The metaphysical multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its hot dog fingers around Hollywood’s top prize Sunday, winning best picture at the 95th Academy Awards, along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Though worlds away from Oscar bait, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic ballet of everything bagels, googly-eyed rocks and one messy tax audit emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight. The indie hit, A24’s second best-picture winner following “Moonlight,” won seven Oscars in all. Fifty years after “The Godfather” won at the Oscars, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed with a much different immigrant experience. Its eccentric tale about a Chinese immigrant family – just the second feature by the Daniels, as the filmmaking duo is known – blended science fiction and alternate realities in the story of an ordinary woman and laundromat owner. “Everything Everywhere,” released all the way back in March 2022, helped revive arthouse cinemas after two years of pandemic, racking up more than $100 million in ticket sales. And despite initially scant expectations of Oscar glory, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” toppled both blockbusters (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water”) and critical darlings (“Tar,” “The Banshees of Inisherin”). Yeoh became the first Asian woman to best actress, taking the award for her lauded performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The 60-year-old Malaysian-born Yeoh won her first Oscar for a performance that relied as much on her comic and dramatic chops as it did her kung fu skills. She’s the first best actress win for a non-white actress in 20 years. “Ladies, don't let anyone ever tell you you're past your prime,” said Yeoh, who received a raucous standing ovation. Also Read: Michelle Yeoh wins best actress award, making Oscar history In winning best director, the Daniels — both 35 years old — won for just their second and decidedly un-Oscar bait feature. They're just the third directing pair to win the award, following Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (“West Side Story”) and Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men”). Scheinert dedicated the award “to the moms of the world.” Best actor went to Brendan Fraser, culminating the former action star’s return to center stage for his physical transformation as a 600-lb. reclusive professor in “The Whale.” The best-actor race had been one of the closest contests of the night, but Fraser in the end edged Austin Butler. “So this is what the multiverse looks like,” said a clearly moved Fraser, pointing to the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” crew. The former child star Quan capped his own extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in the indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “Goonies,” had all but given up acting before being cast in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” His win, among the most expected of the night, was nevertheless one of the ceremony's most moving moments. The audience — including his “Temple of Doom” director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation as he fought back tears. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” said Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can't believe it's happening,” said Quan. "This is the American dream." Minutes later, Quan's castmate Jamie Lee Curtis won for best supporting actress. Her win, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denied a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie. It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as “a Nepo baby” during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She's the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for “The Defiant Ones” in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for “Psycho.” Curtis thanked “hundreds” of people who put her in that position. The German-language WWI epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Netflix’s top contender this year — took four awards as the academy heaped honors on the craft of the harrowing anti-war film. It won for cinematography, production design, score and best international film. Though Bassett missed on supporting actress, Ruth E. Carter won for the costume design of “Wakanda Forever,” four years after becoming the first Black designer to win an Oscar, for “Black Panther.” This one makes Carter the first Black woman to win two Oscars. “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman,” said Carter. “She endures, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film.” Carter dedicated the award to her mother, who she said died last week at 101. The telecast, airing live on ABC, opened traditionally: with a montage of the year's films (with Kimmel edited into a cockpit in “Top Gun: Maverick") and a lengthy monologue. Kimmel, hosting for the third time, didn't dive right into revisiting Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony. The late-night comedian struggled to find lessons from last year's incident, which was followed by Smith winning best actor. If anyone tried any violence this year, Kimmel said, “you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.” But Kimmel, hosting for the third time, said anyone who wanted to “get jiggy with it” this year will have to come through a fearsome battalion of bodyguards, including Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg and his show's “security guard” Guillermo Rodriguez. After landmark wins for Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland") and Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), no women were nominated for best director. Sarah Polley, though, won best adapted screenplay for the metaphor-rich Mennonite drama “Women Talking.” "Thank you to the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women' and ‘talking,’" said Polley. Daniel Roher's “Navalny,” about the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, took best documentary. The film’s win came with clear overtones to Navalny’s ongoing imprisonment and Vladimir Putin’s continued war in Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya joined the filmmakers on the