out in a gorgeous Dior gown featuring a strapless neckline and large mermaid silhouette at the hem. The pearl-white of the dress highlighted her natural skin colour and she let the dress do the talking by pulling her hair in a carefree bun.

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Jennifer Lawrence won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook (Pinterest)
</div>
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The year saw a rise in dramatic gowns of layered hems and everything extra!

Cate Blanchett won for her role in Blue Jasmine

Pairing a nude Armani Prive design, Cate Blanchett made everyone take notice in 2014. Her gown featured intricate floral embellishments throughout the bodice and skirt for a magical effect.

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Cate Blanchett won for her role in Blue Jasmine (Pinterest)
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It thus became all about tailored couture pieces for the year. 

Julianne Moore won for her role in Still Alice

In 2015, Julianne Moore chose a stunning Chanel design -- white column gown covered in sequins of the same colour with the interplay of some black and white floral appliques.

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Julianne Moore won for her role in Still Alice (Pinterest)
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The year furthered interest in couture, artisanal, time-taking pieces.

Brie Larson won for her role in Room

2016 saw Brie Larson receive her award in a royal blue Royal Gucci dress which she paired beautifully with a large, pearl-encrusted belt and matching earrings. The dress made everyone take notice of Larson&rsquo;s choice of clothing for the night.

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Brie Larson won for her role in Room (Pinterest)
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Blue actually came back to fashion, in the form of makeup colour for lips, nails, and of course dresses. 

Emma Stone won for her role in La La Land

In 2017, Emma Stone took home the award looking like a dancing queen in an ode to her character in the movie that won her the statuette. Her custom Givenchy Haute Couture gown was all about gold, shimmer, beads and crystals. The dress had beaded layering that made parts of her dress move as she walked.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/new-22-20180304112310.jpg" />
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Emma Stone won for her role in La La Land (Pinterest)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

The year brought attention back to beads, crystals and stonework on dresses. 

Now zooming into 2018, it waits to be seen what this year&rsquo;s winning actress would choose to wear, to pick up the Oscar.&nbsp;

Like every year, a number of actresses who have done commendable work in the previous year are vying for the Best Actress award

It has been 90 years since the Hollywood’s biggest awards’ night, Oscars has existed and it’s only grown bigger in scale. From dictating sartorial choices on the red carpet that have gone to become trendsetters for the year, to making the right political and social appearance on the highly televised event -- Oscars is one platform no one can or try to ignore for the sake of its assembly every year. As the world prepares for the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday night, we take a look at what the leading ladies of Hollywood who went on to win the Best Actress award at the gala in this decade, chose to wear while winning the coveted statuette for their best work in the respective year. Winning actresses and their choice of dress this decade: Sandra Bullock won for her role in The Blind Side 2010 was all about metallic shimmer as Sandra Bullock opted for a radiant Marchesa gown for the big night. The gown was metallic with sheer bodice and a figure-hugging skirt that had a small train for some panache. Bullock topped the look with some pink on her lips. Sandra Bullock won for her role in The Blind Side (Twitter) × The year brought shimmer metallic to fashion like silver, gold. Natalie Portman won for her role in Black Swan In 2011, as Natalie Portman won for her mysterious dark role in Black Swan, she stunned everyone at the red carpet with her choice of a purple gown from the fashion-forward brand, Rodarte. Glowing with pregnancy, Portman’s dress also had an elegant neckline complete with strings of sequence and stones with neatly stitched dress material acting as a crisscross on the front, one that accentuated the growing baby bump. Side swept hair just added to the whole look. Natalie Portman won for her role in Black Swan (Pinterest) × It made way for unconventional colours to take centre-stage. Meryl Streep won for her role in The Iron Lady In 2012, Meryl Streep took home her third Oscar playing Margaret Thatcher in the movie while wearing an all-gold wrap-style dress from Lanvin. The dress had a dramatic neckline, which Streep carried with elan. Meryl Streep won for her role in The Iron Lady (Pinterest) × The year gave new definition to wearing all gold. Jennifer Lawrence won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook 2013 saw Jennifer Lawrence stepping out in a gorgeous Dior gown featuring a strapless neckline and large mermaid silhouette at the hem. The pearl-white of the dress highlighted her natural skin colour and she let the dress do the talking by pulling her hair in a carefree bun. Jennifer Lawrence won for her role in Silver Linings Playbook (Pinterest) × The year saw a rise in dramatic gowns of layered hems and everything extra! Cate Blanchett won for her role in Blue Jasmine Pairing a nude Armani Prive design, Cate Blanchett made everyone take notice in 2014. Her gown featured intricate floral embellishments throughout the bodice and skirt for a magical effect. Cate Blanchett won for her role in Blue Jasmine (Pinterest) × It thus became all about tailored couture pieces for the year. Julianne Moore won for her role in Still Alice In 2015, Julianne Moore chose a stunning Chanel design -- white column gown covered in sequins of the same colour with the interplay of some black and white floral appliques. Julianne Moore won for her role in Still Alice (Pinterest) × The year furthered interest in couture, artisanal, time-taking pieces. Brie Larson won for her role in Room 2016 saw Brie Larson receive her award in a royal blue Royal Gucci dress which she paired beautifully with a large, pearl-encrusted belt and matching earrings. The dress made everyone take notice of Larson’s choice of clothing for the night. Brie Larson won for her role in Room (Pinterest) × Blue actually came back to fashion, in the form of makeup colour for lips, nails, and of course dresses. Emma Stone won for her role in La La Land In 2017, Emma Stone took home the award looking like a dancing queen in an ode to her character in the movie that won her the statuette. Her custom Givenchy Haute Couture gown was all about gold, shimmer, beads and crystals. The dress had beaded layering that made parts of her dress move as she walked. Emma Stone won for her role in La La Land (Pinterest) × The year brought attention back to beads, crystals and stonework on dresses. Now zooming into 2018, it waits to be seen what this year’s winning actress would choose to wear, to pick up the Oscar.

Oscars fashion: What the leading ladies of Hollywood wore in this decade

Just a little more than a day away, 90th Academy Awards will don an orange hue with A-listers planning to sport a special &lsquo;Wear Orange To Prevent Gun Violence&rsquo; pins in support of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety on the red carpet, according to a popular magazine.

This comes in the wake of a tragic school shooting on February 14, 2018, that claimed the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Florida.

Furthering their voice on an internationally televised event, celebrities have previously too, come out in support of teen-survivors of the shooting who have now turned into activists and organised &ldquo;March for Our Lives&rdquo;&nbsp;calling for gun control. George Clooney and lawyer-wife Amal Clooney&nbsp;donated $500,000&nbsp;in the name of their infant twins -- Ella and Alexander, to the event. Popular TV host Oprah Winfrey&nbsp;also donated the same amount to the fund.

While this year&rsquo;s Golden Globes turned black with whos-who of Hollywood turning up in <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/golden-globes-2018-updates-dressed-in-black-hollywood-stars-have-a-message-28820" target="_blank">all-black attire</a> and <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-times-up-reese-witherspoon-jennifer-anniston-meryl-streep-and-others-join-hands-to-fight-against-sexual-harassment-28305" target="_blank">Time&rsquo;s Up pins </a>to stand in support of sexually abused and harassed victims, Oscars 2018 will have notes of orange.

Let&rsquo;s see who all actually turn up for gun control in the United States among the popular names.

Hollywood celebrities will be making a statement with the pins like their Golden Globes' counterparts who chose to go black against sexual abuse and harassment

Just a little more than a day away, 90th Academy Awards will don an orange hue with A-listers planning to sport a special ‘Wear Orange To Prevent Gun Violence’ pins in support of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety on the red carpet, according to a popular magazine. This comes in the wake of a tragic school shooting on February 14, 2018, that claimed the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Florida. Furthering their voice on an internationally televised event, celebrities have previously too, come out in support of teen-survivors of the shooting who have now turned into activists and organised “March for Our Lives” calling for gun control. George Clooney and lawyer-wife Amal Clooney donated $500,000 in the name of their infant twins -- Ella and Alexander, to the event. Popular TV host Oprah Winfrey also donated the same amount to the fund. While this year’s Golden Globes turned black with whos-who of Hollywood turning up in all-black attire and Time’s Up pins to stand in support of sexually abused and harassed victims, Oscars 2018 will have notes of orange. Let’s see who all actually turn up for gun control in the United States among the popular names.

Oscars 2018: This is why stars are wearing orange pins on the red carpet

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Motion Picture Academy&rsquo;s 90th annual awards ceremony will be the pinnacle and culmination of the awards season.&nbsp;The Shape of Water&nbsp;leads this year&rsquo;s nominations with 13, followed by&nbsp;Dunkirk with eight and&nbsp;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&nbsp;with seven.&nbsp;

Here is the complete list of Oscar nominees:&nbsp;

Best Picture

Call Me By Your Name 
Darkest Hour 
Dunkirk 
Get Out 
Lady Bird 
Phantom Thread 
The Post 
The Shape of Water 
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director 
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk 
Jordan Peele, Get Out 
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird 
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread 
Guillermo del Toro, Shape of Water

Actor in a Leading Role 
Timoth&eacute;e Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name 
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread 
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out 
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour 
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Actress in a Leading Role 
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water 
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya 
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird 
Meryl Streep, The Post

Actress in a Supporting Role 
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound 
Allison Janney, I, Tonya 
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird 
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread 
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Actor in a Supporting Role 
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project 
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water 
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World 
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

 
Adapted Screenplay 
James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name 
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist 
Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green, Logan 
Aaron Sorkin, Molly&rsquo;s Game 
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound

Original Screenplay 
Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick 
Jordan Peele, Get Out 
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird 
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water 
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Animated Feature Film 
The Boss Baby 
The Breadwinner 
Coco 
Ferdinand 
Loving Vincent

Foreign Language Film 
A Fantastic Woman (Chile) 
The Insult (Lebanon) 
Loveless (Russia) 
Body and Soul (Hungary) 
The Square (Sweden)

Documentary Feature 
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail 
Faces Places 
Icarus 
Last Men in Aleppo 
Strong Island

Cinematography 
Roger A. Deakins, Blade Runner: 2049 
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour 
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk 
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound 
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water

Film Editing 
Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos, Baby Driver 
Lee Smith, Dunkirk 
Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya 
Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water 
Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

 
Production Design 
Beauty and the Beast (Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer) 
Blade Runner: 2049 (Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola) 
Darkest Hour (Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer) 
Dunkirk (Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis) 
The Shape of Water (Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin)

 
Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast 
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour 
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread 
Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water 
Consolota Boyle, Victoria &amp; Abdul

 
Makeup and Hairstyling 
Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour 
Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard, Victoria &amp; Abdul 
Arjen Tuiten, Wonder

 
Original Score 
Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk 
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread 
Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water 
John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi 
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

 
Original Song 
&ldquo;Mighty River,&rdquo; Mudbound 
&ldquo;Mystery of Love,&rdquo; Call Me by Your Name 
&ldquo;Remember Me,&rdquo; Coco 
&ldquo;Stand Up for Something,&rdquo; Marshall 
&ldquo;This Is Me,&rdquo; The Greatest Showman

 
Sound Editing 
Julian Slater, Baby Driver 
Mark Mangini and Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049 
Richard King and Alex Gibson, Dunkirk 
Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira, The Shape of Water 
Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

 
Sound Mixing 
Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, and Mary H. Ellis, Baby Driver 
Ron Bartlett, Dough Hemphill, and Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049 
Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landarker, and Gary A. Rizzo, Dunkirk 
Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, and Glen Gauthier, The Shape of Water 
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Visual Effects 
Blade Runner 2049 (John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover) 
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, and Dan Sudick) 
Kong: Skull Island (Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Mike Meinardus) 
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould) 
War for the Planet of the Apes (Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, and Joel Whist)

 
Animated Short Film 
Dear Basketball 
Garden Party 
Lou 
Negative Space 
Revolting Rhymes

 
Live Action Short Film 
DeKalb Elementary 
The Eleven O&rsquo;Clock 
My Nephew Emmett 
The Silent Child 
Watu Wote: All of Us

 
Documentary Short Subject 
Edith and Eddie 
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 
Heroin(e) 
Knife Skills 
Traffic Stop

The academy already made some historic choices with this year’s crop of nominees

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Motion Picture Academy’s 90th annual awards ceremony will be the pinnacle and culmination of the awards season. The Shape of Water leads this year’s nominations with 13, followed by Dunkirk with eight and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with seven. Here is the complete list of Oscar nominees: Best Picture Call Me By Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Director Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Jordan Peele, Get Out Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread Guillermo del Toro, Shape of Water Actor in a Leading Role Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Actress in a Leading Role Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Meryl Streep, The Post Actress in a Supporting Role Mary J. Blige, Mudbound Allison Janney, I, Tonya Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water Actor in a Supporting Role Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Adapted Screenplay James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green, Logan Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound Original Screenplay Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick Jordan Peele, Get Out Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Animated Feature Film The Boss Baby The Breadwinner Coco Ferdinand Loving Vincent Foreign Language Film A Fantastic Woman (Chile) The Insult (Lebanon) Loveless (Russia) Body and Soul (Hungary) The Square (Sweden) Documentary Feature Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Faces Places Icarus Last Men in Aleppo Strong Island Cinematography Roger A. Deakins, Blade Runner: 2049 Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk Rachel Morrison, Mudbound Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water Film Editing Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos, Baby Driver Lee Smith, Dunkirk Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Production Design Beauty and the Beast (Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer) Blade Runner: 2049 (Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola) Darkest Hour (Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer) Dunkirk (Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis) The Shape of Water (Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin) Costume Design Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water Consolota Boyle, Victoria & Abdul Makeup and Hairstyling Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard, Victoria & Abdul Arjen Tuiten, Wonder Original Score Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Original Song “Mighty River,” Mudbound “Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name “Remember Me,” Coco “Stand Up for Something,” Marshall “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman Sound Editing Julian Slater, Baby Driver Mark Mangini and Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049 Richard King and Alex Gibson, Dunkirk Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira, The Shape of Water Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Sound Mixing Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, and Mary H. Ellis, Baby Driver Ron Bartlett, Dough Hemphill, and Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049 Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landarker, and Gary A. Rizzo, Dunkirk Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, and Glen Gauthier, The Shape of Water David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Effects Blade Runner 2049 (John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, and Dan Sudick) Kong: Skull Island (Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Mike Meinardus) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould) War for the Planet of the Apes (Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, and Joel Whist) Animated Short Film Dear Basketball Garden Party Lou Negative Space Revolting Rhymes Live Action Short Film DeKalb Elementary The Eleven O’Clock My Nephew Emmett The Silent Child Watu Wote: All of Us Documentary Short Subject Edith and Eddie Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 Heroin(e) Knife Skills Traffic Stop

Oscars 2018: The complete list of nominees

Hollywood is set for a real-life cliffhanger Sunday at the Oscars -- the race for best picture is coming down to the wire to cap an awards season overshadowed by scandal over sexual misconduct in showbiz.

