Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” won the most prestigious award for a film, Best Picture at the Oscars.

The film has been deemed a modern classic by many and won over films like “Bugonia,” “Train Dreams” and “Hamnet.” However the most obvious film it won over, and snubbed in the process, was Coogler’s “Sinners.”

“One Battle After Another” was amazing, and I thought it was one of the more important films of the century. Despite it not being based on a real event, it really captures some important things that are currently happening in the country. 

I found its commentary on the usage of government agencies and resources to do dirty work quite scary, but realistic nonetheless. It’s great.

However, I have a hard time grasping how it won, as a film, over “Sinners.”

From a filmmaking standpoint, “Sinners” clears. It’s better acted, more nuanced and has an all-time directing performance from Coogler.

The themes in “Sinners” moved me because it really connects to the human spirit. The most famous scene in the movie even highlights that when “I Lied To You” starts playing – which was nominated for Original Song but lost to “Golden.”

There’s nothing, in my opinion, that “One Battle After Another” did better than “Sinners.” 

Coogler ran circles around his competition and it’s a shame, and a disservice, that the Academy didn’t award him for the accomplishment that is “Sinners.”

Jessie Buckley was immediately brought to tears upon hearing that she had won Lead Actress for her performance in “Hamnet.”

Buckley was up against big names in actresses Emma Stone, Rose Byrne and Kate Hudson, but was able to secure the win and take home her first-ever Academy Award win.

Her thanks were sincere, honest and raw. You could tell she was clearly so grateful and surprised. She thanked her husband, announcing that she wants to have 20,000 more babies with him and warranting a laugh from the crowd. She also thanked her parents for teaching her to dream, and her 8-month-old baby, who she said was probably dreaming of milk, among many others she expressed gratitude for.

Michael B. Jordan took Lead Actor for his performance(s) in “Sinners” Definitely deserved, I was rooting for him at home. He made sure to thank God, his parents, the “bigs” who came before him and all of the cast and crew from the movie.

Jordan beat out Chalamet in “Marty Supreme,” who was definitely in the running for the title in the weeks leading up to the awards. However, after Chalamet’s snide comments about the performing arts, many people expressed their disappointment and believed he didn’t deserve an award from the Academy following his statement.

“Marty Supreme” hasn’t won any awards at this point in the show. Which begs the question: Did Chalamet’s ignorance have an effect on the Academy? Or does the movie simply pale in comparison to the films currently leading in awards, ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle After Another?’

Presenter Javier Bardem, while giving the award for the best International Feature Film, said “Free Palestine” while wearing a pin in Spanish that translates to “No to war.”

Bardem has been vocal on his stance regarding Palestine and how he can use his platform in the entertainment industry to advocate for Palestinians. He said that he got blacklisted by Paramount after his open advocacy for Palestine.

Recently, Bardem has encouraged other actors to stop working with brands that contribute to the suffering of Palestinians. He started to become associated with Film Workers for Palestine, whose mission is to keep film industries who support Israel’s actions in Gaza accountable. 

“I cannot work with somebody who justifies or supports the genocide,” Bardem told Variety.

“Sinners” was snubbed for the Original Song award. The award instead went to “KPop Demon Hunters,” for “Golden.”

I’m not saying “Golden” is a bad song, but “I Lied To You” in “Sinners” operates at such a deeper level, the culmination of hundreds of years of different cultures all coming together in one song, for it to not win this award is genuinely insane to me. 

“Sinners” wins the award for Best Cinematography. Autumn Durald Arkapaw is the first woman of color to be nominated and first woman to win the award. She requested that every woman in the audience stand with her during her speech, because she would not have made it there without them.

The scene of the juke joint burning down alone was enough to win this award in my opinion, so this win is well deserved among the many awards “Sinners” has taken home tonight.

The Collegian’s faculty advisor, Donald Munro celebrates his friend, Joshua Seftel, as he receives his first Oscar win for “All the Empty Rooms.”

“My longtime friend Joshua Seftel won his first Oscar, for the short documentary film ‘All the Empty Rooms.’ It was his second Oscar nomination. We were both part of the National Arts Journalism Program in 2002-03. Josh is an outstanding filmmaker (he directed “War, Inc.,” starring John Cusack, in 2008) who eschewed big-time Hollywood to make documentaries. I’ve always admired his dedication to making films with potent messages for our times,” Munro said.

“All of the Empty Rooms” highlights families after losing children to gun violence.

Munro also said this is the most excited he’s been for the Oscars since he covered the Academy Awards for The Fresno Bee in 1996, the year that “Titanic” won.

The opening bit for the Oscars for Original Score was tasteful and funny, spearheaded by Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and Ellie Kemper.

The girls were “interrupted” by silly notes passed to them written by various members in the audience.

As they announced the nominees, the live orchestra played a short piece from each score, such a great touch.

“Sinners” took home the award, which I couldn’t agree with more. Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson accepted the award.

During the Oscars, I noticed a lot of similar ads being played in rotation. One of these being Burger King commercials.

At one point, a Burger King commercial played on three straight commercial breaks. So is there a reason for this trend?

Well, yes.

According to Variety, Disney decided to give up all their advertisements for the broadcast of the 98th Academy Awards. This left a vacuum for other companies to compete for commercial time.

One of them being Burger King, a first-time sponsor of the Oscars. Producers for the award show have special cues during the show to make sure that their ads and mentions are on time and highlighted.

Other companies that got Disney’s commercial time are Mazda and Rolex.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” wins the award for best Visual Effects. Presented by Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver (who has appeared in all three “Avatar” films), four artists accepted the award, and gave a shoutout to the team of 2,200 visual artists who worked on the film.