stage. “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,” said Navalnaya. “Stay strong my love.” Some big names weren’t in attendance for other reasons. Neither Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” is up for best picture, nor James Cameron, director of best-picture nominee “Avatar: The Way of Water,” were at the ceremony. Both have been forefront in Hollywood’s efforts to get moviegoers back after years of pandemic. “The two guys who asked us to go back to theater aren’t in the theater,” said Kimmel, who added that Cruise without his shirt on in “Top Gun: Maverick” was “L. Ron Hubba Hubba.” After last year's Oscars, which had stripped some categories from being handed out in the live telecast, the academy restored all awards to the show and leaned on traditional song and and dance numbers. That meant some show-stopping numbers, including the elastic suspenders dance of “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu action-film sensation “RRR," an intimate, impassioned performance by Lady Gaga of “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick," and an Super Bowl follow-up by Rihanna. Best song went to “Naatu Naatu.” It also meant a long show. “This kind of makes you miss the slapping a little bit, right?” Kimmel said mid-show. The night’s first award went to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” for best animated film. That handed Netflix its first Oscar in the category. After last year's slap, the academy created a crisis management team to better respond to surprises. Neither Rock, who recently made his most forceful statement about the incident in a live special, nor Smith, who was banned by the academy for 10 years, attended. The Academy Awards is attempting to recapture some of its old luster. One thing working in its favor: This year’s best picture field was stacked with blockbusters. Ratings usually go up when the nominees are more popular, which certainly goes for “Top Gun: Maverick" and “Avatar: The Way of Water." Neither won much, though. “The Way of Water,” with more than $2.28 billion in box office, won for best visual effects. The “Top Gun” sequel ($1.49 billion), took best sound. Last year, Apple TV’s “CODA” became the first streaming movie to win best picture. But this year, nine of the 10 best picture nominees were theatrical releases. After the movie business cratered during the pandemic, moviegoing recovered to about 67% of pre-pandemic levels. But it was an up and down year, full of smash hits and anxiety-inducing lulls in theaters. This year, ticket sales have been strong thanks to releases like “Creed III” and “Cocaine Bear" — which made not one but two cameos at Sunday's show. But there remain storm clouds on the horizon. The Writers Guild and the major studios are set to begin contract negotiations March 20, a looming battle that has much of the industry girding for the possibility of a work stoppage throughout film and television. The Oscars, too, are seeking steadiness. Last year's telecast drew 16.6 million viewers, a 58% increase from the scaled-down 2021 edition, watched by a record low 10.5 million.

Michelle Yeoh has won the Academy Award for best actress and made history all at once. The Malaysian-born actor became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress on Sunday for her multifaceted performance in the multiversal “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” “I have to dedicate this to my mom and all the moms in the world because they are really the superheroes and without them none of us would be here tonight,” she said. “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility. This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true. And ladies, don't let anyone ever tell you you're past your prime.” Yeoh's victory comes almost 90 years after Luise Rainer, a white actor, won the same category for donning “yellowface” to play a Chinese villager in “The Good Earth.” As a nominee, Yeoh was the first in the category who identified as Asian. Merle Oberon, who was nominated in 1935 for “The Dark Angel” but didn't win, hid her South Asian heritage, according to birth records. Also Read: Ke Huy Quan wins Oscar in an inspiring Hollywood comeback Yeoh beat out past Oscar winner Cate Blanchett ("Tár"), as well as Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”), Ana de Armas ("Blonde") and Andrea Riseborough ("To Leslie"). The category also received notice for who wasn't nominated: In a year of strong performances from Black women like Viola Davis ("The Woman King") and Danielle Deadwyler ("Till"), they were shut out. Meanwhile some criticized the grassroots campaigning by A-listers on social media for Riseborough. Yeoh appeared a lock after winning seemingly every award everywhere, including the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award, for her nuanced portrayal of Evelyn, an immigrant Chinese wife, mother and laundromat operator bracing for a tax audit. Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan from the film also won best supporting actor Oscars. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won for best directors and original screenplay for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and it took home best picture as well. Yeoh got her start in the kung fu cinema world but rose to stardom in 1992 as Jackie Chan's co-star in “Supercop." American audiences got to know her even better over the next decade with hits like “Tomorrow Never Dies” and Ang Lee's “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon." When she first read the script for “Everything Everywhere,” Yeoh thought it was “an independent film on steroids.” She was ultimately swayed by the opportunity to give voice to immigrant mothers and grandmothers who go unnoticed. The multiverse movie was also a showcase across a bevy of genres — drama, comedy, sci-fi and fantasy. At 60, Yeoh has been heavily in demand since her standout turn as a controlling matriarch in “Crazy Rich Asians.” From there, she has done everything from a “Star Trek” spinoff to Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Yeoh will be seen later this year in the Disney+ series “American Born Chinese." She is also preparing to reunite with “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu for the screen adaptation of the musical “Wicked.”

