Oscars return, with slap jokes and hot dog fingers

The Oscars take place on March 12, with two big questions on everyone's lips: Will anyone get slapped? And can a wacky sci-fi featuring hot dog fingers and butt plugs really win best picture?

While the answer to the first question is likely no, Academy chiefs have a "crisis team" in place after Will Smith's misadventures last year, the overwhelming response to the latter seems to be yes.

"Everything Everywhere All at Once," which follows a Chinese immigrant laundromat owner locked in battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain who happens to also be her own daughter, could not be further from your typical Oscar winner.

In a plot almost too bizarre to describe, Michelle Yeoh's heroine Evelyn must harness the power of her alter egos living in parallel universes, which feature hot dogs as human fingers, talking rocks and sex toys used as weapons and trophies.

But the film has dominated nearly every awards show in Hollywood, with its charismatic, predominantly Asian stars, supported by the ever-popular Jamie Lee Curtis, becoming the feel-good story of the season.

"It's a group of very likable people behind the movie who it's impossible to not be happy for," Hollywood Reporter awards columnist Scott Feinberg told AFP.

Having won top honors from Hollywood's directors, producers, actors and writers guilds, the film, a bona fide, word-of-mouth, $100 million-grossing audience hit too, is expected to dominate Oscars night.

But unlike in other categories, the movie could hit a stumbling block for best picture, the evening's top prize, due to the special "preferential" voting system, in which members rank films from best to worst.

The system punishes divisive films, and Feinberg said "many" voting members of...