The Oscars were televised last night.
I’d bet you didn’t watch the awards ceremony. Nobody watched it.
The Oscars have been in a state of precipitous decline for decades. In part, that’s because nobody has seen the movies that are competing for the Academy Awards. But it&#8217;s also because the ceremony has become a left-wing agitprop fest.
Last night was no exception. The big winner was &#8220;One Battle After Another,&#8221; a truly egregious and terrible film about the virtues of domestic terrorism against a white supremacist infrastructure.
The other big winner was &#8220;Sinners,&#8221; a Critical Race Theory remake of &#8220;From Dusk Till Dawn,&#8221; the Quentin Tarantino vampire movie.
Conan O&#8217;Brien, formerly a funny human, told a bunch of stale jokes about how much Republicans suck, saying, “I should warn you, tonight could get political. Okay. And if that makes you uncomfortable, there&#8217;s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock. It&#8217;s at the Dave &amp; Busters down the street. A lot of tickets for that.”
Hollywood loves Hollywood: All those people who don&#8217;t agree with their politics? The only thing they&#8217;ve got is Kid Rock and Dave &amp; Busters and all the rest.
There&#8217;s a reason their ratings are in precipitous decline.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2388-did-the-cia-spy-on-tucker-carlson?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
All in all, it was a totally forgettable evening, but at least most of the Oscar winners stayed out of politics, to the disappointment of at least one author in the New York Times, Daniel Kehlmann. Kehlmann is the author of a book called &#8220;The Director,&#8221; a really, really good book, but also the author of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/opinion/oscar-winners-political-speeches.html">pretty terrible column</a> on the necessity for actors to say things.
Kehlmann wrote before the ceremony, “Hollywood’s great actors and directors are not merely well known; they are famous figures everywhere, even in dictatorships now closed to the world, such as Russia and North Korea. On Oscar night not only will the eyes of the American public be fixed on them; so will the ears of the entire planet, listening for the answer to the question: Your country is being turned into a dictatorship, people are being arrested and shot in the streets, your mad king is trampling your venerable Constitution underfoot — what do you have to say about it?”
Yes, according to Daniel Kehlmann, we need to hear from our greatest artists (actors!) about their geopolitical analysis. His book is about a director named G.W. Pabst, who was a little-known director from the 1920s and 30s who returned to Nazi Germany from the United States in order to be allowed artistic resources by the regime. The book is about art&#8217;s surrender to tyranny. In the book, Pabst is fully complicit with a genocidal Nazi regime. He even takes advantage of concentration camp victims as extras.
To equate America in 2026 with Nazi Germany is, of course, an act of extreme moral blindness. Unfortunately, that seems par for the course in much of the artistic community.
That&#8217;s why actress Charithra Chandran, whom I&#8217;d never heard of, wore a pin for the anti-Israel ceasefire in Gaza, where Hamas is currently murdering opponents in the streets, but not a single actor or actress anywhere on the Oscar red carpet said anything about the slaughter of 32,000 Iranians by the regime.
The only truly overtly political moment from any winner came from Paul Thomas Anderson, who 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.”
Paul Thomas Anderson was not saying sorry to his kids. He was saying, “Look at my virtue signaling while I earn millions of dollars for films that lose $100 million at the box office.”
But at least he’ll sleep better at night with his gold statuette and $10,000 swag bag from the Academy.

TOPSHOT-US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-AWARD-OSCARS-SHOW

