Robert Downey Jr bagged his first ever Oscar award for his performance in the biopic drama film, Oppenheimer.

Accepting his Best Actor Oscar for the biopic Oppenheimer, Irish actor Cillian Murphy gave a shout-out to his homeland, saying, 'I'm a very proud Irishman standing here tonight.'

The 96th Annual Academy Awards saw a lot of glamour on the red carpet, as Hollywood's A-listers attended the biggest awards night of the year.

In the biggest surprise of the night, Emma Stone grabbed the Best Actress trophy for the complex portrayal of a Frankenstein-like character Bella, in Yargos Lanthimos' electrifying and most original film Poor Things. Aseem Chhabra recaps the 96th Annual Academy Awards.

Love them, hate them but the Oscars have a way of sneaking up on you.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) started from the pole position but Piastri made his move at the start of lap 20, after the drivers' lone pit stop, with a bold decision to pass Leclerc.

Cambridge, MA. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2023

Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025.

'Kiran ma'am, Aamir sir and my lovely audience have given us wings to fly internationally.'

Which of the 28 films in contention gets your vote?

'This was a film, a story that had never been told before.'

'I'm there in every frame of this film.''The film is named after the character that I play.''It's about a feeling like you are capable of shouldering a film entirely on your own, which is a belief that I may not have in myself always.'

The five films nominated for an Academy Award this year for visual effects were each selected for their own unique reasons. Kevin Baillie, a VFX artist who was worked on some of Hollywood's biggest movies, breaks down the visual effects in this year's Oscar nominees.

Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of Team McLaren answer your questions about F1 racing from Twitter. What is the hardest track in F1? Why are drivers weighed before each race? How do drivers know it's time for a pit stop? Answers to these questions and many more await—it's Formula 1 Support.

The Hindi film, a light-hearted satire on patriarchy, was chosen from a list of 29 films, including Bollywood hit "Animal", Malayalam National Award winner "Aattam" and Cannes winner "All We Imagine As Light"

Smith’s remarkable career spanned several decades, during which she was celebrated as one of her generation’s most distinguished actresses, sharing the stage and screen with contemporaries like Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.

Selected from a pool of around 29 Indian language films, Lapata Ladies will represent India on the global stage. 

Paul Giamatti deserves a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Holdovers

'I believe FFI has made a mistake,' notes Aseem Chhabra.

To an award show that's famous for honouring artists belatedly, we have sent as our official entry one of our major film-makers's weakest work yet, feels Sreehari Nair.

The Oscars is prestigious and all artists covet it but ultimately, the business of winning is ruthless and political. And India has seldom risen to the challenge, argues Sukanya Verma.

How wonderful it would be for all of us to watch the Oscar ceremony on March 2, 2025 and watch AWIAL win an Oscar, notes Aseem Chhabra.

This film is creating waves. We tell you why.

'How is it to live in a place that does not have electricity or a telephone connection, where people do not have any concept of what the world is beyond the mountains?'

On January 24, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the Oscar nominees for 2023, it would be a surprise if RRR doesn't make the cut, declares Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.

'My greatest joy is to make my country proud.'

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced its membership invitations, and Indian film celebrities Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Mani Ratnam, Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Chandrabose and MM Keeravaani have been invited to be members.

2018: Everyone Is A Hero is India's official entry to the Academy Awards 2024.

'Ours is a disaster movie with no big stars, songs or commercial ingredients.''Yet, it is Malayalam cinema's highest grosser.'

The sensitive take on grief, gender norms, and societal issues by director Rahul Roye wins the Best Social Justice Film award

Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, an award-winning Kannada short film by Film and Television Institute of India students, has qualified for the 2025 Oscars in the live action short film category.

Leslie A. Pope, a celebrated set decorator who received an Oscar nomination for the 2003 film Seabiscuit, has died. She was 65. Pope passed away on Wednesday at her home in Venice, according to an obituary in her hometown newspaper, the Bowling Green Daily News. She had been recovering from heart surgery in February. Pope […]

She welcomed her first child, a son named Oscar, with husband Peter Stefanovic on February 6.

Imagine Oscar Wilde, the famed playwright and poet, in the mold of a Sherlock Holmes or a Hercules Poirot. That’s precisely what author Gyles Brandreth does - make a convincing detective out of Wilde even as he remains faithful in his portrayal of him as an aesthete and a bohemian with his flamboyant style and acerbic wit.

Archives, Room Use Only - TK6015.R64 1904

The backdrop of the stage with the Oscar Award is seen onstage during the 84th Academy Awards announcement held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Jan. 24, 2012 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Academy Awards have made history with breakthroughs for minorities in the past — but with this year's nominations, observers are noting how white the Oscars are, with no actors of color nominated in any of this year's acting categories.

