2026 Oscar Reactions
Paul Thomas Anderson has done it! He’s finally done it! He is the King of Hollywood for the moment! One Battle After Another won six total Oscars, including Best Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson is now a 3x Oscar winner after 14 nominations.
Possibly our greatest working filmmaker winning not just a career win but for a deserved film, one of his best films. You could see it on screen; everyone in that room was ecstatic for Paul to finally win, giving him standing ovations every time he got on stage.
The beginning of the night also started with a great moment as Amy Madigan took the stage to accept the win for Best Supporting Actress for her iconic turn as Aunt Gladys in Weapons. I was elated; it was one of my favorite performances of the year.
We know Aunt Gladys will remain iconic because of Conan’s opening sketch, where he is dressed as Aunt Gladys running from blood thirsty children through all of the Best Picture nominees. A great way to start the night, going right into Amy’s win.
I really like Conan as a host; I think his jokes are topical and funny; however, some go on too long, even if I do find them enjoyable. Even with the extended bits, I thought the night ran quickly.
Another non-award highlight was the in memoriam, incredibly moving, with special tributes to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford. I’ve never teared up at the in memoriam, but they did it this year.
In what could’ve been awful was the annual corporate synergy at the Oscars. Grogu sitting in the audience as its own company uses free marketing to sell the new Mandalorian Star Wars movie. We also had RDJ and Chris Evans presenting together as a little teaser for Disney’s upcoming Marvel movie, Avengers: Doomsday.
The best version was when Anne Hathaway and Anna Wintour came out to present Costume Design, Hair and Makeup as a little promotion for The Devil Wears Prada 2.
On the awards front, overall, I don’t have any complaints. It was one of the better nights on record. Though One Battle After Another had the big night, Sinners also did well with four wins on their own.
Ryan Coogler won his first Oscar for Original Screenplay, a great moment. Autumn Durald Arkapaw becoming the first woman to win for cinematography was an amazing moment. Then Michael B. Jordan winning for Best Actor was the capper for Sinners. A great night for a cool movie.
In a shocker, One Battle After Another won the first Casting Oscar, which was expected to go to Sinners. I think it was a sign of the film’s strength. I really enjoyed how much time they took to introduce the casting award, honoring a craft that hasn’t been recognized by the Oscars until now.
The other shocker was a tie in the Live Action Short category. The first tie since 2012 in sound. I liked both of the winning shorts, The Singers and Two People Exchanging Salvia.
Lastly, not a shocker, but Sean Penn joined an elite group of actors who have won 3 or more Oscars. Only eight actors have such an honor. Unsurprisingly, Sean wasn’t at the ceremony.
He was apparently on his way to Ukraine to do something…Stellan and Delroy winning their first would’ve been great. Even Benecio winning his second would’ve been worthy. Sean is great in One Battle After Another, but did he need a third Oscar?
Overall, this was one of the better Oscar programs I can remember. Helped by the fact that my favorite filmmaker deservedly won big. I got drunk last night like I did when the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
I know some will begrudge the One Battle Best Picture win over Sinners. But if it had gone the other way, there’d be people begrudging a Sinners BP win. I think this works out best for both films.
Sinners gets to remain the cool movie that won some Oscars, but doesn’t have to live up to the hype of the film being considered the best film of 2025. When generations from now watch these two films, One Battle After Another will be the film that can live up to the “best film” expectations.
