With only a week to go for the dazzling Oscar Awards, Sunday Pioneer brings some interesting facts about this year’s Oscars, the 10 best Oscar movies ever and all the buzz around the show

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Despite being described by critics as dramatically inert and taking a white supremacist viewpoint, this is a Hollywood spectacle with many redeeming features, including an iconic performance from Vivien leigh. The film picked up nine Oscars including the Special Award and saw Hattie McDaniel who played Mammy, become the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar when she was acknowledged for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Casablanca (1942)

One of the greatest movie classics of all time which deserves to be revisited because of the screen magic created by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and hearing never to be forgotten lines like “Here’s looking at you, kid”. Casablanca scooped three Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay— it was based on the (as of then unproduced) play —Everybody Comes to Ricks.

All About Eve (1950)

This well-written campy melodrama brings audiences Bette Davis in one of her signature roles. Who can forget her uttering “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” The film received 14 Academy Award nominations — a record it shares with this year’s favourite lala land among others.

The Sound of Music (1965)

Described as ‘icky-sticky’ by one American critic, it remains a must-see for fans of the movie musical and Julie Andrews in arguably one of her best performances ever. Although Andrews missed out on the Best Actress award the film still scooped five Oscars.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

This story of an unlikely friendship between two drifters of a different stripe played by Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman lingers in the mind and delivers on many fronts: great acting, writing and directing from Britain’s John Schlesinger. While both Hoffman and Voight received nominations for the Best Actor Oscar they lost out to John Wayne for True Grit in the 1970 ceremony

The French Connection (1971)

This classic crime thriller set in 1970s New York is remembered for Gene Hackman’s portrayal of cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle but it's also known for its staging of one of the greatest car chases in film history. The picture gained eight nominations, picking up five awards including Best Actor for Hackman and Best Director for William Friedkin.

Annie Hall (1977)

This widely acclaimed romantic comedy is seen as vintage Woody Allen — a high water mark in his career. It’s a film in which audiences witness Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, as a close representation of his alter ego— and Diane Keaton in a defining performance. Indeed it won Keaton her only Best Actress Oscar to date while Allen took home Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Chariots of Fire (1981)

This British drama of two athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics brought audiences compelling performances from Ben Cross and Ian Charleson —but what many moviegoers are smitten by is the film’s rousing theme tune from Vangelis. The piece saw the composer and musician take home the Oscar for Best Original Score.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

A slave drama which won tremendous acclaim for its director Steve McQueen who also made history by becoming the first ever black producer to win a Best Picture award. Worth watching for British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in the central role of the kidnapped slave Solomon Northup.

Spotlight (2015)

A journalism drama involving the Boston Globe’s reporting on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Boston. A film that brings rewards because it can be seen as a great tribute to investigative journalism. It received six nominations including both actor and actress in a supporting role, but only won two Oscars—Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

The Oscars, to be held at the Dolby Theatre, will be televised live on Star Movies, Star Movies HD and Star Movies Select HD at 5:30am on February 27 with a repeat telecast at 8:30 pm the same day.

Nomination list

Best Picture

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• Hidden Figures
• nla la land
• Manchester by the Sea
• lion
• Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR 

• Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
• Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
• Damien Chazelle, la la land
• Kenneth lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
• Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

BEST ACTRESS IN A lEAD ROlE

• Isabelle Huppert, Elle
• Ruth Negga, loving
• Natalie Portman, Jackie
• Emma Stone, la la land
• Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

BEST ACTOR IN A lEAD ROlE

• Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
• Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling, la la land
• Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington, Fences

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Moana
• My life as a Zucchini
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia

FACTFIlE

• The nominations for the 89th edition of the Academy Awards have showcased considerable diversity and thrown up many surprises. Here is a look at interesting facts and moments from the 2017 Oscar nominations:
• Virtual reality gets its first Oscar nomination. This short Google VR film Pearl earns the first VR nomination. Watch the video at  https://www.youtube.com /watchIJv=WqCH4DNQBUA.
• la la land leads with 14 nominations at the Oscars, tying with Titanic and All About Eve for most nods for an Oscar entry.
• Meryl Streep earns her 20th Oscar nomination for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins. Streep has more Oscar nominations than any other actor. Katherine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson tie for second with 12 nods each.
• Australia received its first ever nomination in Foreign language film category for Tanna, a Nauvhal-language film shot by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler on the island of Vanuatu.
• Dev Patel is the third Indian-origin actor to be nominated for an Oscar.
• Viola Davis becomes the first Black actress to earn three Oscar nominations.
• Mel Gibson is returning to the Oscars with his first nomination since Braveheart.
• Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight, has made history as the first Black writer-director to get nominated for not only Best Picture and Best Director but Best Screenplay, too
• Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Naomie Harris are nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role category, marking the first time three Black women have been nominated together in an acting category. It is the first time in the show’s 88-year history that three Blacks have been individually nominated in any single Oscars category.
• Amazon’s Best Picture Oscar nod makes history for streaming media. Amazon’s big Oscar contender, director Kenneth lonergan's devastating drama Manchester by the Sea, gains six nominations.
• Cinematographer Bradford Young Makes History With Oscar nomination by being the first Afro-American to be nominated in the Best Cinematography category for his work in the film  Arrival.

Oscars Film Festival in India

PVR Cinemas is ready with an exciting line-up of cinematic marvels curated adroitly to be showcased a week before the mega award ceremony. From February 17 to March 9, PVR will screen the most revered films making it to the Oscars’ red carpet. These films will be showcased over 28 screens in 14 cities, including metros and Tier II cities like Indore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Cochin, Hyderabad and Surat. The movies include Moonlight, Silence, Arrival, Jungle Book, la la land, Hidden Figures, Jackie, lion, Zootopia, Dr Strange and others.

Special TV premiere

After the premiere of Oscar nominated films — Room and Joy this month celebrating the human spirit and a woman’s victory against overwhelming odds, Star Movies will air Saoirse Ronan’s breath-taking performance in Brooklyn. A moving adaptation of ColmTóibín's novel, Brooklyn showcases the life of an Irish immigrant who has moved out of her house and comfort zone to create a home in a foreign land. In this journey, she falls in love with a local and reaches a point in life where she has to decide between love and roots. Tune in to Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD on February 25, 2017 at 6:30 pm.