It’s Oscar Time – The New York Times

The Oscars are tomorrow night. Did you fill out your ballot? Neither do I, but that’s because I’m still optimistic that I’ll plan on a few more nominated film viewings before the red carpet rolls around. (That’s at 6:30 p.m. Eastern; the ceremony begins at 8 a.m. Live coverage of The Times begins in the afternoon. Don’t forget to put your clocks back tonight!)

I recently admitted to some colleagues that I hadn’t seen Top Gun: Maverick and they reacted as if I had insulted them and insisted that I had to see it immediately, on the big screen. In this weird cinema-optional universe we live in now, it’s so tempting to default to streaming.

When I think back to my favorite films of the year, the ones I saw in the cinema made the biggest impact. I’m thankful for the afternoon I watched “Everything Everywhere All at Once” in an empty theater in downtown Brooklyn while sitting through the credits as the lights came on. And for the full house on All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, a film so emotionally devastating the crowd felt like a support system.

Tomorrow I’ll be watching the Oscars on the small screen from my living room, just as they were meant to be. I will be half on my phone texting and reading Twitter, half watching the spectacle in front of me. It’s easy to be cynical about “Hollywood’s Greatest Night” when the film industry has its own awards for its work, but the ridiculousness of it is part of the fun.

I’ll be following the best actor category with the greatest anticipation. Will it be Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere? Cate Blanchett in Tar? Blanchett has won twice, for “Blue Jasmine” and “The Aviator”. This is Yeoh’s first nomination and she would be the first Asian woman to win in this category. Her competition includes To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough, an under-the-radar contender whose grassroots social media campaign for the nomination was the subject of an Academy scrutiny.

The supporting actor and leading actress categories are full of nostalgic favorites. Everything Everywhere nominee Ke Huy Quan recently returned to acting, decades after starring in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a child. (Movie fans will recall that he starred in 1992’s Encino Man with Brendan Fraser, a best actor nominee.) Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans) is also in the running. He was nominated for Ordinary People in 1981. Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere”) are both nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Bassett was nominated for What’s Love Got to Do With It in 1994. This is Curtis’ first nomination.

After her Super Bowl halftime performance, Rihanna will sing her nominated song “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. David Byrne will perform “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere with Son Lux and Stephanie Hsu, a Best Supporting Actress nominee. I will remind anyone who loves Son Lux’s Everything Everywhere score that the theme song to the NXIVM documentary series The Vow is a version of their song Dream State and it’s very good.

Will Fraser win for The Whale? Will the ceremony involve drama on the scale of last year’s slap in the face? Austin Butler will speak his Elvis voice? Will the show’s viewership stay low? Could ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Win Best Picture? We’ll have to stay up to the bitter end to find out. I’ll see you on the couch.

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THE WEEK IN CULTURE

CULTURAL CALENDAR

📚 “The Candy House” (released in paperback): Jennifer Egan’s sequel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit From the Goon Squad was one of The Times’ 10 Best Books of 2022. Through a series of related characters – each getting a chapter – it tells the story of a future technology which allows human memories to be uploaded to the cloud and experienced by everyone. Sometimes, our critic Dwight Garner wrote, “pick up a novel and it makes your skin tingle.”

📺 “Ted Lasso” (Wednesday): Given how long it feels like we’ve been talking about this Apple TV+ series, one of television’s most popular comedies, it’s a little surprising that it’s only entering its third season. But break out your Jason Sudeikis staches for the return of the always-besieged AFC Richmond.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Fried cod and potatoes

Everyone should have a few three-ingredient recipes in their back pocket, and it’s by Mark Bittman fried cod and potatoes is one of mine. Thinly sliced ​​potatoes are tossed in olive oil or butter and then baked until soft. Cod fillets are placed on top (although you can use any type of fish), then the whole thing is grilled until the potatoes are singed around the edges and the fish is cooked through. It’s simple at its best, easy to throw together but tasteful and can be dressed up in countless ways. Add dollops of salted yogurt for creaminess, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice for zest, or chili chips or flakes for heat. Or add all of this together for a deeply complex, satisfying dish that’s still a breeze.

A selection of New York Times recipes is available to all readers. Please note a cooking subscription for full access.

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ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER

Clean your hot air fryer

We’d like to think that air fryers can make cooking easier and add some charm. And while they cut cooking times in half and leave fewer dirty dishes, cleaning can be a chore. Wirecutter editors rolled up their sleeves to find out the best way to clean air fryers. The good news: It only takes 10 minutes. The Bad: You should clean yours after every use. – Caira Blackwell

New York Knicks vs. Los Angeles Lakers: This isn’t where either team expected to see it through three quarters of the NBA season. The Knicks are red hot: They’ve won eight of their last 10 and are close to making the playoffs, thanks in large part to Jalen Brunson, their new all-around point guard, who is having the best season of his career. The Lakers, on the other hand, have struggled all year. And with LeBron James out with a foot injury, there’s a chance they’ll miss the playoffs — something James teams rarely do. Tomorrow at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

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