LOS ANGELES: The Academy Awards will have a host for the first time since 2018 and return to their longtime home at the Dolby Theatre, broadcaster ABC said on Tuesday.
While other awards shows have been postponed because of a surge in COVID-19 cases, Walt Disney Co’s ABC said plans remain in place to hold the Oscars, the highest film honors, on March 27 in Los Angeles.
This year’s ceremony will have a host, ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich said at a Television Critics Association event. He provided no details. “It might be me,” he joked.
The Oscars were handed out by celebrity presenters but had no host in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Ratings for the telecast have fallen in recent years, dropping to a record low of 10.4 million people in the United States in 2021. Viewership of other awards shows also has declined.
Fans of British actor Tom Holland have suggested he should host this year’s Oscars after the smash success of his movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” possibly with his co-star Zendaya.
Holland told The Hollywood Reporter in December that he would “love” to host the awards. “If they ask me to, I would, and it would be very fun,” he said.
Previous hosts have included late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and comedians Chris Rock and Ellen DeGeneres.
ABC said in a statement that the 2022 Oscars will take place again at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Last year, the awards moved to the historic Union Station train station in downtown Los Angeles with a small crowd of nominees and guests to protect against COVID.
Nominations for the Oscars will be announced on Feb. 8.
This year’s Oscars show will go on, with a host
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This year’s Oscars show will go on, with a host
- Walt Disney Co’s ABC said plans remain in place to hold the Oscars on March 27 in Los Angeles
- This year’s ceremony will have a host, ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich said at a Television Critics Association event
Review: ‘Relay’
RIYADH: “Relay” is a thriller that knows what its role is in an era of overly explained plots and predictable pacing, making it feel at once refreshing and strangely nostalgic.
I went into the 2025 film with genuine curiosity after listening to Academy Award-winning British actor Riz Ahmed talk about it on Podcrushed, a podcast by “You” star Penn Badgley. Within the first half hour I was already texting my friends to add it to their watchlists.
There is something confident and restrained about “Relay” that pulls you in, and much of that assurance comes from the film’s lead actors. Ahmed gives a measured, deeply controlled performance as Ash, a man who operates in the shadows with precision and discipline. He excels at disappearing, slipping between identities, and staying one step ahead, yet the story is careful not to mythologize him as untouchable.
Every pause, glance, and decision carries weight, making Ash feel intelligent and capable. It is one of those roles where presence does most of the work.
Lily James brings a vital counterbalance as Sarah, a woman caught at a moral and emotional crossroads, who is both vulnerable and resilient. The slow-burn connection between her and Ash is shaped by shared isolation and his growing desire to protect her.
The premise is deceptively simple. Ash acts as a middleman for people entangled in corporate crimes, using a relay system to communicate and extract them safely.
The film’s most inventive choice is its use of the Telecommunications Relay Service — used by people who are deaf and hard of hearing to communicate over the phone — as a central plot device, thoughtfully integrating a vital accessibility tool into the heart of the story.
As conversations between Ash and Sarah unfold through the relay system, the film builds a unique sense of intimacy and suspense, using its structure to shape tension in a way that feels cleverly crafted.
“Relay” plays like a retro crime thriller, echoing classic spy films in its mood and pacing while grounding itself in contemporary anxieties.
Beneath the mechanics and thrills of the plot, it is about loneliness, the longing to be seen, and the murky ethics of survival in systems designed to crush individuals.
If you are a life-long fan of thrillers, “Relay” might still manage to surprise you.