Ke Huy Quan won best supporting actor, “RRR” brought the house down, “Cocaine Bear” tried to maul Malala and Ruth Carter made history at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, as Hollywood looked to move past the infamy of last year’s Oscars. The former child star Quan capped his extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in the indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “Goonies,” had all but given up acting before being cast in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” His win, among the most expected of the night, was nevertheless one of the ceremony's most moving moments. The audience — including his “Temple of Doom” director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation as he fought back tears. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” said Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can't believe it's happening,” said Quan. "This is the American dream." Also Read: Ke Huy Quan wins Oscar in an inspiring Hollywood comeback Minutes later, Quan's castmate Jamie Lee Curtis won for best supporting actress. Her win, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denied a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie. It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as “a Nepo baby” during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She's the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for “The Defiant Ones” in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for “Psycho.” Curtis thanked “hundreds” of people who put her in that position. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which came in with a leading 11 nominations, later also won for best original screenplay for the script by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the filmmaking duo known as the Daniels. “My imposter syndrome is at an all-time high,” said Kwan. The German-language WWI epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” — Netflix’s top contender this year — took four awards as the academy heaped honors on the craft of the harrowing anti-war film. It won for cinematography, production design, score and best international film. Also Read: 2023 Oscars: What to know about the best actor nominees Though Bassett missed on supporting actress, Ruth E. Carter won for the costume design of “Wakanda Forever,” four years after becoming the first Black designer to win an Oscar, for “Black Panther.” This one makes Carter the first Black woman to win two Oscars. “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman,” said Carter. “She endures, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film.” Carter dedicated the award to her mother, who she said died last week at 101. The telecast, airing live on ABC, opened traditionally: with a montage of the year's films (with Kimmel edited into a cockpit in “Top Gun: Maverick") and a lengthy monologue. Kimmel, hosting for the third time, didn't dive right into revisiting Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony. But after a number of jokes — including one that noted two stars of “Encino Man,” Quan and Brendan Fraser are nominated — Kimmel noted that there are numerous Irish actors up for Oscars, “which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.” The late-night comedian struggled to find lessons from last year's incident, which was followed by Smith winning best actor. If anyone tried any violence this year, he said, “You will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.” But Kimmel, hosting for the third time, said anyone who wanted to “get jiggy with it” this year will have to come through a fearsome battalion of bodyguards, including Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg and his show's “security guard” Guillermo Rodriguez. After landmark wins for Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland") and Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), no women were nominated for best director. Sarah Polley, though, won best adapted screenplay to “Women Talking.” "Thank you to the academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘women' and ‘talking,’" said Polley. Daniel Roher's “Navalny,” about the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, took best documentary. The film’s win came with clear overtones to Navalny’s ongoing imprisonment and Vladimir Putin’s continued war in Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya joined the filmmakers on the stage. “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,” said Navalnaya. “Stay strong my love.” Some big names weren’t in attendance for other reasons. Neither Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” is up for best picture, nor James Cameron, director of best-picture nominee “Avatar: The Way of Water,” were at the ceremony. Both have been forefront in Hollywood’s efforts to get moviegoers back after years of pandemic. “The two guys who asked us to go back to theater aren’t in the theater,” Kimmel said, who added that Cruise without his shirt on in “Top Gun: Maverick” was “L. Ron Hubba Hubba.” After last year's Oscars, which had stripped some categories from being handed out in the live telecast, the academy restored all awards to the show and leaned on traditional song and and dance numbers. That meant some show-stopping numbers, including the elastic suspenders dance of “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu action-film sensation “RRR," and an intimate, impassioned performance by Lady Gaga of “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick.” Her appearance was also confirmed just before the ceremony began. It also meant a long show. “This kind of makes you miss