Vampires and ping pong: the year the Oscars gets weird

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If you’ve scrolled through TikTok or Instagram lately you’ll likely drown in the ‘2026 is the new 2016’ discourse.

Everyone is reposting lo-fi selfies with the Snapchat puppy filter and streaming The Life of Pablo like it is a religious text. People yearn for the vibes of ten years ago when the world felt different and the biggest drama involved finding a Pokémon in a park.

But while the internet looks backward, the Academy decided to do something completely out of character.

They stopped fighting the future and let the chaos in.

The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards dropped yesterday. The headline is not just that Ryan Coogler broke the all-time nomination record. It is what he broke it with. Sinners is not a biopic about a tortured physicist or a quiet drama about divorce.

It is a period horror movie about vampires fighting the Klan in the Jim Crow South.

Let that sink in. The movie with 16 nominations features Michael B. Jordan ripping throats out.

It earned more nods than Titanic or All About Eve. If we ask whether this is a ‘banger year’ for pictures the answer is an emphatic yes. The Academy finally realized that prestige does not have to mean boring.

The Vampire in the Room

Coogler’s dominance corrects a decade of side-eyeing true horror.

The Academy accepted the ‘elevated’ sci-fi of Everything Everywhere All At Once and the monster romance of The Shape of Water. Yet they usually treat actual blood-and-guts horror like an embarrassing cousin at a wedding.

You tolerate them but do not let them near the microphone. This year they handed the cousin the microphone and a gold statue.

Ping Pong and Panic Attacks

Then comes the category of things we saw coming but still cannot quite believe. We all knew Marty Supreme would get in.

You simply do not put Timothée Chalamet in a moustache with a ping-pong paddle and let Josh Safdie direct him without the Academy swooning.

It creates the kind of high-octane anxiety cinema that usually gives voters a heart attack. Apparently table tennis acts as the great unifier. Chalamet’s Best Actor nod seemed locked the moment the trailer dropped.

But seeing Safdie in Best Director serves as a nice tip of the hat to A24’s relentless campaigning.

The Aussie Invasion

For local industry watchers this list represents a massive victory. In fact this counts as our strongest showing in the major categories since the Mad Max: Fury Road sweep.

Rose Byrne finally gets her due with a Best Actress nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. She has operated as the secret weapon of every film she has appeared in for two decades. Seeing her land a spot in this crowded field feels deeply satisfying.

But the invasion goes deeper.

Jacob Elordi picked up a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role as the Creature in Frankenstein which proves he offers more than just Euphoria heartthrob energy.

The legendary Nick Cave scored a nomination for Best Original Song in Train Dreams.

Add in Fiona Crombie’s recognition for her stunning Production Design on Hamnet and it becomes clear. If you want to make a global blockbuster you just need to hire half of Australia to make it happen.

The Snubs That Hurt

However we cannot talk about this year without addressing the Paul Mescal situation. Hamnet performed well overall. Chloé Zhao returned to the fold and Jessie Buckley’s Best Actress nod is richly deserved.

But leaving Paul Mescal off the Best Actor list feels personal. His performance as Shakespeare served as the emotional anchor of the film. Seeing him pushed out by Ethan Hawke’s late-breaking surge in Blue Moon is the kind of classic Academy heartbreak that fuels angry group chats for months.

And then the silence. The deafening silence for Wicked: For Good (Part 2).

After the first film printed money and gold statues everyone assumed the second half would run a victory lap.

Instead it face-planted. Zero nominations. Not for Ariana Grande. Not for Cynthia Erivo. Not even for Costumes.

It seems the Academy suffered from severe ‘green fatigue.’ It serves as a brutal reminder that you cannot simply split a movie in half and expect double the applause.

Nostalgia is for Suckers

So back to the 2016 question. The social media nostalgia for that year roots itself in the idea that 2016 marked the last time the ‘vibes’ were immaculate before the world got too complicated.

But look at this year’s crop. We have Bugonia where Yorgos Lanthimos somehow convinced the Academy that a conspiracy theory comedy about kidnapping a CEO counts as high art.

