It's easy to say that this year's 94th annual Academy Awards won't be like all the others. That's kind of a given; COVID lockdowns, masking and social distancing have made it impossible to hold a "traditional" Oscar Awards.
But this year's event will be reminiscent of another ceremony: last year's. Why? Because we're still trying to figure out how to hold group gatherings for something like an awards show during a pandemic. Though unlike last year's, this one will have hosts (three, in fact) and live musical performances.
Last year's Oscars were held in April; this year they're being held in late March, following pandemic-related delays. Netflix's "The Power of the Dog" leads the nominations, with 12; with his best actor nomination for "The Tragedy of Macbeth," Denzel Washington became the most-nominated Black actor in history. Most of the nominated films are streaming currently, including the best picture batch.
When are the 2022 Oscars?
Though they're usually held in the first two months of the year, in 2021 the ceremony was held in April. This year's ceremony falls on March 27, starting at 5 p.m PT / 8 p.m. E.T. The ceremony will broadcast live on ABC from The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
How can I watch the Oscars?
The live telecast will broadcast and streamed on ABC. Cord-cutters can stream the ceremony through subscription services like Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV.
Who's hosting the Oscars?
After three consecutive years without a host, the Oscars finally have one — actually, the ceremony will have three. This year's ceremony will be hosted by Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, and Amy Schumer.
In a promo video for their upcoming gig, the hosts jokingly compared themselves to last year's emcee. “We just have to do better than last year’s host,” Sykes said. “I don’t even remember last year’s host,” she continued.
Who's nominated for the Oscars?
Here's the full list, along with a look at some surprises and snubs and the first-time nominees. A few of the big category lists are:
Best Picture
- “Belfast”
- “Coda”
- “Don’t Look Up”
- “Drive My Car”
- “Dune”
- “King Richard”
- “Licorice Pizza”
- “Nightmare Alley”
- “The Power of the Dog”
- “West Side Story”
Actor in a Leading Role
- Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
- Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
- Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick ... Boom!”
- Will Smith, “King Richard”
- Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Actress in a Leading Role
- Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
- Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
- Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
- Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
- Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”
Will there be performances at this year's Oscars?
Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, Reba McEntire, and Sebastián Yatra will perform songs nominated for Best Original Songs over the course of the evening.
A band consisting of Oscars music director Adam Blackstone, blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, singer and percussionist Sheila E., and pianist Robert Glasper will perform, too, per Variety. Also expect to see the Jason White-led vocal group The Samples, DJ D-Nice, and a live orchestra.
Who are the Oscars presenters?
The star-studded list keeps growing and growing. So far, the list of presenters includes Lady Gaga, Halle Bailey, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Shawn Mendes, Tyler Perry, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ruth E. Carter, Kevin Costner, Anthony Hopkins, Lily James, Daniel Kaluuya, Zoë Kravitz, Mila Kunis, John Leguizamo, Simu Liu, Rami Malek, Lupita Nyong’o, Rosie Perez, Chris Rock, Naomi Scott, Wesley Snipes, Uma Thurman, John Travolta and Yuh-Jung Youn.
Has history been made at the Oscars this year?
The 2022 Oscars have already made history, and may continue to do so. As mentioned above, Denzel Washington is the most-nominated Black actor in the history of the awards, having earned his 10th nomination for "The Tragedy of Macbeth." He has one Oscar win from 2002, for best actor in "Training Day."
Meanwhile, Kenneth Branagh previously had been nominated for director, actor, supporting actor, adapted screenplay and live-action short film; he now has fresh nominations for "Belfast" that add best picture and original screenplay to that list. That makes him the first person to be nominated in seven different categories.
"Flee," the animated documentary focusing on an Afghan refugee is the first film to receive nominations for documentary, animated film and international film in the same year.
And while this isn't historical, two married couples have been nominated in acting categories: Kristen Dunst and Jesse Plemons picked up supporting actor and actress nominations for "The Power of the Dog," while Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem (each of whom has won before) were nominated in the lead races for "Parallel Mothers" (Cruz) and "Being the Ricardos" (Bardem).