By Tyler Banark

And just like that, the 2025-26 awards season has come and gone! It’s been a long season, and although I usually get bummed by the end, this year, I see myself glad it’s over. It felt like a long 3-4 months, but that’s not why we’re here today. The 98th Academy Awards are, and must I say, this overly long season ended on a high note on all fronts. Largely in part to Conan O’Brien proving that he has mastered the art of hosting, this year’s Oscar ceremony made a lot of buzz and put an end to all of this season’s madness.

First and foremost, Conan makes a two-for-two case as an Oscar host. His humor works, and his personality shines. Everything from the gutbusting, hilarious cold open referencing Weapons and all of the Best Picture nominees to the numerous bits throughout, O’Brien came out firing on all cylinders. The two musical performances of “I Lied to You” from Sinners and “Golden” from Kpop Demon Hunters felt a bit underwhelming, more like tributes to their respective films than upfront live performances. That’s not a bad thing, but these performances did bear the weight of the other three Best Original Song nominees being omitted. It’s an unfortunate circumstance, but everyone involved made the most of it. 

Now, as for the results, there’s quite a bit to unpack! In my opinion, there weren’t many surprise wins, as most of the categories had expected wins. There were only a small handful of surprise wins that were had, most notably the tie for Best Live Action Short between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva. This was the seventh tie in Oscar history and the first since Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty tied for Best Sound Editing at the 2013 ceremony. As someone who usually skips the short film categories, I don’t have much input on this situation, other than that they may be worth checking out given the outcome. Another surprise came in the form of the inaugural Best Casting, as One Battle After Another beat Sinners. I do believe that Sinners had the better cast of the two, but this ultimately called game for Best Picture, even if we all saw One Battle After Another winning that category from a mile away. 

Sinners did, however, pull off a surprise win in Best Cinematography. Having walked into Oscar night empty-handed without any precursors, Sinners was expected to lose the former. Lo and behold, it won, cementing Autumn Durald Arkapaw as the first woman to win the category. Then, there’s Best Actor going to Michael B. Jordan! Although he won at SAG and it didn’t come as much of a surprise to some, it was the most anticipated category of the night as the narratives for both Jordan and Timothee Chalamet were absolutely for the books. Jordan’s only major win walking into Oscar night was SAG; it was an Oscar first, as it had never happened previously. As for Chalamet, there was the looming feeling that Marty Supreme’s awards season hype was ruined due to his ballet and opera comments. Now I could be wrong, and Academy voters may have felt Jordan had the stronger performance of the two, but that aspect was still imminent on Oscar night.  

Needless to say, this awards season has been a turbulent one and has been put to bed until next year. I will say that, amid all the chaos it brought, it made me realize how strong a year this was for movies. Time will be a key factor, but I guarantee that when we look back on the 2020s, two movies that’ll come to mind will be One Battle After Another and Sinners. They were the most talked-about in 2025, and their respective wins came to fruition deservedly. Now we’re left to ask: will there be any movies of their caliber this year? If you were to ask me now, my guess would be The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three solely due to how much hype is being bestowed upon them. In the meantime, let’s raise a toast to this awards season and anticipate the year to come in 2026!