The Academy Awards, also known as the Super Bowl for film lovers, are officially over. Award season has finally come to an end and us cinephiles can finally rest — soon. Of course, first we must talk about the Academy Awards on March 15 in extensive detail before succumbing to hibernation till next award season.
The 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony was hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. He commenced the award show with a skit of himself done up to look like Amy Madigan’s character from the horror movie “Weapons,” running through scenes from this year’s Oscar-nominated films with kids chasing after him, like in Zach Cregger’s film. Some of the films he parodied include “Sinners,” “Marty Supreme” and “Hamnet,” a hilarious way to start the long show ahead.
Conan followed with a high-energy opening monologue, which ended with a sweet ode to optimism and the inherent role it plays in artmaking. He also announced the new category, Best Casting Director, which Cassandra Kulukundis from “One Battle After Another” later went on to win.
The night featured musical performances from two major films from last year: “Sinners,” the most nominated film in Oscars history, and “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” a global pop culture sensation.
Alongside other professionals, the talented Miles Caton performed “I Lied to You” from the famous musical scene in “Sinners”, and did so splendidly. Yet, however incredible it was, an exact replica of the scene seemed out of place when removed from the context of the film.
As for the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” performance of “Golden,” it seemed like a segment meant for a young audience that likely was not even watching.
The night included incredible wins for some of Hollywood’s most talented women. Jessie Buckley — who has won just about every major award this season for her portrayal of Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” — concluded her legendary sweep, winning Best Actress and becoming the first Irish woman to do so.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the cinematographer for “Sinners,” became the first woman and Black person to win Best Cinematography and Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for “Weapons,” 40 years after her first nomination in 1986.
In a previous article, I took it upon myself to make predictions for the Academy Awards, anxiously awaiting the results to see whether I am worthy of my role as an editor for the arts and culture section. Turns out that I hit it — almost — right on the head.
Albeit, this was perhaps one of the easier years to predict. From early on in the award season, it was clear that it would be a face-off between “Sinners,” with a record-breaking 16 nominations, and “One Battle After Another,” with 13 nominations.
Although I predicted that Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “One Battle After Another” would grant him the Best Actor award, the academy chose first-time nominee Michael B. Jordan instead. Considering he put in the work to play two distinct characters and did so terrifically, it was beyond deserved.
Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson won Best Original Score for “Sinners,” adding another prestigious award to his already impressive collection. He now has three Oscars, two of them for Ryan Coogler films.
Although “Sinners” received the most nominations ever in Oscars history, “One Battle After Another” ended up taking home more awards.
The film won Best Picture and Paul Thomas Anderson finally received the Best Director award. This was monumental for Anderson, who, despite having received a total of 14 nominations throughout his career, did not become an Academy Award winner until this show. He was the most nominated director never to win before, a fact he remarked on in his speech when he said, “You make a guy work hard for one of these.”
Although it was predictable that “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” would take home most of the awards, it was surprising that “Marty Supreme” would leave without a single one. Despite receiving nine nominations, an actor has rarely worked so hard for so few results as Timothée Chalamet did this award season.
Similar to Josh Safdie’s film, Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” only won the Best International Feature, receiving the same number of nominations.
2025 was an incredible year for film — I’ve heard the sentence “Hollywood is back” more times than I can count. I hope next year’s Academy Awards will showcase as many phenomenal films as this year’s show did.