America Ferrera stuns in sparkly Barbie pink, Rita Moreno waves in statement black on Oscars carpet

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NEW YORK — America Ferrera bid a fond awards season farewell to “Barbie” on the Oscars red carpet Sunday in a stunning, sparkly Atelier Versace gown in the film’s signature pink, while Rita Moreno wore a huge smile and a statement black gown from Badgley Mischka.

“America Ferrera did bombshell right and gave us the cool Barbie pink moment we needed this whole time, aka it didn’t smack us over the head,” said Brooke Bobb, fashion news director for Harper’s Bazaar.

Hollywood’s big night in Los Angeles included few fashion risks, with many sticking to classic silhouettes, black and other standard colors. Others offered an under-the-sea-vibe in soft seafoam colors with mermaid crystals and shell-like designs.

Emma Stone was in the sea camp in a soft pastel strapless look with a faint shell pattern in mint and a wide peplum at the waist. It was Louis Vuitton. Hailee Steinfeld in Elie Saab was also sea-like in sheer ethereal blue-green with wings attached at the wrist. Lupita Nyong’o was sea-adjacent in feathers and sequins by Armani Privé.

Moreno, at 92, waved to photographers as she showed off her pleated taffeta and velvet gown. Brittany Snow offered a refreshing show of color in a bright strapless custom Mônot dress paired with a statement choker.

Cynthia Erivo, in custom Louis Vuitton, shut down the carpet in emerald green lamb leather, dinosaur-like spikes along the back of a large-shouldered jacket. Emily Blunt and hubby John Krasinski matched in off-white, she in Schiaparelli couture with shoulders that floated above her body, that extended silhouette touch a mini-trend of the night.

Anya Taylor-Joy was full shell in a Dior Haute Couture strapless look in a sparkly scallop design.

Da’Vine Roy Randolph, on the top of her fashion game this awards season, wore an A-line pale blue tulle gown from Louis Vuitton with oversized sleeves embellished with tulle fringe. Ariana Grande also went big in a puffy pink gown that also had huge sleeves on a matching coat.

InStyle beauty director Lauren Valenti lauded Randolph’s effort.

“I loved Da’Vine’s beauty homage to Mae West, which featured cat eyes, glossy lined lips and va-va-voom side-swept blonde waves,” she said.

Lavender had a moment on a few. So did Billie Eilish in a Chanel schoolgirl look with a black jacket, pattern skirt, white socks and black Mary Janes. She and others on the carpet wore red pins supporting a cease-fire in Gaza.

“This year in general, the power of the red carpet was driven by women whose confidence felt utterly authentic and not like an exercise in branding,” Bobb said. “Embracing personal style really is the only way to land on the best-dressed list these days.”

The “Godzilla Minus One” group, meanwhile, showed up carrying toy monsters.

Many men stuck to black in tuxedos and other looks, including a fashion star of the awards season, Colman Domingo in a double-breasted tuxedo look, a custom Louis Vuitton, paired with cowboy boots and a jewel at the center of his bow tie. He wore a pinkie ring that once belonged to the man behind his “Rustin” character, Bayard Rustin, as he has throughout awards season.

“I wanted to shine like a diamond″ he told E! “I’m having a great time.”

Speaking of gems, Lily Gladstone won the jewelry game. She paired her midnight blue velvet gown with a Bulgari necklace in white gold with turquoise touches and blue oval tanzanite at the center.

Her custom Gucci gown was created in collaboration with Indigenous designer Joe Big Mountain of Ironhorse Quillwork. It featured a hand-wrapped porcupine quilled border in blue with a natural woven star design and sterling silver-plated bead edging.

Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper also went for black tuxedos. Gosling wore Gucci with silver bead piping, and Cooper wore double-breasted in Louis Vuitton. No ties for either, along with others.

“Bradley Cooper tells Brad Pitt to move over by leaving his tie, and Gigi Hadid, at home and instead brought his tan, a double-breasted tux embellished with turquoise buttons and slicked hair that took my breath away,” said Larry Curran, an independent brand consultant who has worked with Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.

As for the women, Hüller was on his best-dressed list.

“Correctly, she skipped earrings and chose a diamond necklace (Cartier) that brought balance to the oversized, off-the-shoulder wings of the dress, and another sparkly embellishment placed in between them,” Curran said.

There was a predictable spray of sequins for the women. White looks also represented, including Kirsten Dunst in Gucci. There was lots of black for the women, too, including a custom Schiaparelli for Sandra Hüller with extended shoulders and the perfect fit.

Erika Alexander of “American Fiction” wore a white strapless gown with a black skirt trimmed in pastel tulle. The designer, Christian Siriano, said it was made in a miraculous four days.

Laverne Cox, working the carpet for E!, was the epitome of Old Hollywood glam in an hourglass look of black and low-plunging gold, her hair piled high as she fluttered a feather-light neck piece that trailed behind. Her look was vintage Mugler.

