Oscar Winners 2026

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Conan O’Brien once again did a very good job hosting the Oscars for the second year in a row. His opening act, dressed up like the evil Witch in “Weapons” being chased by children – that happened at the end of the movie was as funny and brilliant as any opening segment that Billy Crystal used to perform when he hosted the Oscars. O’Brien just might host next year’s show as well.

Both of the top two most nominated movies this year, One Battle After Another and Sinners, were more strange than good, with Sinners winning the a record number of nominations at sixteen, but only winning four Oscars, which makes sense, as Sinners degraded into a Zombie/Vampire movie.

Michael B Jordan won for best actor, which he deserved because I did not think that Timothée Chalamet’s performance was deserving enough for Best Actor this year, especially because of the humiliating scene that he did with Kevin O’Leary, which was made fun of by Conan O’Brien. Jordan has paid major dues as an actor, especially due to his impressive athletic performances in the three Creed movies.

This year, there was a tie for best Live Action Short Film. One of those Films is called: “Two People Exchanging Saliva” – which is hard to believe is even a movie title.

In the Memoriam segment, Eric Dane, Brigitte Bardot, and James Van Der Beek were all omitted, which is a major mistake on this year’s Oscar telecast.

As predicted, Jessie Buckley was the runaway favorite winner for Best Actress for “Hamnet”.

Diane Warren lost her sixteenth Oscar nomination in a row for best original song. This record is more cruel than idiotic.

“One Battle After Another” won six Oscars, including best picture and best supporting actor Sean Penn, who did not attend the ceremony. This was Penn’s third Oscar. Only eight actors have won three or more Oscars:

  • Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 Best Actor
  • Meryl Streep — 2 Best Actress + 1 Supporting
  • Ingrid Bergman — 2 Best Actress + 1 Supporting
  • Jack Nicholson — 2 Best Actor + 1 Supporting
  • Walter Brennan — 3 Supporting Actor
  • Frances McDormand — 3 Best Actress
  • Sean Penn — 2 Best Actor + 1 Supporting
  • Katherine Hepburn — 4 Best Actress


Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo, Sinners
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Directing
Chloe Zhao, Hamnet
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners, Ryan Coogler 

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson
Train Dreams

Best Casting
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sinners

Best Music (Original Song)
“Dear Me,” Diane Warren: Relentless
“Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
“I Lied to You,” Sinners
“Sweet Dreams of Joy,” Viva Verdi!
“Train Dreams,” Train Dreams

Best Music (Original Score)
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best Editing
F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Costume Design
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinner
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister

Best Cinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners

Best Sound
F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirât

Best Production Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best Animated Feature Film
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Animated Short Film
Butterfly
Forevergreen
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters

Best Live Action Short Film
Butcher’s Stain
A Friend of Dorothy
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
The Singers (Tie)
Two People Exchanging Saliva (Tie)

Best Documentary Feature Film
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect Neighbor

Best Documentary Short Film
All the Empty Rooms
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness

Best International Feature Film
The Secret Agent, Brazil
It Was Just an Accident, France
Sentimental Value, Norway
Sirât, Spain
The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia

Movie Review: Reminders of Him

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The new movie “Reminders of Him” is receiving low Rotten Tomatoes ratings from the critics of 59%. The reason is that this is a tearjerker-type movie that we have seen before, about a young woman, Kenna, who is driving a car while drunk and getting into an accident with her boyfriend, Scotty, and he dies from his injuries. Even though the accident was not specifically caused by her being drunk, she is sent to jail for seven years, then has a child in prison, and once released, the story begins about her life of squalor and wondering if she will ever see her child again. This story is based on the best-selling book Reminders of Him by Coleen Hoover.

The critics are mostly trashing this movie, mainly because it lacks an original, tragic, tear-jerker story idea, but they overlook the very good messages this story conveys. If you ever drink and drive and someone dies, you will go to jail. Driving is never something to take for granted. When you drive, your life is in your own hands and the hands of someone else who might make a tragic mistake. There are always two sides to a story, and in the case of this film, Scotty’s parents, played by Bradley Whitford and Lauren Graham, hate Kenna, played by Maika Monroe. This is because they do not know the full story of what happened the day their son was killed in a car accident when Kenna was driving.

The acting in this film is very good, including Tyriq Withers, who plays Ledger Ward, Scotty’s best friend, who becomes involved with Kenna and eventually helps Kenna to see her daughter again.

Once again, the critics missed the mark with their opinions of this solid story with a 59% rating. My rating is 80% and a strong recommendation to see this movie.

Movie Review: The Bride!

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The movie “The Bride of Frankenstein” was released in 1935, directed by James Whale, starring Boris Karloff as Frankenstein and Elsa Lanchester as the Bride. This new version, written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is much different from the original and has way too many “let’s be different, strange, and crazy” dialogue, action, and acting scenes, which is the unfortunate new direction for too many movies released in the last few years.

“The Bride!” stars Jessie Buckley as Ida, who will definitely win the Best Actress Oscar next week for “Hamnet” and is now in great demand due to her great performance. However, in my opinion, this was not a good role for a film scheduled to release right before you win an Oscar. While there are moments that require great acting ability in this film, the story is too insane, weird, disturbing, and in too many areas disgusting, making it surprising that anyone in this well-known cast agreed to act in this movie.

The Bride! also stars Christian Bale as Frank, Annette Bening as Dr. Euphronius, with Penélope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard (Maggie Gyllenhaal’s husband) as two police officers who are searching for Frank and Ida during the second half of this movie. Why these well-known actors read the script and agreed to act in this movie is a mystery. This is simply not a good movie.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal plays a 1930’s famous actor/singer, Ronnie Reed, who is a favorite of both Ida and Frank as they attend several movie musicals starring Reed, adding another dimension of weird and strange to this already crazy enough movie.

The low Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this movie of 60% are both understandable and correct. This was a hard 2-hour film to sit through, and looking at my watch was a big part of this experience. I agree with the mostly bad critical reviews and do not recommend this film. I hope that the weird and different new trend in movies eventually goes away and things get back to normal.