Recapping The 2026 Oscars!

Coming into the 98th Academy Awards last night, history had already been made even before a single trophy had been handed out, with Ryan Coogler's Sinners being nominated for more Oscars than any other film in history. And although things didn't go quite the way they (or I) might have hoped for them, no one can take that moment away from them -- and there were still a few milestones to be had!

And to be honest, 4 Oscar wins, regardless of nominations, is nothing to sniff at, and every win for Sinners was a triumph in itself. Coogler got to collect his first trophy for his original screenplay, Ludwig Göransson won his third Oscar for Best Score, Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first ever woman to win Best Cinematography, and the man himself Michael B. Jordan defied all the odds and took home Best Actor!

And to be honest, Sinners inarguably had the biggets showstopping moment of the night when they did a full-on recreation of the incredible "piercing the veil" sequence from the movie, featuring star Miles Canton performing the song "I Lied To You" accompanied by the likes of Raphael Saadiq, Brittany Howard, Shaboozy, ballerina Misty Copeland and more. Jack O'Connell and his vampire crew even showed up, fangs and all, to try and crash the party like in the movie! We smell a Broadway musical adaptation in the not too distant future...

The big winner of the night, though, as it has been through most of Awards Season, was One Battle After Another, collecting 6 Oscars, including an armload of hardware for Paul Thomas Anderson himself as Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the big one, Best Picture. Sean Penn joined an elite few who have won 3 Oscars (the fourth, to be exact), beating out his castmate Benicio Del Toro as well as Jacob Elordi, Delroy Lindo, and Stellan Skarsgard for Best Supporting Actor. The first-ever Best Casting Oscar was awarded to Cassandra Kulukundis, who brought together the exceptional cast and dedicated her win to all the other casting directors who never had a chance to either be recognized or even end up in their films' credits. OBAA capped off their big night with a win for Best Editing as well.

Jessie Buckley capped off her Awards Season dominance with Oscar gold, becoming the first Irish performer to win Best Actress for her phenomenal role in Hamnet -- the movie's sole award of the evening.

40 years after her first only other Oscar nomination, Amy Madigan finally got her flowers for her transcendent performance as the witchy Aunt Gladys in Weapons. A favorite through most of Awards Season, she nevertheless faced stiff competition from One Battle After Another's Teyana Taylor and a late surge from Sinners's Wunmi Mosaku. Her win also marked the first time a performance in a horror film won in 35 years.

Frankenstein dominated the creative categories, with Guillermo Del Toro's visionary take on the classic monster tale going home with Best Costumes, Best Hair & Makeup, and Best Production Design. No doubt it would have won Best VFX too if it hadn't come out the same year as an Avatar movie...

To no one's surprised, KPop Demon Hunters took home Best Animated Feature, but perhaps the most surprising thing about their win is that it marks the fourth consecutive year that a Disney production has NOT won in this category! The film also received the very-expected Oscar for Best Original Song for "Golden", becoming the first-ever K-Pop song to win an Oscar.

An extremely rare tie occurred last night when both "The Singer" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva" won for Best Live-Action Short. Presenter Kumail Nanjiani named the winners one at a time so they could have their separare moments in the spotlight -- though not without some technical glitches.

Norway's Sentimental Value came away with Best International Feature, not surprising when it dominated the acting categories and was even a Best Picture nominee. Elsewhere, Avatar won Best Visual Effects and F1 took home Best Sound.

And thus ends another crazy Awards Season. Congrats to all the winners!