26 February, 2018
This is What's Trending Today...
The 90th Academy Awards are less than one week away.
The event, also known as the Oscars, will take place March 4 in Hollywood, California. More than 30 million people are expected to watch the live television broadcast of the event.
Ahead of the ceremony, people are getting to know this year's nominated films and stars.
Although this year's event takes place in March, search interest in the Oscars usually peaks in February. The search engine Google recently created a special page that shows the most popular Oscar-related searches.
Here is a look:
Lead Actress Nominees
Of the five women nominated for the best lead actress Oscar, Margot Robbie is getting the most attention, Google says. The search engine reports the Australian actress makes up 36 percent of Google searches among the five nominees.
Robbie played American figure skater Tonya Harding in the film I, Tonya. Robbie also produced the film, which received three Oscar nominations.
Yet many experts believe Robbie will not win. They say Frances McDormand of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is likely to take home the Oscar. In the film, McDormand plays Mildred Hayes, a woman filled with anger over the unsolved rape and murder of her daughter.
McDormand received 8 percent of Google searches.
English actress Sally Hawkins comes in with 5 percent of Google searches, the least of the five women nominated for the award. She stars in The Shape of Water, a fantasy film directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The film earned 13 Oscar nominations, the most of any film this year.
Saoirse Ronan stars in another of the year's top films, Lady Bird. It received nine Oscar nominations. Ronan received 24 percent of the Google searches, just behind Meryl Streep. Streep earned the nomination this year for her work in Steven Spielberg's political thriller The Post. Streep has already won three Oscars and has been nominated a total of 21 times.
Lead Actor Nominees
Among the men nominated for Best Actor, Denzel Washington and Timothee Chalamet can each claim more than 30 percent of Google searches. Chalamet received the nomination for his leading role in the coming-of-age story Call Me By Your Name, while Washington earned it for Roman J. Israel Esq.
But many movie experts say Gary Oldman is the most likely winner. He has earned critical praise for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. Oldman brought in just 11 percent of Google searches.
The other two nominees -- Daniel Day-Lewis and Daniel Kaluuya -- each come in with 13 percent of total searches. They are nominated for their work in the historical drama The Phantom Thread and the horror movie Get Out, respectively.
Kimmel returns
Another popular person on Google is this year's host Jimmy Kimmel. He also hosted last year's event. That is when presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty famously announced La La Land instead of Moonlight as the Best Picture winner. After the mistake was corrected, Kimmel told television viewers, "I promise I'll never come back" to host another Oscars.
But Kimmel will be back. On Google, popular Kimmel-related searches no longer mention last year's Oscar mix-up. Instead, they include questions like, "How old is Jimmy Kimmel?" and "How tall is Jimmy Kimmel?"
Best Picture Top Google Searches
While we won't know this year's Best Picture winner for a few more days, Google has published a list of the most-searched Best Picture winners of all time. The top five are:
- Titanic
- Gladiator
- The Godfather
- Forest Gump
- Moonlight
And that's What's Trending Today.
Ashley Thompson wrote this report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in This Story
peak - v. to reach the highest level
fantasy - n. something that is produced by the imagination : an idea about doing something that is far removed from normal reality
thriller - n. a novel, movie, etc., that is very exciting : a story full of exciting action, mystery, adventure, or suspense
coming-of-age- n. the time when a person becomes an adult
horror - adj. intended to cause feelings of fear or horror
portrayal - n. the way in which an actor plays a character