DiCaprio is Oscar shoo-in, but host Chris Rock may shock

Of course, all eyes will be on long-running Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio as he gears up for another nail-biting awards ceremony.

But, she noted, “I’ve got too many other things to worry about”, naming homelessness, affordable housing, racial profiling by police and voting participation.

“The Revenant”, buoyed by big box office and a win at the BAFTAs, is seen as the one with the most momentum and has the best odds in Las Vegas.

The Academy Awards, normally decorous and predictable, are this year charged with enough politics and uncertainty to rival an election debate. Actor Chris Rock will host the show for the second time, having previously hosted the 77th ceremony held in 2005. He has been nominated five times now, but has never won a statue.

Charlotte Rampling, 70, is up for best actress for her role in 45 Years, alongside Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, 21, for Brooklyn, in which she plays a homesick immigrant in NY.

He declined to join the fray, even after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose 6,200 members vote on the Oscars, announced it would double the number of minorities and women in its ranks in the next four years.

Leo is the best actor nominee highly-favored to win this year for his lead role in The Revenant.

There are plenty of storylines heading into the 88th annual Oscars, aka the second annual #OscarsSoWhite.

Black representation onstage at the Oscars is pretty close to the percentage of speaking roles given to black people in high-grossing films, ranging from 10 and 14 percent since 2007, according to a study done by USC’s Annenberg School.

Sylvester Stallone in his performance in Creed is expected to nab the award for Best Supporting Actor. This historical story, which is based on various true events, has touched millions of hearts and hopes to win DiCaprio his first Oscar Award. The E! Online live stream starts at 5:25pm ET.at 5:30pm ET E!’s Live From the Red Carpet: The 2016 Academy Awards kicks off. E! is starts to report from the Oscars Red Carpet 90 minutes earlier than on ABC. He won the Oscar previous year for “Birdman”. Hollywood stars and Vice President Joe Biden will present awards this year.

Locally, director George Miller’s critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road has cleaned up with an incredible ten nominations, including Best Picture and Director.

Business mogul Russell Simmons has partnered with Fusion to launch the first-ever “All Def Movie Awards”, which aims to celebrate diversity in film.

An unprecedented debate about race in the film industry was sparked after none of the nominees for the best actor and actress and best supporting actor and actress categories are from an ethnic minority.