The Morning: It’s Oscars weekend

Plus Zach Bryan's tour, a Pentagon U.F.O. report

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story March 9, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. It's been a rough year for Hollywood, but the post-Oscars movie landscape offers some hints of hope for audiences. María Jesús Contreras Flipping the script I'm in competition with no one but myself in trying to view all the major-category nominees for the Oscars before the ceremony tomorrow night. I'm doing well this year, probably because the slate is fairly small: Most of the films with acting and screenplay nominations are also contenders for best picture. If I can get over my aversion to biopics that I wish were documentaries instead, I have a good chance of going into the ceremony with the confidence of a dorky student who's done all the reading for the final exam. The problem with cramming for the Oscars, as I do every year to varying degrees of success, is that it renders one cinematically wearied. A putatively enjoyable activity becomes homework. If I fail to squeeze in a nominated film before the ceremony, I'll probably never see that film at all. It becomes associated with the grind. I love the Oscars, with all their pageantry and pomposity. I love big-scale spectatorship, the rare moments in modern life when many of us are looking at a screen showing the same thing at the same time. But I also love when they're over and I can get back to less goal-oriented culture consumption. And so it is that a recent piece by Mark Harris in The Times's Opinion section with the dreary headline "How Bad Can It Get for Hollywood?" has me paradoxically hopeful for post-Oscars 2024, and for the inevitable changes to come to the moviemaking business. Barbenheimer notwithstanding, 2023 was a bad year for Hollywood. Harris cites lingering effects of pandemic shutdowns, the writers' and actors' strikes, the decline of the streaming business model and the looming menace of A.I. "If 'Hollywood' were a big summer movie," he writes, "we'd be right at the end of Act II, at the always-darkest-before-the-dawn moment in the story, when all seems lost." But Harris sees a silver lining: The strikes prevented big franchise movies from being completed, and audiences' appetites for superhero movies that require deep knowledge of complex lore (more homework!) seem to be, if not eliminated, then at least diminished. These pressures, he suggests, might lead to some necessary creativity, to projects with smaller budgets and less complicated postproduction, to "self-contained films that don't demand moviegoers have a Ph.D. in previous installments or extended universes." The same happened in the summer of 1989, Harris notes, when moviemaking was at an impasse and films like "Sex, Lies and Videotape," "Do the Right Thing" and "The Little Mermaid" showed there were audiences to be cultivated and money to be made from unexpected genres. I'm excited for tomorrow night's ceremony (The Times's live coverage starts at 4 p.m. Eastern; the ceremony's at 7 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and I'm excited for what comes after. I've already set my sights on some of the more exciting fare coming soon-ish: "Hundreds of Beavers," a low-budget black-and-white movie with no stars but, yes, hundreds of beavers, played by humans. "Sasquatch Sunset," starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough in heavy prosthetics, featuring a script with no words and lots of grunts. And it's not slated to come out until Christmas, but Robert Eggers's take on "Nosferatu" stars Willem Dafoe (who made "The Lighthouse" and "The Northman" with Eggers), Lily-Rose Depp and, evidently, 2,000 live rats. Your guide to the Oscars How to watch. The full list of nominees and a printable ballot. Where to stream the nominated films. Everything you need to know about the 10 best picture contenders. Oscar season dispatches from Kyle Buchanan, who writes The Projectionist column. Kyle's predictions. All of The Times's awards season coverage. To qualify for best picture, movies have to meet diversity and inclusion standards. Here's how they work — or, some critics argue, don't. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music Zach Bryan playing in Chicago. Evan Jenkins for The New York Times Zach Bryan's blend of folk, rock and country has made him an unlikely pop sensation. The Times's Jon Caramanica was at the opening night of Bryan's arena tour. Patti Smith and her daughter performed together at the Morgan Library & Museum's 100th anniversary party. Singapore paid Taylor Swift to perform there, but nowhere else in Southeast Asia, during this leg of her Eras tour. The deal has caused diplomatic tension with Thailand and the Philippines. Film and TV A shirt worn by Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" sold for 25,000 pounds — about $32,000 — at auction in London, the BBC reports. An armorer who worked on the set of the movie "Rust" was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin. "The New Look," on Apple TV+, takes liberties with the life stories of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. The truth is just as interesting. You can now grab a pint at the pub from "The Banshees of Inisherin." For the right price, you could even own the place. Art and Design A structure made by Riken Yamamoto. Tomio Ohashi/The Pritzker Architecture Prize Riken Yamamoto of Japan won the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor, for his understated buildings that inspire social connection. Michael Lee, a nonprofit executive, will be the next leader of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York. A Ukrainian art historian is using social media to lobby museums to reclassify art long considered Russian as Ukrainian. Other Big Stories Chemena Kamali and her son at the conclusion of the Chloé