The 98th Academy Awards were on March 15, and if you paid attention to most award precursors, there were not many surprises in store. That doesn’t make the show worse or bad by any means, but it did make it seem a bit boring at times.
The biggest wins of the night were for “One Battle After Another,” winning six of its thirteen nominations, including best picture and best director. Probably one of the most long-awaited wins, as Paul Thomas Anderson had been nominated 14 times before winning an Oscar, and tonight he won three (director, screenplay and producing the best picture). “One Battle After Another” had been the favorite all awards season, and it did not change tonight.
“Sinners” still had a big night, however, with the second most Oscars won at four. The biggest of these is Michael B. Jordan for best actor. This whole category was up in the air the entire time before the name was called, as it was back and forth between Jordan and Timothee Chalamet.
“Sinners” also took home the best cinematography award, with Autumn Durald Arkapaw becoming the first woman ever to win the award.
Another noteworthy thing about these Oscars is that both films were from the same studio, Warner Bros. It is almost the exact inverse of last year’s Oscars, which indie studios Neon and A24 dominated. This year, it was one big Hollywood studio and Netflix that won the majority of the big awards.
I think the best thing about the last two years of the Oscars is the very welcome addition of Conan O’Brien. While not every bit of the comedy that they do works, it is so nice to have an awards host who seems to have a passion for the awards he is hosting.
It makes the show a lot better to have fewer jokes against the movies and more about the movies themselves. The host can make or break the entire event, and for two years straight, O’Brien has made this the best event of the year.
