The red carpet has been rolled out, the champagne is on ice, and Hollywood is ready to crown the year’s best movie. Joint favorites “Anora” and “Conclave” seem poised for a tense showdown at Sunday’s Oscars.
A twisty awards season rocked by Los Angeles wildfires and a racist tweet scandal climaxes with the 97th Academy Awards gala, hosted by Conan O’Brien, kicking off at 4:00 pm (0000 GMT Monday).
As stars make the final adjustments to their gowns and tuxedos, the race for Hollywood’s grandest prize is too close to call. Two wildly different films are seen as frontrunners for best picture.
“There will be real tension,” said Rotten Tomatoes awards editor Jacqueline Coley. “I would say if ‘Conclave’ doesn’t win, it’s definitely going to be ‘Anora.'”
“Both sides are feeling more nervous than confident… that should be an indicator that this is really a nail-biter,” The Hollywood Reporter’s awards expert Scott Feinberg told AFP.
Sean Baker’s “Anora” — about a New York stripper and escort who weds a wealthy Russian playboy, only to learn that her dream marriage is a nightmare illusion — won the Cannes festival’s Palme d’Or last May.
The low-budget indie has accrued top prizes from Hollywood directors, producers, writers and critics.
But, Coley says, “it is a little bit polarizing because of the sex worker aspect.”
“Conclave”- a film about the secretive and cutthroat election of a new Catholic leader, lent an uncanny timeliness by the real-life health woes of Pope Francis—appears to have won over many late voters.
The film starring Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini earned top honors from Britain’s BAFTAs, and the Hollywood actors’ SAG Award for best cast.
“It is an old-school thriller with an all-star cast,” said Coley.
One Oscars voter told AFP they had voted for “Conclave” because “it’s just more of a traditional, classic ‘best picture’ film.”
Cox’s Bazar Life Desk/AFP
