Burning Questions From The 2026 Oscars

Conan as Aunt Gladys?

 

Shouldn't Weapons have been nominated for more than just one Oscar?

 

Did that opening just give the whole movie away?

 

Aunt Gladys playing ping pong?

 

Aunt Gladys in KPop Demon Hunters?

 

Was that opening sketch an early sign Amy Madigan would win?

 

Didn't you know Conan wouldn't waste any time cracking a joke about Chalamet's ballet insult?

  

Wasn't he right about Ted Sarandos having never been to a theater? 

 

Is it safe to assume that won't change now since Netflix isn't buying Warner Bros.? 

  

Isn't it the sign of a good joke when the audience gasps with discomfort?

 

Did Conan's coronation ceremony make you want to see him actually win a Oscar?

 

Did you remember that Zoe Saldaña won Supporting Actress last year?

 

Actually, that one was kind of memorable wasn't it?

 

Is she aging in reverse?

 

Was everyone prepared to get that category wrong? 

 

Was everyone prepared to get every category wrong?

 

Did every Oscar prognosticator breathe a sigh of relief when Madigan won? 

 

Wasn't it a given she'd give an entertaining speech? 

 

Was Conan's "Let's see him put his name in front of that" the line of the night?

 

How about his story about telling his wife he's the same age as Brad Pitt?  

 

Any doubt KPop Demon Hunters would take Animated Feature? 

 

Did they try to play those winners off quickly or what?

 

Was that because Madigan went long? 

 

Was an upset winner for Animated Short the last thing anyone needed for their Oscar scorecard?

 

Was this the earliest in the show we've ever gotten a musical performance? 

 

Wasn't that whole Sinners thing kind of wild?

 

Did you hear how into it the audience was? 

 

Would it have gotten your attention if Frankenstein lost Costume Design to Sinners? 

 

Or Makeup to...The Smashing Machine?

 

Who expected the first bleep of the night to come in the Hair/Makeup category? 

 

Did you expect cast members to introduce each of their own film's casting directors?

 

Conflict of interest much? 

 

But wasn't it kind of great? 

 

How about that ovation for The Secret Agent? 

 

Remember how sure everyone seemed of a category we've never had before?

 

Should we be a little more careful when predicting this one next year?

 

Did you see it as an ominous sign that Sinners lost in a category it was thought to be locked for? 

 

Did that bode well  for OBAA's Best picture chances?

 

A TIE????!!!!

 

How do we count this on our ballots? 

 

Did you notice how careful Kumail was to reassure us it wasn't a joke after what we saw happen with Moonlight and La La Land?  

 

And wasn't he right about the irony of the Live Action Short category taking twice as long now?

 

Retracting the winner's mic? Really?

 

Is Chalamet ever going to live this whole ballet thing down?

 

Unless he wins the Oscar, apologizes and dedicates it to dancers worldwide? 

 

Should he know it's bad when winners are somehow incorporating it into their acceptance speeches?  

 

Did you remember Kieran Culkin won Supporting Actor last year?

 

Didn't you just know Sean Penn wouldn't be there?

 

"Or didn't want to?"

 

Wasn't that Casablanca skit with Sterling K. Brown pretty clever? 

 

Will it ever get tiresome seeing Paul Thomas Anderson accept a writing Oscar?

 

But isn't it about time for a directing one?  

 

Would Ryan Coogler somehow losing Original Screenplay doom Sinners for the rest of the night? 

 

Wasn't it great to see Billy Crystal on an Oscar stage again?

 

Could it possibly be under sadder circumstances?

 

Did you forget just how many popular, widely beloved titles Rob Reiner directed?

 

Did you spot Fred Savage on stage?

 

Wasn't that tribute an appropriate segue into the In Memoriam segment?

 

Is "appropriate" not usually the word we'd use to describe how they handle this portion of the show?  

 

Isn't it scary the names we lost his past year? 

 

Diane Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Val Kilmer, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford?  

 

Did they really just leave out James Van Der Beek?!

 

Eric Dane?

Brigitte Bardot? 

 

How much longer are they going to keep pulling this?  

 

Aren't you just waiting to hear the producers' lame excuse...again? 

 

Were you about to lose it until remembering they did include Gene Hackman in last year's segment?   

 

Did anyone else have problems understanding Barbra Streisand?