The Oscars Nobody Watched: Hollywood Congratulates Itself Again

Academy Awards

Acting

Ben Shapiro

Entertainment

Hollywood

Movies

Opinion

Oscars

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
“No to war, and free Palestine,” declared actor <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/us/news/oscar-winning-actor-javier-bardem-voices-the-no-to-war-free-palestine-message-while-presenting-the-best-international-feature-award-at-the-2026-academy-awards/articleshow/129601339.cms?from=mdr">Javier Bardem</a>, teeing up the award for Best International Feature at the 98th Academy Awards while wearing two <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PJFnQYur2Q">political pins</a> you could see from outer space. He didn’t need to read the room. The audience exploded into cheers and applause, kind of like the equivalent to a parent responding when a toddler proudly declares he has just used the potty. Way to go, buddy.
The ceremony will always be <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/13/oscars-tightrope-poll-hollywood-influence-00827186">political</a>, yet, after watching all six million hours of the Oscars broadcast (red carpet pre-show to Vanity Fair afterparty), I feel a little dirty. 
At first, I was all in on host Conan O’Brien’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjvnclCos_0">cold open</a> where he dressed as <a href="https://ew.com/weapons-aunt-gladys-amy-madigan-wins-first-oscar-40-years-after-first-nomination-oscars-2026-11925259">Amy Madigan</a>’s Best Supporting Actress-winning character from “Weapons” in a bit set to the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” I love the Beastie Boys and crazy wigs. And I think Conan is genuinely funny. Less than two minutes into his monologue, he announced, “I should warn you, tonight could get political.” As if future trophy winners needed anyone waving them in for a soft landing.
Referencing the Super Bowl halftime show sponsored by <a href="https://www.americanhalftimeshow.com/">Turning Point USA</a>, Conan added, “If that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock. It’s at the Dave &amp; Buster’s down the street.” 
I want to say this ceremony went light on politics, overall, but maybe that’s like going “light” on pancake syrup and not stopping until the plate, table, and floor are fully submerged in Aunt Jemima. (Sorry, I mean <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966166648/aunt-jemima-no-more-pancake-brand-renamed-pearl-milling-company#:~:text=The%20rebranding%20is%20due%20to%20the%20following,*%20Cream%20of%20Wheat%20*%20Mrs.%20Butterworth's">Pearl Milling Company</a>, whoever she is.) On top of myriad <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-oscars-stars-pin-their-hopes-on-free-palestine-and-ice-out/">”ICE OUT,” ceasefire</a>, and “BE GOOD” pins adorning lapels and décolletage, author and &#8220;queer&#8221; activist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/glennondoyle/">Glennon Doyle</a> leveled up with a glittery “<a href="https://wwd.com/pop-culture/celebrity-news/oscars-2026-political-statements-1238677088/">F*ck Ice</a>” clutch. If I hadn’t just moved from my apartment on Hollywood Boulevard, I could have danced in the glow of the skyscraper-sized “<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/oscars-2026-all-the-political-moments/a-76374704">ICE OUT of L.A.</a>” projection on the Loews hotel during the event.
Most stars fell in line, even if they accidentally gave up the fact that they were beholden to optics. Sporting an Artists for Ceasefire pin for Gaza, “<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/lifestyle/bridgerton-star-charithra-chandran-debuts-at-oscars-2026-in-a-green-strapless-gown-11220718">Bridgerton</a>” star <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hollywoodreporter/video/7617591414305705230">Charithra Chandran</a> seemingly nailed the text from her manager, word for word. “I think that I am so blessed to have a platform and this is the least I can do to use it,” Chandran said on the red carpet. 
Inside the Dolby Theatre, insulated from real life by the thick velvet curtains covering Sephora ads normally seen along the staircase into the theater, titans of the entertainment industry freely relaxed in the collective hot tub of A-list groupthink. This is the exact thing crushing the very art they allegedly gather to celebrate. 
Best Adapted Screenplay winner for “One Battle After Another” writer <a href="https://youtu.be/ymG9WHPpt5o?t=75">Paul Thomas Anderson</a> said, “I wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world,” encouraging the youngest generation to usher in “common sense and decency.” 
<a href="https://youtu.be/Re3C5H7Py-A?t=128">Joachim Trier</a>, winning director of Best International Feature “Sentimental Value,” took the stage to thank the people who worked on his film as well as his family. It was all going great until he took on the weight of representing everyone else in his category, and the world, paraphrasing American writer James Baldwin by adding, “Remember that all adults are responsible for all children, and let’s not vote for [politicians] who don’t take this seriously into account.”
Remembering his friend, the late legendary director Rob Reiner, actor Billy Crystal gave space to Reiner’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rob-reiner-spinal-tap-60-minutes/#:~:text=It's%20been%20more%20than%2040,t%20scared%2C%22%20Reiner%20said.">decades-long career</a>, capping it off with his crowning achievement: fighting social injustice with his late wife. “Rob and Michelle Reiner became the driving force in the landmark decision for marriage equality across the United States,” Crystal said, turning the rainbow flag <a href="https://youtu.be/uMSV4OteqBE?t=83">up to 11</a>. Sure, the Reiners <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/12/rob-reiner-political-legacy/">donated their wealth</a> to influence California and national politics. But I refuse to remember that more than Reiner’s devastatingly brilliant directorial turns in “<a href="https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/rob-reiner-movies-ranked/">This Is Spinal Tap</a>,” “The Princess Bride,” and “Stand By Me.” Especially as his final Academy bow.
He wasn’t hosting this year, but Jimmy Kimmel still took a few swipes while introducing the awards for best documentaries. He made a crack at free speech in the U.S. and slammed first lady Melania Trump’s self-titled documentary, which wasn’t nominated, saying, “There are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes.”
Statistics on gun violence made the cut during speeches for Best Documentary Short winner “<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/oscars-2026-grieving-mother-shares-021638624.html">All the Empty Rooms</a>.” I wondered if they were even true. By that point in the show, I was too tired to ask ChatGPT or laugh at anyone’s belabored jokes. For one night, could we not obsess over the major issues of the day and just have a little fun? I don’t want to know — in fact, I would pay the price of an actual movie ticket not to know — what celebrities think about politics.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Watch How Hollywood Turned The Oscars Into A Political Therapy Session

Politics

Upstream

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
At the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, some of America’s richest and most beautiful people decided to inform their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-oscars-audience-today-reveals-something-about-americas-divide">shrinking audience</a> that they are exceedingly oppressed. They’re oppressed because the United States never recognizes Korean cinema, they’re oppressed because no one can ever speak their mind in this fascistic Trump regime, and they’re oppressed because every day, we draw closer to a dictatorship like that of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Right.
Kicking off the delusional evening, the co-director for the award-winning short film &#8220;Two People Exchanging Saliva” thanked the Academy &#8220;for supporting a film that is weird and that is queer and that is made by a majority of women!&#8221; This makes sense because Hollywood famously hates things that are weird and “queer” and involve women.
When “KPop Demon Hunters” rightly won multiple awards, including one for best animated feature — yes, I said rightly, go check it out on Netflix! — creator Maggie Kang used her acceptance speech to apologize “to Koreans everywhere.” Never mind that the Korean film “Parasite” won best picture in 2020 and that K-pop artists such as BTS and BLACKPINK have rabid followings here in America.
Kang must be stuck in 2015, when the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag was trending. Now, we have Academy-mandated <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oscars-announce-new-inclusion-standards-for-best-picture-revolving-around-underrepresented-groups">diversity quotas</a>. But that didn&#8217;t stop Kang from shooting her shot at the oppression Olympics. “I am so sorry that it took so long to see us in a movie like this, but it is here. And that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing,” she said.
For her role in “Hamnet,” Jessie Buckley just became the first Irish woman to win Best Actress, and she didn’t say a thing.
Not to be outdone, Jimmy Kimmel, who was only at the Oscars to present awards for documentaries, decided to make the night about him. This can be hard to do as a straight white male in the current climate, but he found a way. 
“We hear a lot about courage at shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage,” he said. “As you know, 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.”
Kimmel is still upset that he claimed on air that Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a deranged right-winger, and the world noticed his lie. His jab at CBS appears to be a shot at the Left’s new favorite punching bag, Bari Weiss. CBS wasn’t biased before, of course, but now that it’s run by a conservative-adjacent figure, it is rife with scandal! In North Korea, “antistate” agitators <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/north-korea">face</a> imprisonment and extrajudicial killings. In the U.S., they face the praise of liberal media. See if you can spot the difference. 
None of this can top the grandstanding by some guy named David Borenstein, a documentary filmmaker who apparently has spent a lot of time in China and recently set his sights on the Russian regime with &#8220;Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which won best documentary feature. During his acceptance speech, Borenstein said the film is about &#8220;how you lose your country.&#8221; This happens &#8220;when we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don&#8217;t say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we produce it and consume it,&#8221; he said.
Not exactly a subtle reference to current left-leaning talking points about the United States. Incredibly, as Kyle Smith <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/trump-was-everywhere-on-oscar-night-60c1d536?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_1">pointed out</a> in the Wall Street Journal, Borenstein’s talking points got even worse after the show.
“One interesting thing about working with a team of Russians throughout this process has been my desire, as an American, to constantly compare the situation in America to Russia … a lot of my Russian colleagues and friends always said, ‘No, it’s not the same situation. It’s actually happening quicker in America than it’s been happening in Russia. Trump was moving a lot quicker than Putin in his early years,’” he said. “So that’s kind of all I have to say to that.”
In the oppressive landscape of 21st-century America — that is, the part of the century that does not include the Clinton, Obama, or Biden years — our entertainment industry wants us to know how brave it is. While sporting glittering designer gowns, barely-there ceasefire pins, and more botox than a human face should be able to hold, celebrities would have us believe that their resistance is akin to those fighting against dictatorships in North Korea and Russia. They’re stuck in a world where non-white actors are discriminated against rather than given job opportunities through heavy-handed quotas.
In reality, the rest of us just like to watch their movies — and even that often isn’t true anymore. Perhaps worse than the lectures about ending wars and resisting the president is the implication that the celebrities who were celebrated on Hollywood’s biggest night have somehow been discriminated against. Spare us your sob story, please, and invest that energy into making better movies.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-AWARD-OSCARS-SHOW