show. Teresa Suarez/Shutterstock Runway romance and ruffled feathers: See nine highlights from Paris Fashion Week. People are desperately searching for a limited-edition miniature tote bag at Trader Joe's. The long-running video game MLB The Show will feature female players for the first time. THE LATEST NEWS Displaced children in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Mohammed Salem/Reuters Britain and the E.U. will join the U.S. in delivering aid to Gaza via ship. An airdrop of aid accidentally killed several Palestinians yesterday, the Gaza authorities said. President Biden plans to sign a bill today to fund dozens of federal programs, averting a partial government shutdown. Donald Trump posted a nearly $92 million bond in a defamation case he lost to the writer E. Jean Carroll, which allows him to appeal the verdict without having to pay her. The Republican National Committee elected Trump's handpicked candidates, including his daughter-in-law, as its top leaders. No Labels, a bipartisan group, said it would launch a third-party presidential ticket. It does not have a candidate yet, but Democrats worry the effort could pull votes from Biden. A Pentagon report found no evidence that the government has covered up knowledge of extraterrestrial technology, or that any U.F.O. sightings represented aliens visiting Earth. The U.S. economy continues to show strength. It added 275,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose slightly but remained below 4 percent. A U.S. federal jury found the former president of Honduras guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and working with El Chapo and other drug traffickers. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. CULTURE CALENDAR By Desiree Ibekwe 🎸 "Deeper Well" (Friday): The country artist Kacey Musgraves, a perceptive and incisive writer, is expert at capturing transition. Much of "Golden Hour," her third album, beautifully captured what it feels like to fall in love (listen to "Butterflies"), and her most recent, "Star-Crossed," distilled the sadness and bargaining of falling out of it (as in "Good Wife"). The lead single for her upcoming album of the same name, "Deeper Well," is a folksy meditation on self-love, her desire for growth and her acceptance of change. She talks about quitting weed and excising unhelpful habits and people from her life. "I've gotten older now I know / How to take care of myself / I found a deeper well," she sings. The album itself promises more low-key-ness and introspection. Musgraves wrote it, she told The Cut, while "craving a return back to the center." Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT RECIPE OF THE WEEK Rikki Snyder for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Roast Chicken With Couscous, Dates and Almonds Ramadan begins soon, and sweet dates take a prominent place at the iftar table, either served by themselves or cooked into an array of fragrant dishes. Yvonne Maffei's golden roast chicken with couscous, dates and buttered almonds would be a heady, aromatic way to break the fast, and a festive meal for any other occasion. In this North African dish, the spice-coated chicken cooks in a pot of couscous, which absorbs the savory drippings, while toasted almonds add a buttery crunch. Be sure to seek out the freshest dates you can find. Those with a lighter color and soft texture will have the best flavor. REAL ESTATE Tony Tur Photography What you get for $950,000: A cottage in Southwest Harbor, Maine; a two-bedroom condo in Miami Beach; or a four-bedroom bungalow in Seattle. The hunt: A Brooklyn couple were looking for a distressed property they could restore and rent to a low-income tenant. Which one did they choose? Play our game. LIVING DeSean McClinton-Holland Games: A night with New York's lesbian and bisexual backgammon league. Rebranding: Kylie Jenner has a more mature image — and new products to go with it. Read her interview with The Times. Holy scrolls: Hallow, a prayer app partially owned by Mark Wahlberg, has turned to TikTok to find its flock. Its ads are reaching nonreligious users. Bread in Britain: London bakeries are selling big, doughy New York-style bagels. Some traditionalists are standing by the London "beigel." ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Stop mindlessly scrolling If you often get sucked into the infinite "doom scroll" of social media (or are looking to help a loved one who can't shake TikTok), Wirecutter's experts have some solutions. One tip: Set up designated spaces in your home, like your bedroom, where your phone is banned entirely. Having it out of sight can go a long way toward keeping it out of mind. I regularly joke about wanting to throw my phone into the ocean, but going cold turkey and cutting off all communication is not rational. Our advice can help you make sure your phone fits into your life, and not the other way around. — Annemarie Conte GAME OF THE WEEK Kamilla Cardoso of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Eakin Howard/Getty Images Women's college basketball: It's conference championship weekend, your last chance to see many of the top teams before the N.C.A.A. tournament begins. The three conferences below all hold their finals on Sunday, airing on ESPN from 1 to 7 p.m. In the ACC, Virginia Tech is looking to repeat last year's Final Four run. In the SEC, undefeated South Carolina has been cruising all season, but last year's national champion, L.S.U., could give them a challenge. And in the Pac 12, Stanford, one of the sport's powerhouses, is seeking a fourth straight No. 1 seed in the tournament. If you're just getting up to speed on this season, The Athletic has five story lines that you should know. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was intricacy. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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