Los Angeles (dpa) – “La La Land” has already taken virtually every
top award in Hollywood. The old-school movie musical starring Ryan
Gosling and Emma Stone has won trophies from producers, directors,
and critics’ groups, and set a record with seven wins at the Golden
Globes.
At the Oscars on Sunday, expect more of the same. “La La Land” has 14
nominations – tying a record held by “Titanic” and “All About Eve” –
and is an odds-on favorite to win at least 10 trophies, according to
odds averages compiled by Oscars prediction website Goldderby.
So with so much of the suspense sapped from Hollywood’s greatest show
of the year, why tune in at all?
For starters, the best actor race, one of the few where “La La Land”
– in the person of acting nominee Gosling – seems not to have a lock
on the trophy. Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”) was considered
a shoo-in for the prize for his agonized portrayal of a Boston
janitor confronting a tragic past. But Denzel Washington’s (“Fences”)
surprise win at the Screen Actors Guild awards reshuffled the deck
and now the race is seen as a toss-up.
Another dead heat is the best foreign film race, a showdown between
Iran’s “The Salesman” and Germany’s “Toni Erdmann.” The German comedy
about an estranged father and daughter was seen as a strong favourite
for the prize – until President Donald Trump ordered a ban on
travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran.
“The Salesman” director Asghar Farhadi and the film’s star Taraneh
Alidoosti said they would not be attending the Oscars, and suddenly,
a vote for “The Salesman” became a vote against Trump, one Hollywood
may be glad to cast. Oddsmakers have both films at 5/4 odds to win.
It’s also a safe bet that there will be plenty of protests against
Trump at the Oscars.
As the entertainment awards season has progressed, political
statements from the stage have become as de rigeur as thanking one’s
agent. Meryl Streep drew Trump’s tweeted ire with a blistering speech
at the Golden Globes, while Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Busta
Rhymes took on the new US administration at the Grammys. Oscar
winners often use their spotlight for a pitch for a favourite cause –
expect this year’s cause to be US politics.
Trump will eclipse diversity as the Oscars’ cause celebre, in part
because the awards recently panned as #OscarsSoWhite are not so white
this year. After two years of focus on allegations of racial bias,
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2016 made over
voting rules and recruited a more diverse membership.
This year’s nominees include non-white actors in every acting
category as well as best director, and best picture chances for the
African American-focused “Moonlight,” “Fences” and “Hidden Figures.”
US comic Jimmy Kimmel will host the televised ceremony, with help
from awards presenters including Amy Adams, Riz Ahmed, Javier Bardem,
Janelle Monae and David Oyelowo.
Some of the evening’s top moments are likely to come between the
trophies, thanks to the best original song nominees, which will be
performed by Sting, Justin Timberlake, John Legend – performing not
one but two nominated songs from “La La Land” – and Broadway
wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda.
If Miranda wins the Oscar for his song “How Far I’ll Go” from the
animated “Moana,” he’ll join the exclusive club known as EGOT, for
people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. According
to a count by People magazine, just 12 people have ever pulled off an
EGOT – also known as “the grand slam of show business.” They include
Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg.
Miranda, the creator of the hit stage musical “Hamilton,” would be at
age 37 the youngest-ever EGOT – as well as the only EGOT to have also
won both a Pulitzer Prize (2016) and a MacArthur Foundation “genius”
grant (2015).