the slapping a little bit, right?” Kimmel said mid-show. The night’s first award went to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” for best animated film. That handed Netflix its first Oscar in the category. After last year's slap, the academy created a crisis management team to better respond to surprises. Neither Rock, who recently made his most forceful statement about the incident in a live special, nor Smith, who was banned by the academy for 10 years, attended. The Academy Awards is attempting to recapture some of its old luster. One thing working in its favor: This year’s best picture field was stacked with blockbusters. Ratings usually go up when the nominees are more popular, which certainly goes for “Top Gun: Maverick" and “Avatar: The Way of Water." Neither won much, though. “The Way of Water,” with more than $2.28 billion in box office, won for best visual effects. Last year, Apple TV’s “CODA” became the first streaming movie to win best picture. But this year, nine of the 10 best picture nominees were theatrical releases. After the movie business cratered during the pandemic, moviegoing recovered to about 67% of pre-pandemic levels. But it was an up and down year, full of smash hits and anxiety-inducing lulls in theaters. At the same time, the rush to streaming encountered new setbacks as studios questioned long-term profitability and reexamined their release strategies. This year, ticket sales have been strong thanks to releases like “Creed III” and “Cocaine Bear" — which made not one but two cameos at Sunday's show. But there remain storm clouds on the horizon. The Writers Guild and the major studios are set to begin contract negotiations March 20, a looming battle that has much of the industry girding for the possibility of a work stoppage throughout film and television. The Oscars, meanwhile, are trying to reestablish their position as the premier award show. Last year's telecast drew 16.6 million viewers, a 58% increase from the scaled-down 2021 edition, watched by a record low 10.5 million.

Ke Huy Quan had mostly disappeared from Hollywood for over two decades, dispirited by the lack of on-camera work for Asian Americans. He returned in a big way, winning the supporting actor Oscar to cap an inspiring comeback story. Quan accepted the trophy Sunday night for his role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” becoming just the second Asian winner ever in the supporting actor category, joining Haing S. Ngor for “The Killing Fields” in 1984. As his name was announced, Quan rose and hugged co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, who won supporting actress honors after him. He clasped his hands to his mouth. “My mom is 84 years old and she’s at home watching,” Quan said. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” An emotional Quan kissed his statue repeatedly and sniffled into the microphone on stage after receiving a standing ovation. Presenter Ariana DeBose was in tears. “My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage,” he said. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can’t believe this is happening to me. This is the American dream.” Quan rode a huge wave of momentum into the Oscars, having won every major award except the BAFTA. Quan endeared himself during acceptance speeches as much as he did in his winning performance. He used his position to encourage other struggling actors that one day they also will find success. Also Read: 2023 Oscars: What to know about the best actor nominees Along the awards show trail, the enormously likeable Quan compiled a photo album for the ages as he posed for selfies with everyone from Tom Cruise to directors James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. It seemed anyone famous was happy to smile or make funny faces alongside Quan. The Vietnam-born actor whose family immigrated to California in the late 1970s first gained attention as a pre-teen in the hugely popular 1980s movies "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and “The Goonies.” He went on to roles in the TV show “Head of the Class” and the movie “Encino Man” (starring fellow Oscar nominee Brendan Fraser ) in the early 1990s before work dried up. Finding few on-camera opportunities, Quan turned elsewhere. He earned a film degree from the University of Southern California and worked behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator and assistant director. “I owe everything to the love of my life, my wife Echo,” he said, “who month after month, year after year for 20 years told me that one day, one day my time will come. Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.” Inspired by the success of the 2018 movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” Quan returned to acting and landed an audition for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which earned a leading 11 Oscar nominations. His former “Goonies” co-star, Jeff Cohen, serves as his lawyer who drew up the contract for his Oscar-winning role. “Thank you to my ‘Goonies’ brother for life, Jeff Cohen,” Quan said. Now, people stop him to talk about a movie he made as a grown-up, “Everything Everywhere All at Once." As Waymond Wang, Quan appears in three different incarnations in the critically acclaimed film. He won a Golden Globe and became the first Asian man to win an individual category at the SAG Awards. The 51-year-old Quan is busy juggling new roles, including joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe series “Loki” on Disney+. Quan won the Oscar over fellow nominees Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Brian Tyree Henry of “Causeway” and Judd Hirsch of “The Fabelmans."

