On Sunday, the 95th “Oscar” awards ceremony will be held, and the film “All at once” has won 11 nominations.
Last night, funnyman Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the Oscars for the third time. His first work ended with the infamous mix-up in which the film “La La Land” was accidentally named the best picture of 2017.
Assuming the right envelopes are handed out this year, here are five more things to look out for on Hollywood’s biggest night:
Rihanna and ‘RRR’ but no Gaga
All five Best Song nominees will be invited to perform live at the Oscars.
It means pop superstar Rihanna will be gracing the stage just weeks after her highly-anticipated Super Bowl halftime show, when she revealed she was pregnant.
He sings “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” while Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and “Everything Everywhere” star Stephanie Hsu sing “This Is A Life.”
Perhaps the biggest spectacle is ‘Naatu Naatu’, India’s hit show ‘RRR’, which has recently been dancing on its seats in Hollywood cinemas.
Unfortunately, Lady Gaga will not. The nominee for “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick” is unavailable because he is “in the middle of filming,” Oscar producers said.
Lenny Kravitz will bring even more stardust to the gala, performing music to accompany the annual In Memory tribute.
Best actress story?
This tightly contested category can break tradition and break records.
If Michelle Yeoh (“Everything”) beats Cate Blanchett (“Narrow”), she will become the first Asian woman to win Best Actress.
If Blanchett wins, she will become the eighth actor in history to win three Oscars.
Meanwhile, Andrea Riseborough is sure to be the most unlikely winner, earning a nomination for obscure indie film Leslie thanks to a controversial campaign by celebrity friends of the film’s cast and crew.
In the end, the question arises as to who will give the award.
By tradition, this is the best actor winner of the previous year.
Given Will Smith’s decade-long Oscar ban (see below), it seems highly unlikely.
Slap chat
Just as it’s impossible to write an Oscar preview this year without mentioning “Slapstick,” expect to tackle the ceremony.
For those of you living under a rock, Will Smith punched Chris Rock on stage during last year’s Oscars for a joke about his wife.
The Rock himself joked during a live Netflix show last weekend that he approached the slave master who beat up Smith’s character in his latest film, Emancipation.
Oscar organizers say the plan is to “acknowledge it” — perhaps in Kimmel’s opening monologue — and then “move on” quickly.
But can the various drivers and winners keep Smith’s name off their lips?
Amazing Bassett
Will Angela Bassett “do something?”
Before she became the subject of a viral meme thanks to Ariana DeBose’s stunning rap lyrics at the BAFTAs, Bassett was known for her enviable acting resume.
With credits like “What’s Love Got to do with it” and “Boyz n the Hood” to name a few, it’s surprising that he never won an Oscar.
It would have been even more surprising if his first win had come for a superhero film.
But it’s a possible outcome after her performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned her first Oscar nomination for a Marvel film.
In order to win, he will have to take out Jamie Lee Curtis (Everybody’s Everything) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin).
‘All Quiet’ makes noise
Karl Marx said that history repeats itself – the first is a tragedy, the second is a farce.
He may not be talking about the Oscars, but if All Quiet on the Western Front wins Best Picture, it will become the first film to win Hollywood’s biggest prize twice.
The original English-language screen adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel won top honors at the third Academy Awards back in 1930.
If the German version wins this year, it will be Netflix’s first best picture win — a year after Apple made it the first streamer to win Hollywood’s biggest prize.
If there’s ever a movie that can stop a Sunday of Everything, this is it.