The 98th Academy Awards ceremony (best known as the Oscars) was held Sunday, March 15, 2025 in Hollywood, California at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The event was live-streamed online and broadcast on ABC. 

Conan O'Brien did a good job of the intro with his ode to the various nominated movies as the Aunt Gladys character from Weapons. His brand of comedy worked well this year, and I think better than his turn as host last year.

I appreciated that they brought back one of the best elements from last year, which was having actors and actresses introduce nominees for some categories. Each gave an introduction for a nomination that helps the audiences appreciate why they were nominated. The first example this year was for the very first Academy Award for Casting, with the nominees introduced by actors and actresses in the movies the nominees worked on. It was classy, and added to the proceedings. I hope they continue to do this.

A performance of "I Lied to You" onstage during the 98th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Photo by Wally Skalij ©A.M.P.A.S.

Longtime viewers of the Academy Awards telecast will know that finishing on time was a big problem. However, this year's ceremony was scheduled to go three hours and 45 minutes and my watch showed that the last credits rolled at 3:44. For years, people have lamented the lack of pacing in this show, and they've shown they can keep it on schedule and the pacing only felt rushed during the In Memoriam part. While they took extra time to honor Rob Reiner and Robert Redford, there were others that could have been afforded a little more attention (such as actor Robert Duvall and legendary poster artist Drew Struzan).

Overall, this Oscar ceremony was well-done and enjoyable to watch. It celebrated the movies of 2025 and highlighted the many contributions of those who make the movies possible.

For a complete list of the nominees, please see our article: 2026 Academy Award Nominations Announced

Academy Award Winners - By Category

The full list of winners appears below. Some of these movies are still playing in theaters, while some have already made it to home video, or both. Winning an Oscar, and even just being nominated usually causes some of them to make a return appearance, so head over to the Academy Award® Winners and Nominees page to see where and when they're playing!

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Madigan in Weapons

Best animated feature film of the year

• KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) - Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans, and Michelle L.M. Wong

Best animated short film

• The Girl Who Cried Pearls (National Film Board of Canada) - Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Achievement in costume design

• Frankenstein - Kate Hawley

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• Frankenstein - Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Achievement in casting

• One Battle After Another - Cassandra Kulukundis

Best live action short film (tie)

• The Singers (Netflix) - Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt
• Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker) - Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Sean Penn in One Battle After Another

Adapted screenplay

• One Battle After Another - Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay

• Sinners - Written by Ryan Coogler

Achievement in production design

• Frankenstein
  Production Design: Tamara Deverell
  Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

Achievement in visual effects

• Avatar: Fire and Ash - Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Best documentary short film

• All the Empty Rooms (Netflix) - Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best documentary feature film

• Mr. Nobody Against Putin (PINK)
  A PINK Production
  David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber, Alzbeta Karaskova

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• Sinners - Ludwig Goransson

Achievement in sound

• F1: The Movie - Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta

Achievement in film editing

• One Battle After Another - Andy Jurgensen

Achievement in cinematography

• Sinners - Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Best international feature film of the year

• Sentimental Value - Norway
  A Mer Film/Eye Eye Pictures Production

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters
  Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park

Achievement in directing

• One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Michael B. Jordan in Sinners

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Jessie Buckley in Hamnet

Best motion picture of the year

• One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
  A Ghoulardi Film Company Production
  Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

First Photo: Conan O'Brien hosts the 98th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Photo by Trae Patton ©A.M.P.A.S.

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