AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 7:14 p.m. EDT

Best cat? Funniest prop? Ahead of the Oscars, the AP hands out its own awards

Awards season has a way of diminishing the movie year into a handful of films that are talked about ad nauseam for months. But as good as some of this year’s Oscar nominees are, you have to go outside the consensus — and the same old categories — to remember the best of 2025. So ahead of Sunday’s Oscars, Associated Press Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle have selected their own awards. While a movie year might be celebrated for its best film or best performances, dishing out honors for the best cat or funniest prop is just as important.

The countdown is on for the 98th Oscars, with Conan O’Brien back and a 'moving' In Memoriam

The Oscars team says the 98th Academy Awards aims to feel warm, tight and built for both the room and viewers at home. The show's producers are finishing final preparations with host Conan O’Brien, planned performances, tributes and a spotlight for the newer casting award. Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer say they start planning earlier now. They say that cuts panic and helps the show flow. Ratings keep rising since the 2021 slump, helped by streaming on Hulu and outreach to younger viewers online. They also promise a big, emotional In Memoriam.

Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis adapt ‘Scarpetta’ book series for TV

NEW YORK (AP) — Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis met at the Oscars in 2021. That introduction led to a collaboration with both women co-executive producing and starring in “Scarpetta,” a new mystery crime series from Prime Video, out March 11. The TV series was adapted from Patricia Cornwell’s popular books. Kidman plays the titular character Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a fictional forensic pathologist who solves complex murders. Curtis plays her free-spirited sister Dorothy. Curtis credits Kidman as one of the major Hollywood players who helped shrink the gulf between perceptions of film and TV roles.

Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu close Paris Fashion Week with competing visions of nature

PARIS (AP) — Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière built a fake mountain range inside the Louvre and sent models climbing through it. On Tuesday it closed out a starry Paris Fashion Week with folklore treated as high fashion — capes, cowbells, shearling caps and walking sticks draped with handbags. Ghesquière called the collection “Super Nature” and said he wanted to find what mountain people from the Alps to Central Asia to the Andes all have in common: clothes shaped by weather, altitude and the need to keep moving. Zendaya, Ana de Armas, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith sat front row. The set was designed by “Severance” production designer Jeremy Hindle.

A Florida woman has been charged in a shooting at Rihanna's Los Angeles home

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say a Florida woman has been charged with attempted murder and several other felony offenses over gunshots fired at Rihanna's Los Angeles home last weekend. Court records showed 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz was charged Tuesday with one count of attempted murder for allegedly firing at the gated house in the Beverly Hills area, as well as 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and other offenses. Police say 10 people were in the home but no one was hurt Sunday. It wasn't clear if Rihanna was home. The woman appeared in court Tuesday as her public defender entered a not guilty plea for her but then withdrew it in favor of postponing arraignment until March 25. Bail was set at $1.8 million.

Italy buys Caravaggio painting for about $35 million, one of its largest payouts for a single work

ROME (AP) — Italy's Culture Ministry says the government has bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros, one of the largest investments ever for a single artwork. The portrait, painted around 1598 and attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII. The painting was acquired from a private collection by the Italian state after over a year of negotiations, and will now enter Rome’s Palazzo Barberini permanent collection. The Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini depicts the future pope in his 30s, dressed as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, at a crucial moment in his rise to power.

Movie Review: Gosling, Lord and Miller make science fun in ‘Project Hail Mary’

Ryan Gosling plays a man stranded on a spaceship in the new film “Project Hail Mary,” opening in theaters on March 20. His character Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma alone in space, with no memory of how he got there. As his memory comes back, he teams up with an alien to try to figure out why the sun is dying. Phil Lord and Chris Miller direct the film based on an Andy Weir story. In her review, Associated Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr says that it's as fun as it is awe-inspiring. It's rated PG-13.

'Dancing with the Stars' pro Mark Ballas leaps back to Broadway in 'Chicago'

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Ballas returns to Broadway in “Chicago,” and he reunites with former “Dancing with the Stars” partner Whitney Leavitt. Next month, Ballas starts playing slick lawyer Billy Flynn opposite Leavitt's Roxie. Ballas says the timing feels full circle. He first auditioned for “Chicago” in London at 18. He says he reached the final callbacks. He says casting turned him down because he was too short. Ballas says he already knows the show. He learns by rehearsing, then watching performances over and over. He also calls Bob Fosse his all-time favorite choreographer.

Gustavo Dudamel's tenure as New York Philharmonic music director opens at Radio City Music Hall

NEW YORK (AP) — Gustavo Dudamel starts a new era as music director of the New York Philharmonic in September, and he wants it to feel bold and modern. The orchestra announced a three-part opening to launch his first season in New York after 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dudamel begins at Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 10. He then leads a 9/11 anniversary concert at the World Trade Center site. His first Geffen Hall subscription program includes John Adams’ “On the Transmigration of Souls,” plus new music and Prokofiev. Dudamel will conduct a European tour one month into his tenure.