The Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, are presented each year by Hollywood’s premier organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They recognize the best of film that year, and immortalize the top performances and technical work from every area of the industry. The 2026 edition of the ceremony, which my friends jokingly refer to as my personal “Super Bowl,” occurred on Sunday, March 15.
Needless to say, the Academy always gets some things wrong. I’m also disappointed that the whole process is becoming more and more political. For a complete list of winners, see here, as I’ll only be discussing a few awards in this article and my overall impressions of the ceremony.
After almost thirty years of nominations, Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. This wasn’t surprising as his film “One Battle After Another” has received almost universal acclaim and won virtually every preceding award. The film’s casting director, Cassandra Kulukundis, also took home Best Casting as the first-ever person to receive this new award.
The rest of the awards proceeded as expected. “Frankenstein” won in nearly every technical category. “Sinners” won for Score, Original Screenplay and Cinematography. Notably, Autumn Arkapaw was the first woman to ever win in the Cinematography category, for “Sinners.” Sean Penn won in a competitive Supporting Actor field, in keeping with the Academy’s love for “One Battle.” Jessie Buckley won Lead Actress for “Hamnet.”
The only two real surprises of the evening came in Supporting Actress and Lead Actor. Amy Madigan won for her role in “Weapons,” Zach Cregger’s horror film in which she played the villain. This was a shock, but the bigger surprise came in Lead Actor: Michael B. Jordan.
Personally, I disagreed with a number of the Academy’s choices, these chief among them. Ethan Hawke and Timothée Chalamet, in my opinion, were the two most deserving in the Lead Actor category, and Wunmi Mosaku deserved Best Supporting Actress (though, I confess, I haven’t actually seen “Weapons” because I didn’t think it would win). However, I’m very happy that Michael B. Jordan won; I’ve always liked him as an actor, and he gave a great performance in the film. His acceptance speech was also so likable that I couldn’t help but be won over. His visit to In-N-Out with fans afterwards only made me enjoy his win more.
My true gripe with the ceremony came with its love for “One Battle.” While I enjoyed that film, I found it unremarkable and in some ways subpar — “Sinners,” on the other hand, was a wondrously original, creative tour de force with a brilliant ensemble, engrossing visuals and electrifying sequences. It’s a film I’ll revisit for years to come, and its lack of recognition at “One Battle’s” expense drove me nuts.
Also, the ceremony itself continues to display the best and worst of Hollywood. Pretty much all of the speeches were either passable or excellent; seeing performers like Jordan and Buckley visibly overwhelmed and excited reminds us why we root for good actors. Watching Conan O’Brien, usually a good comic, joke about Timothée Chalamet’s bare ass is not why we watch the Oscars. The cutting off of the “KPop Demon Hunters” songwriters was disgraceful, as well. But if Hollywood didn’t embarrass itself a bit, would they really be Hollywood?
It couldn’t compete with 2024, when Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” brought the house down and Chris Nolan’s blockbuster “Oppenheimer” won Best Picture, but overall, the 2026 Academy Awards offered few surprises and a few embarrassments while rewarding some good films.
