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Oscars red carpet 2025: Ariana Grande, Fernanda Torres and all the best looks

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Oscars red carpet 2025: Ariana Grande, Fernanda Torres and all the best looks

Arrivals are underway for the 97th Academy Awards, and The Times’ photo team is out in force on the red carpet, capturing all the best looks as stars make their way into the Dolby Theatre for the ceremony. Whether you’re following along live in the lead-up to the telecast, hosted by Conan O’Brien for the first time, or catching up along the way, we have the full rundown of the evening’s most striking sartorial statements.

Edward Norton and Shauna Robertson

“A Complete Unknown” nominee Edward Norton accompanies his wife, Shauna Robertson, on the carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Marissa Bode

"Wicked" star Marissa Bode in a red gown and wheelchair

“Wicked” star Marissa Bode wears a vibrant red gown on the carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Rachel Sennott

Rachel Sennott in a shimmery gown

“Saturday Night” star Rachel Sennott chose a shimmery gown for her walk down the carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande on the red carpet

“Wicked” star Ariana Grande shows off her full silhouette en route to the Academy Awards.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

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Elle Fanning

"A Complete Unknown" star Elle Fanning sports a white gown with train on the carpet.

“A Complete Unknown” star Elle Fanning sports a white gown with train on the carpet.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Elle Fanning on the red carpet

Elle Fanning put a black bow on it.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Edward Berger

"Conclave" director Edward Berger on the red carpet

“Conclave” director Edward Berger strikes a natty pose on the red carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Fernanda Torres

Fernanda Torres wears a gown with feathery fringe

Fernanda Torres, Oscar nominated for “I’m Still Here,” chose a gown with a feathery fringe.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin signs to the crowd

Marlee Matlin greets the crowd on the carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Yasmin Finney

Yasmin Finney with feathery gown

“Heartstoppers” star Yasmin Finney opted for striking black gown.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Richard Beek, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham

Richard Beek, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, filmmakers behind Oscar nominated "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"

Richard Beek, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, filmmakers behind Oscar nominated “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” show off their stop-motion creations.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Jeff Goldblum and Emilie Livingston

"Wicked" star Jeff Goldblum accompanies his wife, Emilie Livingston, on the red carpet.

“Wicked” star Jeff Goldblum accompanies his wife, Emilie Livingston, on the red carpet.

(Jason H. Neubert/Los Angeles Times)

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Julian Brave NoiseCat

Julian Brave NoiseCat on the red carpet (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Julian Brave NoiseCat, co-director of Oscar nominated documentary “Sugarcane,” honors his Native heritage on the red carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff in a yellow gown on the red carpet

Tennis star Coco Gauff shows off her red carpet form in a lemon colored gown.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

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Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold pose on the red carpet (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Brady Corbet, director of “The Brutalist,” arrives with co-writer and companion Mona Fastvold.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Clarence Maclin and Divine G

"Sing Sing" star Clarence Maclin and co-writer Divine G on the red carpet

Clarence Maclin and Divine G, both nominated for co-writing “Sing Sing,” go for black and white tuxedos.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Joan Chen

"Didi" star Joan Chen in a flowy gown on the carpet   (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Didi” star Joan Chen in a flowy gown on the carpet

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Diane Warren

Diane Warren on the red carpet at the 97th Academy Awards  (Christin House / Los Angeles Times)

Frequent nominee Diane Warren sports a custom Klein Epstein Parker tuxedo paired with a custom shirt and custom tie.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang pose on the red carpet. (Christin House / Los Angeles Times)

Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, co-hosts of “Las Culturistas” podcast, make their presence known on the red carpet.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

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Nick Emerson

Nick Emerson, Oscar nominated editor for "Conclave," on the red carpet. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Nick Emerson, Oscar nominated editor for “Conclave,” made an early appearance on the red carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

D.J. Gugenheim

D.J. Gugenheim, producer for "The Brutalist," is tux ready on the red carpet.

D.J. Gugenheim, producer for “The Brutalist,” is tux ready on the red carpet.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

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Entertainment

Zoe Saldaña becomes the highest-grossing actor of all time

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Zoe Saldaña becomes the highest-grossing actor of all time

After another impressively profitable weekend in theaters, James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” helped crown its star Zoe Saldaña the queen of the box office.

The third “Avatar” movie boasted $21.3 million in North American sales last week, bringing it to a global total of $1.23 billion. With those impressive stats, Saldaña officially surpassed Scarlett Johansson as the highest-grossing actor of all time.

The Oscar winner has grossed more than $15.47 billion at the international box office, according to box office tracking website the Numbers. Johansson only recently gained the title after surpassing her “Avengers” co-star Samuel L. Jackson with the release of last summer’s “Jurassic World Rebirth.”

What helped buoy Saldaña to the top is the fact that the 47-year-old actor stars in the three highest-grossing films of all time: 2009’s “Avatar” ($2.9 billion), 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.8 billion) and 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($2.3 billion).

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Saldaña is also the only actor to appear in four movies that brought in over $2 billion worldwide. (2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” grossed $2.05 billion.)

Last year proved that Saldaña’s talent exceeded the realm of popcorn movies when she nabbed her first Academy Award for her supporting role in the controversial musical “Emilia Pérez.” Her win marked the first time an actor with Dominican roots had won an Oscar.

“I am a proud child of immigrant parents, with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands,” she said through tears while accepting the award for supporting actress. “And I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”

Saldaña cemented her Oscar win while side-stepping criticisms of the film — namely regarding its portrayals of Mexicans and transgender people — as well as the scandal that surrounded “Emilia Pérez” co-star Karla Sofía Gascón, when her offensive tweets with anti-Muslim, anti-diversity and racist language resurfaced.

