The 2025 awards season mercifully comes to an end (in mid-March 2026!!!) with the 98th Academy Awards. The entire season has been almost robotic in its doting over the same tiny select handful of films. From small critics groups to major awards shows, it’s been the same few winners over and over again. That mostly remained the case with this year’s Oscars although the show did provide a few nice moments and a couple of welcomed semi-surprises.

But enough of the rambling/ranting. As I do every year, here are a few random thoughts on this year’s Academy Awards.

• The awards season darling “One Battle After Another” was the big winner and it was no surprise. While some outlets tried hard to manufacture some drama, the voter’s pet’s big night had been preordained. It’s not a good movie, but it checks the right boxes. And it has been the season’s Chosen One since it first screened. Sadly nothing else had a chance.
• Of course “One Battle After Another” wins Best Picture which was never in any serious doubt. It had won everything leading up to Oscar night which only shows how programmed these things have become. Even funnier, it’s the third subpar movie to win Best Picture in four years. Yikes.
• Staying with the obvious, Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director for “One Battle After Another”. It feels more like a lifetime achievement award rather a deserving directing win, but whatever.
• One thing the Academy got right was Michael B. Jordan winning Best Actor for “Sinners”. It’s an utter travesty that Daniel Day-Lewis and Joel Edgerton weren’t even nominated. But Jordan’s performance was right there with them. He was the best choice and the right choice.

• The Academy also nailed it by giving Jessie Buckley the Best Actress award. She had been winning big all season, but it was still great to hear her name called. She has been such a delight all season.
• To its shame, the Academy sent “Train Dreams” home NO Oscar wins. It was the very best film of the year and the idea of it going home empty-handed (especially considering some of the big winners) is beyond ridiculous yet not surprising.
• Not as shameful, Josh Safdie’s “Marty Surpreme” went home with nothing. While it never had much of a chance, its star Timothée Chalamet was once touted as the early Best Actor frontrunner. But that changed quick and now its off to promote the upcoming “Dune: Part Three”.
• Host Conan O’Brien kicked off the show with great “Weapons” themed opening sketch that was well produced and absolutely hilarious. It was the kind of opening that really kicked the show off with the bang. I’ve already watched it two more times on YouTube.
• Overall Conan’s monologue had some funny bits but it went on for way too long. Twenty minutes was too much, especially when they started cutting acceptance speeches short. C’mon Academy.
• So there was actually a tie at last night’s show. It came in the Live-Action Short Film category with the terrific “Singers” sharing the award with “Two People Exchanging Saliva”. It’s only the seventh time in Oscars history that a tie has happened.
• “One Battle After Another” also wins the first ever Oscar for Best Casting. I will give it credit for having a lights-out cast. It’s just too bad they didn’t have better material to work with. Most people thought this would go to “Sinners” and frankly it should have.
• One of the best wins of the night was in the Supporting Actress category. Amy Madigan takes home the trophy for her bonkers, terrifying, and hilarious performance in “Weapons”. It was unlike anything else we saw all year and deserving of all the awards.
• The exact opposite happened in the Supporting Actor category. Sean Penn gave one of the most absurd performances of the year in “One Battle After Another” and was given an Oscar for it – his third. Penn winning over Stellan Skarsgård is insanity and it blows the category’s credibility out of the water.
• Just to vent a bit more, Stellan Skarsgård gave one of very best performances of the year in any category. His stunning turn in “Sentimental Value” was another great addition to a career full of stellar work. Yet he has still never won an Oscar. That should have changed last night. Unfortunately Penn’s ludicrous over-the-top theatrics registered more with voters than the raw, authentic humanity that Skarsgård delivered. Go figure.
• Predictably “One Battle After Another” won for Best Adapted Screenplay despite being the messiest adapted screenplay out of the nominees. “Train Dreams” should have won, but (once again) nothing else stood a chance.
• Equally predictable, Best Original Screenplay went to “Sinners”. It’s a decent win although “Sentimental Value” was by far the best of the group. That said, Ryan Coogler’s acceptance speech was one of the best of the evening. Humble, grateful, and wonderfully grounded. I’m glad he won just for that!
• It was great to see “Sentimental Value” win Best International Feature. It was basically pushed aside in every other category, some of which it deserved to win. Thankfully it didn’t go home with nothing.
• Cheers to Ludwig Göransson who won his third Academy Award for Best Original Score. This year it was for his incredible work on “Sinners” and (once again) it was well deserved. He is a genius composer who never disappoints. He also gave a terrific acceptance. It won’t be his last.
• The In Memoriam segment offered a fitting tribute to the many great talents lost over the last year. I was a tough watch, especially when clips of Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Val Kilmer, and Robert Redford popped up. But couldn’t they have found room for James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Brigittte Bardot, and Robert Carradine? Seriously?
• Speaking of the In Memoriam segment. It was a really nice moment when various stars from Rob Reiner’s films appeared together on stage to honor the late filmmaker. Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton, Cary Elwes, Carol Kane, Kevin Pollack, Kathy Bates, and more were included.

• “Frankenstein” didn’t have a shot when it came to the “big” awards even though it deserved it. But it did well in other important categories, winning for Production Design, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling. It’s a great film and it deserved every win.
• “Avatar: Fire and Ash” deservedly won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. It’s a visually jaw-dropping film that should have been recognized in even more categories.
• Sadly the Best Cinematography winner was far from the best cinematography of the year. It went to “Sinners” which is a good looking movie. But no film was as brilliantly shot or used its cinematography as powerfully as “Train Dreams”.
• The Oscar for sound went to “F1” which was unquestionably the correct choice. “F1” was an extraordinary cinematic experience and the stunning in-theater sound was a big reason why.
• Best Editing went to “One Battle After Another” which was pretty comical considering the film could have desperately used several more trips to the editing room. But it’s hard to go against the trendy pick.

That’s enough rambling about the 2026 Academy Awards. What did you think of the show and this year’s winners? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, “Train Dreams” is streaming on Netflix. Go watch it and see how bad the Academy missed its mark. Till next year!