We have Paul Thomas Anderson returning with One Battle After Another which is less a movie and more a psychedelic vibe check starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

This is not a safe year. It is a weird and jagged year.

If 2016 was the year the old guard collided with the new guard then 2026 is the year the new guard simply took over the building and changed the locks.

We have vampires and ping-pong pros leading the pack.

So put away the rose-tinted glasses and delete that old Instagram repost. The ‘good old days’ were fine.

But did they have Michael B. Jordan fighting the undead? I didn’t think so. This is a vintage year.

Let’s enjoy the chaos.

 

The 2026 Oscar Season Cheat Sheet and Full list of Noms

The Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026. The Host: Conan O’Brien (Round 2).

The Venue: The Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.

The Frontrunner: Sinners (16 noms).

The Dark Horse: Marty Supreme (If the voters decide they prefer ping pong to vampires).

The Aussie Hopefuls: Rose Byrne (Actress), Jacob Elordi (Supporting Actor), Nick Cave (Song), Fiona Crombie (Production Design).

Best Picture

• Bugonia (Producers: Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone)
• F1 (Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Brad Pitt, Joseph Kosinski)
• Frankenstein (Producers: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale)
• Hamnet (Producers: Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, Chloé Zhao)
• Marty Supreme (Producers: Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie)
• One Battle After Another (Producers: Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, Paul Thomas Anderson)
• The Secret Agent (Producers: Wagner Moura, Kleber Mendonça Filho)
• Sentimental Value (Producers: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berloff)
• Sinners (Producers: Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler)
• Train Dreams (Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner)

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
• Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
• Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)
• Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)
• Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

Best Actor

• Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
• Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
• Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
• Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

Best Actress

• Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
• Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
• Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
• Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
• Emma Stone (Bugonia)

Best Supporting Actor

• Willem Dafoe (The Secret Agent)
• Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
• Delroy Lindo (Sinners)
• Jeremy Strong (Marty Supreme)
• Christoph Waltz (Frankenstein)

Best Supporting Actress

• Kathy Bates (Sentimental Value)
• Joan Chen (The Wedding Banquet)
• Elle Fanning (Marty Supreme)
• Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
• Anya Taylor-Joy (The Sacrifice)

Best Original Screenplay

• Bugonia (Will Tracy)
• Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein)
• One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
• Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt)
• Sinners (Ryan Coogler)

Best Adapted Screenplay

• F1 (Ehren Kruger)
• Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)
• Hamnet (Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell)
• The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
• Train Dreams (Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar)

Best Animated Feature

• Cat in the Hat
• Elio
• The Goon
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
• Wildwood

Best International Feature Film

• Alpha (France)
• The Choral (United Kingdom)
• Hope (South Korea)
• The Master and Margarita (Russia/Germany)
• Vermiglio (Italy)

Best Production Design

• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet (Fiona Crombie)
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners

Best Cinematography

• F1 (Claudio Miranda)
• Frankenstein (Dan Laustsen)
• One Battle After Another (Michael Bauman)
• Sentimental Value (Kasper Tuxen)
• Sinners (Autumn Durald Arkapaw)

Best Costume Design

• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners (Ruth E. Carter)

Best Film Editing

• F1
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners
• The Smashing Machine

Best Sound

• F1
• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects

• Bugonia
• F1
• Frankenstein
• Mickey 17
• Sinners

Best Original Score

• Bugonia (Jerskin Fendrix)
• Frankenstein (Alexandre Desplat)
• One Battle After Another (Jonny Greenwood)
• Sinners (Ludwig Göransson)
• Train Dreams (Nicholas Britell)

Best Original Song

• “Drive” from F1
• “Eternal” from Sinners
• “Ping Pong Heart” from Marty Supreme (Performed by Tyler, The Creator)
• “Red Right Hand (Reprise)” from Train Dreams (Nick Cave)
• “The Creature’s Lullaby” from Frankenstein

Best Casting

• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners

Main Image: Michael B. Jordan in Sinners

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