Melissa McCarthy’s Body Evolution Through the Years: From Sitcom Success to Oscar Nominee

Surprisingly, Chris Rock wasn’t responsible for the night’s best joke (but he did deliver big on the night’s biggest shocker). Instead, the honors went to the three hosts and the inimitable Jane Campion. Here were the best jokes from the 2022 Oscars.

Even as Oscar nominees arrived on the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre this afternoon, their ire did not cease over the Academy’s decision to push eight categories to a pre-taped portion of the show.

Clayton Davis With the Oscars just days away, the awards pundits and Hollywood whisperers are trying to read all the tea leaves and figure out what’s winning in all 23 categories.A longtime friend and former writing colleague, Mark Johnson at Awards Daily, recently broke down the art of predicting, putting them into four simple rationales: data analysis, cultural zeitgeist, conversations with AMPAS members and gut instinct.The data piece is what’s driven by Film Twitter, while the cultural zeitgeist you see through viral videos on TikTok (for example, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto,” isn’t nominated for Oscar but helps “Dos Oruguitas.”)This year’s crop of nominees represents interesting record breakers and trends in the Oscar canon. So let’s break it all down and how it could hint to potential winners in the wings.

Shalini Dore Features News EditorAustralia, that powerhouse in entertainment, feted 15 Oscar nominees from Down Under and New Zealand at the Australian consul general’s residence Wednesday in Brentwood.While celebrating the noms — 10 for Australia and five for New Zealand — Peter Ritchie, head of Australians in Film, said, “My mission here in L.A. is to open doors for some of the excluded and undiscovered writers and directors who could be the next Oscar nominees.”With Melanie Annan, editor of the nominated doc short “Three Songs for Benazir,” Ritchie said, “Australian influence is not necessarily only on Australia, but around the world.”Consul-general Jane Duke congratulated all the nominees. “You are really extraordinary,” she said.

2022 Oscars are set to be an unforgettable evening celebrating the year’s most impactful work in film. On Sunday, March 27, writers, directors and actors alike will return to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California, for the 94th annual Academy Awards.

2022 Oscars are set to be an unforgettable evening celebrating the year’s most impactful work in film. On Sunday, March 27, writers, directors and actors alike will return to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California, for the 94th annual Academy Awards.

Melissa McCarthy landed the dream of a lifetime when she was cast as Ursula in Disney's live-action .“I’m so excited to see it in its full glory,” the 51-year-old actress told ET’s Lauren Zima of the movie while at the27th Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday.  “Doing the  and working with [director] Rob Marshall and doing one of my favorite villains of all time was an out of body experience,” she added.

Melissa McCarthy is talking about her unexpected vocal talents. 

2022 Oscars was officially released last week. And while the scope of awards season has changed pretty dramatically over the last few years, the talent and unique storytelling present in this year's pack of nominees is perhaps more impressive now than ever before. Leading the way for Oscar favorites is Netflix's which racked up12 total nominations including those in major categories like Best Picture, Best Director for Jane Campion, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, and supporting acting nods for Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

this is the year.”But between COVID and Ukraine and a recent plan to change the Oscar show, this was also a year to question celebration, and there was some of that going on as the nominees gathered. The specter of the pandemic hung over the event, both in the fact that everyone was required to not only show proof of vaccination but also to have tested negative in a PCR test either Saturday or Sunday.

LOS ANGELES -- The Oscar race may be heating up, but you wouldn’t know it to peek in on the nominees luncheon Monday in Los Angeles.Attendees packed into a ballroom at the Fairmont Century City for the annual luncheon, where nominees get to mingle and celebrate. It was a long awaited homecoming for many after a year away due to the pandemic.Before the lunch, nominees excitedly greeted one another.

Maggie Gyllenhaal keeps close to husband Peter Sarsgaard for the 2022 Oscars Nominees Luncheon held at Fairmont Century Plaza on Monday (March 7) in Los Angeles.

Nicole Kidman is skipping the annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon this year.

Nicole Kidman may be a nominated for her fifth Oscar for her work in “Being the Ricardos,” but she wasn’t at the annual nominees luncheon on Monday at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel.Variety can exclusively reveal that Kidman is at home in Nashville under doctors’ orders, recovering from a torn hamstring. She was filming the upcoming Amazon series “Expats” in Los Angeles when the pre-existing injury flared up.The show is continuing to shoot this week but will temporarily pause while producers figure out when they can resume and if they need to shoot around Kidman until her return, according to an Amazon rep.“Expats,” based on Janice Y.