Chorki, a Bangladeshi subscription-based over-the-top media service, is back with another web series titled ‘Mercules’.   This drama-thriller revolves around the true story of a girl. Directed by Abu Shahed Iman, this series stars Zakia Bari Momo, Sabila Noor, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Rawnak Hasan, Giyas Uddin Selim, Iresh Zaker, and many more. Related: Shuvoo and Bindu Starrer “Unish 20” to Hit Chorki on 13th February Sabila Nur talked about her first-time experience acting in a web series, “My character's name in this series is Jayita. Stories of this drama are revealed through her journey. The main plot of this series is about how a girl gains control of her life after a new incident occurs.” “We don't get to work with such a large team on a TV show. This work experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. Working with the co-stars of this series has been a fantastic experience. Shahid Bhai is a fantastic director,” she added.    

It’s always fun when an Oscars category is filled with first-time nominees at varying stages of their careers. Best actor is another three-way race, between Austin Butler, Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser, with each having scored notable wins from guilds and critics groups. The Associated Press’ film writers predict Fraser to have the edge. Here’s a bit more about the nominees and their roles before the Oscars on March 12, which airs live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. And if you’ve missed a performance, there’s still time to watch this year’s nominees. BRENDAN FRASER Brendan Fraser doesn’t mind that people have called his turn in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” in which he plays a reclusive English teacher named Charlie who is grappling with his past in the midst of a dire prognosis, a “comeback.” But it’s not the word he’d choose. “If anything, this is a reintroduction more than a comeback,” Fraser told The AP. “It’s an opportunity to reintroduce myself to an industry, who I do not believe forgot me as is being perpetrated. I’ve just never been that far away.” The film, an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play, shows a different side of Fraser as an actor than the affable action/comedy roles that made him beloved and famous in the 1990s.“I gave it everything I had every day,” he said. “We lived under existential threat of COVID. An actor’s job is to approach everything like it’s the first time. I did but also as if it might be the last time.” Age: 54 Notable Wins: Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild. COLIN FARRELL In Martin McDonagh’s tragicomic tale of the end of a friendship “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Colin Farrell’s Pádraic is the one being broken up with by Brendan Gleeson’s Colm on their small Irish island in 1923. “He has an innocence where he can’t comprehend why his friend of so many years has cut him out,” Farrell said of his character last year at the Venice Film Festival, where he’d go on to win the best actor prize. “It shakes him to his core ... He lives in a beautiful life and that beauty is taken away.” The film was a reunion for the trio who developed a deep bond on “In Bruges” 14 years ago. “From the start, there was a deep sense of kinship and an understanding of each other,” Farrell told The AP. “In a strange way, I understand myself more through Martin and his mind and his heart and his work. And I understand myself more through my interactions with Brendan.” Age: 46 Notable Wins: Venice Film Festival, New York Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review, Golden Globes (Musical/Comedy) AUSTIN BUTLER Austin Butler spent so much time and mental and emotional energy in preparing to play and playing Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s colorful drama that he finds it difficult to talk about without “sounding incredibly pretentious and self-important,” he told The AP. “There are certain aspects that even I don’t fully understand.” The past few weeks have brought their own emotional highs and lows too, with his Golden Globe win, his Oscar nomination and the tragic death of Lisa Marie Presley in the span of a few days. “The peaks are so high and the valleys have been so low,” Butler said. “I just wish Lisa Marie were here with us to celebrate. At times, in the midst of intense grief and just a shattering loss, it feels sort of bizarre to celebrate. But I also know how much this film meant to Lisa Marie, how much her father’s legacy meant to her. So I feel so proud and humble to be a part of that story.” Age: 31 Notable Wins: Golden Globes (Drama), BAFTA. BILL NIGHY Bill Nighy plays a British civil servant who receives a terminal diagnosis in 1953 London in Oliver Hermanus’s remake of the Kurosawa classic “Ikiru.” “I was very moved by it when we were making it, the fact that we were making it, that we were back and that it was the first thing I’d done since the pandemic,” Nighy told The AP. “The pandemic forced us to look at our priorities in our lives and all that and this film discusses how to make the most of every day. So I suppose in that regard it was timely.” The veteran actor said he thought they were making something special, but he was unprepared for the rapturous reception everywhere. And thematic resonance aside, it hasn’t got him thinking about his own legacy. “I don’t ever think in terms of legacy,” he said. “I find it difficult to get enthusiastic about a world which is not going to include me.” Age: 73 Notable Wins: Los Angeles Film Critics Association. PAUL MESCAL Paul Mescal did not expect to come out of “Aftersun” friends with an 11-year-old. But that’s what happened with his co-star Frankie Corio on the set of Charlotte Wells’ personal and evocative film about a young father and his daughter on vacation in Turkey in the 1990s. “Both of us got out two weeks before filming started. There was kind of a loose plan that we might rehearse. And we did some of that, but ultimately, we just spent the two weeks where I was playing like pretending to be her dad,” Mescal told The AP. “It’s one of the greatest professional experiences that I’ve had. It really surprised me. I fell in love with her and I adore her and she’s just a phenomenal actor.” The Irish actor said he likes working on smaller films with first-time directors. If anything, he hopes that his raised profile following his nomination might help him be able to get another project like that made. “I take great pride in the fact that there’s an appetite for those films still,” he said. Age: 27

