Topline:
Last night's Oscars ceremony was expected to be a showdown between the vampires and the revolutionaries, between Sinners and One Battle After Another.
And the Oscars went to... In the end, One Battle After Another won both best picture and best director, but it was a very good night for Sinners, too, including an original screenplay award for writer and director Ryan Coogler.
Keep reading... for more on some of the evening's most notable moments.
As Sunday's Oscars ceremony approached, it seemed to be shaping up to be a showdown between the vampires and the revolutionaries, between Sinners and One Battle After Another. In the end, One Battle After Another won both best picture and best director, but it was a very good night for Sinners, too, including an original screenplay award for writer and director Ryan Coogler.
There were some surprises over the course of the evening, including a rare tie in the live action short category, a remembrance of Robert Redford that included Barbra Streisand singing a bit of "The Way We Were," and Jimmy Kimmel stepping in just long enough to make some pointed comments about media censorship. But let's go over some of the major takeaways.
Paul Thomas Anderson won best director for One Battle After Another after three previous nominations for There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread and Licorice Pizza. Anderson had already won several major Oscar precursor awards this year, including top directing prizes at the BAFTAs and from the Directors Guild of America, so he was the odds-on favorite. The other nominees in the category were relative newcomers: Ryan Coogler, Josh Safdie and Joachim Trier were all first-time directing nominees; Chloé Zhao was nominated (and won) for Nomadland at the ceremony in 2021.
Sinners is a drama, but it's also very much a genre film. It's horror. It's vampires. Those are not the kinds of films that most often win Oscars for actors. But Jordan, with his first nomination, won over performers from much more traditionally awards-friendly films. Three of those actors (Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Ethan Hawke) already had multiple acting nominations before this year.
The last actor to win for a genre film might have been Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, since that was technically a comic-book movie, but that one did away with most of its genre trappings and pressed itself into a dramatic mold, which Sinners emphatically does not. Before that, while definitions of genre aren't bright lines, you might have to go all the way back to ... Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, if you consider that horror? Maybe even further? At any rate, it's a great win for an actor who has been beloved at least since The Wire almost 25 years ago, who's been doing rich and varied work ever since. His victory is also a win for his lengthy and fruitful collaboration with Ryan Coogler in Sinners, but also in Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther.
(We don't mean Amy Madigan the person, of course.) Madigan won best supporting actress for her deeply unsettling and entirely singular performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons, which is even more fully a horror movie than Sinners. While the nominated cast members from Sinners — Jordan, Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku — play regular people who are swept into an unreal situation, Madigan is playing, essentially, the boogeyman (boogeywoman?). It's thrilling to see the Academy recognize a performance that is as weird and funny and scary as just the last few minutes of what Madigan does in Zach Cregger's terrifying story of a town that sees a whole classroom full of its children disappear.
This was the first year that there was an Oscar for casting, which is very much overdue — there have been casting Emmys for ages. It was easy to argue for any of the nominated casting directors. Marty Supreme and The Secret Agent both deploy nontraditional actors in some roles, Sinners and One Battle both use a wide variety of well-known and well-regarded stars in interesting ways, and Hamnet places most of the weight of an enormously heavy story on the shoulders of just a couple of performers, including best actress winner Jessie Buckley.
Cassandra Kulukundis, who won for One Battle After Another, not only has been working with Paul Thomas Anderson for ages, but she also worked on casting (get this) for both The Brutalist and Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle. But all the nominees have tremendous resumes. Francine Maisler, who was nominated for Sinners, was the credited casting director for Arrival, Creed, Baby Driver, Widows, and Challengers! Honestly, the biggest problem in the category was that everybody couldn't win.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who won best cinematography for her work on Sinners, was only the fourth woman, and the first woman of color, to be nominated in the category. She becomes the first woman to win. Sinners is a sumptuously, inventively, beautifully shot film, and the cinematography is one of the core crafts that makes it so effective.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
The Academy Awards were last night in Hollywood, hosted by Conan O'Brien. The stars walked the red carpet in a wide range of styles.
