Category: Entertainment

Autumn Durald Arkapaw made Oscars history as the first woman to win the award for best cinematography at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Arkapaw was awarded the prize for best cinematography for her work on Sinners. Arkapaw is only the fourth woman to be nominated in the category, and she is also the first woman of color to be nominated. Now she is the first woman to win the award in the academy’s 98-year history.

The other nominees in the category were Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams, Michael Bauman for One Battle After Another, Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein and Darius Khondji for Marty Supreme.

After taking the stage to accept her prize, Arkapaw asked all of the women in the room to stand up.

“I feel like I don’t get here without you guys,” Arkapaw said. “I really, really, truly mean that.”

The three other women who have been nominated in the category are Rachel Morrison for the 2018 film Mudbound, Ari Wegner for the 2021 movie The Power of the Dog and Mandy Walker for 2022’s Elvis.

Arkapaw also thanked Sinners director Ryan Coogler.

“Thank you for believing in me and thank you for trusting me, and that’s the kind of guy I get to make films with,” Arkapaw said.

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The Oscars paid tribute to the late Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Sunday, with Reiner’s good friend Billy Crystal on hand to salute the actor/director.

Crystal noted he first met Rob Reiner in 1975 when he played his best friend in All in the Family. Said Crystal, “It went so well, Rob said, ‘You know, it was fun playing your best friend, why don’t we keep it going.'”

“It was a thrill to see him evolve from a great comic actor to a master storyteller,” said Crystal, before going through the movies Rob Reiner made, including This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and Crystal’s own film When Harry Met Sally, plus more serious films like Misery and A Few Good Men.

“My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry, and what we aspire to be,” said Crystal. “Far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier and far more human.”

Crystal then mentioned Rob Reiner’s wife, noting that after Michele Reiner entered his life they were “unstoppable.”

“Their loss is immeasurable,” said Crystal.

“To the millions who have enjoyed his films all these years, I want you to know, here and around the world, how many times Rob told me that it meant everything to him that his work meant something to you,” Crystal concluded. “And for us, who had the privilege of working with and knowing him and loving him, all we can say is, buddy, what fun we had storming the castle,” a reference to The Princess Bride.

The curtain then opened to reveal cast members from some of Rob Reiner’s films, including Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Wil Wheaton and Jerry O’Connell.

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Paul Thomas Anderson has gone from Oscar nominee to Academy Award winner, as his film One Battle After Another won best adapted screenplay at the 2026 Oscars.

“I owe a huge debt of adoration and love to Thomas Pynchon,” he began his speech, paying tribute to the novelist behind the 1990 novel Vineland, which loosely inspired One Battle After Another.

“Any writer knows that … your special thanks is really to your family and the people that you share a roof with that put up with what it means to live with a writer,” Anderson said. “I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them, but also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”

The award marks PTA’s first Oscar. Also securing his first Academy Award was Ryan Coogler, whose movie Sinners won best original screenplay.

During his speech, Coogler thanked the academy for recognizing the film and his fellow nominees for “the gifts that your movies were and for y’all friendship over the past couple years and months.” He expressed gratitude to Warner Bros., the cast and crew of Sinners, his parents, producer Sev Ohanian and his partner, Zinzi Coogler, whom he called “the best mom and wife in the world.”

“Every day I get to spend with you is better than the one that came before it,” he said to Zinzi. He then shared a message to his children. “I apologize for all the time away. Dad loves you. Memories are all we have. I hope I give you some great ones,” he said. “When y’all blessed to live a long life, and dad becomes just a memory, I want y’all to remember this one thing: I love y’all more than anything.”

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Sean Penn won best supporting actor at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night for his role as Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another.

This was Penn’s sixth Oscar nomination and his third win. He was nominated alongside Benicio Del Toro, Jacob Elordi, Delroy Lindo and Stellan Skarsgård.

Last year’s winner, Kieran Culkin, took to the stage to announce this year’s best supporting actor nominees. Culkin won the award in 2025 for his performance in A Real Pain. Penn did not attend the ceremony, so Culkin accepted the award for him.

“Sean Penn couldn’t be here, or didn’t want to, so I accept this award on his behalf,” Culkin said.

Penn was previously nominated for his roles in Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown and I Am Sam. He won his first Oscar for Mystic River in 2004, before winning again in 2009 for Milk.

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The first-ever Oscar for achievement in casting was handed out Sunday, with Cassandra Kulukundis winning for her work on One Battle After Another.

Kulukundis thanked the academy for adding the category and the “casting directors that fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way.”

She also dedicated the award to “casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn’t even get a chance to get their name on the movie.”

Addressing the film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kulukundis noted that they’ve worked together on 10 movies in the span of more than 30 years. She added, “I have one before you, which is also crazy. … I hope you get one tonight.”

The achievement in casting category is the first new competitive award at the Oscars in 24 years.

Each nominee in the category was introduced by a member of the film’s cast: Paul Mescal for Nina Gold (Hamnet), Gwyneth Paltrow for Jennifer Venditti (Marty Supreme), Wagner Moura for Gabriel Domingues (The Secret Agent), Delroy Lindo for Francine Maisler (Sinners) and Chase Infiniti for Kulukundis (One Battle After Another).

