Critics hail Robert Pattinson’s Antinous in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey as the breakout star, fueling Oscar chatter as he moves from Twilight’s teen idol to a fearless, eclectic actor whose career spans Cronenberg, Herzog, and Denis—and he remains a magnetic, bankable presence with future projects like Dune 3 and a Batman return on the horizon.
The James Beard Foundation announced the 2026 Restaurant and Chef winners at a Chicago ceremony hosted by Gail Simmons, with Kalaya named Outstanding Restaurant and Lei as Best New Restaurant; other top honors went to Michael Tusk (Outstanding Chef), Adrian Torres (Emerging Chef), Wild Crumb (Outstanding Bakery), and Loma (Best New Bar), among many category winners, while humanitarian and lifetime achievement awards were given to No Us Without You founders and Nancy Silverton respectively, underscoring immigrant contributions to American dining.
Chicago’s Lyric Opera hosted the 2026 James Beard Awards, where the Restaurant and Chef winners were announced after a season that also revealed America’s Classics winners and the finalists; media, cookbook, journalism and other categories were recognized in the lead‑up, with Eater providing live updates and Gail Simmons as host.
An NYT Styles roundup spotlights eight stars—Teyana Taylor, Amy Madigan, Ryan Coogler, Odessa A’Zion, Jessie Buckley, Ethan Hawke, Audrey Nuna and Miles Caton—who defined this awards season with bold, varied looks across the Globes, Grammys and Oscars, from Taylor’s Schiaparelli back-bow gown to Coogler’s mix of tailored suiting and distinctive details and Nuna’s avant-garde volumes.
An early, unofficial wishlist of contenders for the 2026 Oscars, outlining predicted nominees across major categories (Best Picture, Director, acting, writing, tech) with sample titles including Digger, Dune: Part Three, The Odyssey, Parallel Tales, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, All of a Sudden, Artificial, At the Sea, Behemoth!, and Being Heumann. The piece notes the predictions are speculative, biased toward established filmmakers and English-language releases early in the season, and includes brief glimpses of other potential contenders and release hints as the awards race begins.
The 2026 Oscars spotlight Timothée Chalamet, featured a notably political telecast, sparked fashion/“tie” debates, and signaled a shifting Hollywood power dynamic with rising stars, all while ABC/Hulu drew 17.86 million viewers, a four-year low.
Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Aunt Gladys in Weapons, a win that underscores the Oscars’ shifting relationship with horror; the piece debates a three‑way race and speculates on which future horror performances could define the category, noting precedents and the genre’s growing pull at the Academy.
The Hollywood Reporter’s awards-season overview by Mikey O’Connell catalogs the ongoing race’s highs and lows—from festive ovations in Europe and sharp emcee moments to relentless campaign energy around Timothée Chalamet and strategic moves by studios—while calling out overused tropes (like dead-children trauma) and weighing frontrunners amid a crowded field as the Oscars approach.
What I’m Hearing’s 2026 Awards Season Awards delivers a playful recap of the year, spanning from Chalamet’s self-immolation to Hamnet’s self-inflation and Sydney Sweeney’s timing. It notes the season had strong films but little offscreen drama until the final stretch, with Timothée Chalamet’s quip about ballet and opera coinciding with voting closure as the near-scandal.
THR’s Oscars forecast by Scott Feinberg predicts One Battle After Another as the frontrunner for Best Picture with six precursor wins, followed by Sinners and Hamnet. He also pins Paul Thomas Anderson to win Best Director for One Battle After Another, with Michael B. Jordan favored for Best Actor and Jessie Buckley for Best Actress, while other categories hinge on precursors and recent awards (BAFTA surprises, etc.) shaping the final outcomes.
Three top stylists—Kate Young (Rose Byrne), Michael Fisher (Ethan Hawke) and Anastasia Walker (Hudson Williams)—discuss how they plan an awards-season “style arc,” balancing early fittings, brand partnerships, and comfort to create cohesive, elevated looks across festivals, high-profile events, and ultimately the Oscars, while juggling last-minute changes and weather concerns to ensure each client shines on Hollywood’s biggest night.
IndieWire’s final 24 Oscar picks forecast a close race: One Battle After Another is predicted to win six awards (including Best Picture and Best Director), while Sinners could take four (Actor, Original Screenplay, Casting, Score) and Frankenstein three (Costume, Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling). The piece weighs PTA versus Ryan Coogler for Best Director, wagers Jessie Buckley as Best Actress and Michael B. Jordan as Best Actor, and notes potential wins for Sinners across multiple categories plus a likely sweep for KPop Demon Hunters in Animated features and Song, signaling a night with strategic voting and possible upsets across many categories.
Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy—Warner Bros.’ co-chairs and co-CEOs—surged from near-fire to steering the studio to a record Oscar year, with two Best Picture frontrunners (Sinners and One Battle After Another), a string of box-office hits, and 30 nominations. Their journey—from MGM leadership and a firing at New Line to a contract renewal amid a Netflix/Paramount tug-of-war—centers on backing filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, championing ambitious, theatrically driven projects, and staying focused on the studio’s North Star: delivering exceptional films to theaters.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Ben Zauzmer reports on a Casting Society of America poll in which 92 casting directors ranked their top five 2010–2025 films as likely Best Casting nominees and then used Oscar-style ranked-choice voting to pick hypothetical winners. The results map a history of casting selections—for years like 2010 Inglourious Basterds, 2011 The Social Network, 2012 The Help, 2013 Argo, 2014 12 Years a Slave, 2015 Birdman, 2016 Spotlight, 2017 Moonlight, 2018 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 2019 Black Panther, 2020 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 2021 Nomadland, 2022 CODA, 2023 Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2024 Oppenheimer, and 2025 Wicked—to illustrate how a Best Casting award would correlate with Best Picture status and acting nominations, while noting data limitations and other insights from the survey.
Vulture ranks all 50 2026 Oscar-nominated features and shorts, highlighting a strong, diverse year with record nominations (Sinners with 16; One Battle After Another with 13) and crowning It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi at No. 1 for its urgent, darkly funny take on collective justice. The piece blends praise and critique across a wide array of titles, noting surprises, flaws, and standout performances while delivering a definitive, opinionated ordering.