It marks the least diverse nominations since 1998. People have been speaking out about this disconnect, with films like "Selma" being shut out of the acting nominations (though it did pick up a Best Picture nomination).

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A large The Actor statue is placed on stage during 21st Annual SAG Awards Behind The Scenes At The Shrine Auditorium Jan. 23, 2015 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Click here for KPCC's Awards Tracker

This Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards aren't as high profile as the Academy Awards, or even the Golden Globes, but they serve as one of the best predictors of who's going to take home a gold statue come Oscar night. Here's why.

Who votes for the SAG Awards?

SAG Award nominees are chosen by a committee of about 2,100 of the guild's members, according to awards news site Gold Derby. Then, all of the 111,228 members of the Guild have the chance to vote for their picks.

Meanwhile, the acting nominees for the Academy Awards are chosen by the 1,100 members in the Academy's actors branch, before being voted on by the Academy's full 5,700 members. Those actors are all part of SAG, so you're likely to see a strong correlation most years between the awards, particularly in the acting category.

How often do the SAG Awards predict the Oscar winners?

The SAG Awards have proven to be the best Oscar predictor in the acting category of any other major awards season prize since they began in 1995, both in nominations and winners. Of the 20 nominations and four winners from each shows, the overlap between the SAG Awards (aka "the Actors") and the Academy Awards in the last few years:

• 2009: 18 nominations; 3 winners
• 2010: 19 nominations; all 4 winners
• 2011: 17 nominations; all 4 winners
• 2012: 16 nominations; 3 winners
• 2013: 15 nominations; 3 winners
• 2014: 14 nominations; all 4 winners

This year, 17 nominees crossed over between the awards shows, with the Oscars matching up on all five nominations for best supporting actor and four of the five nominations in the other three acting categories.

Where have the SAG Awards differed from the Oscars?

SAG voters have lined up with the Academy on Best Actor 16 out of 20 times. The last time they differed from the Oscars was 2003, when Johnny Depp won at the SAG Awards for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" before Sean Penn took the statue home at the Oscars for "Mystic River."

For Best Actress, SAG last split from Oscar in 2011, going with Viola Davis for "The Help" over eventual Oscar winner Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady." They've matched up 14 out of 20 years.

In the supporting categories, the SAG Awards haven't fared as well. They went 12 for 20 in Best Supporting Actor, and 13 for 20 in Best Supporting Actress. That one also has an asterisk — one of those was a tie, so if you don't count that one, they're also only 12 for 20.

What does this all mean for the Oscars?

The SAG Awards remain the ones to watch when it comes to the acting awards — though their Best Ensemble category, the SAG Awards version of Best Picture, doesn't have a particularly strong correlation to the Oscars Best Picture winner. (For that, you'll want to watch for the Producers Guild Awards.)

We're tracking awards season and what experts are predicting; see KPCC's Awards Tracker below or click here to see the full page. You can watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards this Sunday at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern on both TBS and TNT.

Disclosure: Mike Roe, along with other members of KPCC's staff, are members of the Screen Actors Guild as part of their employment with KPCC.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Announcement cards and envelopes by designer Marc Friedland which are used by presenters at the Oscars to announce winners are on display at the food and decor preview Feb. 4, 2015 of this years Governors Ball, the post-Oscar celebration which follows the 87th Oscars ceremony on Feb. 22 in Hollywood.; Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Ready for your 2015 Oscars party? We've got printable Oscars ballots and the bingo cards you need to prove your superiority over your movie-loving friends during your Academy Awards viewing party. Here are the party printables you'll need to play along with Sunday's show, with TV coverage kicking off at 4 p.m. Pacific. (Get caught up on KPCC's 2015 Oscars coverage right here to have more fun and help make your picks!)

Printable official Oscars ballot

• Download, print, and play at home. Listen to "The Frame's" preview of the Academy Awards, see what "FilmWeek's" critics have to say about who will win, then make your own decisions on Sunday. Our crystal ball Oscars predictor/awards tracker can also help the prognostication efforts with a rundown of nominee buzz, awards already won, official trailers, photos and more.
• You can also play along with friends online on the official Academy Awards site or with the New York Times. (If you want to see KPCC's Mike Roe's picks and play against him in either online game, go here for the official site and here for the New York Times.)

