Oscar season is upon us, and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Looms Large

With 11 nominations, the Daniels’ “EEAAO” is an awards’ season superpower.

The nominations for the 95th-annual Academy Awards have been released, and the awards season is coming to a close. With a little over a month until the winners are announced, let’s take a look at the contenders, and likely winners, in the major categories.

The Best Picture category is crowded, with critical heavy hitters “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Tár” and “The Banshees Of Inisherin” squaring off against billion-dollar box office juggernauts “Avatar: The Way Of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” The Academy seems to have an aversion to popular culture, choosing instead to highlight smaller arthouse films like “Coda” and “Nomadland” in recent years.

The nominee that most accurately fits that description is Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees Of Inisherin,” although McDonagh already has an Oscar and “Banshees” would be one of the darkest films to ever win the award. The clear frontrunner is “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a film with a rare combination of both critical praise and audience adoration. A win for Best Picture here seems logical, unless the academy chooses to zag.

The race for Best Actor seems to be trending towards a win for Brendan Fraser and his emotional comeback role in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” although bright performances by Austin Butler in “Elvis” and Colin Farrell in “The Banshees Of Inisherin” could still conceivably edge Fraser out of the spotlight.

Best Actress is a two-horse race, with Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh going head to head for their roles in“Tár” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” respectively.

Blanchett has won two Oscars in two different decades for her roles in “The Aviator” and “Blue Jasmine.” So narratively, giving Yeoh her first Oscar makes a lot of sense, however given the magnitude of Blanchett’s performance as Lydia Tár, a trio of golden statues seems almost inevitable.

The Best Director race is still largely up in the air and packed with massive names all vying for the top spot. Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans,” Todd Field’s “Tár,” Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees Of Inisherin” and Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle Of Sadness” are among four of the best directors working today, and they’re all likely to lose to Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directorial duo behind “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”

The Best Supporting Actor category continues to point towards a dominant night from our most nominated film, as Ke Huy Quan, also of “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” fame seems to be the clear frontrunner here. With both Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan from “The Banshees Of Inisherin” trailing behind him, likely splitting the vote and leading to an Oscar win for Quan.

Best Supporting Actress seems to be similarly locked up by Angela Bassett, for her role as Ramonda in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakan- da Forever.” If Bassett wins, it would be her first Oscar, as well as the first time an actor has won an Academy Award for a role in a Marvel movie. The Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast live on ABC on Sunday, March 12.

“Kaleidoscope:” A Unique Approach to Episodic Storytelling

Binge-watching is enormous in the entertainment industry today, thanks primarily to the growth of streaming culture over the past decade or so. This allows people to access content more easily, which facilitates better word-of-mouth discussion about these shows.

Netflix’s latest series, “Kaleidoscope,” takes this common phenomenon and forces it to evolve.

The show follows Ray Vernon — played by Giancarlo Esposito — as he assembles his crew and plots a massive heist to steal $7 billion. From Vernon’s backstory to the heist and its aftermath, the overall story spans 24 years, with the finale documenting the actual heist.

Creator Eric Garcia crafted this eight episode series to be consumed in any order. Of the color-coded episodes, “White” is intended to be the finale. There are time jumps between each installment, and most viewers will have watched the series in a non-chronological order. After all, there are 5,040 ways to finish the series — assuming “White” is always watched last.

Esposito shines as a troubled father, ex-con and ringleader of an intricate heist. Viewers get to see the multi-faceted character of Vernon through almost every point of his life. He brings so much sizzle to the character, especially through his interactions with his daughter Hannah (Tati Gabrielle). Their plot line is extremely compelling and adds a personal touch to a show which lacks it. Esposito reminds us that the show is better off with him because of it.

Connor’s Order: Green-Yellow-BlueViolet-Orange-Red-Pink-White

This order did an excellent job of introducing the main characters early, allowing the audience to feel more invested in the fates of each individual member of the crew. Additionally, with such large time jumps between some of the episodes, getting most of the character development out of the way early made it easier to consume the final episodes.

It is important to note, however, that this order leaves audiences in the dark about a crucial side plot until late in the series. While it would certainly be confusing to open the series with that – as Olivia did in her order – viewing them late also adds extra layers to the show’s final act that take away from the central story.

Admittedly, “Kaleidoscope’s” critical outlook was poor before the finale. It truly provides crucial context to the events of previous episodes, and the series cannot be judged fairly without it. While that is certainly the case for many shows anyway, the non-chronological approach to this show makes it much more susceptible to relying on the finale for the payoff.

