The Bostonian’s 2019 Oscars viewing guide
Everything you need to know before Sunday's ceremony.
Awards season will come to an unofficial close this weekend with the broadcast of the Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24.
The annual celebration of achievement in motion pictures is shaping up to be a must-see this year, if only to find out what the first host-less ceremony since 1989 will look like. Will there be another disastrous opening musical number featuring a romantic duet between Rob Lowe and Snow White? Will awards winners offer veiled critiques of the Academy in their speeches after officials decided not to broadcast certain awards live, then later reversed course? Will the producers fulfill their promise to hew tightly to a shortened three-hour runtime, forcing speeches to be cut short to make way for the local news?
Before you settle in to watch the mysteries unfold on Sunday, here’s everything you need to know about the 2019 Oscars.
What time are the 2019 Academy Awards?
The 2019 Oscars will air on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. on ABC. The ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles.
Who is hosting and presenting?
The short answer to the first part of that question is no one.
In December, the Academy announced that Kevin Hart would serve as host of the 2019 ceremony, only for Hart to step down from the role two days later when past homophobic tweets from the actor resurfaced. Hart said in a video on his Instagram that the Academy told him he had to apologize for the tweets or they were “going to have to move on and find another host,” and that he ultimately “chose to pass” on issuing an apology.
While the Oscars won’t have a centralized host for the first time in 30 years, the organization has announced more than 50 famous faces who will present during the ceremony. The list of confirmed celebrity presenters at the time of this article’s publication is as follows: Chef José Andrés, Awkwafina, Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Dana Carvey, Emilia Clarke, Daniel Craig, Laura Dern, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Elsie Fisher, Danai Gurira, Brian Tyree Henry, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Allison Janney, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Keegan-Michael Key, Brie Larson, Queen Latifah, KiKi Layne, Congressman John Lewis, Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Helen Mirren, Jason Momoa, Tom Morello, John Mulaney, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Gary Oldman, Sarah Paulson, Tyler Perry, Amy Poehler, Krysten Ritter, Sam Rockwell, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Barbra Streisand, Charlize Theron, Tessa Thompson, Pharrell Williams, Serena Williams, Constance Wu, and Michelle Yeoh.
Chris Evans attends the 88th Annual Academy Awards in 2016.
How do I watch the Oscars ceremony?
The easiest way to watch the Academy Awards is to simply tune your television to ABC.
For those who want to watch online or on their mobile devices, the process is only slightly more complicated. The ceremony will be available to stream across multiple platforms with authentication, including on ABC’s website and the ABC app.
Most people authenticate using cable login information, while others use paid services like Hulu, PlayStation Vue, and YouTube TV. Basically, if you already pay for ABC in some way, you should be able to watch the Oscars online. (Note: Two popular paid services, Sling TV and FuboTV, do not include ABC in their channel packages.)
How do I watch the red carpet?
E! News will provide the early round of red carpet coverage starting at 5 p.m., while ABC will air its own coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. Aside from showing the red carpet on TV and online using the aforementioned authentication methods, ABC also will stream red carpet coverage on Twitter. You can follow the action live through the Academy’s official Twitter account (@TheAcademy) starting at 6:30 p.m.
“Green Book” writer, producer, co-star Nick Vallelonga; director, writer, producer Peter Farrelly; and writer, producer, co-star Brian Hayes Currie.
Which of the nominees have local connections?
The leader of the local pack is “Green Book,” a comedy-drama about the unlikely friendship between a black concert pianist (Mahershala Ali) and the white driver (Viggo Mortensen) hired to safely escort him through the 1960s segregated South, which earned five nominations despite several emerging controversies this awards season. Rhode Island native and onetime Massachusetts resident Peter Farrelly didn’t get a Best Director nomination, but he did land a Best Original Screenplay nod along with co-writers Nick Vallelonga and Peabody native Brian Currie. The film also earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor for Mortensen, Best Supporting Actor for Ali, and Best Film Editing.
As for other films with local ties, the Oscar nominations were few and far in between. Newton native John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” earned a sole nod for Sound Editing, but missed out on other technical nominations like Sound Mixing and a nod for Best Original Score, which it earned from the Golden Globes.
There was one nominee with local ties in the realm of music, however. Connecticut native Anthony Rossomando, who spent many years in the Boston music scene as a guitarist for garage rock band The Damn Personals, shared a nomination for Best Original Song for “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.” Rossomando co-wrote the tune with Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt.
Finally, Springfield native Ruth E. Carter received a Best Costume Design nomination for her work on “Black Panther.” While Carter has been nominated for the award twice before, for her work on 1997’s “Amistad” and 1992’s “Malcolm X,” she is seeking her first win this year.
Which movies and stars with local connections have the best shot at winning?
While a number of local nominees stand an outside chance at victory on Sunday, awards prediction site Gold Derby thinks “Green Book” has the best shot at actually taking home some hardware. Gold Derby gives “Green Book” the best odds of winning the Best Supporting Actor award for Ali, and second-best odds of winning Best Picture behind “Roma,” and Best Original Screenplay behind “The Favourite.” Ali has won a number of honors for his performance this awards season, including from the Screen Actors Guild, which historically strongly correlates with how the Academy votes in acting categories.
Green Derby also gives Rossomando and co. the best odds of winning Best Original Song for “Shallow,” ahead of “All the Stars” from “Black Panther.” Not only did “Shallow” win Best Original Song at the Golden Globes, it also won Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys earlier this month.
Similar to “Green Book”‘s odds for Best Original Screenplay, Green Derby gives Carter second-best odds, behind “The Favourite,” for Best Costume Design.