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Movie Reviews

Vaa Vaathiyaar Movie Review: A fond, funky & fun throwback to old-school masala films

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Vaa Vaathiyaar Movie Review: A fond, funky & fun throwback to old-school masala films

Vaa Vaathiyaar Movie Synopsis: Even as he keeps up an appearance of following in the footsteps MGR in front of his grandfather, a die-hard fan of the legend, Ramu is actually a corrupt cop, who’s helping in a mission to nab activists exposing the government. What happens when an incident triggers the Vaathiyaar in him? Vaa Vaathiyaar Movie Review: In his interviews about the film, director Nalan Kumarasamy repeatedly stressed on the fact that he planned Vaa Vaathiyaar as an attempt at recreating the old-school masala film in his own style. And that’s exactly what he delivers with his film. The simplicity of the MGR film formula meets the new-age-y plot device of Maaveeran in this fond, fun, funky throwback to the masala films of an earlier era. The film does take a while to get going with the beats of the initial set-up coming across as little too familiar. The narrative rhythm, too, is slightly off, with far too many songs popping up at frequent intervals. Though, it helps that Santhosh Narayanan’s songs are short and groovy. And the composer delivers a score that superbly elevates the emotional moments. But once we get into the main conflict, things perk up. An anonymous group of hacker-activists exposes a shootout plot by power broker Periasamy (Sathyaraj) and the chief minister (Nizhalgal Ravi) at a Sterlite-like protest. The government decides to nab them before they can cause further damage to a 142 million euro business deal. How does Ramu – a corrupt cop, who is keeping up a facade of being a do-gooder for the sake of his grandfather (Rajkiran, who has become the default casting choice for such well-meaning boomer roles), a die-hard MGR fan – gets involved in this and where does the OG Vaathiyaar figures in this scheme of things?Vaa Vaathiyaar shows that in this age of hyper-masculine action – and even romantic – films, it’s still possible to make a rousing commercial entertainer with a star without relying on guns and gratuitous bloodshed. The film’s action set-pieces have the hero taking on dozens of henchmen (and cops, too!), but it’s all done in swashbuckling MGR style. And in Karthi, it has an actor who is brave enough to take on a risky role, given the stature in which MGR is held by the Tamil people. Rather than merely mimicking him, which would have ended up as a spoof, the actor wonderfully captures the spirit of the legend’s onscreen image and creates moments that are genuinely heartfelt. Credit should also go to Nalan for finding the right pitch at which the actor should play these portions. While there are quite a few throwbacks to iconic MGR scenes, the filmmaker even succeeds in his modern take on the iconic song, Raajavin Paarvai Raaniyin Pakkam.The film would have been even better with a stronger villain. The film initially builds up Periyasamy to be ruthless and powerful, and with someone of Sathyaraj’s calibre playing this role, we expect more only to be deceived in the end. There’s also some build up to Nivas, a rival cop, who’s keen on nailing Ramu, but this arc, which could have added tension, is left incomplete after a while.That said, Nalan’s bold move to call back to MGR’s real-life hospitalisation and resurgence in the climax leaves the film on an emotional high.

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Audience for Golden Globe Awards telecast drops 7% from last year

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Audience for Golden Globe Awards telecast drops 7% from last year

The Sunday telecast of the 83rd Golden Globe Awards on CBS suffered a ratings setback with an audience decline of 7% compared with last year’s show.

Nielsen data showed the live event, hosted by comic Nikki Glaser at the Beverly Hilton, averaged 8.66 million viewers. The big winners of the night included “One Battle After Another” and “Hamnet” on the feature film side. Medical drama “The Pitt” and comedy series “Hacks,” both from HBO Max, were the big TV winners.

The data, which include livestreaming, mark the second straight audience decline for the Golden Globe Awards, which scored 9.2 million viewers in 2025. That edition dropped slightly from its bounce-back year of 2024, when the program delivered 9.4 million viewers — a 50% lift over its final year on NBC.

Like all awards shows, the Golden Globes no longer deliver the kind of ratings that once made it one of the most-watched programs of the year. The show has suffered from the changing habits of viewers, many of whom have turned to social media for trophy-show clips.

The Golden Globe Awards also had to come back from a scandal over the lack of diversity in the membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which operated the event for decades. A Los Angeles Times investigation brought attention and raised concerns about its ethics and financial practices in 2021.

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The 83rd Golden Globe Awards may have been hurt by some production elements that did not go over well based on the harsh response from viewers posting on social media.

Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor for Variety, was paired with “Entertainment Tonight” co-host Kevin Frazier to provide running chatter off-camera during the long and winding trip to the stage for winners seated in the crowded hotel ballroom. They were not well received.

“Do you think Golden Globes commentators Marc Malkin and Kevin Frazier are going to go home tonight utterly haunted for the rest of their days over the mind-numbing inanities they uttered all night?” wrote film critic Dustin Putman.

A post from another viewer compared Malkin’s commentary to “your mom talking about who she just ran into at the supermarket.”

Viewers were also put off by on-screen graphics featuring data from the prediction market app Polymarket showing the win probability of the nominees ahead of their categories. “Just push me in front of a bus at this point,” sports podcaster Bobby Wagner wrote on X.

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The Golden Globe Awards presented the data as part of a partnership deal with Polymarket, which gives users the opportunity to bet on the outcomes of events in sports, culture, politics and other areas. The deal included an advertising buy on the broadcast.

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