I know I recently spent nearly two months writing about the movies of 2025, but please indulge me for one more week of film talk.

Unlike most years, which see forgettable movies dumped in the first quarter, 2026 has started off with a bang. I wanted to write a bit about the best start to a movie year in recent memory and throw out some other odds and ends while I’m at it.

I’ll start with a look back at a truly great Oscars ceremony (not the show itself, which was decent, but the results).

I’m used to watching the Oscars reward movies I like but don’t love. The Academy’s taste has always been a bit on the conservative side, and my memories are filled with horrors such as Gandhi beating E.T. and Dances with Wolves beating Goodfellas.

That seems to be changing, though. In recent years, the edgy, non-traditional Anora and Parasite have won Best Picture and the Academy has increasingly embraced previously untouchable genres like sci-fi and horror.

This year, I got to watch Paul Thomas Anderson — one of my very favorite filmmakers — bring home an armload of trophies for One Battle After Another, my #1 film of the year. That was a blast. In addition to Anderson’s writing and directing wins, The film took home Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sean Penn), Best Casting, and Best Editing. That last one was particularly well-deserved, as this two hour and 45 minutes movie feels like it’s an hour and a half.

I was also thrilled to see Sinners, my second-favorite movie of 2025, honored with a Best Original Screenplay award for writer/director Ryan Coogler, the first-ever Best Cinematography award for a woman (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), a Best Actor trophy for Michael B. Jordan, and Ludwig Göransson’s third Oscar for Best Score. A nicely representative haul for a masterfully crafted, thoroughly entertaining film.

I wasn’t the world’s biggest Hamnet fan, but I’m one of the world’s biggest Jessie Buckley fans, so seeing her anointed as Best Actress was a delight. And how cool is it that 75-year-old Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her devilishly fun turn as Aunt Gladys in Weapons?

One of my biggest surprises of last year, KPop Demon Hunters, took home two awards — Best Animated Film and Best Song — and Avatar: Fire and Ash picked up the third Best Visual Effects Oscar for that deserving franchise.

Not every single award went my way — I would have preferred The Secret Agent over Sentimental Value for Best International Film — but all in all this was the most satisfying Oscars in years.