The 98th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, saw One Battle After Another take best picture and director honors for Paul Thomas Anderson. Michael B. Jordan won best actor for Sinners, amid performances and tributes that kept the show engaging. Reviewers called the ceremony tasteful, safe, and a reinvention of the Oscars format.
The 2026 Oscars, held on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, ran over 3 hours and 40 minutes and featured host Conan O’Brien’s monologue with jokes targeting Ted Sarandos, AI, Timothée Chalamet, and films like Hamnet and Bugonia. O’Brien ended by expressing optimism for movies and the world, echoing themes of patience, resilience, and optimism cited by reviewers from Variety and Deadline. One Battle After Another, distributed by Warner Bros., won best picture, best director for Paul Thomas Anderson—who appeared modestly grateful—and the inaugural best casting award for Cassandra Kulukundis. The film secured six Oscars total. Sean Penn won an acting prize but did not attend. Sinners, also from Warner Bros. and directed by Ryan Coogler, earned best actor for Michael B. Jordan, whose speech shouted out predecessors like Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington. Coogler won best original screenplay, prompting a standing ovation for the cast. Autumn Arkapaw took cinematography for Sinners. K-Pop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” won best original song, following a performance of Sinners’ nominee “I Lied to You” featuring Miles Caton, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, and Misty Copeland. Reunions included Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman from Moulin Rouge! and the Bridesmaids cast. The In Memoriam segment featured Billy Crystal’s tribute to Rob Reiner and family, and Barbra Streisand honoring Robert Redford. Political moments included Pavel Talankin’s comments on fascism from Mr. Nobody Against Putin and Javier Bardem’s “No to war. And free Palestine!” Variety described the show as tasteful but overly safe, with a generic set resembling a steak or sushi restaurant. Deadline praised it as a reinvention, watchable with drama and fun, despite minor glitches like a microphone issue during the K-Pop Demon Hunters speech.