Keep reading... to check out the gowns, suits and jewels chosen by stars.
Copyright 2026 NPR
The Academy Awards were Sunday night in Hollywood, hosted by Conan O'Brien.
One Battle After Another took home best picture, in addition to awards for Paul Thomas Anderson for best director and best adapted screenplay. Sinners star Michael B. Jordan won best actor, and Hamnet's Jessie Buckley won best actress.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Last spring, Dr. Alberto Román was appointed chancellor of the L.A. Community College District. Since then, he's had to lead LACCD's response to a federal government that's taken an aggressive stance toward undocumented immigrants, many of whom are enrolled in community colleges.
How immigration detentions are affecting students: According to Román, some students have become the head of their households overnight, after having their parents detained and deported. Alouette Cervantes-Salazar, who runs East L.A. College’s Dream Resource Center, also said “quite a bit” of students have moved to take coursework online.
Support for students in mixed-status families: The district’s Dream Resource Centers are hustling to provide legal support, temporary housing options, additional mental health services and food vouchers for affected students.
When Alberto Román was a boy growing up in the Mexican state of Durango, his father was often far from home. Most times, he’d be gone for months.
Román’s father, Javier, had a third-grade education. And when work was scarce in Mexico, he’d venture north to the United Sates and take whatever job he could find.
Javier washed cars. He worked in factories. He picked crops. He built houses.
“He was a guy you would find at Home Depot,” Román told LAist. “He did whatever it took to put food on the table and provide [his family] with shelter.”
Román missed his father terribly, and he relished the time alone with him. When his father would return to Mexico, they'd hike to a majestic statue of the revolutionary Pancho Villa, where Román and his father could also look out at their city.
Román did not know it then but, soon, that view would become a memory. When he was eight, his father returned; but, this time, Javier took his son, his daughter, and his wife with him back to the U.S. The family settled in Rialto, in California's Inland Empire. Suddenly, Román had a new home and new challenges to contend with.
The move to Rialto unfurled a series of labels and experiences. Román became undocumented; an “English language learner”; a teenage father; a parenting student. With time, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen and, then, a first-generation college graduate who would one day earn a doctorate.
Today, Román serves as chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, which includes nine campuses and more than 200,000 students.
A lot of these students are parents like he was, Román said, and the vast majority of them have to work to help put themselves through school.
And many of them are also immigrants.
Román was appointed chancellor last May. Soon after, the Trump administration unleashed its militarized mass deportation effort, which included raids and a show of force throughout L.A. County.
One of the chancellor’s responsibilities is managing LACCD’s response to the Trump administration.
Undocumented college students in the U.S. are racially and ethnically diverse. California has an estimated 100,000 undocumented students, who make up a small percentage of the overall higher ed population. The majority of those undocumented students are enrolled in community colleges.
In conversation with LAist, Román referred to the ongoing raids and immigration detentions as “inhumane.” He also described the experience of a student whose father didn’t come home one night. After being detained by immigration agents, Román said, the student’s family “didn't know where he was for two months.”
The student was 20 years old when her father was taken. Overnight, she became the head of her household. Now, on top of fulfilling her responsibilities at school, she has to figure out how to keep herself and her younger siblings housed and fed.
To support students in mixed-status families, the district’s Dream Resource Centers provide them with legal support, temporary housing options, additional mental health services and food vouchers.
Alouette Cervantes-Salazar coordinates East Los Angeles College’s Dream Resource Center, which provides support and services for undocumented students; DACA and TPS recipients; and students in mixed-status families.
According to Cervantes-Salazar, the Trump administration’s deportation effort has transformed campus life. When the raids began last summer, she said, “quite a bit” of students who used to take classes in person moved to complete the semester online.
