Another Oscars ceremony for the books, and while it never went completely off the rails, it was far from perfect.
As a kid who loved movies, the Oscars were always an event I eagerly awaited. I memorized the Best Picture winners and attempted to see them all. As a senior in high school, I even got to attend the awards ceremony, but that’s when I began to question the Academy’s choices. I thought then — and still feel now — that “Star Wars” should have beaten “Annie Hall” for Best Picture. And the more films I started to see, the more disappointed — and even angry — I got over what won.
But an Oscar has value in the industry and can help a film get seen by more people, and for smaller documentaries or foreign films, an Oscar can be the catalyst for U.S. distribution. So I still watch every year with interest and high hopes for my personal favorites.
A night dominated by Warner Bros.
This year the Oscars were aggravating and inspiring in almost equal parts. Two films dominated the 98th Annual Academy Awards, and both were from Warner Bros. Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” set a record with 16 nominations but only took home four statues — Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Score — while its rival “One Battle After Another” won the night with six, including the top prizes of Best Picture and Best Director.
Both Coogler and Michael B. Jordan won their first Oscars, which was thrilling. Coogler won Best Original Screenplay — and let me just emphasize how boldly original that screenplay was. He was shut out of Best Director and Best Picture, but the Academy seems to view the writing award as the consolation prize for that. Jordan won Best Actor, and he and Coogler have been collaborating since Coogler’s first feature, “Fruitvale Station,” in 2013.
Jordan had his mom with him in the front row at the Dolby Theatre, and his father came in from Ghana. After thanking his family, Jordan said, “I want to thank Warner Bros. I want to thank Mike (De Luca) and Pam (Abdy) for believing in this dream, this vision of Ryan Coogler, and betting on the culture, and betting on original ideas and original artistry. You're an amazing, amazing person. I'm so honored to call you a collaborator and a friend. You gave me the opportunity and space for me to be seen. I love you too, bro. I love you to death.”
Then Jordan acknowledged those Black actors who have also stood on the Oscar stage: “Y'all. I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith. To be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys. Thank you, everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well. And I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keep betting on me. And I'm going to keep stepping up. And I'm going to keep being the best version of myself I can be.”
Supporting actor surprises
Sadly, Jordan’s co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo lost in the supporting actor category. At least the marvelous Mosaku lost to the wildly eccentric and brilliant performance of Amy Madigan in “Weapons.” Madigan has not just put in years of brilliant work, but she has maintained an independence from mainstream Hollywood and chosen challenging roles rather than ones that would just be popular.
Her speech felt exceedingly genuine: “This is great. I mean, everybody's asking me in the press and all, ‘Well it's been 40 years. And, what's different about this time?’ What's different is that I have this little gold guy.”
But Lindo’s nuanced and deeply affecting work was overlooked in favor of Sean Penn’s scenery-chewing, “I Am Sam”-style misfire of a performance in “One Battle After the Another.” Madigan's performance may have been more over the top but it was perfectly tuned to the film.
Presenter Kieran Culkin took a swipe at Penn, who choose not to attend the ceremony, saying: “He couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to.”
Variety reported that Penn had been meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Whatever good deeds Penn might be doing off screen, it does not justify this award. His performance was out of sync with the rest of the film, and why the Academy chooses to reward actors for these self-indulgent excesses is beyond me.
Why 'Sinners' deserved more
But then I also do not understand awarding “Avatar” the Best Visual Effects Oscar. The technology might be great, but the film is unwatchable. Meanwhile, “Sinners” worked its visual effects with such seamless beauty that I think most people did not realize how much of that film was enhanced by visual effects artists.
“Sinners” deserved the award.
But the wins from both “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” helped Warners Bros. tie the all-time record for most Oscars taken home in a single night by a studio with 11 statues. But the victory celebration may be subdued since Warner Bros. Discovery is on the block to be sold to Paramount, and if the sale receives regulatory approval, it could lead to thousands of layoffs.
The Ryan Coogler factor
“Sinners” was my favorite film from last year. But Coogler had two major obstacles preventing him from winning the top awards. First, the Academy is always playing catch-up — failing to honor people for their best work and then trying to make up for it later.
Martin Scorsese didn’t deserve an Oscar for “The Departed,” but he did for “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas.” Al Pacino should not have won for “Scent of a Woman,” but rather for “The Godfather” or “Dog Day Afternoon."
So this year the oddsmakers were saying it was Paul Thomas Anderson’s time to win. But he’s done better work on “There Will Be Blood” and “The Phantom Thread.”
But I think the main reason Coogler lost the top prizes was because he scares Hollywood. Not only is he talented and able to deliver films that are both personal and popular entertainment, but he negotiated unprecedented creative control over “Sinners,” and studios fear other filmmakers may try to do the same. “Sinners” was by far the boldest, most innovative, most genre-pushing film of 2025, and the fact that it came from a major studio is almost shocking.
