PTA Dues
Sinners, one battle after another, a Frankenstein’s monster wreaking havoc … we’ll get to the Trump administration news soon enough. But let’s start with the Oscars. I have a feeling this will go down as one of the more forgettable Oscar nights. That could be because in today’s nonstop stream of massive, anxiety-inducing news, it’s impossible to remember anything for more than a few minutes. Or maybe it’s just because TV is so dominant now that many of us were just waiting for the Oscars to end so we could get back to our regularly scheduled binge. One person who definitely put in his time waiting was Paul Thomas Anderson, who finally ended his 0-11 streak and took home three trophies for One Battle After Another. PTA was joined in his big night by several winners from Sinners, including Autumn Durald Arkapaw, making Oscar history as the first woman to win Best Cinematography, and Michael B Jordan’s crowd-pleasing win for Best Actor. From The Wire to Friday Night Lights to Sinners, Jordan has had a career of nonstop highlights. So he definitely deserved an In-N-Out break. Sean Penn won his third Oscar, but skipped the ceremony. He was hanging with Zelensky in Ukraine. Sinners and One Battle divvied up the night’s biggest wins during an event when there really were no losers. Except maybe Marty Supreme, which, perhaps suffering from Timothée Chalamet’s ping pong diplomacy, left the night empty-handed. Here’s a list of all the winners.
+ Between Sinners and Battle, Warner Bros was the dominant studio, winning a record 11 Oscars. But will this mark the end of an era as David and Larry Ellison’s Paramount moves toward closing the deal to acquire the studio? It’s hard to imagine the new leadership (that includes a growing list of former MeToo castoffs) is going to dig movies with the cultural and political messages of Warner Bros 2026 winners. It’s easier to imagine Warner’s creative output looking like a juke joint after a visit from a band of vampires.
+ Related: Kimmel won the Oscars with the line of the night. “There are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which, let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
+ Here’s Conan’s opening monologue, Billy Crystal’s tribute to Rob Reiner, and some of the evening’s viral moments,
+ While the best movies of the year divided up the top awards, the worst movie of the year enjoyed a more unanimous win. ‘War of the Worlds’ remake sinks to the bottom at this year’s Razzie Awards.
