Suit up, frock on and get ready for the 95th edition of the Academy Awards: It's Oscars time once again!
In a year where Tom Cruise was credited with saving the cinema and an indie film grossed more than $US100 million, the 95th Academy Awards are being touted as a return to form post-COVID-19.
Here's what you need to know about the 2023 Oscars.
What time are the Oscars?
The ceremony starts at 11am AEDT on Monday, March 13.
It's being held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, US — where it will be Sunday night, local time.
How can I watch the Oscars in Australia?
Channel Seven will broadcast the Oscars on free-to-air TV and its streaming platform, 7Plus, in Australia.
From 8am to 10am AEDT, 7Bravo will broadcast the Live from the E! pre-ceremony content plus the red carpet arrivals from 10am AEDT.
We will be live-blogging the whole thing on the ABC News website on Monday morning.
Who's hosting the Oscars this year?
Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the Oscars for the third time this year.
The comedian and late night talk show presenter hosted the awards back in 2017 and 2018.
"Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honour or a trap," Kimmel said in a press statement.
"Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said no."
Kimmel has been teasing what he's got in store for the Oscars for a couple weeks now, dropping a "hint" on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, featuring Top Gun: Maverick stars John Hamm, Charles Parnell and Billy Crystal.
Who's presenting?
At this rate, the quicker question might be who's not presenting, with the Academy announcing dozens of famous faces in the lead-up to the show.
Confirmed so far are:
- Riz Ahmed
- Halle Bailey
- Antonio Banderas
- Elizabeth Banks
- Emily Blunt
- Jessica Chastain
- John Cho
- Glenn Close
- Jennifer Connelly
- Ariana DeBose
- Andrew Garfield
- Hugh Grant
- Danai Gurira
- Salma Hayek Pinault
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Dwayne Johnson
- Michael B. Jordan
- Nicole Kidman
- Troy Kotsur
- Jonathan Majors
- Melissa McCarthy
- Janelle Monáe
- Deepika Padukone
- Florence Pugh
- Questlove
- Zoe Saldaña
- Sigourney Weaver
- Donnie Yen.
Who's performing at the Oscars?
It's a tradition for Best Original Song nominees to perform during the awards, and this year is no exception.
Here's the list of confirmed performances:
- Rihanna: Lift Me Up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Son Lux, Talking Head's David Bryne and Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu (stepping in for original feature Mitski): This Is A Life, Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Actress Sofia Carson and songwriter Diane Warren: Applause, Tell It like A Woman
- Rahul Siplingunj and Kaala Bhairava: Naatu Naatu, RRR
- Lenny Kravitz will perform during the In Memoriam.
The only personal missing from the list is Lady Gaga.
Gaga's nominated for Hold My Hand, her contribution to the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, and while she's expressed joy over the recognition, she has not locked in a performance.
This might be due to scheduling conflicts, as she's smack dab in the middle of filming as Harley Quinn for Todd Phillips' Joker follow up.
Which films are nominated for Best Picture?
Ten films will battle it out for Best Picture this year. They are:
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Avatar: The Way of Water
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Elvis
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Fabelmans
- Tár
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Triangle of Sadness
- Women Talking
Take a look at the full list of nominees here.
Who are the favourites to win?
Considering how it performed at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes and most recently the SAGs — and the fact that it grossed more than $US100 million as an independent film — all (googly) eyes are on Everything Everywhere All At Once to pick up at least a couple gongs.
Most-anticipated is Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh and Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, both of whom have cleaned up in their respective categories this awards season.
Based on previous awards ceremonies, Everything Everywhere All At Once's closest rivals for Best Picture and Best Director are Stephen Spielberg's The Fabelmans and Martin McDonagh's The Banshees Of Inisherin.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — the brains behind Everything Everywhere All At Once — are also hot favourites for Best Screenplay, along with McDonagh.
Best Actor is anyone's guess but — judging by how the awards season has panned out — it could be between Austin Butler for his accent-warping role in Elvis or Brendan Fraser for his work on The Whale.
Will Smith at the Oscars this year?
Traditionally, the previous year's Best Actor winner returns to present the Best Actress award, but that won't be happening at this year's ceremony.
In case you forgot, during the 2022 Oscars, then-Best Actor nominee Will Smith walked onto the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for insulting Smith's wife, Jada Pickett-Smith.
After this altercation, the Academy decided to ban Smith from all Academy events, including the Oscars, for 10 years.
This is despite the fact that Smith went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard later that night.
