The 98th Academy Awards

BY: JACKSON WELLS / STAFF WRITER

(Photo Credit: Google / Fandango)

On Sunday, March 15th, the Oscars aired on ABC & Hulu at 7:00 p.m., giving out 24 awards, all hosted by Conan O’Brien. 

Between Sinners breaking the record for most nominated film at 16 awards and Amy Madigan, who played Gladys in Weapons, setting the record for longest gap between nominations at a 40-year split, it was panning out to be a big night for cinema.

As far as other impressive nominations go, Sinners wasn’t the only movie that got multiple. One Battle After Another was close behind at an impressive 13, as Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value all tied with nine selections.

 Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Zoe Saldaña, and more presented the awards, and the ceremony featured performances such as “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, following “I Lied To You” from Sinners.

One Battle After Another ended up taking home six awards, including Best Picture and the inclusion of a new category, Best Casting. Sinners only landed four out of the 16, awarding the first woman Best Cinematography, and poor Timothée Chalamet only went home with haunting reminders of his remarks towards ballet & opera.

In a surprising turn of events, Wicked: For Good did not receive a single nomination compared to the ten picks Wicked landed at the 2025 Oscars, winning Costume and Production Design, and even more unexpectedly, Live Action Short Film ended in a tie, which hasn’t happened in any category for seven years.

The biggest international upset was No Other Choice, receiving zero nods from The Academy, despite major praise from the Golden Globes and Cannes. This means that legendary director Park Chan-wook, of Oldboy and The Handmaiden fame, has still not been nominated for an Oscar. To look on the bright side, foreign films such as Sentimental Value & Mr. Nobody Against Putin did show the Americans at the Academy that there is power in filmmaking overseas.

To lay off the awards themselves, Conan held his own on the stage, only having a few duds here and there, opening the ceremony dressed up as Amy Madigan’s character from Weapons, running through all of the Best Picture nominees' sets. 

His best lines from the show were, “It’s the first time since 2012 there are no British actors nominated for best actors or best actress. A British spokesperson said: ‘Yeah, but at least we arrest our pedophiles.'” and “Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is here and this is exciting: This is his first time in a theater. ‘This is what they’re talking about? Why are they together enjoying themselves?! They should be home alone!'”

A few other key moments include Will Arnett calling out AI mockery not to be labeled as art, a beautiful tribute to those who have passed, highlighting Robert Redford and Michele & Rob Reiner, and the cast of Bridesmaids reunited on stage, just to do an awkwardly dragged-on bit.

Outside of Jimmy Kimmel’s deadpan hosting segment & an unfortunate nod to MrBeast potentially hosting next year’s show, the 98th Academy Awards was an entertaining spectacle of movie appreciation.

 In these frustrating times, we turn to the theatre for comfort, and as best put by O’Brien himself, “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.”