‘Oppenheimer’ aims to join Oscar’s top award pantheon

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday, March 10. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your day:

• “Oppenheimer” looks for a big night at the Oscars.
• Western states are divided over long-term plans for Colorado River water.
• Katie Porter goes MAGA, claiming California’s election was rigged.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

‘Oppenheimer’ poised for a big evening

Three films stand atop the pantheon of all-time victories in the Academy Award’s near 100-year history.

Director Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy finale “The Return of the King,” director James Cameron’s “Titanic” and “Ben-Hur,” starring Charlton Heston, each netting a record 11 Oscars.

Director Christopher Nolan’s Great Man biopic “Oppenheimer,” about the atomic bomb’s creation overseen by theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by actor Cillian Murphy, may very well launch the epic into rarefied air.

“Oppenheimer” received ecstatic reviews and was nominated for 13 awards, one short of the record held by “All About Eve,” “La La Land” and “Titanic.”

To reach film’s Mt. Olympus, this American Prometheus will need to score Oscar victories in other areas, such as sound or adapted screenplay.

“Oppenheimer” already swept the Producers, Directors and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Picture, becoming the 11th movie to claim the trifecta. Ten of those 11 proceeded to win the Oscar for Best Film with only “Apollo 13” failing to stick the landing.

Our columnist Glenn Whipp says “Oppenheimer” is “a lock” to win seven Oscars, including for Best Picture. Upsets have happened, though, including in 1999 when “Shakespeare in Love” stole Best Picture from devastated director Steven Spielberg and his war epic “Saving Private Ryan.”

As Whipp notes, “Oscar nerds will be on the edge of their seats.” Here are his Academy Award predictions.

Kimmel returns for Hollywood’s biggest night

“Oppenheimer” and its success will be one of many themes playing out at the 96th annual Academy Awards from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

The show kicks off on ABC at 4 p.m. and is expected to last 3½ hours. Red carpet coverage gets underway at 10 a.m.

Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is hosting for a fourth time.

Kimmel has endured through some chaotic but truly dramatic Oscar moments, such as in 2017 when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope and erroneously announced that “La La Land” had won Best Picture. The real winner was the movie “Moonlight.”

He also brought stability in hosting last year, as the show tried to regain its footing after actor Will Smith’s infamous 2022 onstage slap of comedian Chris Rock in front of a stunned worldwide television audience.

Kimmel agreed to host this year, partly, because he had seen some of this year’s Best Picture nominees.

“I am sitting in a movie theater watching ‘Barbie’ and thinking, ‘Well, maybe I’ll do this again, because at least I have a point of reference with everyone,’ ” he said.

Potential spoilers and performers highlight the evening

“Poor Things” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” also enter with giant aspirations buoyed by 11 and 10 nominations, respectively. “Barbie,” last summer’s biggest blockbuster, also merited eight nominations.

Scheduled performances of Oscar-nominated songs are expected by Jon Batiste (“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”); Becky G (“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”); Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”); Scott George and the Osage Singers (“Wahzhazhe [A Song for My People]” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”); and Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson (“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”).

The week’s biggest stories

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

Housing, homelessness and real estate

• San Francisco ties welfare to drug-screening, boosts police power.
• L.A.’s infamous Cecil Hotel up for sale after transformation to house homeless people.
• Federal judge seeks audit of L.A. homelessness programs.
• L.A. City Council votes to allow the demolition of a Jewish and labor movement landmark.

Crimes, courts and policing

• Ex-undersheriff admits to having alleged deputy gang tattoo — then getting rid of it.
• Widow, 96, in financial straits fell prey to fraud and murder-for-hire plot, police say.
• He had a badge, his car had emergency lights, he pulled people over — but he wasn’t a cop.
• Man charged with burglary and indecent exposure over break-in at Santa Monica apartment.
• Beverly Hills school district expels eighth-graders involved in fake nude scandal.

Politics

• The legacy — and disappointment — of Katie Porter’s Orange County revolution.
• Biden’s State of the Union address draws 32 million TV viewers, topping last year’s speech.
• Biden signs a package of spending bills passed by Congress just hours before a shutdown deadline.
• How Putin’s crackdown on dissent became the hallmark of the Russian leader’s 24 years in power.
• Newport Beach mayor encourages residents to be ‘helpers.’

Outdoors and transportation

• New parking restrictions could make it harder to hike at Runyon Canyon.
• California can expect a late start to the wildfire season.
• Riding this train through California’s snowy mountains rules right now.
• What does the future of driverless taxi service in Los Angeles look like? It’s already here.

More Oscar coverage

• Oscars mark last hurrah for ‘Barbenheimer’ as 2024 box office faces uncertain future.
• Will political protests disrupt the Academy Awards? The LAPD is prepared to prevent that.
• Architecture in 2024 Oscar best picture nominees careens from fantasy to willful ignorance.
• Emma Stone-worthy Portuguese egg tarts and more Oscars food moments.

More big stories

• Oil sheen confirmed off Huntington Beach; Coast Guard investigating source.
• Max Verstappen wants drama surrounding Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner to cease.
• Cat Janice, singer who died of cancer, told her family to ‘keep the music going.’
• Matthew McConaughey, wife Camila explain real reason behind move from Malibu to Texas.
• JuJu Watkins leads USC to exciting double-OT win over UCLA in Pac-12 tournament.
  

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Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and long-form journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Alfredo Estrella / AFP/Getty Images)

A series of blasts in Tierra Caliente — an area along the border of Jalisco and Michoacán states that has long been a hot zone for cartel warfare — marks an alarming escalation of violence in Mexico as criminal groups arm themselves with ever-more sophisticated and deadly weaponry. The drug war in Mexico has come to resemble actual warfare with improvised land-mine usage increasing.

More great reads

• California Sikhs are driving a separatist movement. India calls them terrorists.
• L.A.’s only Dominican restaurant introduces a family’s legacy of meaty, comforting glories.
• The Topanga Farmers Market is back. To find it, head for the hills.
• Korean merchants have kept the Slauson swap meet alive for 40 years. Their final chapter is near.
  

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

(Shelby Moore / For The Times)

Going out

• 🥯 What better way to spend your Sunday than hunting for the area’s best bagel. We’ve got our picks.
• 🌹 It’s the second Sunday of the month, meaning Pasadena’s sprawling Flea Market at the Rose Bowl is back, opening at 5 a.m.
• 🐶 Arcadia’s Arboretum is hosting its first “Barks & Brew” festival, highlighting efforts at pet adoption. The event begins at 11 a.m.
• 🪁 Redondo Beach’s 50th annual “Festival of the Kite” is free and centers celebration around the whimsy air craft, beginning at noon.
  

Staying in

• 🏁 The IndyCar season kicks off today with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, airing on NBC at 9 a.m.
• 🏠 CNBC debuts “Unlocked,” a television series that focuses on how much homes cost and how people afford them. It airs at 1 p.m.
• ✌️ The No. 2-seeded USC women’s basketball team will attempt to topple perennial powerhouse Stanford in Las Vegas at the final PAC-12 conference tournament championship on ESPN at 2 p.m.
• 🧑‍🍳 With the Academy Awards in full swing, here’s famed steakhouse Delmonico’s Steak Oscar recipe.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Chloe Zola / For The Times)

We had been together for six months, and even as we grew closer, met each other’s families and became the couple known as “Scott and Cathleen,” I continued to call him Paul, the name of my ex-boyfriend. At the grocery store, in front of friends and when we were alone. With a dramatic wag of his finger, he would issue a “You did not just call me Paul … again?” To which I would throw up my hands, as if Scott were the one to blame.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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