The 98th Academy Awards ceremony took place on Sun. March 15, 2026. With 24 categories, a hilarious host and a room full of celebrities, this night was full of fun and iconic pop culture moments.
Conan O’Brien, former late-night TV star, returned to host the awards show for the second year in a row. One of his most notable, and ongoing jokes throughout the night was Timothee Chalamet’s statement on ballet and opera. He expressed his opinion that “no one cares” about either and he does not want to work in an art field that would require him to “keep this thing alive.” Many people interpreted this differently, however the overwhelming majority saw the comment as insulting.
One of our favorite comments Conan made on the situation was, “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.”
For the first time in 25 years, a new Oscars category was introduced. Titled “Best Casting,” the award honors the casting director’s work in selecting actors for a film. The award was given to Cassandra Kulukundis, who worked on “One Battle After Another.” This movie had several stars, the most notable including Sean Penn and Leonardo DiCaprio, making this award well deserved.
The movie “Sinner” broke the record for the most Oscars nominations with 16. The film won in three categories: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Actor. Best Actor went home to Michael B. Jordan, marking his first ever Oscar win.
Even though we are extremely happy with all of the achievements “Sinners” received, we cannot help but feel as if they were snubbed in the category Best Sound. In “F1,” the winner of this category, the music is used as background noise and does not move the story forward. In contrast, the music in “Sinners” uses Blues artists, such as Bobby Rush and Cedric Burnside, to add depth to characters and their motives. It conveys that music has been an outlet for many Black Americans through years of oppression and inequalities, which further highlights the film’s cultural significance.
“One Battle After Another” was a hit movie that was nominated for 13 Oscars. This movie follows the 1970’s revolutionary character Bob Ferguson, Leonardo Dicaprio’s character, in modern America. He is trying to protect his daughter, Willa, while hiding from his nemesis. The movie received a 9.3/10 on Rotten Tomatoes and earned over $209 million in total worldwide box office revenue. This was also a big night for director Paul Thomas Anderson, who won best director and best adapted screenplay for the film. The movie itself won 6 Oscars total: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting and Film Editing. We think “One Battle After Another” was an impressive movie that deserved its wins and nominations.
One of our favorite wins of the night was “All the Empty Rooms,” which won in the category Best Documentary Shot. This film is a short Netflix documentary that shows the preserved bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Its main goal is to humanize school shootings and show the lasting impact they have on families and communities. It sheds new light on the tragedies we hear about in the news, and shows that though time may move on, these bedrooms and their families are stuck in time.
The third part of the series “Avatar,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” won the best visual effects category. This movie follows main characters Jake and Neytiri Sully grieving their friend’s death and their rivalry against the Ash People, a volcanic tribe. Although “Avatar” is a captivating and unique movie, we believe that “Sinners” or “Frankenstein” should have won in this category. “Sinners” and “Frankenstein” deserved this win because the visual effects in these movies conveyed and added more to the story. While the “Avatar” ones were mesmerizing, they did not play any significant role or contribute to the story.
The global phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters” went home with two Oscars: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. This movie attracted audiences from all age groups because of its catchy music and unique characters. We think this movie was extremely deserving of both of its awards because it teaches young audiences, particularly girls, that it is possible to be both strong and compassionate, and that her strength and self-worth is not dependent on a man or outside force.
The 2026 Oscars were an absolute blast to watch and we are overall happy with the Academy’s picks. 2025 brought many new favorites, including “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another” and “KPop Demon Hunters,” and we cannot wait to see what Hollywood has in store for this coming year.