Dark crime comedy &quot;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&quot; has begun to pull away in late betting for the industry&#39;s biggest prize, but Oscarologists believe fairy tale romance &quot;The Shape of Water&quot; and socially-conscious horror movie &quot;Get Out&quot; will make it a photo finish.&nbsp;

&quot;I don&#39;t remember a year with so much uncertainty. There are at least four strong possibilities to win,&quot; Variety&#39;s awards editor Tim Gray said, adding Christopher Nolan&#39;s sweeping war epic &quot;Dunkirk&quot; to the mix.

&quot;I&#39;m guessing that &#39;The Shape of Water&#39; will win, but that&#39;s just a guess.&quot;&nbsp;

The 90th Academy Awards -- hosted for the second straight year by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel -- will be beamed live around the world by ABC from Hollywood&#39;s Dolby Theatre.

The show caps a difficult few months during which the industry has declared war on the pervasive culture of sexual impropriety unearthed by the downfall of movie mogul and alleged serial sex attacker Harvey Weinstein.

With the #MeToo and Time&#39;s Up campaigns against sexual misconduct and gender inequality dominating the 2018 awards circuit, this year&#39;s Oscars gala is seen as an opportunity for Tinseltown to support female filmmaking.

Greta Gerwig is only the fifth woman in Oscars history to be nominated for best director, but faces tough competition from Guillermo Del Toro, the runaway favorite for &quot;The Shape of Water.&quot;

There was also the first nod in history for a female cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, who shot Dee Rees&#39;s racial drama &quot;Mudbound.&quot;

Avoiding another flub

The Time&#39;s Up initiative is not planning a coordinated protest on Sunday -- like the striking red carpet &quot;blackout&quot; at the Golden Globes.

But leaders of the movement told journalists there would be &quot;a moment that&#39;s been carved out&quot; during the ceremony.

&quot;It&#39;s really important that you know that Time&#39;s Up is not about the red carpet,&quot; said powerhouse Hollywood producer Shonda Rhimes (&quot;Grey&#39;s Anatomy,&quot; &quot;Scandal&quot;).

&quot;And those women you saw on the red carpet representing Time&#39;s Up are now off the red carpet working their butts off being activists.&quot;

In another nod to the women&#39;s movements, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has tapped past winners Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster to present the best actress Oscar, according to Variety.

Traditionally, the previous year&#39;s best actor winner would present that statuette, but Casey Affleck, who triumphed in 2017 for &quot;Manchester by the Sea,&quot; withdrew under a cloud of sexual harassment accusations he denies.

One political statement on the red carpet may come in bright orange -- some A-listers will reportedly wear orange US flag pins in a call for tougher gun control.

Organizers are looking to rebound after last year&#39;s flubbed announcement by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway of the best picture winner -- the trophy was initially given to &quot;La La Land,&quot; when the actual winner was &quot;Moonlight.&quot;

In a surprise turn of events, Beatty and Dunaway have been tapped to present the same prize this time around, according to The Hollywood Reporter, although the Academy did not respond to AFP&#39;s request for confirmation.&nbsp;

McDormand, Oldman in pole position

&quot;The Shape of Water,&quot; a Cold War-set story of love between a mute cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature, tops the nominations with 13, although observers expect the spoils to be fairly evenly spread.&nbsp;

&quot;Dunkirk&quot; heads into Sunday&#39;s gala in second place with eight nods, while &quot;Three Billboards&quot; picked up seven.

Frances McDormand (&quot;Three Billboards&quot;) and British veteran Gary Oldman (&quot;Darkest Hour&quot;), who have dominated the awards season, are expected to bag the lead acting statuettes.

Disney-Pixar&#39;s &quot;Coco&quot; seems a near-sure bet to pick up the award for best animated film.

And &quot;A Fantastic Woman&quot; -- a love story from Chilean director Sebastian Lelio with a much-praised star turn from transgender actress Daniela Vega -- is tipped to win best foreign-language film honors.&nbsp;

The intermittent weekend rain is expected to taper off in time for Sunday&#39;s ceremony, but temperatures will be a bit cool as around 3,400 guests descend on Hollywood Boulevard.

The race for best picture is coming down to the wire to cap an awards season overshadowed by scandal over sexual misconduct in showbiz

Hollywood is set for a real-life cliffhanger Sunday at the Oscars -- the race for best picture is coming down to the wire to cap an awards season overshadowed by scandal over sexual misconduct in showbiz. Dark crime comedy "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" has begun to pull away in late betting for the industry's biggest prize, but Oscarologists believe fairy tale romance "The Shape of Water" and socially-conscious horror movie "Get Out" will make it a photo finish. "I don't remember a year with so much uncertainty. There are at least four strong possibilities to win," Variety's awards editor Tim Gray said, adding Christopher Nolan's sweeping war epic "Dunkirk" to the mix. "I'm guessing that 'The Shape of Water' will win, but that's just a guess." The 90th Academy Awards -- hosted for the second straight year by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel -- will be beamed live around the world by ABC from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. The show caps a difficult few months during which the industry has declared war on the pervasive culture of sexual impropriety unearthed by the downfall of movie mogul and alleged serial sex attacker Harvey Weinstein. With the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns against sexual misconduct and gender inequality dominating the 2018 awards circuit, this year's Oscars gala is seen as an opportunity for Tinseltown to support female filmmaking. Greta Gerwig is only the fifth woman in Oscars history to be nominated for best director, but faces tough competition from Guillermo Del Toro, the runaway favorite for "The Shape of Water." There was also the first nod in history for a female cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, who shot Dee Rees's racial drama "Mudbound." Avoiding another flub The Time's Up initiative is not planning a coordinated protest on Sunday -- like the striking red carpet "blackout" at the Golden Globes. But leaders of the movement told journalists there would be "a moment that's been carved out" during the ceremony. "It's really important that you know that Time's Up is not about the red carpet," said powerhouse Hollywood producer Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal"). "And those women you saw on the red carpet representing Time's Up are now off the red carpet working their butts off being activists." In another nod to the women's movements, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has tapped past winners Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster to present the best actress Oscar, according to Variety. Traditionally, the previous year's best actor winner would present that statuette, but Casey Affleck, who triumphed in 2017 for "Manchester by the Sea," withdrew under a cloud of sexual harassment accusations he denies. One political statement on the red carpet may come in bright orange -- some A-listers will reportedly wear orange US flag pins in a call for tougher gun control. Organizers are looking to rebound after last year's flubbed announcement by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway of the best picture winner -- the trophy was initially given to "La La Land," when the actual winner was "Moonlight." In a surprise turn of events, Beatty and Dunaway have been tapped to present the same prize this time around, according to The Hollywood Reporter, although the Academy did not respond to AFP's request for confirmation. McDormand, Oldman in pole position "The Shape of Water," a Cold War-set story of love between a mute cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature, tops the nominations with 13, although observers expect the spoils to be fairly evenly spread. "Dunkirk" heads into Sunday's gala in second place with eight nods, while "Three Billboards" picked up seven. Frances McDormand ("Three Billboards") and British veteran Gary Oldman ("Darkest Hour"), who have dominated the awards season, are expected to bag the lead acting statuettes. Disney-Pixar's "Coco" seems a near-sure bet to pick up the award for best animated film. And "A Fantastic Woman" -- a love story from Chilean director Sebastian Lelio with a much-praised star turn from transgender actress Daniela Vega -- is tipped to win best foreign-language film honors. The intermittent weekend rain is expected to taper off in time for Sunday's ceremony, but temperatures will be a bit cool as around 3,400 guests descend on Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood braced for best picture photo finish at Oscars

Here are some interesting fun facts you might want to equip yourself with before you witness all the action on Hollywood&#39;s biggest awards night on Monday (India time).

1. The very first ceremony in 1929, a private affair, was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The ticket to the event cost just $5.

2. The Oscar statuettes are not gold and are just plated in gold. They are mostly in bronze.

3. Bob Hope has hosted the most Oscar shows - a whopping 19 times between 1939 and 1977. He famously quipped at one event, &quot;I think they ought to give me an Oscar just for attendance, don&#39;t you?&quot;.

4. Whoopi Goldberg made history as the first African-American to host the Academy Awards in 1994. She was also the first woman to host the Oscars solo.

5. The phrase &quot;And the winner is...&quot; was discontinued at the 1989 Oscars and replaced with &quot;And the Oscar goes to...&quot;

6. The producers of the show have been imposing a a 45-second limit on speeches since 2010. Anyone straying past that mark is drowned out by the orchestra. If he/she still continues, there are reminders on the teleprompter and if even that doesn&#39;t work, the microphone cuts out.&nbsp;

7. The Dolby Theatre where the Oscars are held has 3400 seats.

8. The Only Oscar to Win an Oscar is Oscar Hammerstein II who won the award for Best Original Song for The Last Time I Saw Paris from the movie Lady Be Good (1941).

9. Meryl Streep holds the record for the winner of most Oscar nominations - 21 including for this year&#39;s &quot;The Post&quot;. Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson hold the runners-up record with 12 nods each.

10. The winner of the most Oscars in a lifetime is Walt Disney with 26 awards from 59 nominations.

The very first ceremony in 1929, a private affair, was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The ticket to the event cost just $5

Here are some interesting fun facts you might want to equip yourself with before you witness all the action on Hollywood's biggest awards night on Monday (India time). 1. The very first ceremony in 1929, a private affair, was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The ticket to the event cost just $5. 2. The Oscar statuettes are not gold and are just plated in gold. They are mostly in bronze. 3. Bob Hope has hosted the most Oscar shows - a whopping 19 times between 1939 and 1977. He famously quipped at one event, "I think they ought to give me an Oscar just for attendance, don't you?". 4. Whoopi Goldberg made history as the first African-American to host the Academy Awards in 1994. She was also the first woman to host the Oscars solo. 5. The phrase "And the winner is..." was discontinued at the 1989 Oscars and replaced with "And the Oscar goes to..." 6. The producers of the show have been imposing a a 45-second limit on speeches since 2010. Anyone straying past that mark is drowned out by the orchestra. If he/she still continues, there are reminders on the teleprompter and if even that doesn't work, the microphone cuts out. 7. The Dolby Theatre where the Oscars are held has 3400 seats. 8. The Only Oscar to Win an Oscar is Oscar Hammerstein II who won the award for Best Original Song for The Last Time I Saw Paris from the movie Lady Be Good (1941). 9. Meryl Streep holds the record for the winner of most Oscar nominations - 21 including for this year's "The Post". Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson hold the runners-up record with 12 nods each. 10. The winner of the most Oscars in a lifetime is Walt Disney with 26 awards from 59 nominations.

Oscars 2018: 10 fun facts about the Academy Awards

Films nominated for Best Picture are often hit and miss &ndash; sometimes some are very good, often many are mediocre, reflecting popular notions about &ldquo;good cinema&rdquo;. We tend to forget how much these nominations depend on the marketing and PR moves of the filmmakers and production teams, as well as broader socio-cultural trends.

This year, a surprisingly wide variety of styles and genres are represented in the nominees. Some are quite good and some are pretty forgettable, if not downright awful. Phantom Thread seems suspended between these two categories. There is only one extraordinary film in the mix: Call Me By Your Name.

The extraordinary

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by the apparently ageless James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name is an amazing film; it is certainly the only flawless (or nearly flawless) one nominated this year, with its immersive narrative realised through a combination of stunning cinematography of the northern Italian locations (it is shot on film rather than video), a mesmerising soundtrack and riveting performances.

The story, set over one summer in 1983, follows 17-year-old Elio (played by Timoth&eacute;e Chalamet, who is also in Lady Bird) as he falls in love with statuesque, impossibly handsome Oliver (Armie Hammer). Elio&rsquo;s father is an archaeology professor, and Oliver has come to spend the summer with him as his research assistant.&nbsp;

The story is as simple as it sounds in this beautiful film, equal parts sweet and sad. It manages to be both hypnotic and gentle, as we effortlessly drift along with the narrative &ndash; and the breezy Italian summer. Both Chalamet and Hammer show extraordinary self-assurance in their roles, and the supporting cast are equally impressive.

Juxtaposed against this year&rsquo;s other nominees, Call Me By Your Name reveals just how heavy-handed, self important and downright silly much popular cinema has become.&nbsp;

The Good

It is rare for horror thrillers to be nominated for such high accolades, and the fact that writer-director Jordan Peele&rsquo;s Get Out is up for Best Picture is testament to its strength as a genre film.

It is certainly one of the most entertaining films from last year, brilliantly interspersing its horror narrative with moments of side-splitting comedy.

The story follows African American Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) as he meets the family of his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) on a weekend getaway, only to discover that the whole thing has been staged for reasons that are best described as nefarious. As a genre film, it is excellent &ndash; several plot twists are unexpected, the violence is shocking and the horror intense.

As a piece of political commentary, its intervention into race dynamics in the contemporary US falls short. It seems to make an equation between racial micro-aggressions and slavery, and this is extremely problematic. Still, regardless of this, Get Out is immensely satisfying.

Guillermo del Toro&rsquo;s The Shape of Water also works well as a genre piece. Typically for del Toro, this sweet if uninspiring romantic fantasy is built upon a genuine reverence for the moving image &ndash; its history, as well as current technical and aesthetic possibilities &ndash; and this is borne out in both the narrative and style of the film.&nbsp;

Set in the 1960s, the story follows mute cleaner Elisa (Sally Hawkins) as she falls in love with a sea monster that has recently been kidnapped by US military powers and brought to a scientific facility for study and, eventually, vivisection.

Michael Shannon has a field day as sadistic nemesis to the creature, Strickland, and Richard Jenkins is equally engaging as Elisa&rsquo;s friend Giles, but the real focus &ndash; and star &ndash; of the film is, one senses, the film itself. Sometimes this becomes a little annoying, as in its laboured approach to period detail and hammy attempts to say something about social injustice, but it is such a stylish film that such moments are readily forgotten.&nbsp;

No Steven Spielberg fan, I think The Post, his latest film, is one of his better offerings &ndash; if for no other reason than the appeal of its subject matter. It follows the true story of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg&rsquo;s leaking of the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s to the Washington Post, and the decisions made by owner Kay Graham (played by a tired Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks).

The whole thing is about as imaginative as a telemovie, but it&rsquo;s hard not to become enthused by the film&rsquo;s romantic nostalgia for this bygone (thoroughly mythical) period of journalism and perception of journalists as arbiters of truth and justice, holding power to account.

The moment was certainly a critical one for the popular perception of American politics and the role of the press &ndash; and this significance is realised in the film through punchy, fast-paced dialogue, and men (and a few women) in suits doing important things under immense time pressure. But the film, a mostly pleasurable affair, is let down at the end by Bradlee&rsquo;s absurd, posturing rant about the importance of the freedom of the press for American democracy &ndash; as though the press in a capitalist society can ever be &ldquo;free&rdquo; when news is determined on the basis of sales and profit.&nbsp;

The Bad

Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan&rsquo;s latest exercise in British nationalism, is a sombre, solemn film, depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII leading up to Churchill&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;New World will rescue us&rdquo; speech.