 

Wait, doesn't everyone call her "Babs?"

 

Not a question but...Grogu!

 

Isn't Avatar always good for an easy Visual Effects win?

 

They really want to get this thing finished by 10:30 don't they?

 

Didn't Grogu try his best to clap?

 

Why does the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu movie feel four years too late?

 

Remember when that Kimmel guy hosted the Oscars?

 

Did its title alone sway members to vote for Mr. Nobody Against Putin? 

 

Did the lack of political speeches come to a screeching halt with this category?

 

Isn't F1 by far the weakest of the Best Picture nominees?

 

Am I the only one who doesn't get the deep affection for Bridesmaids? 

 

But wasn't that bit with the notes funny?

 

Did Maya Rudolph have the best opening line with "Earlier today while I was counting my money?" 

 

Did you expect the Academy President to look like a cross between Anna Camp and Brittany Snow?

 

Lewis Pullman does really look a lot like his dad doesn't he?

 

Did OBBA's editing win lock its Best Picture Oscar?

 

Or maybe not after that Sinners cinematography upset?

 

Can you believe a woman's never won in this category before now? 

 

Didn't Train Dreams deserve it?

 

Isn't "Golden" inbsanely catchy?   

Javier Bardem doesn't hold back does he? 

 

Did anyone remember that Lionel Ritchie won an Original Song Oscar for White Knights?

 

Or recall the last time Diane Warren wasn't nominated?

 

They really didn't want that "Golden" songwriter to speak did they?

 

Weren't the producers downright militant in cutting time this year?

 

Doesn't it feel good to finally say PTA has a directing Oscar? 

 

Wouldn't Zendaya and Pattinson in a PTA movie be intriguing? 

 

Isn't it the truth that Adrien Brody saved last year's show from running short? 

 

Has the Best Actor race ever been this tight? 

 

Okay, maybe not? 

 

Didn't Michael B. Jordan's mom look proud? 

 

Didn't he give a classy speech of appropriate length? 

 

But can we please keep Will Smith's name out of our mouths at the Oscars? 

 

So maybe it didn't end by 10:30 but they still made really good time didn't they? 

 

Is it hard for anyone to forget Mikey Madison beating Demi Moore last year? 

 

Was it even possible to imagine a scenario where Jessie Buckley loses? 

 

Are there any actors who can't sing?

 

Didn't the best film win for a change? 

 

How about that impressive 1975 Best Picture nominee list PTA rattled off? 

 

Isn't he right about Chase Infiniti being the heart of that movie? 

 

How was she not even nominated?  

 

But isn't it cool how she was named after two of 1995's most memorable movie characters?  

 

Was Marty Supreme just completely shut out? 

 

How about the show's ending skit? 

 

Was that even more of a spoiler than the opening?

 

Or maybe not, if you didn't know which nominated picture they were spoofing? 

 

Does appointing Conan as "Host For Life" actually not sound like such a bad idea? 

Weapons

Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, June Diane Raphael, Luke Speakman, Sara Paxton, Justin Long, Clayton Farris, Scarlett Sher
Running Time: 128 min.
Rating: R

**The Following Review Contains Plot Spoilers**

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

Some of the best films begin with a simple, single sentence idea that's notable for being unlike anything we've heard before. Writer/director Zach Cregger's Weapons is built on such a premise, showing early signs of a potential masterpiece as it attempts to fulfill the promise of its wholly original concept. But how it starts is entirely different from what follows, especially when the crux of that story hinges on one seemingly unanswerable question. 

To Cregger's credit, he doesn't cop out on giving us an answer, regardless of whether it's the one we want. And because of this, we're willing to buy into the payoff accompanying those astronomical expectations. While its wisest to approach this as a straightforward horror vehicle along the lines of Cregger's own Barbarian or Oz Perkins' Longlegs, a captivating jigsaw puzzle structure, great performances and an equal abundance of scares and laughs enable it to easily eclipse both. There's an an ambition and assuredness to how it comes together, resulting in a divisive reveal that also happens to be a total blast.

Two years ago in the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen students from elementary school teacher Justine Gandy's (Julia Garner) third grade class ran out of their homes at 2:17 a.m. and disappeared. Later that morning, Justine arrived to discover only one child, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), in her classroom as authorities get involved and parents frantically search for their kids. With an irate public demanding an investigation into Justine, a muted Alex quietly processes the tragedy, all while the days leading to and following the event are shown through separate, occasionally intersecting chapters.  