Hollywood’s Richest Stars Spent Oscars Night Claiming They’re Oppressed

Celebrities

“Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley, who just won the Academy Award for Best Actress on Sunday night, is being praised for her pro-family, pro-baby acceptance speech that stands in stark contrast to previous winners who celebrated abortion from the podium. 
Buckley, 36, became visibly emotional when her name was announced during Hollywood’s biggest night. She began her speech by thanking the cast and crew, but then drew the most attention by directing it toward her family. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jessie Buckley Wins Best Actress | 98th Oscars Speech (2026)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tI12K8G1U2c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“My family, my Irish family, they’re all here,” she said. “Mom, Dad, thank you for teaching us to dream and to never be defined by expectation and to carve from your own passion.”
Buckley next turned her attention to her husband of three years. “You, Fred, I love you, man. I love you; you’re the most incredible dad. You’re my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you, I do. I do!” she said.
The mom of one then addressed her baby daughter. “And Isla, my little girl who is eight months, who has absolutely no idea what’s going on and is probably dreaming of milk, but this is kind of a big deal, and I love you, and I love being your mom, and I can’t wait to discover life beside you,” she went on. 
“It’s Mother’s Day in the U.K. today, so I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role. This is the greatest honor. I can’t even believe it.”
Buckley was the first Irish woman to win a Best Actress award, but chose to skip blathering about representation and instead focus on her loved ones.
Reactions on social media were overwhelmingly positive.
“Imagine if every Hollywood actor showed this level of humility and poured this kind of love onto their kids instead of giving us preachy lectures. Hollywood would still have fans,” one commenter <a href="https://x.com/kangminlee/status/2033384463489466865?s=43">wrote</a>.
“This is the greatest expression of love between two healthy people,” conservative pundit Bethany Mandel <a href="https://x.com/bethanyshondark/status/2033468952936866079?s=43">said</a> of the “want to have 20,000 more babies with you” line. 
“Beautiful,” pro-life activist Lila Rose agreed. “Marriage isn’t a trap. Babies aren’t burdens. Motherhood is a gift.”
Buckley’s testament to family following her win stands in stark contrast to Michelle Williams’ infamous acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in 2020, when she said, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have been able to do this without employing a woman&#8217;s right to choose.”