Olivia’s Order: Orange-Yellow-Green-BlueViolet-Red-Pink-White

While this order starts on an episode with little exposition, the second half provides an ending that somehow makes sense. Starting with “Orange” leaves viewers in a tricky place, and unsure who the real protagonist is. “Yellow” introduces viewers to an eclectic crew of criminals preparing for the ultimate heist, but the exciting momentum breaks with “Green” and “Violet.” The episodes are meaningful to the plot, but the action is much slower than the excitement of the present-day.

With episodes “Red” and “Pink” situated before the finale, it allows for a level of suspense, since both episodes take place after the heist. Viewers are left wondering what actually happened during the heist and must put the pieces together themselves.

Without the use of the color coded episodes that can be watched in any order and still make sense, the show loses its excitement and just becomes a mediocre heist show. The randomized order adds to the suspense, and creates plot holes disguised plot twists waiting to come to fruition.

Garcia’s approach provides so much beyond uniqueness or entertainment value; the project seeks to exploit this era’s infatuation with online discourse in order to drive viewership. Every conversation about “Kaleidoscope” begins with a simple question: “What order did you watch it in?” Social media sites such as TikTok and Twitter were flooded with debates on what the best sequence was, and many rewatched the series immediately to find new perspective on some of the show’s twists and turns.

This is not to denounce the show in any way, but simply to highlight what marketers at Netflix seem to see as the future of promoting content on streaming. Why pay more to promote the show when social media users can do that for you? In the age of TikTok’s “For You” page, projects that encourage online discussion will certainly draw larger audiences. “Kaleidoscope” has achieved this, so it would not be surprising to see similar concepts get rolled out in the coming years. We will have to wait and see what Netflix — and certainly its competitors — come up with next. For now, “Kaleidoscope” and its several ways of watching it will have to do.

St. John’s Defeats No. 20 Providence In Madison Square Garden On “Johnnies Day”

St. John’s led for more than 37 minutes in the contest, thwarting the Friars’ multiple comeback attempts.

The St. John’s University Men’s Basketball team secured a win against No. 20 Providence on “Johnnies Day” at Madison Square Garden, 73-68, backed by an emotional performance by junior forward David Jones.

Jones, who did not play in the team’s last two games following the death of his father, scored a team-high 16 points and added seven rebounds against the Friars.

“I just wanted to play in my dad’s name and I just wanted to win for him,” Jones said in a postgame media conference, where he told reporters his dad was the person who taught him how to play basketball. “I was going to do anything it took to win this game and I will do whatever it takes to win the other games as well.”

St. John’s head coach Mike Anderson embraces junior forward David Jones. Beyond the junior’s tangible impact on the game, Jones brought a level of intensity and focus to the team’s play that has been absent in recent contests. Heading into the “Johnnies Day” showdown against Providence, the Johnnies carried a three-game losing streak and held a 4-10 record in the Big East conference.

St. John’s jumped out to a quick lead and built up a 25-9 advantage after just nine and a half minutes of play, setting the tone for the afternoon. Though Providence threatened to stage a comeback at the end of the first half and continued throughout the final period, the Friars couldn’t overcome their early deficit. All told, the Red Storm led for more than 37 minutes in one of their best wins of the season.

The Johnnies were able to knock off their ranked opponent by playing tight defense, scoring in the paint and utilizing their bench. Despite playing without Andre Curbelo, who was out due to a coach’s decision, the St. John’s bench scored 23 total points.

“They played well defensively and offensively,” St. John’s head coach Mike Anderson said of his team’s effort. “It was good, balanced scoring against a really good Providence team. It was a good job by our team that started and that came off the bench.”

Providence head coach Ed Cooley talks to his team during a timeout.

The scoring breakdown couldn’t have been more different for the Friars, who were propelled by Bryce Hopkins’ 29 points and nine rebounds. Providence landed just four points from its bench as the team’s starters provided the bulk of offense.

Saturday’s matinee win was a much-needed one as St. John’s approaches the Big East Tournament far outside of NCAA Tournament contention. Despite strong preseason tournament hopes, the team’s second Quad 1 victory and 5-10 conference record places it firmly outside the postseason picture.

There’s still the Big East Tournament, though, where the winner will receive an automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament. “We are just taking it game by game,” senior center Joel Soriano said of the team’s mindset with the conference tournament approaching. “When we get to the tournament, we will be ready.”

The victory also preserved the sanctity of the first-ever “Johnnies Day,” a daylong celebration of St. John’s standing as “New York’s team.” Although a strong showing from Providence fans negated the Johnnies’ home-court advantage, the team came away with a win during the inaugural event.

St. John’s returns to action Tuesday, when the team travels to Chicago to face DePaul at 9 p.m.