The ninety-eighth Academy Awards are taking place this evening in Los Angeles, and New Yorker writers will cover all the action. (Two short films released by the magazine are also up for awards!) Michael Schulman will serve as our on-the-scene correspondent at the Dolby Theatre, where the ceremony—hosted for a second time by Conan O’Brien—will begin at 7 P.M. E.T. on ABC. Here on our live blog, you’ll find updates and commentary from our critics Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz, who will take in the proceedings from New York.
As our movie critic Richard Brody observed, this has been “a year in which, unexpectedly, what’s great is also popular,” and a number of ambitious, original movies are serious contenders for Best Picture. Ryan Coogler’s historical vampire drama “Sinners” leads the pack in nominations, but Paul Thomas Anderson’s darkly comic thriller “One Battle After Another” isn’t far behind; Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” powered by a career-best performance from Timothée Chalamet, is also firmly in the running. If Chalamet takes Best Actor, he’ll be the second-youngest person ever to do so—though the honor could just as easily go to Michael B. Jordan, who played twins in “Sinners,” or to Leonardo DiCaprio for his turn as a washed-up activist in “One Battle.” Wagner Moura’s work in “The Secret Agent” makes him a credible threat, too, and the film is one of several international features in the mix for the top prizes: a welcome reminder that, with the Academy’s expanded voting body, there could be some genuine surprises in store.
Stick with us throughout the night and come back Monday morning for a dispatch from Schulman, plus analysis from Brody and his fellow movie critic Justin Chang. To get the best of The New Yorker’s film coverage delivered to your inbox, sign up for our Movie Club newsletter.