Scott George, a member of the Osage Nation and the first Indigenous person to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song, was among the early arrivals in a gray look trimmed in green and purple, his tie in matching colors.

A couple of little cuties in nominated short films were delighted to walk. Porché Brinker of “The Last Repair Shop” was in ethereal soft blue, and Juliet Donenfeld of “Red, White and Blue” looked all-the-way grown up in a blinged-out strapless dress.

Red, an “IT” color of the awards season, had some early enthusiasts as arrivals heated up.

Issa Rae, a red carpet standout, stunned in plunging deep green from Ami Paris. The top sparkled.

“I am wearing green for good luck,” she said. “I wanted to feel old Hollywood.”

Julee Wilson, beauty editor at large for Cosmopolitan, praised Rae’s beauty look.

“Her sleek topknot and glowing skin are the perfect combo. Her hair was elegantly pulled away to showcase high shine skin. It sparkles,” she said. “I need to know what’s making it glow so much!”

Gabrielle Union wore another stunner, a strong silver embellished look from Carolina Herrera that offered an armor vibe.

“I am feeling myself,” Union said.

Vanessa Hudgens brought along one special accessory. She revealed her baby bump under a long body-hugging gown she wore to host ABC’s pre-show coverage.

Among the risk-takers? Charlotte Kemp Muhl, who walked with Sean Ono Lennon in a backless and near sideless black dress. Eugene Lee Wang, following in the footsteps of Billy Porter, donned a full ball skirt with a crop jacket.

Daniel Scheinert of the Daniels wore a Fashion Brand Company jacket adorned with a snake. It’s a buzzy brand worn by a lot of comedians, including SNL’s Sarah Sherman.

Jodi Kahn, Neiman Marcus’ vice president of luxury fashion, saw plenty for her customers on the red carpet.

‘We saw a lot of black, beautifully on Sandra Hüller in Schiaparelli as well as Danielle Brooks in Dolce & Gabbana, Jennifer Lawrence in Dior and Margot Robbie in Versace,” she said. “While we usually see lots of bold color on the red carpet it’s striking to see all of the beautiful black, elegant gowns.”

She included Eilish in that group.

“In Chanel, Billie took a modern approach to ladylike style, which will easily inspire long, lean skirts and jackets into our customers wardrobes. Black will always be fashion’s favorite color.”

Jonathan Evans, style director for Esquire, said you had to look closely to see one of the biggest red carpet trends.

“Even though they kept it relatively classic otherwise, a surprising number of guys opted for flared trousers this year. Simu Liu, Bradley Cooper and Colman Domingo all embraced a little extra room around the ankle, and it looked great,” he said.

EJ Briones, executive fashion editor for Bustle, saw another strong trend.

“Embellished corsets dominated the red carpet with looks from Hailee Steinfeld in Elie Saab Couture, Florence Pugh in Del Core and Danielle Brooks in custom Dolce & Gabbana. The heavy detail of the bodice against the softness created a beautiful juxtaposition,” he said.

Among the men who opted out of black was Taylor Zakhar Perez in powder blue. Liu of “Barbie” brought the Kenergy. He rocked a black Fendi look with a wrap-around jacket closed with a brooch.

“It’s a fun situation, and I like brooches,” he said.

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Shorthanded Timberwolves can’t maintain identity in loss to Lakers

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Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has previously noted how chameleon-like Minnesota was a year ago.

That was largely a product of injuries. But the 2022-23 Timberwolves proved they could play a certain style or scheme depending on who was available.

The goal wasn’t to be the same this season. Minnesota wanted to be big and strong defensively from the season’s outset. It has achieved as much, running away with the lague’s top defensive rating by a large margin.

But, in an 82-game campaign, there will be times when circumstances demand a different approach. Such was the case Sunday, as the Timberwolves were sans Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Monte Morris on top of Karl-Anthony Towns.

Anderson and Gobert are two defensive lynchpins for the Wolves.

Towns, Gobert and Anderson are three of Minnesota’s primary bigs in a big-ball team.

Missing all of them, Minnesota went hyper-small Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Jaden McDaniels was essentially the power forward in the starting lineup, with Reid serving as the lone big.

Minnesota was forced to change approaches and essentially lean into its offense. It worked for a half. The Wolves trailed by just one, 69-68, at the half, as Reid scored 21 points over the first two frames thanks to a spread floor approach that created driving lanes and open jumpers.

But it wasn’t sustainable in Minnesota’s 120-109 loss to the Lakers (36-30).

Because, eventually, the Wolves’ lack of defense and size caught up to them.

Minnesota (44-21) took a one-point edge into the final frame, but Lakers star Anthony Davis tallied eight points and nine rebounds in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter while Minnesota missed its first nine shots, allowing the Lakers to build a 16-point advantage midway through the frame.