This seems fair to me, since in my opinion the visual effects in the “Avatar” movies is the only thing that makes those movies interesting. 

While making a speech, O’Brien took a second to acknowledge Gen Z and really tried to make the show more geared towards them by adding a split-screen view of Subway Surfers gameplay. Something that was not only funny, but appreciated.

It made me actually laugh but wasn’t an attack at the younger viewers. It felt like O’Brien wanted to include the viewers, not just perform for them.

The only thing missing was some “Family Guy” clips.

Why have there been so many brooches donned at the Oscars this year?

Hudson Williams, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Pope, Adrien Brody, Wagner Moura, Timothée Chalamet, Damson Idris, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr. — the list is long and it still goes on.

However, this has been a trend for the past few years. The 2024 and 2025 Oscars notably had quite a few in attendance spotted with a brooch.

Vogue, Harper’s BAZAAR and more have all deemed brooches as a 2026 staple already. So I guess this was to be expected, but I wonder how many more we’ll see tonight.

Ryan Coogler won the first award “Sinners” for Original Screenplay.

In his speech, he thanked his family and crew for the film. It’s no surprise that he won the award, as “Sinners” is projected to sweep – but still a well-deserved award for a modern classic.

The category for Live Action Short Film, presented by Kumail Ali Nanjiani, has a tie with the winners being “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva.” This has been done only six, now seven times.

Nanjiani had a look on his face like ‘is this La La Land, Moonlight situation? Oh god what do I do now,’ which got a good laugh out of the crowd. 

After explaining that, the winners came up to accept the awards. Definitely a comedy highlight for the night.

“Frankenstein” swept the categories in visual design, winning for both Best Costume and Best Makeup. This was fairly earned in my opinion, as they brought one of the most iconic novels to life, and at the same time crafted it with such a unique design.

Kate Hawley accepted the award for Best Costume, crafting the intricate Victorian-era dresses and garb worn by the cast, each character having their own sense of style.

Mike Hill accepted the award for Best Makeup. He and his team created the prosthetics and makeup for the film. Hill shouted out Jacob Elordi for sitting for 400 hours as they applied makeup and prosthetics to turn him into The Creature. Creating a distinct look for one of the most infamous characters ever made was no easy feat, and yet The Creature is both easily identifiable as Frankenstein’s Monster, and also breathes life into the character with a completely unique look.  

Actors Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chase Infiniti, Wanger Moura and Delory Lindo came together and gave personal speeches to their casting directors to present the first-ever Oscar in casting, which was a very sweet sentiment.

Casting director for “One Battle After Another” Cassandra Kulukundis won the new “Achievement in Casting” award, beating out nominees Nina Gold for “Hamnet,” Jennifer Venditti for “Marty Supreme” and Francine Maisler for “Sinners.”

She expressed extreme gratitude for the category being created, and recognized all the casting directors before her who didn’t have the chance to be nominated or even have their names on the movies they casted for.

“KPop Demon Hunters” won the Animated Feature Film award, while “Elio” was snubbed.

In my opinion, while a great movie, it did not deserve the award.

“Elio” was incredibly nuanced and touching, something that definitely exists in “KPop Demon Hunters” but not to the same extent.

Disney has had a back track record in recent years with animated movies, often relying on remakes that have minimal effort or creativity. “Elio” broke that cycle, genuinely giving Disney an all-time great film about grief, family and acceptance. It’s the best thing that Disney has done in the last few years up to that point in animation.

Zoe Saldana, the first announcer of the night, looked sleek and elegant in a lace black down with silver and magenta accessories. I loved her outfit, but it was very much my style, so maybe I was biased towards that.

Big 2025 stars Hudson Williams, Jacob Elordi and Ariana Greenblatt went more simple, and I was pleased but not wowed.

Best Actress nominee Rose Byrne was wearing a gorgeous black gown with beaded floral accents and a statement necklace that I was obsessed with, paired with a perfect red lip, which I am always impartial to.

McKenna Grace looked adorable in a pink gown referencing Gwyneth Paltrow, and showed up to the carpet with her co-star and rumored partner Mason Thames.

I enjoyed Elle Fanning and Emma Stone’s takes on the all-white look. They know what looks good on them and I appreciate that, but both looks were missing something.

Mia Goth, on the other hand, wore a white lace Dior with floral accents reminiscent of the Renaissance and a pair of strappy heels — no notes. She served exactly what I was missing from Fanning and Stone.

There were actually a lot of all-white looks. Timothee Chalamet also partook in this trend, and I didn’t hate it. What I did hate was his shoes. But honestly, I was expecting more from someone who stirred up this much controversy pre-carpet.

Amy Madigan wins Best Supporting Actress, the first award of the night. Madigan played Aunt Gladys in “Weapons” who was the central antagonist for the film.

Gladys was such a cool and unique character that really was elevated by Madigan’s performance.

Madigan was the lone bright-spot in, what was an average horror film. She added a depth to the film that really made the film worth watching, she definitely earned the award.

Conan O’Brien started off his Oscar opening ceremony by dressing as Aunt Gladys from “Weapons,” one of the more popular movies of 2025.

He went on to recreate important scenes from a handful of Oscar nominated movies as Aunt Gladys. I thought this was extremely interesting and creative. 

He didn’t let up after his skit though; coming out strong with attacking Chalamet for his comments about ballet, when he said that no one cares about performing arts. While this is on brand for O’Brien, it was definitely a nice touch to keep someone like Chalamet in check.