The 88th Academy Awards, or the Oscars will take place at the Dolby Theater, in Los Angeles, United States later today.
While expecting the winners unveiled, here are the 10 things that you probably don’t know about the oldest entertainment awards ceremony in the US.
1.Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is commonly known by its nickname “Oscar”. While the origins of the moniker are not clear, the academy adopt the nickname officially in 1939, 10 years after the award was first presented.
2.The statuette stands 13.5 inches tall and weighs lbs. Since then, a total of 2,947 statuettes have been presented.
3.The statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years the bronze was replaced by Britannia metal, a pewter-like alloy which is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24 carat gold.
4.The first Academy Awards were presented in May, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. It was first televised in 1953, and now the event can be seen in more than 200 countries.
5.The youngest Oscar winner was Tatum O’Neal, who won Best Supporting Actress for “Paper Moon” in 1973 when she was 10 years old. The oldest winner is Christopher Plummer. He received the Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82 for his work in “Beginners” in 2010.
6.With her nomination last year for “Into the Woods,” Meryl Streep has been nominated for a record 19 times. She has won three Best Actress.
7.Liza Minnelli is the one and only Oscar winner whose parents both earned Oscars. She won Best Actress for “Cabaret” in 1973. Her mother Judy Garland received an honorary award in 1939 and her father Vincente Minnelli won Best Director for “Gigi” in 1958.
8.The statuettes are technically property of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As a result, before an Oscar winner can sell his trophy, he must first offer to sell it to the Academy for one dollar. This rule is to discourage winners from selling the awards for financial gain.
9.Only three films have won all of the “Big Five” Academy Award categories: “It Happened One Night” in 1934, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975 and “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991. The “Big Five” categories are: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay.
10.”Ben-Hur,” “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” are the most successful films in Oscar history, each winning a shocking 11 Oscars.
The full list of nominations:
Best Picture
“The Big Short””Bridge of Spies””Brooklyn””Mad Max: Fury Road””The Martian””The Revenant””Room””Spotlight”
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston for “Trumbo”Matt Damon for “The Martian”Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Revenant”Michael Fassbender for “Steve Jobs”Eddie Redmayne for “The Danish Girl”
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett for “Carol”Brie Larson for “Room”Jennifer Lawrence for “Joy”Charlotte Rampling for “45 Years”Saoirse Ronan for “Brooklyn”
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale for “The Big Short”Tom Hardy for “The Revenant”Mark Ruffalo for “Spotlight”Mark Rylance for “Bridge of Spies”Sylvester Stallone for “Creed”
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh for “The Hateful Eight”Rooney Mara for “Carol”Rachel McAdams for “Spotlight”Alicia Vikander for “The Danish Girl”Kate Winslet for “Steve Jobs”
Best Director
Adam McKay for “The Big Short”George Miller for “Mad Max: Fury Road”Alejandro G. Iñárritu for “The Revenant”Lenny Abrahamson for “Room”Tom McCarthy for “Spotlight”
Best Original Screenplay
Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen for “Bridge of Spies”Alex Garland for “Ex Machina” Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley for “Inside Out”Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy for “Spotlight”Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff for “Straight Outta Compton”
Best Adapted Sceenplay
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for “The Big Short”Nick Hornby for “Brooklyn”Phyllis Nagy for “Carol”Drew Goddard for “The Martian”Emma Donoghue for “Room”
Best Cinematography
Ed Lachman for “Carol”Robert Richardson for “The Hateful Eight”John Seale for “Mad Max: Fury Road”Emmanuel Lubezki for “The Revenant”Roger Deakins for “Sicario”
Best Animated Feature Film
“Anomalisa””Boy & the World””Inside Out””Shaun the Sheep Movie””When Marnie Was There”
Best Costume Design
“Carol””Cinderella””The Danish Girl””Mad Max: Fury Road””The Revenant”
Best Film Editing
“The Big Short””Mad Max: Fury Road””The Revenant””Spotlight””Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Mad Max: Fury Road””The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared””The Revenant”
Best Original Score
Thomas Newman for “Bridge of Spies”Carter Burwell for “Carol”Ennio Morricone for “The Hateful Eight”Jóhann Jóhannsson for “Sicario”John Williams for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Best Original Song
“Earned It” (“Fifty Shades of Grey”)”Manta Ray” (“Racing Extinction”)”Simple Song #3″ (“Youth”)”Til It Happens To You” (“The Hunting Ground”)”Writing’s On The Wall” (“Spectre”)
Best Production Design
“Bridge of Spies””The Danish Girl””Mad Max: Fury Road””The Martian””The Revenant”
Best Sound Editing
“Mad Max: Fury Road””The Martian””The Revenant””Sicario””Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Best Sound Mixing
“Bridge of Spies””Mad Max: Fury Road””The Martian””The Revenant””Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Best Visual Effects
“Ex Machina””Mad Max: Fury Road””Star Wars: The Force Awakens””The Martian””The Revenant”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Embrace of the Serpent” (Colombia)”Mustang” (France)”Son of Saul” (Hungary)”Theeb” (Jordan)”A War” (Denmark)
Best Documentary Feature
“Amy””Cartel Land””The Look of Silence””What Happened, Miss Simone?””Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”
Best Documentary Short
“Body Team 12″”Chau, Beyond the Lines””Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah””A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness””Last Day of Freedom”
Best Short Film
“Ave Maria””Day One””Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)””Shok””Stutterer”
Best Animated Short
“Bear Story””Prologue””Sanjay’s Super Team””We Can’t Live Without Cosmos””World of Tomorrow”
* Partly Reported by Xinhua.