Davis finished with 27 points and 25 rebounds.

“He should’ve dominated us. He had size, length, all that stuff. Was in the paint for seven or eight seconds every time they shot the ball. It’s easy to go get it. But we’ve got to do a better job of rooting him out,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters postgame. “Really it was offensive rebounds that hurt us in the fourth. We got off to slow starts offensively both in the third and the fourth quarter. But I felt confident we would be able to come back. So many second shots, it’s difficult at that point.”

Los Angeles shot 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from deep as all five starters scored 13-plus points.

“I was a little disappointed, it took us way too long to find our physicality on the ball. I don’t know if we were playing to keep ourselves out of foul trouble. It was clear they weren’t going to blow the whistle a lot, so we should’ve been way more physical in the beginning of the game. Once we started to get physical in the third, we were right back into the game, but we needed to do that more in the beginning,” Finch said. “We started the game trying to be aggressive in pick and roll. They did a good job of picking that apart. … We looked a little rusty there. Tried some zone, we tried everything. … We had to be more physical on the ball.”

On the offensive end, Reid had 25 points for the Wolves, while Anthony Edwards added 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Sunday was a reminder that while offensive shootouts can be enjoyable to watch at various points throughout an 82-game campaign, they are not what strong seasons are built upon. Minnesota’s size and defense are what makes the Wolves a high-level team in the Western Conference.

And while Minnesota can veer off that path when the availability of players dictates as much, the results will likely fall off as a result. As was the case during last season’s 42-win campaign. The offense that got off to a quick start against the Lakers dissipated in the second half Sunday, while the defense that ha been so solid all season can generally be relied upon for four quarters.

Of course, that defense largely rests upon the availability of Gobert, who missed the contest with right hamstring tightness. Finch said he didn’t have a gauge of when Gobert will return to action. Minnesota will stay in Los Angeles and next plays the Clippers on Tuesday.

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Oscars 2024: Complete list of winners at the 96th Academy Awards

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Awards presented at the 96th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood:

Picture: “Oppenheimer:

Actor: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”

Actress: Emma Stone, “Poor Things”

Supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”

Supporting actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

Director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”

Animated feature: “The Boy and the Heron”

International feature: “The Zone of Interest”

Documentary feature: “20 Days in Mariupol”

Adapted screenplay: Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”

Original screenplay: “Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Documentary short: “The Last Repair Shop”

Animated short: “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”

Live-action short: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer”

Original score: Ludwig Gõransson, “Oppenheimer”

Original song: “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” (Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters)

Costume design: “Poor Things”

Makeup and hairstyling: “Poor Things”

Production design: “Poor Things”

Film editing: “Oppenheimer”

Sound: “The Zone of Interest”

Visual effects: “Godzilla Minus One”

Awards by film

“Oppenheimer”: 7

“Poor Things”: 4

“The Zone of Interest”: 2

“20 Days in Mariupol”: 1

“American Fiction”: 1

“Anatomy of a Fall”: 1

“Barbie”: 1

“The Boy and the Heron”: 1

“Godzilla Minus One”: 1

“The Holdovers”: 1

“The Last Repair Shop”: 1

“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”: 1

“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”: 1

WIld gamble pays off as Boldy’s OT goal beats Nashville

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Minnesota pulled its goaltender in overtime and Matt Boldy scored to lift the Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.

Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury skated off 3:30 into OT, giving Minnesota a 4-on-3 advantage. Seconds later, Boldy got a pass from Mats Zuccarello and beat Predators goalie Juuse Saros for his 24th goal.

Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly scored a power-play goal with 2:02 remaining in regulation, helping the Predators avoid what would have been their first regulation loss since Feb. 15. Nashville is 10-0-2 in its last 12 games.

Both teams scored in each of the three regulation periods. Ryan Hartman gave the Wild a 3-2 lead with an unassisted breakaway goal in the third.

Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek was called for hooking with 2:47 to play, and O’Reilly’s 24th goal tied it at 3.

The first period had two fights. Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno and Nashville’s Michael McCarron dropped the gloves 2:57 into the game. The Wild’s Mason Shaw and Predators forward Kiefer Sherwood went at each other just less than seven minutes later.

Minnesota scored its first goal just 19 seconds after Foligno and McCarron went to the penalty box for their fighting majors. Jonas Brodin collected a rebound that escaped a scrum in front of the net and buried his seventh goal of the season.

Nashville tied it at 1 9:00 into the period. Sherwood passed from behind the net to Mark Jankowski, who beat Fleury for his third of the season.

The teams traded goals again in the second. Nashville’s Luke Evangelista gathered a bouncing puck off the skate of a Wild player and fired past Fleury for a 2-1 lead at 3:36.

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov notched his 31st goal of the year on a power play late in the second.

Sunday marked the 1,000th game played by the Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The arena opened in 2000.