Diversity and the Oscars
With awards, I know it is all about opinions, and everyone has one. But Coogler has just been so good at making popular studio films that are also personal, first with “Creed,” and then “Black Panther,” and now “Sinners.” This year, with push back against DEI, the Academy was touting its diversity.
Host Conan O’Brien made a passionate statement: “Everyone watching right now around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times. It’s at moments like these that I believe the Oscars are particularly resonant. Check it out. Thirty one countries across six continents are represented this evening. And every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages, working hard to make something of beauty. We pay tribute tonight not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today, optimism. So let us, celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better in the days ahead.”
If any film embodied this, it was “Sinners.” So I was frustrated to see the Academy once again choose a film that was superficially diverse over one that was genuinely diverse and also just better crafted.
“One Battle After Another” features Black female characters, but it was made by a white filmmaker, whereas “Sinners” was created by a Black director — along with a number of people of color behind the scenes — and features an incredibly rich cast of diverse Black characters while drawing deeply on Black culture and history. “Sinners” losing to “One Battle After Another” fits an Oscar pattern: consider “Green Book” beating Spike Lee’s “BlacKKKlansman,” and “Driving Miss Daisy” winning over Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.”
Historic wins
But “Sinners” did give us another Oscar first. Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman — as well as the first Black person and first Filipina — to win Best Cinematography. And consider this: Black women have won Oscars for production design (Hannah Beachler for “Black Panther”) and costume design (Ruth E. Carter for both “Black Panther” films). And all three of these women worked on films directed by Coogler, who is breaking down barriers in terms of both what we see on screen as well as who is making the films.
And that’s why Arkapaw was so gracious in her acceptance speech toward Coogler: “Whenever I say thank you to Ryan, he replies and says, ‘No, thank you. Thank you for believing in me and thank you for trusting me.’ And that's the kind of guy that I get to make films with. He's a very, very honorable person. And he means it. And he really, truly means it.”
Arkapaw also understood what her win meant for women: “I really want all the women in the room to stand up, because I feel like I don't get here without you guys. I really, really, truly mean that. I have felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign and gotten to meet so many people. And I just feel like moments like this happen because of you guys, and I want to thank you for that.”
A new Oscar category
In another history-making moment, the Academy served up its inaugural Best Casting award. This is the first new competitive category in 25 years. The last addition was Best Animated Feature in 2002. The first award went to Cassandra Kulukundis for “One Battle After Another,” which filmed across San Diego County.
Kulukundis’ excitement was palpable: “Wow, wow, wow, wow. OK. I have to obviously thank the Academy for even adding this category, and for the casting directors that fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way. I dedicate this to you, and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn't even get a chance to get their name on the movie. So, there, for you guys.”
I am glad to see the work of casting directors acknowledged, but I have to confess I am more excited to see the addition of Best Achievement in Stunt Design at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028. I mean, no casting director even risked life and limb in the performance of their job, but stunt people do that every day.
A strange broadcast
This year’s awards show had a weird vibe. O’Brien handled the hosting duties fine, but there was something off in the execution of the show. There were odd camera angles, the sound mix was occasionally off, the structure and flow were wonky and there were a number of pre-recorded bits that were not really needed. Although they did get Marty Scorsese in a spot for cropping movies to fit the vertical format for your phone.
My main complaint once again is that the show needs to cut down the inane banter from presenters and let the winners truly have the spotlight. We did not need an embarrassing “Bridesmaids” reunion or an extended and forced gag between Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans about an anniversary gift, nor did Will Arnett and Channing Tatum have to eat up time with awkward jokes.
A number of winners were cut off for going over their 45-second limit. Some were able to defy the music attempting to play them off the stage, but others had their mics cut and the lights turned off. This is supposed to be their moment to shine, so let them.
Memorable moments and speeches
I will give kudos to the show producers for opting to only stage two musical numbers from the Best Song category and going all out for them. First up was the “Pierce the Veil” sequence from “Sinners” with Miles Caton performing “I Lied to You,” followed later by a vibrant “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Props to the Academy for choosing the brilliant Matt Berry as the official voice of the Oscars. I was hoping he’d say, “Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango” or some other stellar Berry line. I admit that when he read the sponsorship copy of “You’re in good hands” for Allstate, I couldn’t help but think of his Stephen Toast character in a recording studio and suddenly the line sounded ridiculous.
The In Memoriam segment was oddly constructed, but it at least found time to pay tribute to some of the significant losses from the past year. Billy Crystal was especially good remembering Rob Reiner. But, as always, people were missing from the montage, including Brigitte Bardot (perhaps left out for her extreme right-wing politics). Also absent were James Van Der Beek, Robert Carradine, June Lockhart, “Harold and Maude” star Bud Cort and “Cheers" star George Wendt. I also object to Udo Kier being demoted to a split-screen slide rather than a solo one, as if he did not merit the star status. But at least this year's presentation did not have dancers blocking the view of the people being honored.
