OSCARS: ‘One Battle After Another’ Wins Best Picture! PTA Wins Best Director! Michael B. Jordan Wins Best Actor!

The 98th Oscars was dominated by “One Battle After Another,” which won six categories, including Best Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson finally won his Best Director trophy. It’s taken over half a dozen masterful films and 30 years of filmmaking, but his time was finally now. Earlier in the evening, PTA won Best Adapted Screenplay.

Sean Penn earned his third Oscar for “One Battle After Another,” becoming only the fourth male actor in history to reach that milestone. True to form, he skipped the ceremony; presenter Kieran Culkin noted, “He couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to.”

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, won the first-ever Best Casting Oscar, also for “One Battle After Another.”

However, the big story of the evening: I had a sneaking suspicion that Michael B. Jordan was going to win Best Actor, and he did. Honest question: did anyone actually watch “Sinners” back in April 2025 and think, “Man, Michael B. Jordan absolutely deserves the Oscar for this performance”? If Chalamet hadn’t self-sabotaged his own campaign, it wouldn’t have even been a contest. Alas, congrats to Jordan — but seriously, who will remember this performance ten years from now?

Other “Sinners” victories included Ryan Coogler taking home Best Original Screenplay, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw winning Best Cinematography, making her the first woman in Oscar history to claim the award. The film set a record with 16 Oscar nominations and ultimately secured four wins.

Meanwhile, forty years after her first nomination, Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) took home 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.

More expectedly, Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for “Hamnet,” and “Sentimental Value” won Best International Feature.

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” took home Best Documentary, edging out frontrunner “The Perfect Neighbor.” Interestingly, four of the last five Oscar documentary winners have focused on Russia/Ukraine, with the sole exception, “No Other Land,” exploring Israel-Gaza. The category is clearly trending toward politically charged subjects.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” also slyly snuck in and won three Oscars: Makeup/Hair, Costume Design, and Production Design.

It was a weak year for animation—“Elio” somehow even landed a nomination. In the end, “Kpop Demon Hunters” won 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.

Best Picture

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Director

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)

Best Actor

MICHAEL B. JORDAN (SINNERS)

Best Actress

JESSIE BUCKLEY (HAMNET)

Best Supporting Actor

SEAN PENN (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)

Best Adapted Screenplay

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Original Screenplay

SINNERS

Best Supporting Actress

AMY MADIGAN (WEAPONS)

Best Animated Feature

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS

Best Animated Short

THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS

Best Costume Design

FRANKENSTEIN

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

FRANKENSTEIN

Best Casting

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Live Action Short

THE SINGERS and TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVAS

Best Production Design

FRANKENSTEIN

Best Visual Effects

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

Best Documentary Short

ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS

Best Documentary Feature

MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN

Best Original Score

SINNERS (LUDWIG GÖRANSSON)

Best Sound

F1

Best Film Editing

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Cinematography

AUTUMN DURALD ARKAPAW (SINNERS)

Best International Feature

SENTIMENTAL VALUE

Best Original Song

GOLDEN (KPOP DEMON HUNTERS)