A still from Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Photo / Supplied
A still from Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Photo / Supplied
The Oscars are here, already.
After the shortest awards season in decades, the 92nd annual Academy Awards will get under way today at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
The red carpet is being rolled out two to three weeks earlier than usual in a bid to freshen up theceremony and potentially boost ratings.
The truncated timetable has put the normally bloated Oscars season on a diet (today's show will for the second straight year be hostless) and sent film academy members scrambling to finish their movie-watching — no small task in a year featuring a few three-hour epics like The Irishman and Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.
Fittingly for a fast race, a movie about a mad dash has risen to the top of the heap. After winning nearly every major precursor award, Sam Mendes' 1917, about a pair of British soldiers sent with an urgent message to deliver through recently held enemy territory, is the favourite for best picture.
Although Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern all appear to be all-but-certain locks in the acting categories, there's the potential for a history-making upset.
Momentum has swung behind Bong Joon Ho's South Korean thriller Parasite, and some believe it has a chance to become the first non-English language film to win best picture. Such a win would be a watershed moment for the Academy Awards, which has long been content to relegate international films to their own category.
