UPDATE: Sean Penn earned his third Oscar for “One Battle After Another,” making him only the fourth male actor in history to reach this milestone. True to form, he skipped the ceremony; “he couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to,' stated presenter Kieran Culkin
In fact, Penn did minimal campaigning, barely showed up at any awards shows, and when he did, smoked cigarettes at his table, during the Golden Globes ceremony. At one point, he threatened to melt his other two Oscars if the Academy didn’t let Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak, later gifting one of his statuettes to Zelenskyy. Still, a great performance is a great performance, and the Academy made the right choice.
Cassandra Kulukundis, who was responsible for putting Chase Infiniti in her first film role, wins the first-ever Best Casting Oscar for “One Battle After Another.” Surely one of a handful of statuettes PTA’s film will win tonight.
It was a weak year for animation—“Elio” somehow even landed a nomination. In the end, “Kpop Demon Hunters” wins the Oscar. It became a full-on cultural event… even if it was on Netflix, and that alone was more than enough for Academy voters. I didn’t care for the film, but many—too many—did.
Forty years after her first nomination, Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) takes the Supporting Actress prize. Well-deserved. That means 17 of the last 18 winners in this category at the SAG Awards have gone on to claim the Oscar—proof that the stats don’t lie when it comes to this category.
EARLIER: Alright, this is it — tonight’s the night.
Awards season will finally come to an end, and thank the cinematic heavens for that. With the Oscars occurring much later than usual this year, it’s time for the Academy to go back to a February broadcast. It’s been such a long season that a recent poll of Americans found that over 50% of respondents thought this year’s Oscars had already happened.
There are many tight races to keep an eye on tonight, including three of the four acting categories — only Jessie Buckley’s Oscar statuette seems to be a foregone conclusion. Best Picture and Best Director look to be two-way races between “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners”.
The ceremony hasn’t even begun yet, and we already have one iconic moment, and I doubt it will be topped. That said, will Sean Penn win his third Oscar? Is Michael B. Jordan actually going to triumph over Timothee Chalamet? Does a first directing Oscar finally await Paul Thomas Anderson?
I’ve opened this discussion thread, so rage on in the comments — the winners will be updated live as they’re announced. Below is the official order of award announcements for tonight’s 98th Academy Awards.
Supporting Actress
AMY MADIGAN (WEAPONS)
Animated Feature
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
Animated Short
THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS
Costume Design
FRANKENSTEIN
Makeup and Hair Styling
FRANKENSTEIN
Casting
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Live Action Short
THE SINGERS and TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVAS
Supporting Actor
SEAN PENN (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
Adapted Screenplay
Original Screenplay
Production Design
Visual Effects
Documentary Short
Documentary Feature
Original Score
Sound
Film Editing
Cinematography
International Feature
Original Song
Director
Actor
Actress
Picture