Nolan has always been a relentless experimenter, and is a good stylist, so it is a surprise that, despite his potentially thrilling approach to the event &ndash; three different time scales dynamically overlapping, the story associated with each interweaving across air, land and sea, civilian and soldier, hero and coward &ndash; it is an unengaging and dour film.

It attempts to envelop the viewer in the drama &ndash; and the soundscape contributes a great deal to this &ndash; but it doesn&rsquo;t hold a candle to the great war films of the 1950s and 1960s like Don Siegel&rsquo;s Hell is for Heroes and Robert Aldrich&rsquo;s Attack.&nbsp;

Nolan has managed, with Dunkirk, to make an at best, unengaging film. This is all capped off by an annoyingly sentimental ending &ndash; we have lived, now, through Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. &ndash; and predictable British jingoism about stiff-upper lippedness.

Like Dunkirk, writer-director Neil McDonagh&rsquo;s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri had the potential to be great. Consider the ingredients: excellent actors, some of whom are at the peak of their powers (Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes, newcomer Caleb Landry Jones), a score by Carter Burwell, a story about a distraught mother facing off against the town sheriff about his treatment of the violent rape and murder of her daughter &hellip; McDonagh directed In Bruges, after all, and that was great.

Alas, McDonagh also directed one of the most irritating films of the 21st century, Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards is evidence, if we needed it, that In Bruges was a fluke. This film again sees one of the McDonagh brothers doing his post-Mamet, post-Tarantino thing, but it&rsquo;s all rather tired and tiresome.

Rockwell&rsquo;s performance is the highlight of the film, and Harrelson et al. cruise through, but, though watchable, Three Billboards is a trite, unimpressive film, that tries far too hard to be clever, funny, and, at the same time, important.&nbsp;

Darkest Hour, a biopic about Winston Churchill in the early days of WWII, features an amazing performance by an unrecognisable Gary Oldman in the lead role &ndash; and not much else.

Like most biopics, it fetishises the genius of Churchill &ndash; explicitly describing him as a Cicero at one point &ndash; without much consideration for the material processes and social realities underpinning this so-called genius. It touches, for example, on Churchill&rsquo;s responsibility for some of the 20th century&rsquo;s great civilian massacres, including the brutal bombing of Mesopotamia, but seems to ignore this history to ultimately celebrate his &ldquo;eccentricity.&rdquo; It feels more like a parody of a &ldquo;serious film&rdquo; than a serious film, reminding one of the mock trailers at the beginning of Ben Stiller&rsquo;s Tropic Thunder. It is also unbearably sentimental and jingoistic.

Writer/director Greta Gerwig, star of a panoply of innocuous &ldquo;indie&rdquo; films ranging from bad (Maggie&rsquo;s Plan) to mediocre (Greenberg), uses every trick from the &ldquo;indie&rdquo; playbook in Lady Bird, a harmless, mildly funny, mildly annoying coming of age film following the titular girl&rsquo;s transformation from disaffected Sacramento high school student rebel to artsy New York uni student.&nbsp;

The film tries hard to be funny, and tries hard to be quirky in its presentation of Lady Bird&rsquo;s troubles with her mum, boyfriends, teachers, etc. &ndash; in short, it tries hard &ndash; but everything seems so affected that it&rsquo;s difficult to see it as much more than a whimsically vapid genre film.

Saoirse Ronan, as the bratty, self-important teen is great, offering the one bright spark in a film that proves, once again, that heartfelt does not make interesting or successful art. How &ndash; and why &ndash; this was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar is anyone&rsquo;s guess.

The Strange

Phantom Thread, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson&rsquo;s latest film, is definitely the outlier in this year&rsquo;s bunch, by virtue of its sheer strangeness.

The story follows the relationship between arrogant, infantile British fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress he picks up as a model, a lover, and a factotum, who eventually ensnares him in marriage. Once married, Woodcock&rsquo;s infantility becomes even more apparent, and he loses his magic touch as a rich person who makes clothes for other rich people. This seems to be a connecting theme across both Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread &ndash; rich people whose bad behaviour is magically linked to their &ldquo;talent.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Krieps is deliciously diabolical as Alma, and Day-Lewis gives a typically absurd, deranged performance as Woodcock &ndash; surely the name is a joke? Anderson is, after all, married to comedian Maya Rudolph &ndash; and the film is beautifully shot; but, ultimately, we are left wondering what we&rsquo;ve been watching, why we&rsquo;ve been watching it, and why it&rsquo;s been made in the first place?

Is Phantom Thread a joke on the audience? It is certainly very funny and the fact Day-Lewis is able to keep a straight face throughout several of these scenes is testament to his acting chops. It also seems odd that Anderson would fall back on old clich&eacute;s like the troubled male artist and the borderline female seductress who steals his power, unless he&rsquo;s offering us some kind of satire, laughing at the gullibility of the audience in treating the work seriously.

Phantom Thread hovers somewhere between masterpiece and turkey &ndash; it is both brilliant and stupid &ndash; but it may improve with repeated viewings, and across time.

Last year, Moonlight was easily the best of the nominees, and it won the Oscar. This year, Call Me By Your Name is the standout; hopefully it, too, will win.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Juxtaposed against this year’s other nominees, Call Me By Your Name reveals just how heavy-handed, self-important and downright silly much popular cinema has become.

Films nominated for Best Picture are often hit and miss – sometimes some are very good, often many are mediocre, reflecting popular notions about “good cinema”. We tend to forget how much these nominations depend on the marketing and PR moves of the filmmakers and production teams, as well as broader socio-cultural trends. This year, a surprisingly wide variety of styles and genres are represented in the nominees. Some are quite good and some are pretty forgettable, if not downright awful. Phantom Thread seems suspended between these two categories. There is only one extraordinary film in the mix: Call Me By Your Name. The extraordinary Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by the apparently ageless James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name is an amazing film; it is certainly the only flawless (or nearly flawless) one nominated this year, with its immersive narrative realised through a combination of stunning cinematography of the northern Italian locations (it is shot on film rather than video), a mesmerising soundtrack and riveting performances. The story, set over one summer in 1983, follows 17-year-old Elio (played by Timothée Chalamet, who is also in Lady Bird) as he falls in love with statuesque, impossibly handsome Oliver (Armie Hammer). Elio’s father is an archaeology professor, and Oliver has come to spend the summer with him as his research assistant. The story is as simple as it sounds in this beautiful film, equal parts sweet and sad. It manages to be both hypnotic and gentle, as we effortlessly drift along with the narrative – and the breezy Italian summer. Both Chalamet and Hammer show extraordinary self-assurance in their roles, and the supporting cast are equally impressive. Juxtaposed against this year’s other nominees, Call Me By Your Name reveals just how heavy-handed, self important and downright silly much popular cinema has become. The Good It is rare for horror thrillers to be nominated for such high accolades, and the fact that writer-director Jordan Peele’s Get Out is up for Best Picture is testament to its strength as a genre film. It is certainly one of the most entertaining films from last year, brilliantly interspersing its horror narrative with moments of side-splitting comedy. The story follows African American Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) as he meets the family of his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) on a weekend getaway, only to discover that the whole thing has been staged for reasons that are best described as nefarious. As a genre film, it is excellent – several plot twists are unexpected, the violence is shocking and the horror intense. As a piece of political commentary, its intervention into race dynamics in the contemporary US falls short. It seems to make an equation between racial micro-aggressions and slavery, and this is extremely problematic. Still, regardless of this, Get Out is immensely satisfying. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water also works well as a genre piece. Typically for del Toro, this sweet if uninspiring romantic fantasy is built upon a genuine reverence for the moving image – its history, as well as current technical and aesthetic possibilities – and this is borne out in both the narrative and style of the film. Set in the 1960s, the story follows mute cleaner Elisa (Sally Hawkins) as she falls in love with a sea monster that has recently been kidnapped by US military powers and brought to a scientific facility for study and, eventually, vivisection. Michael Shannon has a field day as sadistic nemesis to the creature, Strickland, and Richard Jenkins is equally engaging as Elisa’s friend Giles, but the real focus – and star – of the film is, one senses, the film itself. Sometimes this becomes a little annoying, as in its laboured approach to period detail and hammy attempts to say something about social injustice, but it is such a stylish film that such moments are readily forgotten. No Steven Spielberg fan, I think The Post, his latest film, is one of his better offerings – if for no other reason than the appeal of its subject matter. It follows the true story of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s to the Washington Post, and the decisions made by owner Kay Graham (played by a tired Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks). The whole thing is about as imaginative as a telemovie, but it’s hard not to become enthused by the film’s romantic nostalgia for this bygone (thoroughly mythical) period of journalism and perception of journalists as arbiters of truth and justice, holding power to account. The moment was certainly a critical one for the popular perception of American politics and the role of the press – and this significance is realised in the film through punchy, fast-paced dialogue, and men (and a few women) in suits doing important things under immense time pressure. But the film, a mostly pleasurable affair, is let down at the end by Bradlee’s absurd, posturing rant about the importance of the freedom of the press for American democracy – as though the press in a capitalist society can ever be “free” when news is determined on the basis of sales and profit. The Bad Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan’s latest exercise in British nationalism, is a sombre, solemn film, depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII leading up to Churchill’s famous “New World will rescue us” speech. Nolan has always been a relentless experimenter, and is a good stylist, so it is a surprise that, despite his potentially thrilling approach to the event – three different time scales dynamically overlapping, the story associated with each interweaving across air, land and sea, civilian and soldier, hero and coward – it is an unengaging and dour film. It attempts to envelop the viewer in the drama – and the soundscape contributes a great deal to this – but it doesn’t hold a candle to the great war films of the 1950s and 1960s like Don Siegel’s Hell is for Heroes and Robert Aldrich’s Attack. Nolan has managed, with Dunkirk, to make an at best, unengaging film. This is all capped off by an annoyingly sentimental ending – we have lived, now, through Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. – and predictable British jingoism about stiff-upper lippedness. Like Dunkirk, writer-director Neil McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri had the potential to be great. Consider the ingredients: excellent actors, some of whom are at the peak of their powers (Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes, newcomer Caleb Landry Jones), a score by Carter Burwell, a story about a distraught mother facing off against the town sheriff about his treatment of the violent rape and murder of her daughter … McDonagh directed In Bruges, after all, and that was great. Alas, McDonagh also directed one of the most irritating films of the 21st century, Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards is evidence, if we needed it, that In Bruges was a fluke. This film again sees one of the McDonagh brothers doing his post-Mamet, post-Tarantino thing, but it’s all rather tired and tiresome. Rockwell’s performance is the highlight of the film, and Harrelson et al. cruise through, but, though watchable, Three Billboards is a trite, unimpressive film, that tries far too hard to be clever, funny, and, at the same time, important. Darkest Hour, a biopic about Winston Churchill in the early days of WWII, features an amazing performance by an unrecognisable Gary Oldman in the lead role – and not much else. Like most biopics, it fetishises the genius of Churchill – explicitly describing him as a Cicero at one point – without much consideration for the material processes and social realities underpinning this so-called genius. It touches, for example, on Churchill’s responsibility for some of the 20th century’s great civilian massacres, including the brutal bombing of Mesopotamia, but seems to ignore this history to ultimately celebrate his “eccentricity.” It feels more like a parody of a “serious film” than a serious film, reminding one of the mock trailers at the beginning of Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder. It is also unbearably sentimental and jingoistic. Writer/director Greta Gerwig, star of a panoply of innocuous “indie” films ranging from bad (Maggie’s Plan) to mediocre (Greenberg), uses every trick from the “indie” playbook in Lady Bird, a harmless, mildly funny, mildly annoying coming of age film following the titular girl’s transformation from disaffected Sacramento high school student rebel to artsy New York uni student. The film tries hard to be funny, and tries hard to be quirky in its presentation of Lady Bird’s troubles with her mum, boyfriends, teachers, etc. – in short, it tries hard – but everything seems so affected that it’s difficult to see it as much more than a whimsically vapid genre film. Saoirse Ronan, as the bratty, self-important teen is great, offering the one bright spark in a film that proves, once again, that heartfelt does not make interesting or successful art. How – and why – this was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar is anyone’s guess. The Strange Phantom Thread, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, is definitely the outlier in this year’s bunch, by virtue of its sheer strangeness. The story follows the relationship between arrogant, infantile British fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress he picks up as a model, a lover, and a factotum, who eventually ensnares him in marriage. Once married, Woodcock’s infantility becomes even more apparent, and he loses his magic touch as a rich person who makes clothes for other rich people. This seems to be a connecting theme across both Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread – rich people whose bad behaviour is magically linked to their “talent.” Krieps is deliciously diabolical as Alma, and Day-Lewis gives a typically absurd, deranged performance as Woodcock – surely the name is a joke? Anderson is, after all, married to comedian Maya Rudolph – and the film is beautifully shot; but, ultimately, we are left wondering what we’ve been watching, why we’ve been watching it, and why it’s been made in the first place? Is Phantom Thread a joke on the audience? It is certainly very funny and the fact Day-Lewis is able to keep a straight face throughout several of these scenes is testament to his acting chops. It also seems odd that Anderson would fall back on old clichés like the troubled male artist and the borderline female seductress who steals his power, unless he’s offering us some kind of satire, laughing at the gullibility of the audience in treating the work seriously. Phantom Thread hovers somewhere between masterpiece and turkey – it is both brilliant and stupid – but it may improve with repeated viewings, and across time. Last year, Moonlight was easily the best of the nominees, and it won the Oscar. This year, Call Me By Your Name is the standout; hopefully it, too, will win. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Why the film 'Call Me By Your Name' stand-out in Oscars?

The Shape of Water, a contender for this year`s best picture Oscar, was hit with a plagiarism lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that its fantastical plot about a romance between a cleaning woman and a mysterious river creature was lifted directly from an American stage play. 
 
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleged that director Guillermo del Toro, producer Daniel Kraus and movie studio Fox Searchlight &quot;brazenly copies the story, elements, characters and themes&quot; from a 1969 play by the late Paul Zindel. 
 
The Shape of Water&nbsp;has a leading 13 Oscar nominations at the March 4 Academy Awards ceremony, including nods for best picture and best director. The lawsuit was filed the day after ballots went out to some 8,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who vote on the Oscar winners. 
 
The lawsuit, filed by Zindel`s son David, listed more than 60 resemblances between the play Let Me Hear You Whisper,&nbsp;and The Shape of Water. 
 
They include the play and the movie`s basic story of the lonely janitor who works at a scientific laboratory during the Cold War, forms a loving bond with a captive aquatic creature and hatches a plan to liberate it.&nbsp;In the Zindel play, the creature is a dolphin. In the movie, it is a half-man, half-river creature. 
 