The live-action short film category had a rare tie between “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” marking only the seventh tie in Oscar history.
Politics on stage
Variety noted that the telecast took place “as much of the world’s attention is on the war in Iran. Because of FBI alerts of a possible Iranian drone attack on California, security — which is always extensive at the Oscars — was even more omnipresent, with police dogs visible on the red carpet and choppers circling overhead.”
World and national events reared their heads on stage as well. Javier Bardem slipped in quick slogans — “No to war and free Palestine” — before presenting an award. Jimmy Kimmel took a swipe at the “Melania” documentary and President Donald Trump. And O’Brien, noting the rare occurrence of no British actors being represented, made a joke about how Brits at least arrest their pedophiles.
Acceptance speeches were also laced with politics. Filmmaker Joachim Trier, whose very unpolitical film “Sentimental Value” won Best International Feature, said, "Because I'm in this category, and I feel I represent global filmmakers. In a moment like this, I would just want to recognize the wonderful films we were nominated together with. Important, beautiful films that reflect our present crisis and the crisis of the past. And I want to end by quoting, or not actually quoting, but paraphrasing rather, the wonderful American writer James Baldwin, who makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children. Let's not vote for politicians who don't take this seriously into account.”
Both the documentary short and feature were political in nature. “All the Empty Rooms” won Best Documentary Short and dealt with school shootings, while “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” took the Best Documentary Feature and focused on a Russian teacher who faced an ethical crisis when his school had to engage in government propaganda and his students were being sent off to war.
Director David Borenstein saw some parallels to the U.S.: "’Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ is about how you lose your country. And what we saw when working with this footage, it's that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities. When we don't say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we can produce it and consume it. We all face a moral choice. But luckily, even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”
Through a translator, Pavel Talankin, the subject of the film, said, “For four years, we look at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish. But there are countries where instead of shooting stars, they have shooting bombs and shooting drones. In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now.”
Joyful wins
But not all the films and acceptance speeches hit political notes. Mike Hill, one of the winners for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for “Frankenstein,” is an artist I have met at Monsterpalooza over the years. He used to create stunning, life-size horror figures of creatures like Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster — figures that “Frankenstein” director Guillermo Del Toro often bought.
You could see the absolute glee in his face for winning on a project like this: ”Fantastic. Old school. Shit. Thank you so much. Crikey. While we're making this film, you know, we had this sense we were part of something very special, and tonight really confirms that. Deepest thanks to the Academy… and of course, my mate Jacob Elordi, who sat for 400 hours in the makeup chair during filming. A personal thank you to my dear Meg and to our friend Guillermo del Toro. You did it, mate. You brought our beloved ‘Frankenstein’ back, and we want to thank you for allowing us to help make your dream project become our dream project.”
Side note: Dame Anna Wintour wins the award for the most deadpan delivery of lines... or maybe that was just her being Dame Anna Wintour. Doesn't matter, she was great.
Joy was also visible in Best Song winner EJAE, who said, “Thank you so much to the Academy for this insane award. Oh my God. Growing up, you know, people made fun of me liking K-pop, but now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I'm so proud. And I realized, like the song, this award is not about success, it's about resilience. I'm just so grateful to our team.”
Andy Jurgensen took home the Best Editing Oscar for “One Battle After Another,” and concluded his acceptance speech with this wonderful reminder about what else the Academy does, “I would like to dedicate this to my aunt, Barbara Hall, who was a film archivist for the Academy for over 25 years. She loved her job and she loved showing me old movies and teaching me about film history and I miss her every day and I would not be up here if it wasn't for her and my uncle Val. So, thank you very much. Thank you.”
And in a final heartfelt speech, Jessie Buckley, accepting Best Actress for “Hamnet,” paid tribute to mothers. “To get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life. It's Mother's Day in the UK today. So, I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role. This is the greatest honor. I can't even believe it.”
Final thoughts
The evening concluded with what you could call a post-credit stinger. After “One Battle After Another” took home the two top prizes, O’Brien wrapped quickly and then appeared in a sequence in which he is awarded the role of Oscar host for life and is thrilled and awed. But then we realize the scene is riffing off the end of the Best Picture winner in which a character is led to what he thinks is his glorious new office and, in reality, he is gassed, killed and placed in an incinerator. I guess for a show that felt weirdly out of whack, that deathly ending was apt. But since it was pre-recorded, I am wondering if they shot one for each of the nominated films in order to be prepared for anything… I would love to see what they did for “Sinners.”
That’s a wrap. Not as angry as I have been in past years, and genuinely thrilled by the four awards “Sinners” did take home. I guess this love-hate relationship with Oscar will continue for at least another year.