Each of these sections follow a character impacted or perhaps even potentially involved. There's Justine, her ex-boyfriend and police officer Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), construction contractor and parent Archer (Josh Brolin), school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong), homeless drug addict James (Austin Abrams), the shell shocked Alex and an eccentric older woman named Gladys (Amy Madigan). Each of their segments provide additional pieces of information about what happened to these children, bringing us increasingly closer to the truth.

In the film's hypnotic opening minutes, we watch those kids run down the street arms outstretched as George Harrison's haunting "Beware of Darkness" plays over the soundtrack and an unidentified girl's folksy voiceover describes the vanishing. This casts a pallor of atmospheric dread that extends beyond the parameters of "elevated horror" into another realm we're not sure the rest of the film can deliver on, despite our willingness to take the ride. And though much of its first half plays as a psychological thriller, it's impossible not to view the event itself, along with the ensuing search for answers, as a clear allegory for school shootings and child abductions.   

Much of the first act surrounds the direct aftermath of the disappearance, with the town's enraged parents baring down on Justine since it can't merely be a coincidence that only her students went missing. But it's also an argument more borne from helpless anger than logic since she's an easy scapecoat unaided by her own checkered past. That she's the town's defacto suspect on circumstance alone isn't a detail that's lost on school principal Marcus or Toby Huss' Police Captain Ed.

An understanding Marcus sympathizes with Justine's plight while recognizing the problems her continued employment causes, especially when she insists on talking with a traumatized Alex. Ed just lacks any credible evidence of her involvement, as everything took place outside school hours, with the kids caught on camera willingly running from their homes. And that detail will prove particularly important.  

Garner's career defining work in Ozark aside, few could argue the actress's performance here represents her best onscreen performance yet as Justine's attempts to maintain the facade of an orderly, composed grade school teacher is frayed at the seams by insurmountable pressure and judgment. Whether she's harassed by parents, having her car vandalized, hitting the bottle or reigniting an affair with married ex Paul, she's understandably overwhelmed and close to reaching the end of her rope. 

While those who really know Justine seriously doubt she has something to do with this, her own instincts about Alex couldn't be more correct. If from the start it's implied these two "surviving" characters hold the key, no parent demands answers more than the brutish Archer, who Brolin plays with the quiet intensity of a determined father who'll stop at nothing to find his son. Giving little credence to what cops or other parents think, Archer adopts a logical method in scanning neighborhood security footage for crucial clues. And aside from his illicit affair with Justine, Ehrenreich's Paul battles an issue of his own that doesn't appear connected to the central mystery. At least until it is.    

The fun of Cregger's story comes not just from speculating which character he'll pivot to next, but why, and how that dovetails with what comes before or follows after. And it gradually start coming together during a combative gas station moment between Justine and Archer that goes completely sideways, confirming our suspicions of a supernatural component lying at the heart of this dark, twisted fairy tale. 

Dots connect in the film's big reveal, entertainingly unraveling every clue we've been given, most of which involve Alex and his creepy "aunt" Gladys, played by an unrecognizable Amy Madigan in a bright orange wig and garish clown makeup. Wacky, campy and sinister all at once, her ability to embody this outwardly disarming kook with a sadistic plan defines the concluding thirty minutes. Like everything else in the film, there are numerous interpretations of her presence, whether that's as a malevolent instigator of change and disruption in children's lives or even the physical manifestation of society's fearful disdain of the elderly. Either way, she's pure nightmare fuel, especially in a terrifying moment that sees her spontaneously pop up in the woods.  

As it all comes to fruition, you can definitely make a case for plot holes (such as no one noticing those missing name tags), but good luck turning away from the craziness for even a minute. And the actual execution remains undeniably thrilling in the face of a bar set high enough for any chosen ending to cause disappointment or controversy. But therein lies the dilemma of whether to judge this for what it is, isn't, or maybe a little of both. Transcending limitations of the genre, Weapons takes a fresh approach, inviting repeated viewings that should determine the extent of its staying power. For now though, let's file it under "mind blowing" and appreciate that Cregger's just getting started, with his best still likely to come.