The lawsuit said that despite &quot;the glaring similarities between the play and the obviously derivative picture, defendants never bothered to seek or obtain a customary license&quot; for the rights to Zindel`s play, nor credit him. 
Fox Searchlight denied the claims as &quot;baseless (and) wholly without merit.&quot; 
 
The studio said in a statement that the lawsuit seemed timed &quot;to coincide with the Academy Award voting cycle in order to pressure our studio to quickly settle. Instead, we will vigorously defend ourselves and, by extension, this groundbreaking and original film.&quot; 
 
The lawsuit cited interviews given by Kraus and del Toro in which they said Kraus, an American novelist, came up with the storyline about a janitor who kidnaps an amphibian. 
 
It alleged that Kraus was aware of Zindel and his play, which was produced for television in 1969 and again in 1990. 
 
New York-based Zindel, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1964 play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, died in 2003. 
 
The Shape of Water&nbsp;has already won the best picture Golden Globe and numerous acting and craft awards from film critics` groups in the United States and elsewhere.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleged that the film "brazenly copies the story, elements, characters and themes" from a 1969 play by the late Paul Zindel.

The Shape of Water, a contender for this year`s best picture Oscar, was hit with a plagiarism lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that its fantastical plot about a romance between a cleaning woman and a mysterious river creature was lifted directly from an American stage play. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleged that director Guillermo del Toro, producer Daniel Kraus and movie studio Fox Searchlight "brazenly copies the story, elements, characters and themes" from a 1969 play by the late Paul Zindel. The Shape of Water has a leading 13 Oscar nominations at the March 4 Academy Awards ceremony, including nods for best picture and best director. The lawsuit was filed the day after ballots went out to some 8,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who vote on the Oscar winners. The lawsuit, filed by Zindel`s son David, listed more than 60 resemblances between the play Let Me Hear You Whisper, and The Shape of Water. They include the play and the movie`s basic story of the lonely janitor who works at a scientific laboratory during the Cold War, forms a loving bond with a captive aquatic creature and hatches a plan to liberate it. In the Zindel play, the creature is a dolphin. In the movie, it is a half-man, half-river creature. The lawsuit said that despite "the glaring similarities between the play and the obviously derivative picture, defendants never bothered to seek or obtain a customary license" for the rights to Zindel`s play, nor credit him. Fox Searchlight denied the claims as "baseless (and) wholly without merit." The studio said in a statement that the lawsuit seemed timed "to coincide with the Academy Award voting cycle in order to pressure our studio to quickly settle. Instead, we will vigorously defend ourselves and, by extension, this groundbreaking and original film." The lawsuit cited interviews given by Kraus and del Toro in which they said Kraus, an American novelist, came up with the storyline about a janitor who kidnaps an amphibian. It alleged that Kraus was aware of Zindel and his play, which was produced for television in 1969 and again in 1990. New York-based Zindel, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1964 play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, died in 2003. The Shape of Water has already won the best picture Golden Globe and numerous acting and craft awards from film critics` groups in the United States and elsewhere.

Oscar contender 'Shape of Water' accused of plagiarising 1969 American play

The much-coveted awards night, 90th Academy Awards&nbsp;is almost here and we have the entire list of nominees for this year.&nbsp;

Tiffany Haddish and Andy Serkis will be hosting the nominations with special guests Priyanka Chopra, Rosario Dawson, Gal Gadot, Salma Hayek, Zoe Saldana, Molly Shannon, Rebel Wilson, Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Rodriguez.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Breaking: <a href="https://twitter.com/TiffanyHaddish?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TiffanyHaddish</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/andyserkis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@andyserkis</a> will host <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OscarNoms?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OscarNoms</a> tomorrow at 5:22am PT, with special guests <a href="https://twitter.com/priyankachopra?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@priyankachopra</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/rosariodawson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rosariodawson</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/GalGadot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GalGadot</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/salmahayek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@salmahayek</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MRodOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MRodOfficial</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/zoesaldana?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zoesaldana</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MollyShannon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MollyShannon</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/RebelWilson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RebelWilson</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MichelleYeoh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MichelleYeoh</a>. Set your alarms! <a href="https://t.co/xlE5GAQf7n">pic.twitter.com/xlE5GAQf7n</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/955532253894885376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2018</a></blockquote>
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In the first batch of the announcement, following is the list of nominees:&nbsp;

Cinematography:&nbsp;

Costume Design:&nbsp;

Film Editing:&nbsp;

Makeup and Hairstyling:&nbsp;

Original Score:&nbsp;

Production Design:&nbsp;

Animated Short Film:&nbsp;

Live Action Short Film:&nbsp;

Sound Editing:&nbsp;

Sound Mixing:&nbsp;

Visual Effects:&nbsp;

In the second batch of the announcement, following categories will be announced:&nbsp;

Actor in a Leading Role

Actor in a Supporting Role

Actress in a Leading Role

Actress in a Supporting Role

Animated Feature Film

Directing

Documentary Feature

Documentary Short Subject

Foreign Language Film

Original Song

Best Picture

Adapted Screenplay

Original Screenplay

'Three Billboards', 'The Shape of Water' are leading contenders at Academy Awards

The much-coveted awards night, 90th Academy Awards is almost here and we have the entire list of nominees for this year. Tiffany Haddish and Andy Serkis will be hosting the nominations with special guests Priyanka Chopra, Rosario Dawson, Gal Gadot, Salma Hayek, Zoe Saldana, Molly Shannon, Rebel Wilson, Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Rodriguez. Breaking: @TiffanyHaddish and @andyserkis will host #OscarNoms tomorrow at 5:22am PT, with special guests @priyankachopra, @rosariodawson, @GalGadot, @salmahayek, @MRodOfficial, @zoesaldana, #MollyShannon, @RebelWilson and #MichelleYeoh. Set your alarms! pic.twitter.com/xlE5GAQf7n — The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 22, 2018 × In the first batch of the announcement, following is the list of nominees: Cinematography: Costume Design: Film Editing: Makeup and Hairstyling: Original Score: Production Design: Animated Short Film: Live Action Short Film: Sound Editing: Sound Mixing: Visual Effects: In the second batch of the announcement, following categories will be announced: Actor in a Leading Role Actor in a Supporting Role Actress in a Leading Role Actress in a Supporting Role Animated Feature Film Directing Documentary Feature Documentary Short Subject Foreign Language Film Original Song Best Picture Adapted Screenplay Original Screenplay

Oscars Nominations 2018: View the list

Casey Affleck has pulled out of presenting the Best Actress award at this year&#39;s Oscars ceremony.

The 42-year-old actor was due to present the award at the upcoming awards ceremony to keep up the longstanding tradition of the previous year&#39;s Best Actor recipient - which Casey picked up for his work on &#39;Manchester By The Sea&#39; - handing out the gong to the following year&#39;s Best Actress.

However, the star has informed the Academy that he will not be attending this year&#39;s ceremony, the Academy have confirmed in a short statement.

They said: &quot;We appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year.&quot;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-james-francos-new-york-event-cancelled-in-wake-of-sexual-misconduct-allegations-29091" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;James Franco&#39;s New York event cancelled in wake of &#39;sexual misconduct&#39; allegations</a>

Whilst Casey&#39;s reason for backing out of the ceremony has not yet been revealed, it is thought the decision could centre around the rise of the #MeToo movement - which aims to allow women to speak out against sexual harassment - as Casey infamously had two <a href="http://www.wionews.com/life-fun/best-actor-oscar-winner-casey-affleck-addresses-sexual-harassment-allegations-on-him-12961" target="_blank">lawsuits filed against him</a> by women claiming he sexually harassed them in 2010.

Both women alleged that Casey harassed them after working with them on 2010 movie &#39;I&#39;m Still Here&#39;, and whilst the star has denied the claims made against him, it has been reported he has opted not to attend the Oscars in order to keep the focus away from is alleged actions.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/golden-globes-2018-updates-dressed-in-black-hollywood-stars-have-a-message-28820" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Golden Globes 2018: Dressed in black, Hollywood stars have a message</a>

The lawsuits were settled outside of court for undisclosed amounts, and in the settlement, the actor did not admit any guilt. He and his accusers are barred from discussing details of the case.

As of the time of writing, it is not known who will replace Casey at the ceremony, which is due to take place at Dolby Theatre at Hollywood &amp; Highland Center on March 4.

Credit: BANG Showbiz

Although the actual reason has not been revealed, it is speculated that two sexual harassment claims against him have prompted Afflect to pull out

Casey Affleck has pulled out of presenting the Best Actress award at this year's Oscars ceremony. The 42-year-old actor was due to present the award at the upcoming awards ceremony to keep up the longstanding tradition of the previous year's Best Actor recipient - which Casey picked up for his work on 'Manchester By The Sea' - handing out the gong to the following year's Best Actress. However, the star has informed the Academy that he will not be attending this year's ceremony, the Academy have confirmed in a short statement. They said: "We appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year." Also Read: James Franco's New York event cancelled in wake of 'sexual misconduct' allegations Whilst Casey's reason for backing out of the ceremony has not yet been revealed, it is thought the decision could centre around the rise of the #MeToo movement - which aims to allow women to speak out against sexual harassment - as Casey infamously had two lawsuits filed against him by women claiming he sexually harassed them in 2010. Both women alleged that Casey harassed them after working with them on 2010 movie 'I'm Still Here', and whilst the star has denied the claims made against him, it has been reported he has opted not to attend the Oscars in order to keep the focus away from is alleged actions. Also Read: Golden Globes 2018: Dressed in black, Hollywood stars have a message The lawsuits were settled outside of court for undisclosed amounts, and in the settlement, the actor did not admit any guilt. He and his accusers are barred from discussing details of the case. As of the time of writing, it is not known who will replace Casey at the ceremony, which is due to take place at Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4. Credit: BANG Showbiz

Casey Affleck pulls out of Oscars, will not present Best Actress award

A Lebanese and a Syrian film director both made cinema history this week when their films became the first ever from their home countries to be nominated for Oscars. 
 
Ziad Doueri`s Lebanese drama The Insult,&nbsp;was nominated for best foreign language film, while Syrian Firas Fayyad`s Last Men in Aleppo,&nbsp;which focuses on the work of the White Helmets volunteer rescuers, was nominated for best documentary. 
 
The Insult,&nbsp;set in Beirut, is about a verbal slanging match between two individuals that leads to a highly publicised trial highlighting the sectarian tensions simmering in Lebanese society. 
 
&quot;It was such good news when we got it, because this is the first time Lebanon arrives to the Oscar and you know you offer a little bit of hope,&quot; Doueri told Reuters. &quot;It`s like winning a medal, it&rsquo;s like going to the Olympics and your team for the first time wins the bronze medal or the silver medal.&quot; 
 
The film is the first from Lebanon to be nominated for an Oscar since the small Mediterranean country began submitting movies for consideration in 1978. 
 
&quot;The Insult&quot; has been screened in Lebanon despite a boycott campaign prompted by the fact that Doueri made a previous film, The Attack,&nbsp;in Israel, with which his country remains in a technical state of war. 
 
Doueri was subsequently arrested and questioned by a military court, but was not charged with any offence. 
 
The other nominees for best foreign language film include A Fantastic Woman&nbsp;from Germany, Loveless&nbsp;from Russia, On Body and Soul&nbsp;from Hungary and The Square&nbsp;from Sweden. 
 
Fayyad, whose documentary follow the White Helmets group in a besieged Syrian city, told Reuters that he hoped the recognition would inspire others in his war-torn country. 
 
&quot;Well, it`s really great. I`m proud about that. It opens the road for other filmmakers and artists to think that there`s nothing impossible, especially in a time (when) your country is destroyed, your resources are less, and the people who could stand with you are less,&quot; he said, speaking in English. 
 
Syria first submitted a film for Oscar consideration last year, to no avail. Last Men in Aleppo&nbsp;faces competition from Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Faces Places, Icarus,&nbsp;and Strong Island. 
 
Another film about the White Helmets, eponymously titled, won the Oscar for documentary short film in 2017.

A Lebanese and a Syrian film director both made cinema history this week when their films became the first ever from their home countries to be nominated for Oscars.

A Lebanese and a Syrian film director both made cinema history this week when their films became the first ever from their home countries to be nominated for Oscars. Ziad Doueri`s Lebanese drama The Insult, was nominated for best foreign language film, while Syrian Firas Fayyad`s Last Men in Aleppo, which focuses on the work of the White Helmets volunteer rescuers, was nominated for best documentary. The Insult, set in Beirut, is about a verbal slanging match between two individuals that leads to a highly publicised trial highlighting the sectarian tensions simmering in Lebanese society. "It was such good news when we got it, because this is the first time Lebanon arrives to the Oscar and you know you offer a little bit of hope," Doueri told Reuters. "It`s like winning a medal, it’s like going to the Olympics and your team for the first time wins the bronze medal or the silver medal." The film is the first from Lebanon to be nominated for an Oscar since the small Mediterranean country began submitting movies for consideration in 1978. "The Insult" has been screened in Lebanon despite a boycott campaign prompted by the fact that Doueri made a previous film, The Attack, in Israel, with which his country remains in a technical state of war. Doueri was subsequently arrested and questioned by a military court, but was not charged with any offence. The other nominees for best foreign language film include A Fantastic Woman from Germany, Loveless from Russia, On Body and Soul from Hungary and The Square from Sweden. Fayyad, whose documentary follow the White Helmets group in a besieged Syrian city, told Reuters that he hoped the recognition would inspire others in his war-torn country. "Well, it`s really great. I`m proud about that. It opens the road for other filmmakers and artists to think that there`s nothing impossible, especially in a time (when) your country is destroyed, your resources are less, and the people who could stand with you are less," he said, speaking in English. Syria first submitted a film for Oscar consideration last year, to no avail. Last Men in Aleppo faces competition from Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Faces Places, Icarus, and Strong Island. Another film about the White Helmets, eponymously titled, won the Oscar for documentary short film in 2017.

