And host Conan O’Brien fired off at least a few memorable jokes at the expense of everyone from Donald Trump to Prince Andrew to \u2026 again, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet.<\/p>\n
In fact, the biggest surprise of the 98th Academy Awards seemed to be a general lack of surprises. The main head-to-head was between the two aforementioned flicks, which headlined a year of popular movies that felt almost impossibly original after years of franchise and sequel success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773655449_23_default.jpg\")
Host Conan O’Brien is backstage at the Oscars, dressed as the character Aunt Gladys from Weapons. (Richard Harbaugh\/The Academy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The night kicked off celebrating that fact. Marking his second straight hosting gig, O’Brien started the proceedings with an extended skit honouring a slate of movies that somehow captured both attention and dollars. Dressed as the makeup-slathered witch from horror film Weapons (a character who would later earn Amy Madigan a best supporting actress win, the first horror actress to win the category since 1969), he barrelled through the sets of Marty Supreme, Hamnet, F1, OBAA, KPop Demon Hunters, Sentimental Value and Sinners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And as the night wore on, he had a few more memorable jokes up his sleeve. There was one aimed at Trump adding his name to the Kennedy Center: \u201cWe’re coming to you live from the ‘Has a Small Penis Theatre,’\u201d O’Brien joked. “Let’s see him put his name in front of that!” <\/p>\n
There was also a jab at Prince Andrew. (“At least we arrest our pedophiles,” O’Brien facetiously quoted a British spokesperson as saying in response to the lack of nominations for English actors.)<\/p>\n
And along with quips regarding Chalamet’s controversial statements about the declining popularity<\/a> of ballet and opera, O’Brien poked fun at the digitization \u2014 and possible eventual death \u2014 of the entire Hollywood system.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Why are they all together enjoying themselves?” he mockingly quoted Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos as saying, referencing the business leader’s reported plan to do away<\/a> with theatrical exclusivity windows. “They should be home, alone, where I can monetize it!” <\/p>\n Then, a demoralizing skit featured several Jane Lynch-led YouTube ad breaks, forecasting the awards’ move to the platform in 2029<\/a>. And a section referencing both the rise of streamers and sludge content<\/a> featured O’Brien joking about “hostmaxxing the Oscars.”<\/p>\n Surprisingly smooth<\/p>\n But the rest of the night seemed to be a traditional celebration of film, featuring optimistic Hollywood moments once thought to be left firmly in the past. There were a few surprises that made it feel like a true Oscars night: One category saw a tie, in only the seventh time in the show’s history. Both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva took home the live-action short film award, an astounding result given that it requires an exact match in vote totals in the final round. <\/p>\n In another shorts category \u2014 this one for animated \u2014\u00a0Canadians Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski saw gold for their film The Girl Who Cried Pearls.<\/p>\n WATCH | Canadians were among the Oscars nominees: Elbows up! These are the Canadian Oscar nominees<\/p>\n Hoping to see Canadian films win big at the Oscars on Sunday? Here are the ones you should watch for.<\/p>\n Sinners’ Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first Black person to win best cinematography, while edging out the projected winner, OBAA’s Michael Bauman. <\/p>\n In her acceptance speech, Durald Arkapaw asked all the women to stand up and join in the honour.<\/p>\n Afterwards, she told the backstage press room, “A lot of little girls who look like me will sleep really well because they want to become cinematographers.”<\/p>\n Expected wins came in<\/p>\n Elsewhere, things proceeded in more or less an orderly fashion. An extended in memoriam section started off with a tearful honour for director Rob Reiner and finished with singer Barbra Streisand’s musical lament for actor Robert Redford. It also featured actress Rachel McAdams paying tribute to “comedic genius and scene stealer, our mighty wind and my fellow Canadian Catherine O’Hara.”\u00a0<\/p>\n And KPop Demon Hunters snagged its best song (Golden) and best animated feature awards \u2014 results that were so expected they felt nearly written in stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n “For those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took so long to see us in a movie like this,” Toronto director Maggie Kang said in her acceptance speech. “But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing.”<\/p>\n Frankenstein saw stellar success in the craft categories, earning wins for Canadians Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau for production design, and Toronto’s Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey for best makeup and hairstyling, alongside the U.K.’s Mike Hill. <\/p>\n James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash snagged its sole \u2014 and expected \u2014 Oscar for visual effects. And Jessie Buckley completed a stunning awards show sweep in taking home Hamnet’s only win, best actress.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other expected wins came despite bubbling theories that a blood-red wave would lift Sinners to a surprise sweep. Instead, OBAA continued its dominant showing in the top categories: Sean Penn earned his third career Oscar, this time for best supporting (Penn was not in attendance and, according to the New York Times, instead opted to head to Ukraine<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n And director Paul Thomas Anderson broke the Anderson curse. After being nominated \u2014 and losing \u2014 11 times at the Oscars, the filmmaker won every category for which he was nominated: director, adapted screenplay and best picture. The film also captured a trophy for editing, as well as one for the inaugural casting award.<\/p>\n Like every year, beloved films were shut out. Train Dreams, Bugonia, The Secret Agent and Marty Supreme notably went home empty-handed despite multiple nominations. Songwriter Diane Warren continued a near-supernatural streak of 17 best original song noms with no wins, giving her the dubious achievement of having lost more Oscars than anyone in history without a competitive win. <\/p>\n Surprisingly thin politics<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773626052_968_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773655451_138_default.jpg\")
From left, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong, winners of best animated feature for KPop Demon Hunters. (Razer Harrison\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773655451_664_default.jpg\")
The cast of One Battle After Another accept the best picture award on stage. (Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n