Jessie Buckley

Best Actress Winner Praised For Pro-Family Message At Oscars

family

Motherhood

World

98th Oscars Governors Ball Preview

LIVE UPDATES: Watch The Oscars With Us

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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I have a confession to make: Even as a certified conservative, I miss loving the Oscars. I miss the anticipation of those Sunday nights. I miss the domestic clatter of it — the clanging of dishes in the kitchen, the gathering of popcorn, the descent into the basement to park myself before the glow of the television. I miss the shared post-mortem with my mother, dissecting hemlines and styling choices, simply admiring the objective beauty of the spectacle.
Mostly, I miss loving what it celebrated: actors working at the top of their craft, called into a vocation with a unique sway over the human heart. Men and women tasked with reminding us of the dignity of the human experience — making us, especially as children, yearn for experiences we’d not yet had, feelings we’d had no occasion to feel. Actors reminding us that beauty exists, pointing us to its source, and ultimately helping people make meaning of their own stories within the ultimate one.
The Hollywood class still believes the Oscars matter to the public in this way. They are sadly mistaken. The country stopped tuning in years ago.
In 1998, when the ceremony was still a shared national ritual and &#8220;Titanic&#8221; swept the board, 57 million of us watched. Through the early 2000s, broadcasts often drew over 40 million viewers; even into the 2010s, over 30 million was common. By 2021, however, the ceremony had hit an all-time low of 10.4 million. Despite a modest rebound lately to roughly 19-20 million, the audience remains a ghost of its former self. Hollywood’s “national event” now resonates almost exclusively within Hollywood.
The box office tells the same story. Many of this year’s nominees barely register as movies you’d actually go see on a Saturday night. Among the 2026 Best Picture contenders, a few grossed modestly well: &#8220;F1,&#8221; &#8220;Sinners,&#8221; and &#8220;One Battle After Another.&#8221; Most others were tiny in comparison: &#8220;Bugonia&#8221; has grossed around $40 million and &#8220;Sentimental Value&#8221; $22 million worldwide. Several played only at festivals or in limited art-house runs. These movies, praised in niche circles, were largely invisible to the rest of the country.
Even when the ceremony pulls 20 million viewers, it is not America in the round. The audience skews older, wealthier, and disproportionately coastal; Los Angeles, New York, and other urban markets register above the national average. Many younger Americans aren’t interested at all. This is a cluster of affluent, urban viewers watching a show that reflects their own tastes and values — a clear marker of the gulf between Middle America and the coasts. The Great Divide in black tie.
Why? Why have the Oscars become so siloed, watched mostly by an older, affluent, coastal audience while the rest of the country looks outward, upward, anywhere else? I believe it comes down to what we choose to celebrate. I’m not talking about the applause when winners wade up the stairs in heels and floor-length gowns. I mean everything else: the movies themselves, and the values embedded in them.
The divide runs deeper than taste. It’s a question of what art is for. The late philosopher Roger Scruton wrote often of beauty as the form through which the sacred manifests itself to us. He warned that art fails when it abandons beauty for provocation alone.
He was onto something. Too many Oscar favorites today have stopped prizing cinematic beauty or harmony of form. Instead, they prize &#8220;perceived importance&#8221; — trauma-laden narratives, abrasive aesthetics, and a certain grim moral instruction. The numbers tell the story of a public that feels lectured rather than lifted. According to a recent Rasmussen <a href="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/april_2024/movies_aren_t_getting_better_most_americans_say?">report</a>, 54% of Americans believe movies have gotten worse over the past two decades, while only 27% say they’ve improved. Hollywood is delivering lectures instead of entertainment and wondering why half the country has stopped watching.
“Assumed liberalism,” a term I leaned heavily on in theater school, runs through host monologues, speeches, and acceptance remarks alike. Americans with differing worldviews — the majority of the country, it turns out — must sift through leftist jargon just to figure out who won Best Picture. As Ross Douthat <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/opinion/oscars-irrelevant-decline-ratings.html">puts it</a>, the Oscars have become a “boutique affair for American liberals,” a ceremony prioritizing social commentary and niche arthouse films over popular, mainstream cinema. It is also, in his words, a “venue for liberal soapboxing,” where ideology is celebrated as artistry, and the rest of the country is largely left out.
Of course, there are other culprits. Short-form media has fractured our attention; the pandemic bruised the theater-going habit; streaming platforms have made us all shut-ins. But those are the mechanics of the decline, not the heart of it. The heart of the problem is what the Oscars now define as worthy of our attention. The result is a cultural echo chamber — a narrow slice of Americans celebrating messages that resonate little beyond their own zip codes.
Some conservatives are happy about this; vindictive, even. I don’t count myself among them. The country needs these silly, glittering nights more than we like to admit — moments when we can look at the stars and see something of ourselves in them: our dignity, our aspirations, and our common story.
***
Grace Salvatore is senior editor of media, arts, and culture for Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Restoring the West and a contributor to Independent Women’s Voice.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCARS-AWARD-PREPARATIONS