Middle Eastern filmmakers celebrate historic Oscar nominations

Nominees for the Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 4, greeted the honours with surprise, gratitude and some serious thoughts about making movies. 
The following are some reactions - through statements, telephone calls and social media - to the Oscar nominations announced on Tuesday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 
- 
Meryl Streep, best actress for &quot;The Post,&quot; her 21st nomination 
&quot;I am honoured beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defence of press freedom, and inclusion of women&rsquo;s voices in the movement of history - Proud of the film, and all her filmmakers. Thank you from a full heart.&rdquo;

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Meryl Streep in a still from The Post for which she has been nominated in the Best Actress category at the Oscars. (Others)
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Guillermo del Toro, nominated for director and original screenplay for &quot;The Shape of Water,&quot; which led the nominations with 13 nods including for best picture 
&quot;I feel incredibly happy and grateful and the best part is to be nominated with the team and see the craftmanship and artistry of the movie rewarded. For 25 years, I`ve been preaching that the dark poetry and emotion of my stories are fairytales for modern times. I truly believe they resonate with an audience in way that can only be accessible by saying `once upon a time.`&quot; 
- 
Jordan Peele, nominated for director and original screenplay for &quot;Get Out,&quot; which is also up for best picture 
&quot;It feels amazing to know that people not only have seen the film but really feel the film, and feel the experience I was trying to illustrate that`s really important to a lot of people. For so long, I`ve just wanted to be a director, my dream has been to make films, and for so long, I just thought the biggest and best reward that could even come from my first movie is that I might get to make another one. I still feel that way, but this is going to help with that.&quot; 
- 
Sally Hawkins, nominated for best actress for &quot;The Shape of Water&quot; 
&quot;I am so delighted for us all. To be honoured by the acknowledgement of my colleagues of fellow actors, filmmakers, writers, crew members is truly humbling. It is a privilege to tell such stories and to be able to make films that show there is a life beyond the life that people know &ndash; one that is not always seen.&quot;-

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Sally Hawkins in a still from Shape Of Water (Others)
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Christopher Plummer, best-supporting actor nominee for &quot;All the Money in the World&quot; 
&quot;I am absolutely thrilled to have received this nomination by the Academy. It was quite unexpected but incredibly gratifying. Everything has happened so quickly of late that I am still a trifled stunned but excited by it all.&quot;-&nbsp;

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Christopher Plummer in a still from All The Money In The World (Others)
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Gary Oldman, best actor nominee for &quot;Darkest Hour&quot; 
&ldquo;To have the chance to play an iconic leader like Winston Churchill at this point in my career, was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am so happy that my colleagues and partners on this wonderful film have also been honoured with nominations. I am overjoyed to be nominated, and proud to be part of this wonderful thing known as movie making!&rdquo; 
- 
Lesley Manville, best supporting actress nominee for &quot;Phantom Thread&quot; 
&quot;I am rather giddy with excitement at the wonderful news and extremely thankful ... It is also quite a day for my son Alfie Oldman - having both parents nominated in the same year.&rdquo; 
-&nbsp; 
Greta Gerwig, nominated for best director and best original screenplay for &quot;Lady Bird,&quot; which is also up for best picture 
&quot;This is an unbelievable honour and I am beside myself with joy and gratitude. The entire team who made `Lady Bird` poured their heart and soul into it, and I am so deeply grateful to the Academy for their recognition.&quot; 
- 
Saoirse Ronan, best actress nominee for &quot;Lady Bird&quot; 
&quot;To have been a part of a film like `Lady Bird` was a true privilege and I am incredibly grateful to the Academy for recognising this wonderful story about the beauty and strength of women.&quot; 
- 
Laurie Metcalf, best supporting actress nominee for &quot;Lady Bird&quot; 
&quot;It feels surreal. I never thought that this would ever happen. My career is not focussed on movies, I just didn`t see that this would ever be a possibility and so I owe that to Greta and Saoirse.&quot;&nbsp; 
- 
Richard Jenkins, best supporting actor nominee for &quot;The Shape of Water&quot; 
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so excited and thrilled by the nomination and for &ldquo;The Shape of Water&rdquo; team lead by Guillermo the Great. It is rare and humbling to be part of something so special.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
- 
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, nominated for original screenplay for &quot;The Big Sick&quot; 
&quot;It was an incredibly unique challenge to take some of the most vulnerable, painful, and beautiful moments from our life together and turn it into a movie. At times we worried it would be insurmountable, or would rip us apart, or even worse- that no one would like it. The fact that it connected with audiences is exhilarating, and this nomination proves that our love is real. We have decided to stay married.&quot;-

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Kumail Nanjiani in a still from The Big Sick (Others)
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Martin McDonagh, director of &ldquo;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,&rdquo; which received seven nominations including best picture, best actress and best supporting actor 
&ldquo;I`m thrilled that our film has received seven nominations from the Academy, and that the beautiful work of our editor Jon Gregory, our composer Carter Burwell, my gentle brothers-in-arms Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, and our fearless leader Frances McDormand, have all been recognized so wonderfully.&quot; 
- 
Octavia Spencer, best supporting actress nominee for &quot;The Shape of Water&quot; 
&ldquo;My heart is bursting with pure elation for the cast and crew of `The Shape Of Water.` Guillermo has given us all a dream job and to be recognized by the Academy is so deeply moving.&rdquo;

Nominees for the Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 4, greeted the honours with surprise, gratitude and some serious thoughts about making movies.

Nominees for the Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 4, greeted the honours with surprise, gratitude and some serious thoughts about making movies. The following are some reactions - through statements, telephone calls and social media - to the Oscar nominations announced on Tuesday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. - Meryl Streep, best actress for "The Post," her 21st nomination "I am honoured beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defence of press freedom, and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history - Proud of the film, and all her filmmakers. Thank you from a full heart.” Meryl Streep in a still from The Post for which she has been nominated in the Best Actress category at the Oscars. (Others) × Guillermo del Toro, nominated for director and original screenplay for "The Shape of Water," which led the nominations with 13 nods including for best picture "I feel incredibly happy and grateful and the best part is to be nominated with the team and see the craftmanship and artistry of the movie rewarded. For 25 years, I`ve been preaching that the dark poetry and emotion of my stories are fairytales for modern times. I truly believe they resonate with an audience in way that can only be accessible by saying `once upon a time.`" - Jordan Peele, nominated for director and original screenplay for "Get Out," which is also up for best picture "It feels amazing to know that people not only have seen the film but really feel the film, and feel the experience I was trying to illustrate that`s really important to a lot of people. For so long, I`ve just wanted to be a director, my dream has been to make films, and for so long, I just thought the biggest and best reward that could even come from my first movie is that I might get to make another one. I still feel that way, but this is going to help with that." - Sally Hawkins, nominated for best actress for "The Shape of Water" "I am so delighted for us all. To be honoured by the acknowledgement of my colleagues of fellow actors, filmmakers, writers, crew members is truly humbling. It is a privilege to tell such stories and to be able to make films that show there is a life beyond the life that people know – one that is not always seen."- Sally Hawkins in a still from Shape Of Water (Others) × Christopher Plummer, best-supporting actor nominee for "All the Money in the World" "I am absolutely thrilled to have received this nomination by the Academy. It was quite unexpected but incredibly gratifying. Everything has happened so quickly of late that I am still a trifled stunned but excited by it all."- Christopher Plummer in a still from All The Money In The World (Others) × Gary Oldman, best actor nominee for "Darkest Hour" “To have the chance to play an iconic leader like Winston Churchill at this point in my career, was the opportunity of a lifetime and I am so happy that my colleagues and partners on this wonderful film have also been honoured with nominations. I am overjoyed to be nominated, and proud to be part of this wonderful thing known as movie making!” - Lesley Manville, best supporting actress nominee for "Phantom Thread" "I am rather giddy with excitement at the wonderful news and extremely thankful ... It is also quite a day for my son Alfie Oldman - having both parents nominated in the same year.” - Greta Gerwig, nominated for best director and best original screenplay for "Lady Bird," which is also up for best picture "This is an unbelievable honour and I am beside myself with joy and gratitude. The entire team who made `Lady Bird` poured their heart and soul into it, and I am so deeply grateful to the Academy for their recognition." - Saoirse Ronan, best actress nominee for "Lady Bird" "To have been a part of a film like `Lady Bird` was a true privilege and I am incredibly grateful to the Academy for recognising this wonderful story about the beauty and strength of women." - Laurie Metcalf, best supporting actress nominee for "Lady Bird" "It feels surreal. I never thought that this would ever happen. My career is not focussed on movies, I just didn`t see that this would ever be a possibility and so I owe that to Greta and Saoirse." - Richard Jenkins, best supporting actor nominee for "The Shape of Water" “I’m so excited and thrilled by the nomination and for “The Shape of Water” team lead by Guillermo the Great. It is rare and humbling to be part of something so special.” - Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, nominated for original screenplay for "The Big Sick" "It was an incredibly unique challenge to take some of the most vulnerable, painful, and beautiful moments from our life together and turn it into a movie. At times we worried it would be insurmountable, or would rip us apart, or even worse- that no one would like it. The fact that it connected with audiences is exhilarating, and this nomination proves that our love is real. We have decided to stay married."- Kumail Nanjiani in a still from The Big Sick (Others) × Martin McDonagh, director of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” which received seven nominations including best picture, best actress and best supporting actor “I`m thrilled that our film has received seven nominations from the Academy, and that the beautiful work of our editor Jon Gregory, our composer Carter Burwell, my gentle brothers-in-arms Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, and our fearless leader Frances McDormand, have all been recognized so wonderfully." - Octavia Spencer, best supporting actress nominee for "The Shape of Water" “My heart is bursting with pure elation for the cast and crew of `The Shape Of Water.` Guillermo has given us all a dream job and to be recognized by the Academy is so deeply moving.”

Surprise, gratitude and pride: Stars react to their Oscar nominations

Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards announced late Tuesday night (India time), revealing which movies of 2017 made it to the coveted list.&nbsp;

Guillermo del Toro&#39;s &quot;The Shape of Water&quot; leads the nomination list with 13 nominations, including Best Picture. The mystical romantic film is just one short of making the record for the most in Academy Awards history.&nbsp;

It is a low-budget fantasy&nbsp;about a mute janitor who falls in love with an imprisoned sea creature.&nbsp;

Following the romantic film, is Christopher Nolan&#39;s &quot;Dunkirk&quot; on the historical battle on Dunkirk beach during World War time. Dunkirk received a total of eight nominations including Best Picture.&nbsp;

Emerging strong as an Oscar contender, based on the real-life incident,&nbsp;&ldquo;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&rdquo; got nominated in seven categories, including one for Best Picture.&nbsp;

&quot;Lady Bird&quot; with its nuanced&nbsp;mother-daughter relationship and self-confident central character also found a place in the nominations.&nbsp;

Among nominations for best performances,&nbsp;Frances McDormand, a four-time nominee and a winner for &ldquo;Fargo&rdquo; in 1997, was nominated for her lead performance in &ldquo;Three Billboards.&rdquo; She won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for the role.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/live-oscar-nominations-in-cinematography-announced-30527" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Oscar nominations: Dunkirk, The Shape of Water dominate list</a>

Completing the list were&nbsp;Saoirse Ronan for &ldquo;Lady Bird,&rdquo; Sally Hawkins for &ldquo;The Shape of Water,&rdquo; Margot Robbie for &ldquo;I, Tonya&rdquo;&nbsp;and Meryl Streep for &ldquo;The Post&rdquo;.

In Best Actor category, Gary Oldman&rsquo;s performance as Winston Churchill in &ldquo;Darkest Hour&rdquo;, Timoth&eacute;e Chalamet in &ldquo;Call Me by Your Name&rdquo;, Daniel Kaluuya in &ldquo;Get Out&rdquo;, Daniel Day-Lewis in &ldquo;Phantom Thread&rdquo;&nbsp;and Denzel Washington in &ldquo;Roman J. Israel, Esq.&rdquo; were nominated.

It is interesting to note that James Franco from &ldquo;The Disaster Artist&rdquo; was&nbsp;left out. His inclusion would have started a debate around his accusations and the Academy made a smart move by not nominating him.&nbsp;

For Best Director, the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro for &ldquo;The Shape of Water&rdquo; made it along with Paul Thomas Anderson for &ldquo;Phantom Thread&rdquo; and Christopher Nolan for &ldquo;Dunkirk&rdquo;.

&nbsp;

The 90th Academy Awards will take place on March 4, 2018

Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards announced late Tuesday night (India time), revealing which movies of 2017 made it to the coveted list. Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" leads the nomination list with 13 nominations, including Best Picture. The mystical romantic film is just one short of making the record for the most in Academy Awards history. It is a low-budget fantasy about a mute janitor who falls in love with an imprisoned sea creature. Following the romantic film, is Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" on the historical battle on Dunkirk beach during World War time. Dunkirk received a total of eight nominations including Best Picture. Emerging strong as an Oscar contender, based on the real-life incident, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” got nominated in seven categories, including one for Best Picture. "Lady Bird" with its nuanced mother-daughter relationship and self-confident central character also found a place in the nominations. Among nominations for best performances, Frances McDormand, a four-time nominee and a winner for “Fargo” in 1997, was nominated for her lead performance in “Three Billboards.” She won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for the role. Also Read: Oscar nominations: Dunkirk, The Shape of Water dominate list Completing the list were Saoirse Ronan for “Lady Bird,” Sally Hawkins for “The Shape of Water,” Margot Robbie for “I, Tonya” and Meryl Streep for “The Post”. In Best Actor category, Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour”, Timothée Chalamet in “Call Me by Your Name”, Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out”, Daniel Day-Lewis in “Phantom Thread” and Denzel Washington in “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” were nominated. It is interesting to note that James Franco from “The Disaster Artist” was left out. His inclusion would have started a debate around his accusations and the Academy made a smart move by not nominating him. For Best Director, the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water” made it along with Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread” and Christopher Nolan for “Dunkirk”.

2018 Oscar nominations: 'Shape of Water' leads with 13, 'Dunkirk', 'Three Billboards' follow

Damien Chazelle&rsquo;s musical &quot;La La Land&quot;&nbsp;has swept the 2017 Golden Globes, a bellwether for the upcoming Academy Awards. It has also inspired quite a few arched eyebrows. After all, it is a &lsquo;film&rsquo; about two young &lsquo;white&rsquo; people trying&nbsp;to save a &lsquo;black&rsquo; cultural product, Jazz, and find meaning in the thespian world respectively.

The film&rsquo;s sweeping success is attributed to Hollywood&rsquo;s approval of a narcissism rooted in the idea of &lsquo;the white man&rsquo;s burden&rsquo; and self-referentialism.

Chazelle, 31, was once a struggling Jazz drummer at the Princeton High School and his own angst and anxieties about music have found expression earlier in the Academy winning &quot;Whiplash&quot;&nbsp;(2014). Built around the Charlie Parker myth, &quot;Whiplash&quot;&nbsp;shows how music survives reverberating through bloody fingers, abusive instructors, and emotionally wrecked genius. The success of these two films, amongst many others dealing with music, shows that people may or may not care for a particular genre of music but a cinematic narrative on it does pull at their heartstrings.

This brings us to ask a question: are cinema and TV, not the white men and women, the saviours that art and music forms need?&nbsp;

Raja Sen, film and music critic, shares that a film or TV series on a particular genre of music plays a crucial role. &ldquo;Very simply, they aim for a scope that is beyond the size of the genre itself. Popular film is incredibly inclusive and tries to speak to all, which is why a film about jazz can speak to more than just those who (already) love jazz.&rdquo;&nbsp;

His views are echoed by Krish Ashok, a Chennai-based musician and columnist, who says that films are essential for reviving and sustaining classical art forms, music being one of them. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to get people to listen to classical music bypassing the films. Their first exposure to it is through films and the eventual dream is to make music for films. Indian film music in the 1940s and till much after that was popular form of Indian classical music. Ilayaraja and A R Rahman have been bringing classical music to laymen through their film compositions&rdquo;

Most films, however, are accused of playing to the gallery and diluting the purity of the genre. Is the purist right in worrying about the sanctity of the form? Ashok states emphatically that popularisation should not be seen as a threat since Classical always stays. He brings in a caveat however. &ldquo;Questions regarding appropriation of cultural products while popularising them are valid to an extent. When the folk music born out of poverty and deprivation becomes club style, the contrast is stark.&rdquo; Talking of the music scene in the USA, Ashok adds, &ldquo;Every pop genre in the USA since the 1920s came from the blacks and yet it is the white artists who took the centre-stage. Elvis Presley became much bigger Rock n Roll icon than Chuck Berry; Eminem is bigger than his black counterparts in hip-hop and Rap.&rdquo;

A techie trained in Carnatic music, Ashok is gentle towards the purists&rsquo; urge to be protective towards their inherited form. However, he says that the purist wilfully ignores the impure genesis of his form while jealously guarding only the inherited finished product, &ldquo;the latest update,&rdquo; against corrupting influences. &ldquo;In India, Carnatic and Hindustani traditions owe a lot to Western and Persian influences. Music flourishes through improvisations.&rdquo;

Sunanda Rao Erdem, one of the handful degree holders in Opera singing in India, is in slight disagreement here.