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KPop Demon Hunters has taken home the gold at the 2026 Academy Awards, picking up the award for best animated feature film.

It beat out fellow nominees Arco, Elio, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Zootopia 2.

Directors Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle Wong took the stage to accept the Oscar, with Kang dedicating the award to Koreans everywhere. “For those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this,” she said. “This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.”

Wong thanked their partners at Netflix, Sony Pictures Animations and Sony Pictures Music, as well as their spouses; she ended with a special shoutout to her mother.

Appelhans sent encouraging words to young filmmakers, artists and musicians around the world. “Tell your story. Sing in your voice,” he said. “I promise you the world is waiting.”

KPop Demon Hunters 2 is officially in development at Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation, with Kang and Appelhans coming back to direct.

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Amy Madigan won best supporting actress at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

This was her second Oscar nomination and first win. Madigan was awarded the prize for her performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons. She was nominated alongside Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Wunmi Mosaku and Teyana Taylor.

Last year’s winner, Zoe Saldaña, took to the stage to announce this year’s best supporting actress nominees. Saldaña won the award in 2025 for her performance in Emilia Pérez.

Madigan made history with her nomination for Weapons. It came a record-setting 40 years after she was first nominated for best supporting actress for her performance in the 1985 film Twice in a Lifetime. Her win for Weapons has now set a record for the longest gap between nominations before a win.

While onstage, Madigan shouted out her fellow nominees in her category, saying that everyone has been so welcoming to her across the entirety of awards season. She also made the crowd laugh as she talked about how she created her acceptance speech.

“I was in the shower last night trying to think of something to say as I was shaving my legs,” Madigan said, before looking down at her outfit. “I have pants on, I don’t have to worry about that.”

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The 98th annual Academy Awards went down in Hollywood Sunday, with host Conan O’Brien kicking things off with a taped segment set to Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” which had him made up to look like Amy Madigan’s character in Weapons and dropping into Oscar-nominated films.

He opened his monologue by saying he was honored to be the “last human host of the Academy Awards,” before joking, “Last year when I hosted Los Angeles was on fire, but this year everything’s going great.”

Noting that security was tighter at the Oscars this year, he joked it was because of concerns over “attacks from both the opera and ballet communities,” a reference to Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments, adding “they’re just mad you left out jazz.”

There were also cracks about the Oscars getting political, joking there’s an alternate Oscars hosted by Kid Rock at Dave & Buster’s, as well as jokes about it being Netflix’s Ted Sarandos’ first time in a theater and several about the nominated films, including Hamnet and Bugonia sounding “like off-brand lunch meat.”

But it wasn’t all jokes, with Conan then getting serious about why the Oscars are important.

“Everyone watching around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times,” he said. “It’s at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant.”

“Every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages, working hard to make something of beauty,” he added. “We pay tribute tonight, not to just film but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today, optimism.”

Finally he noted, “So let us celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better in the days ahead.”

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Production has started on the fifth and final season of Mayor of Kingstown.

Paramount+ announced that cameras have started rolling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the hit drama series, which stars Jeremy Renner and Edie Falco.

Also returning for the final season are Laura Benanti, Hugh Dillon, Taylor Handley, Tobi Bamtefa, Derek Webster, Necar Zadegan, Nichole Galicia and Lennie James.

Joining the show for the fifth season is David Morse, who will play Russell Hardy, a seasoned FBI agent sent to Kingstown.

“In the wake of Tracy’s murder and the vengeance visited upon Callahan by Mike (Renner) and Kyle (Handley), FBI agent Russell Hardy (Morse) arrives in Kingstown searching for the ‘fugitive’ Callahan. A true lawman, Agent Hardy threatens to unearth all of Mike’s sins and secrets, and disrupt Kingstown’s tenuous balance of power,” according to the official season 5 synopsis.

This final season will consist of eight episodes. Taylor Sheridan co-created Mayor of Kingstown with Dillon. Dave Erickson serves as its showrunner.

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The 98th Academy Awards will be held Sunday, where the best movies from the past year will be honored and celebrated.

Comedian Conan O’Brien will host the ceremony for the second time. At the 98th Oscars Creative Team press conference, the ceremony’s executive producer and showrunner, Raj Kapoor, said this year’s Oscars theme is humanity.

“Everything that you see in the show is inspired by human touch and creativity,” Kapoor said. “We’ve completely redesigned what the stage looks like. It’s very immersive. We hope all our nominees are celebrated in a very big way. We have beautiful photos and clips and nomination packages that a lot of time and thought and care has been put into.”

As for specific teases and surprises that will happen during the show, Kapoor confirmed a rumored reunion happening onstage.

“We are very excited to announce that we have a Bridesmaids reunion that is going to be very special,” Kapoor said.

Executive producer Katy Mullan teased two other surprises.

“There’s also going to be a Marvel reunion for the superhero fans. So we’re gonna have superstars, superheroes and there is also gonna be an extraterrestrial on the stage, so you can figure that one out,” Mullan said.

The Oscars will take place on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.

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