The Oscars Audience Today Reveals Something About America’s Divide

Hollywod

When the Oscar-winning documentary &#8220;No Other Land&#8221; captivated Hollywood with its portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Daily Wire sent me to the West Bank to see the story up close.
The film, which won the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, follows Palestinian activist Basel Adra and portrays the residents of Masafer Yatta as victims of what the filmmakers describe as forced displacement by Israel. During his Oscar acceptance speech, Adra accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing.
&#8220;&#8216;No Other Land&#8217; reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Adra said.
But is that true? I set out to Masafer Yatta in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, to investigate these claims, which went largely unchallenged on Hollywood’s biggest stage.
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/no-other-lie?elementPosition=2&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">&#8220;No Other Lie,&#8221;</a> I revisit the story told in Adra’s film by traveling to the same villages and speaking with Israeli officials, Arab residents, Jewish farmers, and policy experts. According to those interviewed, the history of the area — and the dispute over the land — is far more complex than the film suggests.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/no-other-lie?elementPosition=2&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH &#8216;NO OTHER LIE&#8217; NOW ON THE DAILY WIRE</a></h4>
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/nEOGns02JshhsYxGUMQJOStE9BeRTFoRb?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=50c44ceb-7b1e-4f1c-a974-6bb65942d0cf&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=No%20Other%20Lie%20&amp;autoplay=any&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
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I spoke with Naomi Kahn, director of international affairs at the Israeli policy organization Regavim, who explained that the land featured in the documentary has a long and complicated history stretching back to the Ottoman Empire, when it was mostly uninhabited public land.
According to Kahn, the area later became strategically important for the Israeli military after Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 with Egypt and gave up the Sinai Peninsula, which had previously been used for military training exercises.
“They looked for areas that were strategically important to hold on to, but also were empty and useless,” Kahn said. “And they identified this entire band of desert cliffs that were uninhabited.”
<div id="attachment_886173" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-886173" class="size-large wp-image-886173" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202965387-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202965387-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202965387-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202965387-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2202965387.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)</div>
Kahn said the area was eventually designated as an Israel Defense Forces training zone. She also addressed claims that Palestinians are unable to build homes in the area, saying construction is regulated through permits.
“Everyone can build where it’s legal,” she said. “If you build without a permit, you can’t build.”
She pointed to the territorial divisions established under the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian Authority control over large portions of the West Bank in Areas A and B, while Area C remains under Israeli jurisdiction.
“Almost 70% of the territory already under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction is empty,” Kahn claimed. “Instead of building there, they’re building here.”
In &#8220;No Other Land,&#8221; one resident claims his family has lived in the Masafer Yatta area since the 1830s. But historical aerial imagery and findings from Israeli courts show that the hills of Masafer Yatta had no permanent villages for decades, with aerial photographs of the area dating back to 1945.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-886175 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-919x576.png" alt="" width="919" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-919x576.png 919w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-300x188.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25-768x482.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Cover-images-25.png 1102w" sizes=" (max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px" /></div>
The Israeli High Court case over the land dispute, which lasted over two decades, ultimately ruled that the petitioners failed to prove permanent residence in the area before it was designated a military firing zone in 1980. The ruling also noted that several of the residents involved in the case maintained permanent homes in the nearby Palestinian city of Yatta.
As my crew and I traveled deeper into the desert terrain, we encountered foreign activists who had traveled to the area and who locals say often provoke confrontations between Jews and Arabs.
“They come all the time when it’s nice outside,” local Jewish farmer Bezalel Talia said. “From England, from Australia, South Africa, America.”
I met several activists who acknowledged traveling to the area from the United States and Europe.
Residents told me they believe the presence of international activists armed with cameras is meant to artificially create incidents that can push a one-sided narrative in the media.
<div id="attachment_1059513" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059513" class="size-large wp-image-1059513" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-12.56.39-PM-1-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-12.56.39-PM-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-12.56.39-PM-1-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-12.56.39-PM-1-768x431.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-12.56.39-PM-1.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />(The Daily Wire/Yisroel Teitelbaum)</div>
“They&#8217;re not really fighting the fight that you know,” Talia said. “You have Arabs that only live here because the Palestinian government told them. So they live there in the cave and sometimes Europeans, Basel and his Oscar friends just [come] to have a nice picture, Like Instagram models.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee discussed the historical and biblical significance of Judea and Samaria. Huckabee said the region has been central to Jewish history for thousands of years, noting that Judea was the heart of the ancient Jewish kingdom and the seat of the Jewish capital under King David more than 3,000 years ago.
“The consistency has always been that there has been a Jewish presence and a Jewish connection to the land, historically and biblically,” he said.
When asked why such a small piece of land receives so much global attention, Huckabee argued that the focus is often less about geography and more about opposition to the existence of a Jewish state.
“I don’t know that they care about the land,” Huckabee said. “They are offended that there is a Jewish tradition, that there is a Jewish people, and that there is a Jewish homeland.”
I also visited the ancient Jewish city of Susya, where archaeological remains highlight the long history of Jewish life in the region.
Standing inside a 1,600-year-old synagogue, Kahn said the site demonstrates the deep historical connection between Jews and Judea.
“This is a synagogue, a Jewish place of worship, 1,600 years old,” Kahn said. “This is essentially proof positive of the Jewish presence in Judea for thousands of years.”
<div id="attachment_1059519" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059519" class="size-large wp-image-1059519" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-13-at-12.42.34-PM-1-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-13-at-12.42.34-PM-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-13-at-12.42.34-PM-1-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-13-at-12.42.34-PM-1-768x431.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-13-at-12.42.34-PM-1.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (The Daily Wire/Yisroel Teitelbaum)</div>
On the final day of filming, I traveled to Hebron — the first capital of King David more than 3,000 years ago — where tensions between Jewish and Palestinian communities remain high.
There, I spoke with Yishai Fleischer, the international spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hebron, who addressed the frequent accusations of settler violence.
“There is settler violence because if you push Jews around, they&#8217;re going to push back. This is the Middle East,” he said. “But it is far, far, far less than has been reported and is being touted as the truth; it&#8217;s not the truth.”
A recent <a href="https://www.jns.org/new-report-debunks-settler-violence-narrative/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report by Regavim</a> also challenged the widely reported narrative of widespread settler violence, arguing that the campaign accusing Jewish residents of escalating violence relies on misleading data and politically motivated sources.
Analyzing 10 years of incident reports compiled by the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the report found that roughly 98% of the incidents categorized as “settler violence” did not involve Jewish civilians at all, but were instead clashes with Israeli security forces or other unrelated incidents.
I also asked Caroline Glick, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences&#8217; decision to award &#8220;No Other Land&#8221; the Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Glick said the film presents a misleading narrative about Israel.
“This sort of giving the most prestigious awards in Hollywood to people who just created a completely fictitious narrative about something deeply important to billions of people throughout the world,” Glick said.
The fight over Masafer Yatta is not only about land or law, but also about narrative. While &#8220;No Other Land&#8221; won Hollywood’s highest honor, &#8220;No Other Lie&#8221; asks whether the Academy will look more carefully at the stories it chooses to reward.

No Other Lie

I Traveled Across The Globe To Fact-Check An Oscar-Winning Documentary. Here’s What I Found.

Israel

Judea and Samaria

<div>
The irony dripping from the Hollywood Hills this week is thick enough to choke a McKinsey consultant.
</div>
<div>
On Sunday, the 98th Academy Awards will <a href="https://ew.com/oscars-ramping-up-security-after-fbi-warns-of-surprise-attack-on-california-by-iran-11924455">transform</a> the Dolby Theatre into a high-tech fortress. We’re talking 1,000 private security guards, LAPD SWAT teams, bomb-sniffing dogs, and a fleet of surveillance drones circling overhead. Why the sudden affection for “law and order” and &#8220;border security&#8221; from the crowd that usually spends its awards speeches demanding we abolish both?
</div>
<div>
Because the FBI dropped a cold dose of reality on the champagne-and-caviar set: The Islamic Republic of Iran is reportedly <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-15639397/oscars-security-2026-awards-drones-iran-retaliatory-strikes.html">eyeing</a> California for retaliatory drone strikes. 
The same Hollywood elite that has spent the last year <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/08/film-pledge-israeli-institutions-palestinians">lining up to sign</a> &#8220;pledges&#8221; against Israel—nearly 4,000 industry professionals, including Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, and Mark Ruffalo—now find themselves begging the thin blue line to protect them from the very radicalism they’ve spent months ignoring. These are the same people who vowed to boycott Israeli film institutions for &#8220;apartheid.&#8221; Now they’re relying on U.S. federal intelligence to ensure an Iranian drone doesn&#8217;t crash their red carpet.
</div>
<div>
The cognitive dissonance doesn&#8217;t stop with the Middle East&#8217;s only democracy. The celebrity vanguard has spent the last month <a href="https://www.wfmd.com/2026/03/01/hollywood-stars-condemn-trump-over-iran-military-action-while-others-praise-promises-kept">savaging</a> President Trump for taking the fight to Tehran. Jane Fonda is out there comparing the dismantling of a terror regime to Vietnam. Rosie O’Donnell is frantically hashtagging for impeachment. And John Cusack is busy spinning &#8220;wag the dog&#8221; conspiracies.
Some of these luminaries attack Trump for neutralizing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yet, the moment the regime’s &#8220;unmanned aerial vehicles&#8221; are spotted off the West Coast, the Academy isn&#8217;t calling for &#8220;de-escalation&#8221; or &#8220;ceasefire.&#8221; They’re calling the LAPD.
</div>
<div>
Oscar producer Raj Kapoor says he wants everyone to feel &#8220;safe and protected and welcome.&#8221;
</div>
<div>
As Conan O’Brien prepares to take his <a href="https://x.com/TheWrap/status/1896399046874746989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1896399046874746989%7Ctwgr%5Ed58d56bb09d73084639cd3b6b0c8151a9d057c9b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewrap.com%2Foscars-2025-conan-obrien-anora-joke-trump-putin%2F">inevitable swipe</a> at Trump from the podium, he’ll be doing so behind a one-mile security perimeter and a literal army of armed professionals. In Hollywood, it seems, &#8220;walls&#8221; and &#8220;aggressive defense&#8221; are only immoral when they’re protecting a country—not when they’re protecting a Best Actress trophy.
</div>