&ldquo;Improvisation cannot be a blanket saviour for all music. For example, the Western classical music has been written down by composers already. It is bound to sound the same. Nuances are dependent only on the conductors and performers who bring their personalities into the interpretation of the sheets.&rdquo; She adds, &ldquo;Jazz is not written down, it is passed down ear to ear. There is more scope for improvisation there. Likewise, Indian classical music is more adaptable since it allows for greater degree of experimentation while retaining its formal structure. This may be one of the reasons why Western classical music has not been able to penetrate the Indian audience.&rdquo;

Certainly, musicians and conductors have been personalising classical music despite the mandated strict adherence to form. Gustavo Dudamel, who conducted the iconic Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra&rsquo;s New Year Concert on January 1, the youngest conductor to do so, has been reading the note-sheets through his eccentricity tinted glasses. Not yet 36, this South American conductor has managed to create ripples in the oft-perceived placid world of western classical music. By choosing Dudamel to conduct the concert this year, which happens to be a landmark one due to the 175th anniversary of the Vienna Philharmonic, the 150th birth anniversary of Empress Maria Theresa, and the 150th anniversary of the first performance of Strauss&rsquo;s &lsquo;Blue Danube,&rsquo; the western classical music establishment may have given out a strong signal.

Dudamel, who has inspired &quot;Mozart in the Jungle,&quot;&nbsp;an immensely popular TV series, is known for his effervescence, the kind that makes the audience at the famed Golden Hall at the Musikverein in Vienna tap its feet. The purists may have written Dudamel off for being compulsively gimmicky, his ebullient personality is a big pull for the newly interested in western classical music. His innovative ways to broaden the audience base range from collaboration with LENA (Leading European Newspapers Alliance), conducting the soundtrack for Star Wars to his commitment to community and music education. Through Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA) programme, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and its community partners have been providing free of cost training, instruments and mentorship to students from under-privileged backgrounds.

Ashok locates Dudamel&rsquo;s rise in the cyclical nature of the history of music. &ldquo;If we study the history of Western Classical music over the past 100 years, we shall see that every 10-20 years one maverick comes whose genius forces people to take note of that particular genre of music.&rdquo;

This decade belongs to Dudamel and his innovative ways.

The idea of &ldquo;popification&rdquo; of classical music in films also needs to be examined critically. Coming on the heels of the Baroque style, Bach and Mozart secularised music like never before. &ldquo;To their contemporaries, they too were pop stars. Same with Tchaikovsky. What was once pop has now become classical. Classical music as a genre is not static; the definitions are constantly changing. Jazz was borne out of experimentation and yet seen as a serious, almost classical form,&rdquo; says Ashok.

This perchance explains the sentiment of protectiveness about Jazz when a film like &quot;La La Land&quot;&nbsp;seeks to capitalise on it. Rao-Erdem, a self-proclaimed purist, understands well that this overprotective attitude may not serve the cause of classical music. &ldquo;Chinese opera music is a dying form. The Chinese are extremely purist in their treatment of arts. The government is trying hard to resurrect the opera tradition but lack of innovation is their biggest enemy.&rdquo; She adds, &ldquo;Many small orchestras in Europe&nbsp;have run out of business due to their inability to keep pace with the changing world around them. Maybe they needed something like Pavarotti and Friends.&rdquo;&nbsp;New tricks are needed for a brave new world.

Before the 20th century &ldquo;rules of concert etiquette&rdquo; made the concerts stifling and somewhat painful, listening to classical music was a full-bodied social experience. As a backlash to the mechanical production of music, live concerts attempted to retain their charm and aura by putting in place certain rules of engagement for the audience. Today, a minuscule fraction of the world population goes to classical concerts. As per a 2012 study by the National Endowment for Arts, 8.8% of Americans had attended a classical concert in the last 12 months. No wonder then that the major symphonic orchestras in the USA are facing the music. While the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Opera filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and 2013 respectively, other major outfits have seen strikes in the last five years.

Is the purist, then, not the biggest enemy of the art it most zealously aims to protect? Ashok gives an interesting response to this. &ldquo;Purists are important for the growth of music. Great art always emerges out of purism. Constraints and not absolute freedom creates it. John Cage&rsquo;s 4&rsquo;33&rdquo; is an example of compulsive experimentation. But will it, should it, be considered a classic? It is only when there is a keenly felt need to break away that music flourishes. That need is a gift of the purist to the experimentalist.&rdquo;

Sen&rsquo;s view of the purist is a little less charitable. &ldquo;I think the purist still has the form at its purest. I see no bother in an unschooled listener getting exposed to the music through some over-accessible form of it. It can often be a gateway.&rdquo; Rao-Erdem, on the other hand, stands her ground by asserting that only the presentation and not the music per se should be open to improvisation.

Individual and society; tradition and individual talent et al are bound to be locked in an unrelenting scrimmage. What may benefit the purist and the experimentalist is broadening the base of the audience, aided by innovative ways of engagement. If a &quot;La La Land&quot;&nbsp;inspires some YouTube searches for &ldquo;Jazz,&rdquo; so be it!

(WION)

Movies for example popularise the genre but they are also accused of 'diluting' its purity

Damien Chazelle’s musical "La La Land" has swept the 2017 Golden Globes, a bellwether for the upcoming Academy Awards. It has also inspired quite a few arched eyebrows. After all, it is a ‘film’ about two young ‘white’ people trying to save a ‘black’ cultural product, Jazz, and find meaning in the thespian world respectively. The film’s sweeping success is attributed to Hollywood’s approval of a narcissism rooted in the idea of ‘the white man’s burden’ and self-referentialism. Chazelle, 31, was once a struggling Jazz drummer at the Princeton High School and his own angst and anxieties about music have found expression earlier in the Academy winning "Whiplash" (2014). Built around the Charlie Parker myth, "Whiplash" shows how music survives reverberating through bloody fingers, abusive instructors, and emotionally wrecked genius. The success of these two films, amongst many others dealing with music, shows that people may or may not care for a particular genre of music but a cinematic narrative on it does pull at their heartstrings. This brings us to ask a question: are cinema and TV, not the white men and women, the saviours that art and music forms need? Raja Sen, film and music critic, shares that a film or TV series on a particular genre of music plays a crucial role. “Very simply, they aim for a scope that is beyond the size of the genre itself. Popular film is incredibly inclusive and tries to speak to all, which is why a film about jazz can speak to more than just those who (already) love jazz.” His views are echoed by Krish Ashok, a Chennai-based musician and columnist, who says that films are essential for reviving and sustaining classical art forms, music being one of them. “It’s difficult to get people to listen to classical music bypassing the films. Their first exposure to it is through films and the eventual dream is to make music for films. Indian film music in the 1940s and till much after that was popular form of Indian classical music. Ilayaraja and A R Rahman have been bringing classical music to laymen through their film compositions” Most films, however, are accused of playing to the gallery and diluting the purity of the genre. Is the purist right in worrying about the sanctity of the form? Ashok states emphatically that popularisation should not be seen as a threat since Classical always stays. He brings in a caveat however. “Questions regarding appropriation of cultural products while popularising them are valid to an extent. When the folk music born out of poverty and deprivation becomes club style, the contrast is stark.” Talking of the music scene in the USA, Ashok adds, “Every pop genre in the USA since the 1920s came from the blacks and yet it is the white artists who took the centre-stage. Elvis Presley became much bigger Rock n Roll icon than Chuck Berry; Eminem is bigger than his black counterparts in hip-hop and Rap.” A techie trained in Carnatic music, Ashok is gentle towards the purists’ urge to be protective towards their inherited form. However, he says that the purist wilfully ignores the impure genesis of his form while jealously guarding only the inherited finished product, “the latest update,” against corrupting influences. “In India, Carnatic and Hindustani traditions owe a lot to Western and Persian influences. Music flourishes through improvisations.” Sunanda Rao Erdem, one of the handful degree holders in Opera singing in India, is in slight disagreement here. “Improvisation cannot be a blanket saviour for all music. For example, the Western classical music has been written down by composers already. It is bound to sound the same. Nuances are dependent only on the conductors and performers who bring their personalities into the interpretation of the sheets.” She adds, “Jazz is not written down, it is passed down ear to ear. There is more scope for improvisation there. Likewise, Indian classical music is more adaptable since it allows for greater degree of experimentation while retaining its formal structure. This may be one of the reasons why Western classical music has not been able to penetrate the Indian audience.” Certainly, musicians and conductors have been personalising classical music despite the mandated strict adherence to form. Gustavo Dudamel, who conducted the iconic Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Year Concert on January 1, the youngest conductor to do so, has been reading the note-sheets through his eccentricity tinted glasses. Not yet 36, this South American conductor has managed to create ripples in the oft-perceived placid world of western classical music. By choosing Dudamel to conduct the concert this year, which happens to be a landmark one due to the 175th anniversary of the Vienna Philharmonic, the 150th birth anniversary of Empress Maria Theresa, and the 150th anniversary of the first performance of Strauss’s ‘Blue Danube,’ the western classical music establishment may have given out a strong signal. Dudamel, who has inspired "Mozart in the Jungle," an immensely popular TV series, is known for his effervescence, the kind that makes the audience at the famed Golden Hall at the Musikverein in Vienna tap its feet. The purists may have written Dudamel off for being compulsively gimmicky, his ebullient personality is a big pull for the newly interested in western classical music. His innovative ways to broaden the audience base range from collaboration with LENA (Leading European Newspapers Alliance), conducting the soundtrack for Star Wars to his commitment to community and music education. Through Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA) programme, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and its community partners have been providing free of cost training, instruments and mentorship to students from under-privileged backgrounds. Ashok locates Dudamel’s rise in the cyclical nature of the history of music. “If we study the history of Western Classical music over the past 100 years, we shall see that every 10-20 years one maverick comes whose genius forces people to take note of that particular genre of music.” This decade belongs to Dudamel and his innovative ways. The idea of “popification” of classical music in films also needs to be examined critically. Coming on the heels of the Baroque style, Bach and Mozart secularised music like never before. “To their contemporaries, they too were pop stars. Same with Tchaikovsky. What was once pop has now become classical. Classical music as a genre is not static; the definitions are constantly changing. Jazz was borne out of experimentation and yet seen as a serious, almost classical form,” says Ashok. This perchance explains the sentiment of protectiveness about Jazz when a film like "La La Land" seeks to capitalise on it. Rao-Erdem, a self-proclaimed purist, understands well that this overprotective attitude may not serve the cause of classical music. “Chinese opera music is a dying form. The Chinese are extremely purist in their treatment of arts. The government is trying hard to resurrect the opera tradition but lack of innovation is their biggest enemy.” She adds, “Many small orchestras in Europe have run out of business due to their inability to keep pace with the changing world around them. Maybe they needed something like Pavarotti and Friends.” New tricks are needed for a brave new world. Before the 20th century “rules of concert etiquette” made the concerts stifling and somewhat painful, listening to classical music was a full-bodied social experience. As a backlash to the mechanical production of music, live concerts attempted to retain their charm and aura by putting in place certain rules of engagement for the audience. Today, a minuscule fraction of the world population goes to classical concerts. As per a 2012 study by the National Endowment for Arts, 8.8% of Americans had attended a classical concert in the last 12 months. No wonder then that the major symphonic orchestras in the USA are facing the music. While the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Opera filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and 2013 respectively, other major outfits have seen strikes in the last five years. Is the purist, then, not the biggest enemy of the art it most zealously aims to protect? Ashok gives an interesting response to this. “Purists are important for the growth of music. Great art always emerges out of purism. Constraints and not absolute freedom creates it. John Cage’s 4’33” is an example of compulsive experimentation. But will it, should it, be considered a classic? It is only when there is a keenly felt need to break away that music flourishes. That need is a gift of the purist to the experimentalist.” Sen’s view of the purist is a little less charitable. “I think the purist still has the form at its purest. I see no bother in an unschooled listener getting exposed to the music through some over-accessible form of it. It can often be a gateway.” Rao-Erdem, on the other hand, stands her ground by asserting that only the presentation and not the music per se should be open to improvisation. Individual and society; tradition and individual talent et al are bound to be locked in an unrelenting scrimmage. What may benefit the purist and the experimentalist is broadening the base of the audience, aided by innovative ways of engagement. If a "La La Land" inspires some YouTube searches for “Jazz,” so be it! (WION)

Can classical music survive without shedding its obsession with purism?

&quot;Moonlight,&quot; a drama about a gay black youth coming to terms with his sexuality in an impoverished Miami neighborhood, received the Oscar for best picture on Sunday (February 26) after a stunning, unprecedented flub in which presenters erroneously announced the musical &quot;La La Land&quot; as the winner.

The cast and creative team for &quot;La La Land&quot; had already taken the stage to begin delivering acceptance speeches when one of the producers interrupted the proceedings to say that the award had been given to the wrong movie, and that &quot;Moonlight&quot; was the real victor. He then held up the envelope to the camera to prove it was true.

Veteran actor-direct Warren Beatty tried to explain that he and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner because the envelope they had been handed bore incorrectly the name of best actress winner, Emma Stone, and the movie title &quot;La La Land.&quot;

When the cast and crew of &quot;Moonlight&quot; finally got up on stage, writer-director Barry Jenkins said: &quot;It is true, it&#39;s not fake. We&#39;ve been on the road with these guys for so and that was so gracious, so generous of them, my love to &#39;La La Land,&#39; my love to everybody.&quot;

&quot;There was a time when I thought this movie was impossible because I couldn&#39;t bring it to fruition, I couldn&#39;t bring myself to tell another story so everybody behind me on this stage said &#39;no&quot; that is not acceptable. So I just want to thank everybody up there behind me, everybody out there in that room, we didn&#39;t do this, you guys chose us. Thank you for the choice, I appreciate it,&quot; added Jenkins.