The best actress category at the 95th Oscars is full of great awards season drama, from the surprise nomination of Andrea Riseborough to the potential history to be made if Michelle Yeoh wins, which AP’s film writers predict will happen. All will be celebrated during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, which airs live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. There’s still time to catch up on their performances before the show.Here’s a bit more about the contenders. ANA DE ARMAS “Blonde” may have been reviled by many critics, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any who didn’t admire Ana de Armas’s portrayal of Marilyn Monroe nonetheless. De Armas prepped for a year and was thrown into the fire on her first day on set: In the actual apartment Norma Jeane lived in with her mother — a nightmare sequence in which she rescues a baby from the dresser drawer that she was kept in as an infant, as the place burns around her. Her second day was her visit to her mother in the mental hospital, where she got to speak as Marilyn for the first time on camera. “I wasn’t in character all the time. But ... I felt that heaviness and that weight in my shoulders. And I felt that sadness,” de Armas said. “She was all I thought about. She was all I dreamed about. She was all I talked about.” Trivia: De Armas is the first Cuban woman to be nominated for best actress. Age: 34 CATE BLANCHETT “Tár” wouldn’t exist without Cate Blanchett “I am still processing the experience, not only because it spoke to a lot of things that I had been thinking about, but I feel so expanded by having been in Todd’s orbit,” Blanchett said. “It was a very, very fluid, dangerous, alive process making the film.” Lifetime Oscar nominations: 8 Wins: 2. Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator” in 2005 and Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine” in 2014 Age: 53 Notable Wins: Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup, BAFTA, Golden Globes (Drama). ANDREA RISEBOROUGH Riseborough was unexpectedly nominated Riseborough rose into the Oscar ranks thanks largely to the grassroots efforts of “To Leslie” director Michael Morris and his wife, actor Mary McCormack. They urged stars to see the film and either host a screening or praise Riseborough’s performance on social media. And a whole lot of them did: Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams and Courteney Cox all hosted screenings for the film. After a review of the campaign, the Academy said that Andrea Riseborough would not be stripped of her nomination. Age: 41 MICHELLE WILLIAMS The pivotal event of “The Fabelmans” comes when Mitzi Fabelman, a fictionalized version of Steven Spielberg’s own mother played by Michelle Williams, reluctantly leaves her husband for his best friend. “I thought she already suffered a near-death experience. When she gave up her dream of being a concert pianist, she experienced what it’s like for part of you to die,” says Williams. “So when she’s faced with another near-death experience — Do I stay in this marriage or do I allow myself to go where my heart is leading? — she knows that she can’t die again. There will be nothing left of her. “What is this thing in her that allows her to make this decision? Is it her artistry? Is it bravery? Is it how big her emotions are? What allowed this woman to stake a claim on her life like this?” says Williams. “I don’t know but I do think it’s what’s allowed her children to do the same thing, to stake a claim on their own lives. That, I think, is one of the greatest gifts that you give to your kids, showing them how they can be a full person.” Lifetime Oscar Nominations: 5 Age: 42 MICHELLE YEOH After decades first as a star in Hong Kong cinema and then more mainstream hits like “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the Malayasian-born Yeoh has grown into a movie queen. She’s had integral roles in what have been the first large U.S. studio movies in years with Asian-led casts—Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” As much as those films mean to her, she was a polished supporting player in them — then came “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The Daniels originally named the multiverse hopping matriarch Michelle, as a “love letter” to Yeoh. But then she asked to change that and Evelyn was born. “I’m like ‘No, no, no’ because I believe this person, this character that you’ve written so rich, deserves a voice of her own. She is the voice of those mothers, aunties, grandmothers that you pass by in Chinatown or in the supermarket that you don’t even give a second glance to. Then you just take her for granted,” Yeoh said. “She’s never had a voice.” Trivia: If Yeoh were to win, she would become the first Asian woman awarded in that category. Age: 60 Notable Wins: Golden Globes (Musical/Comedy), Screen Actors Guild, Film Independent Spirit Award.

