MACKENZIE SMITH / CONTRIBUTOR

Approximately 10,000 film industry professionals who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to determine which actors and films would win an Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor chatting at the Oscars. Photo courtesy of @theacademy/Instagram

With discussions leading up to the Oscars, it was clear that a few topics stood out. “Sinners,” a horror-thriller film entered the ceremony with a record-breaking 16 nominations. The typical debate surrounded the intense competition for the nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Picture.

“Sinners”  in particular   caught  the  attention   of USD      first-year       Isabella Foncesca.  The film contained  social commentary on racial violence, systematic oppression and veteran’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — all through the medium of a 1932 horror film. Ryan Coogler won an Oscar for “Sinners” for Best Original Screenplay.

Foncesca discussed her thoughts on  “Sinners.” 

“I’ve seen other Ryan Coogler films like ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Fruitville,’ ‘Station’ [and] ‘Creed’ so I was really stoked to watch it when it came out,” Fonseca said. “After I watched it, I’m definitely not surprised that it’s so heavily Oscar nominated. Not only is it just super entertaining and enjoyable to watch, but also when you do deeper research and see the history behind [the film], it’s just incredible.” 

“Sinners” ended the night with four Oscars, and continued its historic run when Autumn Durald Arkapaw won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for her work on the film. With the win, she made history as the first women, and women of color, to receive the award.

USD sophomore Elyssa Arquero talked about the historic win.

“I loved ‘Sinners,’ I think it’s a great movie.” Arquero said. “I’m really glad that Autumn won because the cinematography was great and it was so creative.”

The ceremony itself continued to make history by introducing a new award category for the first time in 25 years. The Best Casting award was given to Cassandra Kulukundis for her work on “One Battle After Another.”

USD first-year Max Andreski discussed his thoughts on the casting.

“I really liked ‘One Battle After Another,’” Andreski said. “Leonardo and Benico Del Toro have great chemistry, and Benico himself did a really good job with the limited role he was given.”  

At the end of the night, “One Battle After Another” won the Oscar for Best Picture and earned five other awards, making it the most awarded film of the night. In contrast, “Marty Supreme,” despite receiving nine nominations, left the ceremony without a single win.

USD junior Badr Abanumay shared his opinions on “Marty Supreme.”

“I’m not as well versed in film as I’d like, although I did catch a few movies this year that I found to be     particularly interesting, one of them being ‘Marty Supreme,’” Abanumay said. “I was very excited about the movie at first because the rollout for the movie and marketing campaign was unbelievable. The movie itself I was a little disappointed by.”

Chalamet was nominated for Best Actor     in a Leading Role going against many household names like Leonardo Dicaprio, Ethan Hawke and Michael B. Jordan.

Andreski shared his opinions on this category.

“Actually, it’s a really tough year for best actor,” Andreski said. “Between Michael Jordan for ‘Sinners,’ Timothée Chalamet for ‘Marty Supreme’ and Leonardo Dicaprio for ‘One Battle After Another.’” 

The category for Best Actress in a Leading Role also held many well known actresses, including Emma Stone, Kate Hudson and Rose Byrne. 

Conan O’Brien celebrates at the 98th annual Oscars award ceremony. Photo courtesy of @theacademy/Instagram

At the end of the night the winners were officially declared with Best Actor going to Michael B. Jordan for his role in “Sinners” and Best Actress going to Jessie Buckley for her role in “Hamnet,” a historical drama about William Shakespeare. 

After the ceremony Jordan took his celebration to a local In-N-Out where many fans crowded around to celebrate his newest accomplishment.

Michael B. Jordan receiving an Oscar for Best Actor from last year’s winner,  Adrien Brody. Photo courtesy of @theacademy/Instagram