The 94th Academy Awards will be presented March 27, and as usual, there’s plenty to consider. City Paper has gathered a rundown of the most noteworthy happenings to tune in for during Hollywood’s big night, from shifts in the television presentation to frontrunners for awards and historical anomalies. And Charleston has its own connection to this year’s nominees.

Charleston boy

Charleston native Lucas Barker will surely be watching the Oscars closely. As previously reported in the City Paper, Barker played Fleance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, opposite Best Actor nominee Denzel Washington. The film is nominated for Cinematography and Production Design in addition to Washington’s acting nomination. The Tragedy of Macbeth is streaming on Apple TV. 

The controversial omissions

Every single year, dozens of articles are published, including in City Paper, lamenting the movies that were snubbed from contention. There are several from 2021 that were widely overlooked (The Green Knight and Passing feel like the biggest offenses this year), while the Oscars telecast has drawn well-deserved criticism for what it has decided not to include. 

As was made public in February, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Oscars, has chosen to omit eight categories from the live broadcast so the show won’t run over its allotted time slot. Original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound and all three short film categories (documentary, live action, and animated) will be given out in a separate ceremony to be taped and edited into the official Oscar night broadcast.

A similar proposal was tried in 2019, but was quickly reconsidered following extensive public backlash. That same backlash has occurred this time, though it seems the Academy is unwilling to change course. Despite statements denouncing the decision from the Cinema Audio Society, the Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and the Set Decorators Society of America, a large collection of film artists will not be honored live during the main ceremony this year.

Production design (locations, sets, props) and makeup/hair are responsible for the aesthetics that people fall in love with in their favorite films. Sound and score are fundamental, essential components of filmmaking. 

Editing is the language that most distinguishes film from other media — and the Academy has traditionally agreed. Only one movie in the last 45 years, Birdman, has won the Oscar for Best Picture without a