Hollywood is gearing up for the 95th Academy Awards, where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in the lead nominee and the film industry will hope to move past “the slap” of last year’s ceremony. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Oscars, including when they are, where to watch the live show and this year’s controversies. WHEN ARE THE OSCARS? The Oscars will be held Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. EST and be broadcast live on ABC. CAN YOU STREAM THE OSCARS? The broadcast can be streamed with a subscription to Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and Fubo TV. Some of these services offer brief free trials. You can also stream the show on ABC.com and on the ABC app by authenticating your provider. WHO’S HOSTING? Jimmy Kimmel will host for the third time and his first time since 2018. That was also the last Oscars to feature a solo host. The show went hostless for several years after Kimmel’s last outing. Last year, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes hosted as a trio. In an ad for this year’s show styled after “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kimmel made his humble case for being the right person for the job while noting that he can’t get slapped because “I cry a lot.” WHAT’S NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE AT THE 2023 OSCARS? The 10 movies competing for best picture are: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Talking.” Here’s a guide to how you can watch them. WHAT’S NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE AT THE 2023 OSCARS? The 10 movies competing for best picture are: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Talking.” Here’s a guide to how you can watch them. Read more: Oscar 2022 Best Picture Winner Prediction WHO’S PRESENTING? Presenters include: Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Florence Pugh and Sigourney Weaver. They join a previously announced group including: Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen. A third wave was announced Thursday: Halle Berry, Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Harrison Ford, Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Olsen, Pedro Pascal and John Travolta. WHAT ELSE IS IN STORE FOR THE SHOW? The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has said that winners to all categories will be announced live on the show. (Last year, some categories were taped in a pre-show, something that caused an uproar among academy members.) All signs point to a full slate of musical performances, with Rihanna performing “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava singing Chandrabose and M.M. Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR.” Nominee Lady Gaga, on the other hand, will not sing “Hold My Hand,” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” during the show. On Monday, show producers announced that Lenny Kravitz will deliver the “In Memoriam” performance. WHO ARE THE FAVORITES? Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s indie sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” comes in with a leading 11 nominations. Close on its heels, though, is the Irish friends-falling-out dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin,” with nine nods, a total matched by Netflix’s WWI film “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) may have a slight edge on Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) for best actress. Best actor is harder to call, with Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) and Austin Butler (“Elvis”) in the mix. In the supporting categories, Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) are the frontrunners, though Jamie Lee Curtis’ Screen Actors Guild Awards win may have thrown a wrench into the supporting actress category. Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) may win his third best director Oscar, though the Daniels may have emerged as the frontrunners. AP Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle are predicting a big haul for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” WHAT’S BEEN CONTROVERSIAL THIS YEAR? Aside from the usual snubs and surprises, this year’s biggest to-do has been the debate surrounding Andrea Riseborough’s unexpected nomination for best actress. Riseborough was nominated for the little-seen, Texas-set drama “To Leslie” after many A-list stars rallied around her performance. When two other best-actress contenders — Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) and Viola Davis (“Woman King”) — were snubbed, some saw that as a reflection of racial bias in the film industry. The academy launched an inquiry into the star-studded, grassroots campaign for Riseborough but found no reason to rescind her nomination. WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR? Just the reading of the title to one of this year’s short film nominees should prompt a wave of giggles. John Williams (“The Fabelmans”), up for best score, is the oldest nominee ever, at 90 years old. After historic back-to-back best-director wins by Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), no women were nominated this year for best director. Also don’t expect to see Will Smith at the Oscars anytime soon. After striking Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony, Smith was banned by the film academy from attending for 10 years. In a live Netflix special on Saturday, Rock finally punched back at Smith with a blistering stand-up set about the incident.