Hollywood Elites Scramble To Embrace Law And Order As Iran Threat Looms Over Oscars

Oscars Turn Into Fortress After Iran Threat As Anti-Trump Hollywood Elite Embrace ‘Law And Order’

Iran

Security

Well, it’s Oscar season again, that time of year when Hollywood honors those amazing films that bravely went on playing in theaters, even though no one was sitting there except Nicole Kidman, desperately trying to move her face. For myself, I couldn’t look forward to the award ceremony more. I really couldn’t. I’ve tried everything. But before you know it, that spectacular gala will be preempting something you actually wanted to watch, so some of you may be thinking… “Sure, if I watch the award ceremony, there’s no doubt I’ll be riveted to my TV, because obviously, if I weren’t, I’d just walk away and do something else. But what I’m really wondering is what’s the inside skinny on how you win this coveted award.” So just in case you’re one of the sad little people whose life is so empty that you would actually think something as pathetic as that, the Daily Wire will now take you behind the scenes for an exclusive look at what it takes to win the Oscar. 
If you want to walk away with gold on Oscar night, you can’t just stand around waiting for someone to watch your movie because, let’s face it, that’s never going to happen. What you have to do is draw attention to yourself by giving interviews in which you express political opinions that are shockingly different from those of someone with even a minimal knowledge of world events. At the same time, of course, it’s important that your shockingly different opinion is exactly the same as everyone else’s opinion in Hollywood, otherwise you can kiss that statuette goodbye. 
For instance, Ethan Hawke has been nominated for his performance as Lorenz Hart in “Blue Moon,” which, in all honesty, would have been the best piece of acting anyone saw this year if anyone had. So clinging to the laughable delusion that the best actor award might go to a white man, Hawke gave an interview in which he reacted to immigration enforcement for all the people in America who woke up that morning thinking, “Gee, I wonder what that guy who played Lorenz Hart is thinking about immigration enforcement.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1264-the-andrew-klavan-show?elementPosition=1&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Hawke told an interviewer, “Never before in America have I felt so afraid to speak my mind that I wouldn’t even dare to say what I’m saying right now. But in my role as a man with moral courage, I must come forward with the exact same opinion as everyone else in Hollywood and suffer the consequences, which I hope will be that sweet, sweet statuette. At a time when we in the movie industry are overcome with a sense of crisis totally out of keeping with reality, it’s incumbent on us to speak truth to power, as long as it’s not the sort of power that could keep me from getting the award I should have gotten for “Training Day,” but which instead went to Jim Broadbent, whom no one has heard of, in a movie no one saw about Iris Murdoch, whom no one has read. So please, please, this year, I was in an obscure movie about an artist no one remembers, and now I’m standing here degrading myself by slandering my country and pretending to be afraid for some reason, so please, just give me the award, all right? Please, I’m serious, please.”
Even a front-runner has to campaign for the prize. For instance, “Sinners,” received a record 16 Oscar nominations, including most over-nominated picture, and best picture with a moderately entertaining first half before the second half dwindles into muddled anti-historical theorizing and shameful anti-white racism. Nonetheless, “Sinners” best actor nominee Michael B. Jordan still felt compelled to give a campaign interview, telling reporters, “So help me, if they give my Oscar to that fay cracker in the ping pong movie, I’m gonna slap Chris Rock in the face so hard, he’s gonna change his name to Will Smith so no one will remember who he is either.”
So there you have it. Thanks to this exclusive inside Hollywood reporting from the Daily Wire, you’ll be able to turn on your TV on Oscar night and really enjoy whatever it is you’ll be watching instead.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Academy awards