For some, Cervantes-Salazar added, online coursework has become preferable because it enables students to better juggle school and work. For others, the fear of getting to and from campus amid roving immigration patrols has become a decisive factor.
Whether the Dream Resource Centers' support will be enough to meet student needs remains to be seen, but Román takes their stories to heart.
“These are the stories of our community,” he said. “These are the stories of our students. These are the stories of their parents. And they are our stories, because they come to us for an education.”
Román’s story in the U.S. began in the 1980s. After moving to California, it took Román about two years to learn enough English to communicate with his classmates. Until then, his time in school was lonely.
Back then, dual language immersion programs — an educational model that teaches students in English and another language (such as Spanish or Mandarin) to achieve biliteracy — were rare in the U.S. At Román’s elementary school, he said, they were nonexistent.
To help him learn English, Román’s educators placed him in a separate room for about three hours a day. He was given a stack of books. His job was to put on headphones, listen to audio recordings of the texts and do his best to follow along.
When Román tried speaking English, some students made fun of his accent. A bilingual child who struggled with Spanish was tasked with serving as his interpreter.
Román said he cried to his parents. “I'm not happy here,” he told them. "Let's go back.”
His parents made it clear that returning to Mexico was not an option. They’d been poor and had limited schooling, and they wanted something different for their children. Though neither of Román’s parents got to finish high school, he said, they were determined to send their children to college.
Román’s older sister graduated at the top of her class and went on to UCLA. Román aimed to follow in her footsteps.
But, when he was a high school senior, Román learned his girlfriend was pregnant. He was 17, and he wasn’t sure how fatherhood would square with pursuing higher education.
When Román told his parents there was a baby on the way, they remained steadfast. "Now you have all the more reason to go to college," his father told him. That fall, Román enrolled at UC Riverside.
To help provide for his son, Román got a job at Payless ShoeSource, where he worked up to 40 hours a week. When possible, Román stacked his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to keep the rest of the week open for work.
“It was tough,” Román said. “I was getting home at 10, 10:30 at night, trying to read, trying to do essays, trying to be a father.”
“In moments of weakness,” he added, he contemplated quitting school. But, like his parents, Román wanted a better life for his son.
Román graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1999. When he crossed the stage at his commencement ceremony, his child, his parents and his sister beamed from the audience.
Today, Román connects his lived experience to that of students at the district, 70% of whom study part-time. “That’s because they're working, because they have families,” he said.
Last spring, Román watched thousands of new graduates embrace their loved ones after receiving their diplomas at a commencement ceremony at the Greek Theatre.
“When I see my students on stage waving their degrees — despite all the challenges they face — that award is so much more meaningful,” he said. “I know what they went through.”
In this edition:
Plus, see world-famous actors perform stories about the ocean, listen to French synth-pop, check out photos from the border and more of the best things to do this week.
Highlights:
Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating the end of Ramadan this week! If doughnuts are part of your tradition, find out why, as LAist’s Yusra Farzan digs into the history of this Eid specialty.
Licorice Pizza has your music picks; on Monday, you can celebrate the best in pop at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre, while on Tuesday, R&B singer Son Little plays the Troubadour. Tuesday and Wednesday, New Orleans songstress Madeleine Peyroux presents WE ARE AMERICA: Songs That Give Us Hope at the Blue Note. Also on Wednesday, shoegaze stars Nothing are at the Belasco, and a whole bunch of bold-faced names will be at “Toby Gad & Friends” at the Hotel Café. On Thursday, hip-hop legend Talib Kweli plays the Blue Note, Australian dance artist 1tbsp plays the Fonda, Irish indie-pop duo 49th & Main play the El Rey Theatre and Canadian folksters The Barr Brothers play their first of two nights at the Troubadour with support from Benjamin Lazar Davis.
Elsewhere on LAist, you can check out the history of restaurant menus in Koreatown, meet the local veterans performing Shakespeare or grab a ticket for our dance class with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater on March 24 — no experience required!