A new month means another host of exciting releases from Netflix. With March already slated to have fresh releases of series, films, and documentaries. It's no surprise that there are more contents than you could possibly consume. And the story is more or less the same for April as well. Here we have curated a list of the 10 best Netflix originals series and movies coming in April.  10 Netflix Original Films, and TV Shows Releasing on Netflix in April 2023  Find out which films and TV series to watch on Netflix in April. War Sailor – Mini Series – 5th April  War Sailor is a Norwegian survival movie set in the second world war. Alfred Garnes is a happy-to-go sailor who works on a merchant ship with his friend Wally. Amidst one of their stops, the second world war breaks out. Now it's in Alfred and Wally’s hands to save their ship from the approaching German soldiers.  The movie is directed by Gunnar Vikene and produced by Maria Ekerhovd. It stars Kristoffer Joner and Pål Sverre Hagen in lead roles.  Read More: Netflix making live-action 'One Piece' from popular manga Hunger – Movie – 6th April Hunger follows the story of Aoy, a chef who runs her parent’s stir-fried noodles restaurant. On one fine day, Aoy gets an invitation from a top chef to join his famous team. The story follows A Boy's struggle and eventual success in the world of the luxury fine dining experience.  Hunger is directed by  Sitisiri Mongkolsiri and produced by  Kongdej Jaturanrasamee and Soros Sukhum. The movie stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying in the role of Aoy.  Queenmaker – Series – 14th April Korean drama has been in high demand on Netflix since the success of Squid Game. With high international demand, there have been several Korean lineups confirmed for 2023.  The first release of 2023 starts with Queenmaker. It’s the story of two women, a skilled career woman named Hwand Do-hee and a labor rights lawyer Oh Seung Sook. Two seemingly unconnected are fated to join forces as Hwang Do-hee is hell-bent on making Oh Seung Sook the mayor of Seoul.  The series is written by Moon Ji-young and directed by Oh Jin-Seok. The first season will have 12 episodes.  Read More: Top 10 Netflix Originals Shows, Movies Coming in March 2023 Beef – Comedy Drama – 6th April  Imagine being part of a road rage incident. What comes to your mind? Anger? helplessness? or frustration?  The story of Beef follows two random people involved in a road rage incident. What follows and the spiraling fallout between the two people makes up the basic premise of the comedy-drama.  The series stars Steven Yeun as Danny Cho and Ali Wong as Amy Lau. The series has been created for Netflix by Lee Sung Jin.  Transatlantic – Period Drama – 7th April  Transatlantic follows the story of the 1940 refugee crisis in Marseille, France. It’s the true story based on Varian Fry, a journalist working to rehabilitate artists and journalists fleeing the Nazi occupation.  Fry allies with Mary Jayne Gold, an American socialite, and heiress. Together they find a secret French villa as a temporary hideout place for the refugees. The two played a pivotal role in saving many European social activists and artists of that time.  The movie draws inspiration from The Flight Portfolio written by Julie Orringer. The novel has been adapted for screenplay by Anna Winger.  Read More: Top 10 Upcoming South Indian Movies in March 2023

Dhaka, Mar 9 (UNB) - Veteran Bollywood actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik has died at the age of 66 following a heart attack early Thursday, PTI reports, citing his close friend Anupam Kher. According to Kher, Kaushik complained of uneasiness when he was at a friend's home in Delhi. "He felt uneasy and he told the driver to take him to the hospital and on the way he suffered a heart attack around 1 am," Kher told PTI. In a tweet earlier, Kher expressed deep shock over Kaushik's sudden death. "I know that death is the ultimate truth but never in my dreams I thought that I would have to write that about my best friend Satish Kaushik. A sudden full stop to 45 years of friendship. Life will never be the same without you Satish! Om Shanti," Kher tweeted. Satish Kaushik, an alumnus for the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India, was most known for his roles in films such as "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron," "Mr. India," "Deewana Mastana," and "Udta Punjab." Kaushik was also known for filmmaking in Bollywood. As a filmmaker, He directed some of the most popular hits of Bollywood, namely "Tere Naam" starring Salman Khan and "Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai" starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Tusshar Kapoor. Many Bollywood actors and actresses have expressed their shock over the news of his sudden demise.