How To Win An Oscar Without Anyone Watching Your Movie

actors

Andrew Klavan

Ethan Hawke

Humor

Michael B Jordan

Satire

The 2026 Academy Award nominations were announced today, which included some predictable nods, a few snubs, and one record-breaking film. 
The Ryan Coogler-directed film “Sinners” earned a whopping 16 nominations, breaking the record previously set by “Titanic&#8221; (1997), &#8220;La La Land&#8221; (2016), and &#8220;All About Eve&#8221; (1950), which each had 14 nominations.
“Sinners” is a horror film set in Mississippi in 1932 that also addresses the racism from that era. It follows Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers who return to their hometown in the Jim Crow South, only to be confronted by a supernatural evil.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leos-latest-is-a-woke-fever-dream-and-a-box-office-nightmare">ultra woke</a> Hollywood darling “One Battle After Another” scored the second most nominations with 13 total.  “Frankenstein,” “Marty Supreme,” and “Sentimental Value” each got nine.  
As for snubs, “Wicked: For Good” was totally shut out this year after the first film earned 10 Oscar nominations and won two awards at the 2025 Academy Awards. Actor Paul Mescal was favored to be nominated for his role in “Hamnet,” but ultimately didn’t make the cut. 
The Academy Awards will once again be hosted by Conan O’Brien. They are scheduled air live on ABC and Hulu on Sunday, March 15, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Here is a <a href="https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2026">full list</a> of this year’s Oscar nominees:
Best Picture
<ul>
<li>“Bugonia”</li>
<li>“F1”</li>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Hamnet”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“The Secret Agent”</li>
<li>“Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
<li>“Train Dreams”</li>
</ul>
Best Director
<ul>
<li>“Hamnet” – Chloé Zhao</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme” – Josh Safdie</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another” – Paul Thomas Anderson</li>
<li>“Sentimental Value” – Joachim Trier</li>
<li>“Sinners” – Ryan Coogler</li>
</ul>
Best Actor
<ul>
<li>Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>Leonardo DiCaprio in “One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon”</li>
<li>Michael B. Jordan in “Sinners”</li>
<li>Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent”</li>
</ul>
Best Actress
<ul>
<li>Jessie Buckley in “Hamnet”</li>
<li>Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”</li>
<li>Kate Hudson in “Song Sung Blue”</li>
<li>Renate Reinsve in “Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>Emma Stone in “Bugonia”</li>
</ul>
Best Supporting Actor
<ul>
<li>Benicio Del Toro in “One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein”</li>
<li>Delroy Lindo in “Sinners”</li>
<li>Sean Penn in “One Battle after Another”</li>
<li>Stellan Skarsgård in “Sentimental Value”</li>
</ul>
Best Supporting Actress
<ul>
<li>Elle Fanning in “Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in “Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>Amy Madigan in “Weapons”</li>
<li>Wunmi Mosaku in “Sinners”</li>
<li>Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another”</li>
</ul>
Best Adapted Screenplay
<ul>
<li>“Bugonia” – screenplay by Will Tracy</li>
<li>“Frankenstein” – written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro</li>
<li>“Hamnet” – screenplay by Chloé Zhao &amp; Maggie O’Farrell</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another” – written by Paul Thomas Anderson</li>
<li>“Train Dreams” – screenplay by Clint Bentley &amp; Greg Kwedar</li>
</ul>
Best Original Screenplay
<ul>
<li>“Blue Moon” – written by Robert Kaplow</li>
<li>“It Was Just an Accident” – written by Jafar Panahi; script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme” – written by Ronald Bronstein &amp; Josh Safdie</li>
<li>“Sentimental Value” – written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier</li>
<li>“Sinners” – written by Ryan Coogler</li>
</ul>
Best Animated Feature
<ul>
<li>“Arco”</li>
<li>“Elio”</li>
<li>“KPop Demon Hunters”</li>
<li>“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” </li>
<li>“Zootopia 2”</li>
</ul>
Best International Feature
<ul>
<li>Brazil, “The Secret Agent”</li>
<li>France, “It Was Just an Accident”</li>
<li>Norway, “Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>Spain, “Sirāt”</li>
<li>Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”</li>
</ul>
Best Documentary Feature
<ul>
<li>“The Alabama Solution”</li>
<li>“Come See Me in the Good Light”</li>
<li>“Cutting Through Rocks”</li>
<li>“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”</li>
<li>“The Perfect Neighbor”</li>
</ul>
Best Animated Short
<ul>
<li>“Butterfly”</li>
<li>“Forevergreen”</li>
<li>“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”</li>
<li>“Retirement Plan”</li>
<li>“The Three Sisters”</li>
</ul>
Best Casting
<ul>
<li>“Hamnet”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“The Secret Agent”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>
Best Cinematography
<ul>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
<li>“Train Dreams”</li>
</ul>
Best Costume Design
<ul>
<li>“Avatar: Fire and Ash”</li>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Hamnet”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>
Best Documentary Short
<ul>
<li>“All the Empty Rooms”</li>
<li>“Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”</li>
<li>“Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone’” </li>
<li>“The Devil Is Busy”</li>
<li>“Perfectly a Strangeness”</li>
</ul>
Best Film Editing
<ul>
<li>“F1”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“Sentimental Value”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>
Best Live-Action Short
<ul>
<li>“Butcher’s Stain”</li>
<li>“A Friend of Dorothy”</li>
<li>“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”</li>
<li>“The Singers”</li>
<li>“Two People Exchanging Saliva”</li>
</ul>
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
<ul>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Kokuho”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
<li>“The Smashing Machine”</li>
<li>“The Ugly Stepsister”</li>
</ul>
Best Original Score
<ul>
<li>“Bugonia”</li>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Hamnet”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>
Best Original Song
<ul>
<li>“Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless” –  music and lyrics by Diane Warren</li>
<li>“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” – music and lyrics by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon, and Teddy Park</li>
<li>“I Lied to You” from “Sinners” – music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson</li>
<li>“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” – music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike</li>
<li>“Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams” – music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, lyrics by Nick Cave</li>
</ul>
Best Production Design
<ul>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“Hamnet”</li>
<li>“Marty Supreme”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>
Best Sound
<ul>
<li>“F1” </li>
<li>“Frankenstein”</li>
<li>“One Battle After Another”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
<li>“Sirāt”</li>
</ul>
Best Visual Effects
<ul>
<li>“Avatar: Fire and Ash”</li>
<li>“F1”</li>
<li>“Jurassic World Rebirth”</li>
<li>“The Lost Bus”</li>
<li>“Sinners”</li>
</ul>

Sinners premiere

2026 Oscars: Jim Crow-Era Horror Film Shatters Record For Most Noms Ever

2026 Oscars: Jim Crow Era Horror Film 'Sinners' Breaks Record For Most Noms Ever

In a major break with tradition, the Oscars will leave ABC, its broadcast home since 1976, and move to YouTube in 2029 as the Academy tries to court younger and more global audiences.
The Wednesday announcement surprised the entertainment industry and marked a turning point in how people consume content and how they will continue to do so. Disney-owned ABC will continue to air the show until its 100th anniversary in 2028, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/oscars-bolt-from-abc-to-youtube-starting-in-2029-1236453188/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
YouTube will stream the Academy Awards ceremony and related content on its platform, which boasts two billion users worldwide. This includes red-carpet pre-shows, behind-the-scenes footage, nominee announcements, and the Governors Awards, where honorary Oscars are presented.
Neal Mohan, CEO of the streaming giant, said in a statement Wednesday: “The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry. Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
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ABC also issued a statement, saying, “ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century. We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the show’s centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.”
The Oscars have suffered a steep, decades-long ratings decline, exacerbated by a major drop during the pandemic, with only occasional minor upticks since. Viewership was up 1% this year, reaching 19.7 million viewers. 
While this year’s host, Conan O’Brien, mostly steered clear of politics, the Oscars are known for being a leftist lovefest, which has drawn criticism from the potential audience. This includes the show itself and the projects that get nominated. O’Brien was invited back to host in 2026.
This year, the anti-Israel film “No Other Land” won Best Documentary Feature. Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh had his runaway hit documentary, “Am I Racist?” snubbed by the Academy in 2024 despite its massive popularity and cultural impact.