Through Saturday, April 25
Perrotin
5040 W. Pico Blvd., Mid-City
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Back in 2017, I took a road trip to Tecate, Mexico to see French photo artist JR’s enormous installation — a towering image of a child peering over the Mexican border across to the same, dusty Southern California landscape on the other side. It was a powerful message about humanity, immigration and social justice. He brings that photo and many more to a new solo show, Horizons, on view now at Perrotin.
Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.
Saban Theatre
8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
COST: FROM $30; MORE INFO
If you haven’t been to a WORDTheatre event, you’re in for a treat, as actors and musicians take to the Saban stage to present stories and songs from the sea. Producer Cedering Fox pairs performers with stories that speak to them, and brings short pieces to life in unique ways. This one kicks off with Sharon Stone and Lily Tomlin, and features performances from Dave Bayley of Glass Animals, Bruce Vilanch, Bellamy Young (Scandal) and many more who will share moving works about the importance of our oceans ahead of L.A. Climate Week. Plus, Best Things to Do readers can use the code LAist for 15% off all tickets.
Ongoing
6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
COST: DONATION; MORE INFO
Did you know there’s donation-based yoga, outside among the friendly spirits of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, several times a week? Start your day off with Kundalini, Vinyasa flow, or meditation with some of L.A.’s top teachers. Check the schedule and bring your mat, towel, water and, of course, sunscreen.
Thursday, March 19, 7 p.m.
Beyond Baroque
681 Venice Blvd., Venice
COST: FREE, SOLD OUT BUT MAY BE AVAILABLE ONSITE DAY-OF; MORE INFO
Punk icon Richard Hell heads to (where else) Venice to read from his novel, Godlike. A story about love between two young poets — a 27-year-old man and a teenage boy — is “based on Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine’s notorious affair, but set in the epochal downtown poetry scene of filthy 1970s New York.” Take yourself back to a grittier (and simpler) time. The event is sold out, but tickets may be available in person on the day of the reading.
Wednesday, March 18, 8 p.m.
The Roxy
9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
COST: $35.25; MORE INFO
I’ve been using French music and ChatGPT to practice my French language skills lately, so I’m pretty into Swiss songstress Vendredi Sur Mer. She brings her dreamy French synth-pop that evokes time in the Swiss Alps to the Roxy; her latest album, Malabar Princess, is out now.
Tuesday, March 17, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Cat & Fiddle
742 Highland Ave., West Hollywood
COST: FREE, DRINK AND FOOD SPECIALS; MORE INFO
Corned beef and cabbage, Guinness, whiskey specials and a burlesque show are all on tap at the annual St. Patrick’s Day party at the Cat & Fiddle pub. Raise a glass and say sláinte to another year of Irish luck.
Through Friday, March 27
Bank of America Plaza
333 S. Hope Street, Downtown L.A.
COST: STARTING AT $65; MORE INFO
Show Timothée Chalamet who’s boss and go to the ballet. We have a great dance community in L.A., and this special performance from American Contemporary Ballet of two classic George Balanchine pieces — La Source (presented for the first time in Los Angeles in more than 40 years) and Concerto Barocco — displays the extraordinary talent required for ballet and the art form's lasting impact.
Topline:
As L.A. prepares to host the global soccer tournament – and the Olympics in 2028 – organizers and local officials say that making sure fans and city infrastructure are ready to endure the heat is critical. That's especially true as the region gets warmer due to climate change.
Why it matters: Keeping cool is no easy feat in Los Angeles, a city overflowing with practically shade-less palm trees, exposed bus stops and miles of asphalt.
What's LA doing? L.A.'s making plans for locals and visitors who will be at SoFi Stadium, fan events, and watch parties. Those changes, though, will be temporary: pop-up hydration stations, shade structures and a public messaging campaign on how to stay safe in the heat.