Host Jimmy Kimmel joked after the snafu, &quot;I knew I would screw this show up. I really did.&quot;

(AFP)

&nbsp;

Watch - Emma Stone calling out&nbsp;Warren Beatty&#39;s Oscar flub 
 
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In the press room, Emma Stone, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in La La Land, told reporters, &quot;I was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time.&quot; (WION)
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In an unprecedented mess-up, the presenters erroneously announced the musical 'La La Land' as the winner

"Moonlight," a drama about a gay black youth coming to terms with his sexuality in an impoverished Miami neighborhood, received the Oscar for best picture on Sunday (February 26) after a stunning, unprecedented flub in which presenters erroneously announced the musical "La La Land" as the winner. The cast and creative team for "La La Land" had already taken the stage to begin delivering acceptance speeches when one of the producers interrupted the proceedings to say that the award had been given to the wrong movie, and that "Moonlight" was the real victor. He then held up the envelope to the camera to prove it was true. Veteran actor-direct Warren Beatty tried to explain that he and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winner because the envelope they had been handed bore incorrectly the name of best actress winner, Emma Stone, and the movie title "La La Land." When the cast and crew of "Moonlight" finally got up on stage, writer-director Barry Jenkins said: "It is true, it's not fake. We've been on the road with these guys for so and that was so gracious, so generous of them, my love to 'La La Land,' my love to everybody." "There was a time when I thought this movie was impossible because I couldn't bring it to fruition, I couldn't bring myself to tell another story so everybody behind me on this stage said 'no" that is not acceptable. So I just want to thank everybody up there behind me, everybody out there in that room, we didn't do this, you guys chose us. Thank you for the choice, I appreciate it," added Jenkins. Host Jimmy Kimmel joked after the snafu, "I knew I would screw this show up. I really did." (AFP) Watch - Emma Stone calling out Warren Beatty's Oscar flub In the press room, Emma Stone, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in La La Land, told reporters, "I was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time." (WION) ×

Oscars 2017: 'Moonlight' wins award as best picture after major goof-up

Nostalgic musical &quot;La La Land&quot;, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone won big at the 89th Academy Awards and took home the golden statuette in six categories. &quot;Moonlight&quot;, was second with three wins including Best Film. The film stars&nbsp;Trevante Rhodes, Andr&eacute; Holland, Janelle Mon&aacute;e, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali.

Here&#39;s the complete list of winners&nbsp;

Best Film: &#39;Moonlight&#39;

Best Actor: Casey Affleck for &quot;Manchester By The Sea&quot;

Best Actress: Emma Stone for &quot;La La Land&quot;

Best Director: Damien Chazelle for &quot;La La Land&quot;

Best Foreign Language Film: &quot;The Salesman&quot; (Iran) 
 
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis for &quot;Fences&quot;

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for &quot;Moonlight&quot;

Best Film Editing: John Gilbert for &quot;Hacksaw Ridge&quot; 
 
Best Cinematography: Linus Sandgren,&nbsp;&quot;La La Land&quot; 
 
Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan for &quot;Manchester By The Sea&quot; 
 
Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for &quot;Moonlight&quot;

Best Make-up and Hairstyling: &quot;Suicide Squad&quot; 
 
Best Visual Effects: &quot;The Jungle Book&quot; 
 
Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz for &quot;La La Land&quot;

Best Original Song: &quot;City of Stars&quot;&nbsp;from &quot;La La Land&quot;

Best Costume Design: &quot;Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them&quot;

Best Production Design: &quot;La La Land&quot;

Best Animated Feature Film: &quot;Zootopia&quot; 
 
Best Animated Short Film: &quot;Piper&quot; 
 
Best Documentary Feature:&nbsp;&quot;O.J.: Made in America&quot;

Best Live Action (Short): &quot;Sing&quot; 
 
Best Documentary (Short): &quot;The White Helmets&quot;

Best Sound Editing:&nbsp;&quot;Arrival&quot; 
 
Best Sound Mixing:&nbsp;&quot;Hacksaw Ridge&quot;

(WION)

'La La Land' won six awards, 'Moonlight' won three, including Best Film

Nostalgic musical "La La Land", starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone won big at the 89th Academy Awards and took home the golden statuette in six categories. "Moonlight", was second with three wins including Best Film. The film stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali. Here's the complete list of winners Best Film: 'Moonlight' Best Actor: Casey Affleck for "Manchester By The Sea" Best Actress: Emma Stone for "La La Land" Best Director: Damien Chazelle for "La La Land" Best Foreign Language Film: "The Salesman" (Iran) Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis for "Fences" Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for "Moonlight" Best Film Editing: John Gilbert for "Hacksaw Ridge" Best Cinematography: Linus Sandgren, "La La Land" Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester By The Sea" Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for "Moonlight" Best Make-up and Hairstyling: "Suicide Squad" Best Visual Effects: "The Jungle Book" Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz for "La La Land" Best Original Song: "City of Stars" from "La La Land" Best Costume Design: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" Best Production Design: "La La Land" Best Animated Feature Film: "Zootopia" Best Animated Short Film: "Piper" Best Documentary Feature: "O.J.: Made in America" Best Live Action (Short): "Sing" Best Documentary (Short): "The White Helmets" Best Sound Editing: "Arrival" Best Sound Mixing: "Hacksaw Ridge" (WION)

Oscars 2017: Complete list of winners

Oscar officials on Monday were investigating an embarrassing mix-up over the best picture award, which eventually went to African-American coming-of-age drama &quot;Moonlight&quot;, after a ceremony studded with political jokes and minor mishaps.

In a mistake that stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood and a television audience worldwide, presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway at first said the winner was romantic musical &quot;La La Land&quot;, the presumed best picture favourite.

As both films&#39; casts stood awkwardly on stage, Beatty explained he had received the wrong envelope.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, which oversees the ballots, confirmed the error and apologised.

&quot;We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred,&quot; the professional services firm said in a statement while apologising to &quot;Moonlight&quot;, &quot;La La Land&quot;, Beatty, Dunaway and Oscars viewers.

Officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were not available to comment.

&quot;Is that the craziest Oscar moment of all time?&quot; Stone, who won the best actress award for her &quot;La La Land&quot; role as a struggling actress, told reporters backstage.

While the best picture mix-up took the top spot in the evening&#39;s embarrassments, the ceremony was beset with smaller blunders.

During the &quot;in memoriam&quot; segment, the name of celebrated Australian costume designer Janet Patterson, who died last year, was accompanied by a photo of Jan Chapman, an Australian movie producer who is alive and well.

There was also a hit for Auli&#39;i Cravalho, the 16-year-old actress and lead voice in Disney&#39;s animated film &quot;Moana&quot;. While performing the best song nominated, &quot;How Far I&#39;ll Go&quot;, Cravalho was struck on the head with a flag waved by a backup dancer.

&quot;Moonlight&quot;, a tale about a young boy struggling with poverty and his sexuality in Miami, also brought a supporting actor Oscar for first-timer Mahershala Ali.

Viola Davis won for her supporting role as a long-suffering housewife in African-American family drama &quot;Fences&quot;.

The recognition for both the actors and their films was a stark contrast to the 2016 Academy Awards&nbsp;when no actors of colour were even nominated.

&quot;Moonlight&quot; producer Adele Romanski said she hoped the movie would inspire &quot;little black boys and brown girls and other folks watching at home who feel marginalised.&quot;

&quot;La La Land&quot; sweeps show

&quot;La La Land&quot; began the evening with a leading 14 nominations and emerged with six wins, including for its score and theme song &quot;City of Stars.&quot; Director Damien Chazelle, 32, became the youngest person ever to win for best director.

&quot;Manchester by the Sea&quot; star Casey Affleck was named best actor, winning his first Oscar despite 2010 sexual harassment allegations that resurfaced during awards season. Affleck denied the allegations, which were settled out of court.

&quot;Man, I wish I had something better and more meaningful to say,&quot; said Affleck, who played a heart-broken father in the movie. &quot; ... I&#39;m just dumbfounded that I&#39;m included.&quot;

The best picture mistake during Hollywood&#39;s biggest night seemed to eclipse the prior three hours of a show peppered with jokes about US&nbsp;President Donald Trump.

The gibes capped an awards season marked by celebrities&#39; fiery protests of Trump&#39;s policies.

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel fired off political zingers and even tweeted at the Republican president, getting no immediate response.

Several celebrities wore blue ribbons on Sunday in support of the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group, which worked to get Trump&#39;s bid to ban travellers from seven majority Muslim nations blocked in U.S. courts.

But for the most part, the speeches were mild or made general pleas for tolerance rather than direct attacks on Trump.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi was an exception. His drama &quot;The Salesman&quot; was named best foreign-language film, but Farhadi boycotted the ceremony because of Trump&#39;s travel ban.

In a speech given on his behalf by Iranian-American space expert Anousheh Ansari, Farhadi said his absence was due to &quot;an inhumane law that bans entry into the US&nbsp;... Dividing the world into the &#39;us&#39; and &#39;our enemies&#39; categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war.&quot;

(Reuters)

While the best picture mix-up took the top spot in the evening's embarrassments, the ceremony was beset with smaller blunders

Oscar officials on Monday were investigating an embarrassing mix-up over the best picture award, which eventually went to African-American coming-of-age drama "Moonlight", after a ceremony studded with political jokes and minor mishaps. In a mistake that stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood and a television audience worldwide, presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway at first said the winner was romantic musical "La La Land", the presumed best picture favourite. As both films' casts stood awkwardly on stage, Beatty explained he had received the wrong envelope. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which oversees the ballots, confirmed the error and apologised. "We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred," the professional services firm said in a statement while apologising to "Moonlight", "La La Land", Beatty, Dunaway and Oscars viewers. Officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were not available to comment. "Is that the craziest Oscar moment of all time?" Stone, who won the best actress award for her "La La Land" role as a struggling actress, told reporters backstage. While the best picture mix-up took the top spot in the evening's embarrassments, the ceremony was beset with smaller blunders. During the "in memoriam" segment, the name of celebrated Australian costume designer Janet Patterson, who died last year, was accompanied by a photo of Jan Chapman, an Australian movie producer who is alive and well. There was also a hit for Auli'i Cravalho, the 16-year-old actress and lead voice in Disney's animated film "Moana". While performing the best song nominated, "How Far I'll Go", Cravalho was struck on the head with a flag waved by a backup dancer. "Moonlight", a tale about a young boy struggling with poverty and his sexuality in Miami, also brought a supporting actor Oscar for first-timer Mahershala Ali. Viola Davis won for her supporting role as a long-suffering housewife in African-American family drama "Fences". The recognition for both the actors and their films was a stark contrast to the 2016 Academy Awards when no actors of colour were even nominated. "Moonlight" producer Adele Romanski said she hoped the movie would inspire "little black boys and brown girls and other folks watching at home who feel marginalised." "La La Land" sweeps show "La La Land" began the evening with a leading 14 nominations and emerged with six wins, including for its score and theme song "City of Stars." Director Damien Chazelle, 32, became the youngest person ever to win for best director. "Manchester by the Sea" star Casey Affleck was named best actor, winning his first Oscar despite 2010 sexual harassment allegations that resurfaced during awards season. Affleck denied the allegations, which were settled out of court. "Man, I wish I had something better and more meaningful to say," said Affleck, who played a heart-broken father in the movie. " ... I'm just dumbfounded that I'm included." The best picture mistake during Hollywood's biggest night seemed to eclipse the prior three hours of a show peppered with jokes about US President Donald Trump. The gibes capped an awards season marked by celebrities' fiery protests of Trump's policies. Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel fired off political zingers and even tweeted at the Republican president, getting no immediate response. Several celebrities wore blue ribbons on Sunday in support of the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group, which worked to get Trump's bid to ban travellers from seven majority Muslim nations blocked in U.S. courts. But for the most part, the speeches were mild or made general pleas for tolerance rather than direct attacks on Trump. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi was an exception. His drama "The Salesman" was named best foreign-language film, but Farhadi boycotted the ceremony because of Trump's travel ban. In a speech given on his behalf by Iranian-American space expert Anousheh Ansari, Farhadi said his absence was due to "an inhumane law that bans entry into the US ... Dividing the world into the 'us' and 'our enemies' categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war." (Reuters)

The best and worst of Oscars 2017

Heavily-backed favorite Mahershala Ali won the best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday for his portrayal of a drug dealer in coming-of-age drama &quot;Moonlight&quot; -- becoming the first Muslim film star to pick up a golden statuette.&nbsp;

A first-time nominee, the 43-year-old actor saw off competition from Britain&#39;s Dev Patel, veteran US actors Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon and newcomer Lucas Hedges.

&quot;I want to thank my teachers, my professors,&quot; Ali said. &quot;One thing that they consistently told me... &#39;It&#39;s not about you. It&#39;s about these characters. You are a servant. You&#39;re in service to these stories and these characters&#39;.&quot;

He thanked his fellow cast members -- and his wife, who gave birth to their first child, a baby girl, just days earlier.

Barry Jenkins&#39;s &quot;Moonlight&quot; tells the life story of a young African-American struggling to find his place as he grows up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.

In a brief but acclaimed performance, Ali&#39;s drug dealer Juan imparts life lessons to the protagonist Chiron that help him survive in prison and in the outside world.

The role won Oakland-born Ali best supporting actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, although he lost out to Aaron Taylor-Johnson (&quot;Nocturnal Animals&quot;) at the Golden Globes.

Ali, a Muslim convert since 1999 with a Christian minister for a mother, joined the minority Ahmadiyya Community, a movement seen as heretical by other Islamic sects, in 2001.

Muslims have won Oscars in various categories over the years -- including Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and feature director Asghar Farhadi -- but none has taken a statuette for acting.&nbsp;

Ellen Burstyn, who won a best actress Oscar in 1975, has practiced a blend of Sufism and other religions since her late 30s but has said she considers herself a &quot;spirit open to the truth&quot; rather than a Muslim.

Ali recently told Britain&#39;s Radio Times magazine that he discovered he was on an FBI watchlist after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

&quot;If you convert to Islam after a couple of decades of being a black man in the US, the discrimination you receive as a Muslim doesn&#39;t feel like a shock,&quot; he said.

&quot;I&#39;ve been pulled over, asked where my gun is, asked if I&#39;m a pimp, had my car pulled apart. Muslims will feel like there&#39;s this new discrimination that they hadn&#39;t received before -- but it&#39;s not new for us.&quot; 
 
&nbsp;From &#39;House of Cards&#39; to &#39;Luke Cage&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Ali&#39;s previous notable roles have come in Derek Cianfrance&#39;s &quot;The Place Beyond the Pines,&quot; Gary Ross&#39;s civil war era drama &quot;Free State of Jones,&quot; the final two &quot;The Hunger Games&quot; films and, on television, Netflix&#39;s &quot;Marvel&#39;s Luke Cage.&quot;&nbsp;

He is best known however for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of White House lobbyist turned chief of staff Remy Danton in Netflix political drama &quot;House of Cards.&quot;

Born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore -- he was named after a child of the biblical prophet Isiah -- and raised near San Francisco, Ali studied mass communications at St. Mary&#39;s College of California.&nbsp;

He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival and, soon after, earned a master&#39;s degree in acting from New York University.