2015 Oscars ballot

Printable Oscars bingo cards

• Download, print and play at home. Use our custom generator to create as many cards as you need for your party.
• How to play: Mark off each block when you hear these words or see these things happen during the Oscars telecast on Sunday. When you get five blocks in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) stand up and shout "OSCAR!!" Alternate rules: Play as a drinking game and for every block, take a sip. Finished a row? Finish your scotch.

Interactive Oscars bingo cards 

• WNYC pays tribute to the annual exercise in entertainment award show parody with a portable, computerized bingo. Play on your phone, iPad, computer or print a card. Refresh for new combinations.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter arrive at the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Festival Awards Gala at Palm Springs Convention Center on January 3, 2015 in Palm Springs, California.; Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival opened this weekend, distinguished by robust audience turnouts, megawatt celebrity visitations and constant reminders of the unique space PSIFF occupies and the specialized services it provides to Hollywood.

Falling as it does just before Sundance and just after the Golden Globes nominations, Palm Springs is as much a part of the awards season calendar as it is the festival circuit. Big ticket screenings are presented with all the photo op pomp that would greet a major world premiere at, say, the Los Angeles Film Festival, but in many cases this is to build buzz for (or to re-energize) films that are already in theaters.

At Sundance or Tribeca, the suspense is usually about whether the films in competition will get good reviews and/or find distribution. At Palm Springs, especially on opening weekend, it's more about whether you'll run into Brad Pitt in the guest and industry suite at the Renaissance Hotel.

At the PSIFF awards gala, Golden Globe nominee Reese Witherspoon took home the oddly gender specific Chairman's Award for her performance in "Wild."

J.K. Simmons received something called a Spotlight Award for his superb turn as the menacing music instructor in "Whiplash."

David Oyelowo grabbed the "Breakthrough Performance Award (Male)" for depicting Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma." Brad Pitt's sing-along presentation of Oyelowo's award became the meme for much of the post-event press coverage.

Sing-a-long with Brad Pitt

Rosamund Pike got the "Breakthrough Performance Award (Female)" for "Gone Girl."

Michael Keaton presented the Director of the Year award to his "Birdman" collaborator Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

And the Palm Spring Convention Center stage was home to two young British heartthrobs who are in Oscar contention this year for period biopics about scientific genius: Eddie Redmayne, who grabbed the Desert Palm Achievement Award (Male) for portraying ALS sufferer Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," and Benedict Cumberbatch, who split glory with the cast of the Alan Turing biography "The Imitation Game" as co-winner of the Ensemble Performance Award.

The Desert Palm Achievement Award (Female) went to Julianne Moore in the Alzheimer's drama "Still Alice."

Every single one of the movies honored is in theaters now, almost all of them in the midst of slowly expanding release patterns as they mount their long slow march toward the Academy Awards.

The generous "one award per movie" policy and the care with which PSIFF avoids alienating celebrity affections by giving out trophies with such blunt and unequivocal titles as "Best Actress" or "Best Actor" mark the PSIFF awards gala as a psuedo-event: a kind of open-armed Hollywood team huddle before things get grim and serious with the Oscar announcements at the end of the month.

Even an Oscar-worthy oddity like Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" managed to find a place in the parade, with Linklater, who directed Shirley MacLaine in the 2010 black comedy "Bernie," presenting the 80-year-old actress with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award, essentially for career achievement.

Meanwhile, the festival's generous supply of indie, studio and foreign movies churned away in various local movie theaters, a really quite remarkable cluster of buzzworthy pictures, almost all of which have played elsewhere, including at Sundance and Toronto and Tribeca, and in many cases at your local multiplex.

This programming approach can be a double-edged sword. Director Ava DuVernay, whose civil rights-era epic "Selma" opened the festival, was unable to stay for her full run of Palm Springs personal appearances because her movie has been out long enough to spark a rather bitter controversy over its depiction of President Lyndon Johnson. DuVernay abandoned a Palm Springs Q and A in order to defend her film on Charlie Rose. 

While some audience members were bitterly disappointed at missing the chance to hear one of this year's golden ones, I'm sure the PSIFF Board of Governors understood completely. This time of year, you have to play the long game, and, in the words of the civil rights anthem, "keep your eyes on the prize."

Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, former editor of Boxoffice Magazine, is in Palm Spring this week to cover the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Look for his missives here, and listen Saturday to Off-Ramp for his report on the festival.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Oscar the Grouch. (Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images); Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

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The animated short "Bao" is about a Chinese mother overprotecting a dumpling, and it speaks to anyone who has ever been a mom or had a mom.

Naomie Harris' 100% biodegradable Oscars gown, which took 120 hours to make, will be on display at the Hampton Court Palace in London.

Natasha Henstridge, Gilles Marini and other celebs attend the annual event.

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