Oscars Trade ABC For YouTube In 2029, Because Fewer People Are Watching Anyway

The Oscars Ditch ABC, Will Air Exclusively On YouTube Beginning In 2029

U.S.

YouTube

Ratings are down. Cultural prestige? Sinking as we speak. Yet the Best Picture race is one even casual movie fans tend to track. It’s the night’s biggest honor, and having a Best Picture logo next to a film title still holds some sway in the culture.
That’s even though most people didn’t see, or can’t remember, the last few Best Picture winners.
And, each awards season, experts track which film has the best chance to win that Oscar trophy. It’s the ultimate horse race, with box office results, critical reviews, and cultural resonance influencing the outcome.
Is this year’s race over already, weeks before some Oscar-bait films have even reached theaters? It sure looks that way.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” stars Leonardo DiCaprio and has already won multiple honors, and the awards season has barely begun. The film swept the National Board of Review’s 2025 honors, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor (DiCaprio).
That’s in addition to best picture wins with the Atlanta Film Critics Circle, the Gotham Awards, and the New York Film Critics Circle. The film also scored big with Sight and Sound’s 2025 Best Films Of The Year List, topping its 2025 chart.
More will follow, no doubt.
<div id="attachment_1010711" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010711" class="size-large wp-image-1010711" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-461x576.jpg" alt="Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures - copyright Warner Bros. Pictures" width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Movie-OBAA.jpg 1638w" sizes=" (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures &#8211; copyright Warner Bros. Pictures</div>
“One Battle After Another” stars DiCaprio as a bumbling protester who hangs up his revolutionary jacket to raise his mixed-race daughter (Chase Infiniti). His radical past comes back to haunt them when a racist, out-of-control Colonel (Sean Penn) tracks his daughter down for nefarious purposes.
It doesn’t take Peter Falk’s iconic Columbo to sleuth out why “One Battle After Another” is generating so much critical adoration. Yes, Anderson is a top-tier filmmaker, and some of the sequences in the film prove exhilarating.
The film’s political point of view is pure catnip to a community wedded to progressive ideals. The story’s heroes are anti-government radicals who will do whatever it takes to free illegal immigrants taken into U.S. custody.
If that means holding U.S. officials at gunpoint, setting off fireworks, or bombing buildings, so be it. The U.S. forces shown throughout the film are almost uniformly cruel, callous, or just plain evil. A subplot involving a White Nationalist group feels too extreme even for your average MS NOW anchor.
It wasn’t for movie critics, apparently. They’ve endlessly praised the film to the tune of a 94% “fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com. The general public liked it, albeit less, via an 85% “fresh” score.
Some scribes have tried to <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/columns/no-one-battle-after-another-is-not-a-left-wing-film-1236556461/">downplay the film’s far-Left politics</a>, a funnier take than any late-night monologue.
<div id="attachment_1010715" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010715" class="size-large wp-image-1010715" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-864x576.jpg" alt="Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures - copyright Warner Bros. Pictures" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Leo-robe.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures &#8211; copyright Warner Bros. Pictures</div>
It helps that no other 2025 release has “Best Picture” written all over it. Director Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” is getting early raves, but the film has barely registered at the box office ($1.7 million to date) and offers a maudlin subject. The film imagines what William Shakespeare and his wife endured after the loss of their son.
The Boss biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” flopped in theaters and didn’t get enough critical love.
Art remains subjective, but Hollywood politics are another matter. Not only does “One Battle After Another” reflect the industry’s hard-Left embrace of open borders, it’s a thumb in the eye to both ICE and President Donald Trump.
The latter will be irresistible to Academy voters. And, chances are, the film’s key stars will lean into that sentiment during awards season.
The various arts honors do more than help predict which films and actors will emerge triumphant on Oscar night. They let the early winners test out their acceptance speeches, another unwritten part of their Oscar campaigns.
Uncork a few fiery “thank you… and” speeches, hitting all the “approved” targets along the way, and a star’s Oscar chances perk up.
Now, imagine what DiCaprio would say at the Oscar podium while collecting his second Best Actor statue for “One Battle After Another.” He used his 2017 podium time to promote his Climate Change agenda.
<div id="attachment_1010725" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010725" class="size-large wp-image-1010725" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-798x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio speaks onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood &amp; Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)" width="798" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-798x576.jpg 798w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-300x217.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450-768x554.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-645717450.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Kevin Winter/Getty Images</div>
There’s less than zero chance he won’t blast President Trump’s attempt to enforce immigration laws in any 2026 speech. And he won’t be alone.
Recent Oscar ceremonies have dialed back, to a degree, on the hard-Left polemics. Even far-Left host Jimmy Kimmel hasn’t leaned into his progressive bona fides in recent years.
That will change in 2026 after a full year of President Trump’s return to the White House. Is there a better film to reflect that “resistance” than “One Battle After Another”? That’s rhetorical.
We still have a few more weeks before the year ends. Films like “Marty Supreme,” starring perennial Oscar-bait Timothee Chalamet, hit theaters on Christmas Day. Still, anyone who grasps Oscar culture knows a heavy favorite when he or she sees one.
There is one dark path forward that could derail “One Battle After Another.” The film’s gauzy framing of violence against immigration enforcement took an ugly turn when real attacks on ICE agents broke out close to the film’s release.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/second-illegal-immigrant-detainee-dies-after-dallas-ice-shooting">September attack on a Dallas-based ICE facility</a> didn’t kill any U.S. agents, but it did leave two illegal immigrants dead. The media complex didn’t connect the attack to “One Battle After Another,” but if similar events follow, the connection may be unavoidable.
Hollywood may want to shrug off any ties between the film and actual carnage, but it might be enough of a problem to coax Oscar voters to select another, less incendiary film.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
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