His first major movie role was in David Fincher&#39;s 2008 fantasy drama &quot;The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,&quot; opposite Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

Ali and his wife Amatus Sami-Karim have a cat called Nas, named after the US rapper. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a drug dealer in coming-of-age drama 'Moonlight'

Heavily-backed favorite Mahershala Ali won the best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday for his portrayal of a drug dealer in coming-of-age drama "Moonlight" -- becoming the first Muslim film star to pick up a golden statuette. A first-time nominee, the 43-year-old actor saw off competition from Britain's Dev Patel, veteran US actors Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon and newcomer Lucas Hedges. "I want to thank my teachers, my professors," Ali said. "One thing that they consistently told me... 'It's not about you. It's about these characters. You are a servant. You're in service to these stories and these characters'." He thanked his fellow cast members -- and his wife, who gave birth to their first child, a baby girl, just days earlier. Barry Jenkins's "Moonlight" tells the life story of a young African-American struggling to find his place as he grows up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. In a brief but acclaimed performance, Ali's drug dealer Juan imparts life lessons to the protagonist Chiron that help him survive in prison and in the outside world. The role won Oakland-born Ali best supporting actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, although he lost out to Aaron Taylor-Johnson ("Nocturnal Animals") at the Golden Globes. Ali, a Muslim convert since 1999 with a Christian minister for a mother, joined the minority Ahmadiyya Community, a movement seen as heretical by other Islamic sects, in 2001. Muslims have won Oscars in various categories over the years -- including Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and feature director Asghar Farhadi -- but none has taken a statuette for acting. Ellen Burstyn, who won a best actress Oscar in 1975, has practiced a blend of Sufism and other religions since her late 30s but has said she considers herself a "spirit open to the truth" rather than a Muslim. Ali recently told Britain's Radio Times magazine that he discovered he was on an FBI watchlist after the September 11, 2001 attacks. "If you convert to Islam after a couple of decades of being a black man in the US, the discrimination you receive as a Muslim doesn't feel like a shock," he said. "I've been pulled over, asked where my gun is, asked if I'm a pimp, had my car pulled apart. Muslims will feel like there's this new discrimination that they hadn't received before -- but it's not new for us." From 'House of Cards' to 'Luke Cage' Ali's previous notable roles have come in Derek Cianfrance's "The Place Beyond the Pines," Gary Ross's civil war era drama "Free State of Jones," the final two "The Hunger Games" films and, on television, Netflix's "Marvel's Luke Cage." He is best known however for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of White House lobbyist turned chief of staff Remy Danton in Netflix political drama "House of Cards." Born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore -- he was named after a child of the biblical prophet Isiah -- and raised near San Francisco, Ali studied mass communications at St. Mary's College of California. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival and, soon after, earned a master's degree in acting from New York University. His first major movie role was in David Fincher's 2008 fantasy drama "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," opposite Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Ali and his wife Amatus Sami-Karim have a cat called Nas, named after the US rapper. (AFP)

Oscars 2017: Mahershala Ali becomes first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award

Rescue workers from Syria&#39;s White Helmets group -- the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary -- will not attend this weekend&#39;s Academy Awards ceremony because of intensified regime bombing, their leader said Saturday.

&quot;I am not going because of our workload due to intensified regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs,&quot; Raed Saleh told AFP.

&quot;There are many things that have to be done on the ground, such as managing operations and providing emergency vehicles,&quot; he said.

Saleh and fellow White Helmet member Khaled Khatib had been set to attend Sunday&#39;s ceremony in Hollywood, where &quot;The White Helmets&quot; is shortlisted for best short documentary.

Istanbul-based Khatib, who shot much of the footage, also confirmed that he would not attend the ceremony, despite obtaining an American visa.

&quot;I won&#39;t travel to OSCAR due to intensity of work, our priority is helping our people,&quot; he tweeted in English on Saturday.

&quot;I was going to leave on Tuesday, but there was too much work because of the bombing,&quot; Khatib told AFP by telephone.

&quot;I&#39;m also working on producing another film about the White Helmets that has to be ready in two weeks. I will not go.&quot;

The two rescuers had feared they could be barred from attending the ceremony because of US President Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria.

The ban has since been lifted by a US federal court, and on February 18 the pair received their visas.

More than 310,000 people have died since Syria&#39;s conflict erupted in March 2011, and more than half of the country&#39;s citizens have been forced to flee their homes.

Since the White Helmets group was created in 2013, it has hired more than 3,000 volunteers and claims to have saved more than 78,000 lives.

It takes its name from the protective headgear worn by its members.

(AFP)

'The White Helmets' -- a documentary based on their organisation -- has been nominated at this year's Academy Awards

Rescue workers from Syria's White Helmets group -- the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary -- will not attend this weekend's Academy Awards ceremony because of intensified regime bombing, their leader said Saturday. "I am not going because of our workload due to intensified regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs," Raed Saleh told AFP. "There are many things that have to be done on the ground, such as managing operations and providing emergency vehicles," he said. Saleh and fellow White Helmet member Khaled Khatib had been set to attend Sunday's ceremony in Hollywood, where "The White Helmets" is shortlisted for best short documentary. Istanbul-based Khatib, who shot much of the footage, also confirmed that he would not attend the ceremony, despite obtaining an American visa. "I won't travel to OSCAR due to intensity of work, our priority is helping our people," he tweeted in English on Saturday. "I was going to leave on Tuesday, but there was too much work because of the bombing," Khatib told AFP by telephone. "I'm also working on producing another film about the White Helmets that has to be ready in two weeks. I will not go." The two rescuers had feared they could be barred from attending the ceremony because of US President Donald Trump's late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria. The ban has since been lifted by a US federal court, and on February 18 the pair received their visas. More than 310,000 people have died since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, and more than half of the country's citizens have been forced to flee their homes. Since the White Helmets group was created in 2013, it has hired more than 3,000 volunteers and claims to have saved more than 78,000 lives. It takes its name from the protective headgear worn by its members. (AFP)

Syria's White Helmets group to shun Oscars over growing regime bombing

&quot;Hacksaw Ridge&quot;&nbsp;is a war drama directed by Mel Gibson. It earned six oscar nominations, including that of best director for Mel Gibson. The film was also nominated in the Best Pictures category.

Storyline (4/5)

The film&#39;s plot revolves&nbsp;around real-life story of Desmond Doss, who saved lives on the battlefield of Okinawa without ever lifting a weapon, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour.

This inspirational story of persistence and faith is worth knowing.

Direction (5/5)

Mel Gibson&rsquo;s comeback after a decade raised a lot of expectations and he has met all of them.&nbsp; 
 
A well-structured movie based on an inspirational story with intricate details of war scenes juxtaposed with beautiful love scenes shock hearts and eyes of viewers&nbsp;at the same time.

Acting (3.5/5)

Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss was the film&#39;s surprise package. His smooth transitions from a lover to a soldier to a saviour surpassed all expectations. 
&nbsp; 
Angelic Teresa Palmer added the dash of love and beauty in this otherwise dark movie. Witty Vince Vaughn gave one of his performances in a long time.

Entertainment (3/5)

The entertainment quotient is a tricky part in this movie. The amount of blood, rotting corpses, severed limbs that are shown in order to bring alive the story on screen, are unbearable even to many strong hearts and war movie lovers.&nbsp;

This movie shows courage, inspiration, reality more like a piece of art than a piece of entertainment.

Overall Rating (3.5/5)

Watch this movie for excellent direction and acting but be prepared to deal with gore and violence. If you are someone who looks for meaningful cinema, this one is for you.

(WION)

The Mel Gibson-directed film has earned six oscar nominations

"Hacksaw Ridge" is a war drama directed by Mel Gibson. It earned six oscar nominations, including that of best director for Mel Gibson. The film was also nominated in the Best Pictures category. Storyline (4/5) The film's plot revolves around real-life story of Desmond Doss, who saved lives on the battlefield of Okinawa without ever lifting a weapon, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. This inspirational story of persistence and faith is worth knowing. Direction (5/5) Mel Gibson’s comeback after a decade raised a lot of expectations and he has met all of them. A well-structured movie based on an inspirational story with intricate details of war scenes juxtaposed with beautiful love scenes shock hearts and eyes of viewers at the same time. Acting (3.5/5) Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss was the film's surprise package. His smooth transitions from a lover to a soldier to a saviour surpassed all expectations. Angelic Teresa Palmer added the dash of love and beauty in this otherwise dark movie. Witty Vince Vaughn gave one of his performances in a long time. Entertainment (3/5) The entertainment quotient is a tricky part in this movie. The amount of blood, rotting corpses, severed limbs that are shown in order to bring alive the story on screen, are unbearable even to many strong hearts and war movie lovers. This movie shows courage, inspiration, reality more like a piece of art than a piece of entertainment. Overall Rating (3.5/5) Watch this movie for excellent direction and acting but be prepared to deal with gore and violence. If you are someone who looks for meaningful cinema, this one is for you. (WION)

Oscar special movie review: 'Hacksaw Ridge' - 3.5 stars

Hidden Figures is an american biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi. The movie is based on a non fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. It is nominated in the Best Pictures category at Academy Awards.

Storyline: 4.5/5

Hidden Figures is a story of women African American Mathematicians in NASA in 1960s. The movie is a refreshing break from regular mundane plots.

Everyone has heard about racial discrimination during those days but it is tough to imagine it in a science haven like NASA. This biographical drama made that tough job really easy.

Direction: 4.5/5

A well directed movie will never let you feel the ticking of clock and this one makes you forget the existence of clock. From the opening frame to the closing, there is not a single dull moment in the film.&nbsp;

Melfi successfully managed to convert a biographical book to a binding visual experience.

Acting: 5/5

For a successful movie, actors needs to feel the characters. The three leading ladies in this movie aced the art of absorbing their characters and bringing them alive on the screen.

Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janalle Monae were not the only one, Jim Parsons and Mahershala Ali too did full justice to their roles.

Entertainment : 5/5

This movie is a full packed entertainment. Even after being a NASA oriented film, it is not heavy on scientific jargons or mathematical theorems.&nbsp;

This enriching journey of three women takes the audience with them, glides through their strengths and finally lands on the pedestal of a future that changed history.

Overall rating: 4.5/5 
&nbsp; 
Book the earliest possible show, double up your popcorn and make sure you see this movie even if you are neck deep in work.

(WION)

The movie has an overall rating of 4.5. So book the earliest possible show, double up your popcorn and make sure you see this movie

Hidden Figures is an american biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi. The movie is based on a non fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. It is nominated in the Best Pictures category at Academy Awards. Storyline: 4.5/5 Hidden Figures is a story of women African American Mathematicians in NASA in 1960s. The movie is a refreshing break from regular mundane plots. Everyone has heard about racial discrimination during those days but it is tough to imagine it in a science haven like NASA. This biographical drama made that tough job really easy. Direction: 4.5/5 A well directed movie will never let you feel the ticking of clock and this one makes you forget the existence of clock. From the opening frame to the closing, there is not a single dull moment in the film. Melfi successfully managed to convert a biographical book to a binding visual experience. Acting: 5/5 For a successful movie, actors needs to feel the characters. The three leading ladies in this movie aced the art of absorbing their characters and bringing them alive on the screen. Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janalle Monae were not the only one, Jim Parsons and Mahershala Ali too did full justice to their roles. Entertainment : 5/5 This movie is a full packed entertainment. Even after being a NASA oriented film, it is not heavy on scientific jargons or mathematical theorems. This enriching journey of three women takes the audience with them, glides through their strengths and finally lands on the pedestal of a future that changed history. Overall rating: 4.5/5 Book the earliest possible show, double up your popcorn and make sure you see this movie even if you are neck deep in work. (WION)

Oscars special movie review: Hidden Figures

The host of a late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel announced on Monday that he would be hosting the 2017 Academy Awards in February ending months of speculation.

This is the first time for ABC&#39;s &quot;Jimmy Kimmel Live!&quot; host, who hosted this year&#39;s Emmys television awards.&nbsp;

&quot;Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on @TheAcademy will be terrible &amp; sweet,&quot; the 49-year-old New Yorker joked on Twitter.

&nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy">@TheAcademy</a> will be terrible &amp; sweet. Thx to <a href="https://twitter.com/alsformalwear">@alsformalwear</a>
&mdash; Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/805849849304256512">December 5, 2016</a></blockquote>

Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, producers of the 89th Oscars ceremony, confirmed the comedian&#39;s selection who will host live award function live on February 26.

&quot;Jimmy&#39;s ability to connect with people is what makes him a singular choice for this job,&quot; they said in a joint statement.

&quot;His frank observations, relatable persona, wry humor and love of all kinds of film make him a natural fit for the Oscars stage.&quot;

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was thrilled to have a host who &quot;knows who he is, he knows the audience&quot; while CEO Dawn Hudson described Kimmel as &quot;razor sharp, funny and unpredictable.&quot;

In August, ABC struck a new deal to give executives more creative input.

The television network pays the Academy a reported $75 million a year to broadcast the Oscars.

&quot;Jimmy is the perfect choice for us. He is deeply rooted in the Hollywood community and gifted at connecting with an audience as the consummate emcee,&quot; said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, AFP reported.

The appointment of Kimmel comes uncharacteristically late this year as the host is usually booked months in advance of the Oscars.

The 2016 ceremony was hosted by Chris Rock in the backdrop of a social media outrage against the lack of racial diversity among the nominees, under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. The telecast suffered an eight-year low in ratings, averaging 34.5 million viewers.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The appointment of Kimmel comes uncharacteristically late this year as the host is usually booked months in advance of the Oscars

The host of a late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel announced on Monday that he would be hosting the 2017 Academy Awards in February ending months of speculation. This is the first time for ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host, who hosted this year's Emmys television awards. "Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on @TheAcademy will be terrible & sweet," the 49-year-old New Yorker joked on Twitter. Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on @TheAcademy will be terrible & sweet. Thx to @alsformalwear — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 5, 2016 Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, producers of the 89th Oscars ceremony, confirmed the comedian's selection who will host live award function live on February 26. "Jimmy's ability to connect with people is what makes him a singular choice for this job," they said in a joint statement. "His frank observations, relatable persona, wry humor and love of all kinds of film make him a natural fit for the Oscars stage." Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was thrilled to have a host who "knows who he is, he knows the audience" while CEO Dawn Hudson described Kimmel as "razor sharp, funny and unpredictable." In August, ABC struck a new deal to give executives more creative input. The television network pays the Academy a reported $75 million a year to broadcast the Oscars. "Jimmy is the perfect choice for us. He is deeply rooted in the Hollywood community and gifted at connecting with an audience as the consummate emcee," said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, AFP reported. The appointment of Kimmel comes uncharacteristically late this year as the host is usually booked months in advance of the Oscars. The 2016 ceremony was hosted by Chris Rock in the backdrop of a social media outrage against the lack of racial diversity among the nominees, under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. The telecast suffered an eight-year low in ratings, averaging 34.5 million viewers. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host 2017 Oscars

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