Read on... for more on how advocates are hoping for more permanent changes ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
If 90 degree days in March are any indication, by the time the World Cup arrives in Los Angeles this summer, it could be really hot.
As L.A. prepares to host the global soccer tournament – and the Olympics in 2028 – organizers and local officials say that making sure fans and city infrastructure are ready to endure the heat is critical. That's especially true as the region gets warmer due to climate change.
That's no easy feat in Los Angeles, a city overflowing with practically shade-less palm trees, exposed bus stops and miles of asphalt.
" We're living in a new reality where heat is no longer a background condition – it's an operational threat, a public health emergency," Susana Reyes, Metro's head of sustainability policy, said at a recent county meeting on Olympics preparations. "[It] shows up first where people are most exposed: on the sidewalks, at bus stops, at stadium queuing lines and on long walks to and from transit."
L.A.'s making plans for locals and visitors who will be at SoFi Stadium, fan events, and watch parties. Those changes, though, will be temporary: pop-up hydration stations, shade structures and a public messaging campaign on how to stay safe in the heat.
Some say they hope the tournament can lead to more permanent investments in Los Angeles.
"The World Cup provides an opportunity… to test things out during the World Cup and then scale them up in advance of 2028," said Edith de Guzman with ShadeLA, a collaboration between USC and UCLA working with local governments to bring more permanent shade to the Los Angeles area.
Los Angeles is counting on its public transit system to carry a lot of the burden when an influx of fans come to town this summer and again for the Olympic Games. That means many fans, local and visiting, will be on foot, the bus or train in a city that is famously car-centric.
" For major events like the World Cup and the Olympics, millions of visitors will rely on transit often during the hottest parts of the day," said Reyes, with Metro. " We are concerned about seniors, children, people with disabilities as they take public transit and are exposed under the heat of the sun."
Metro will deploy temporary pop-up shade structures and hydration stations at the bus stops it's setting up specifically to shuttle people to and from SoFi Stadium.
It will also launch a public messaging campaign starting next month, putting up signage on buses and at bus stops with tips on staying cool and avoiding heat illness.
A spokesperson with the mayor's office said the city will use similar tactics at its fan watch parties that are slated to take place across the city, and is collaborating with council districts and the Department of Parks and Recreation on shade structures and hydration stations.
There are bigger expectations for L.A.'s plans to address the heat come 2028. The last two times the Olympics came to Los Angeles, the city launched major tree planting programs. L.A. planted tens of thousands of palm trees in the run up to 1932. An L.A. non-profit led the charge to plant one million trees ahead of the 1984 Games.
Planners are taking a different approach ahead of this Olympics, focusing on shade structures more broadly rather than specifically on planting trees.
Edith de Guzman with ShadeLA said that's because planting trees is resource intensive, requiring funds to plant and maintain the trees, especially in the first years after they've been planted. Planting trees also requires community buy-in.
" [Research] really points to shade as being the ingredient that is kind of a slam dunk way to create that safety that we seek," she said. " Trees are still our favorite type of cooling, but we're broadening it to also include more flexibility."
That means canopies, pop-up structures and infrastructure to create shade, with or without tree cover.
ShadeLA is working with the city, county and Olympics committee LA28 on a regional plan to bring more shade to communities ahead of 2028. It's created a map of communities lacking tree cover that are expected to see an influx of activity from the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics.
But many of the specifics are still to come. That's also true of LA28, which has promised to create a "Heat Mitigation Plan." A spokesperson told LAist that it was expected to be finished by mid-2027.
One permanent program already in the works will bring more shade to L.A.'s transit riders. The Bureau of Street Services is building 3,000 new bus shelters around the city to replace L.A.'s many exposed transit stops. According to Dan Halden with StreetsLA, the department has installed 300 shelters since 2024, and expects to add 200 more by 2028.
Still, L.A. has a long way to go. In L.A. County, urban areas have just 21% shade cover at noon on average, according to data from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation – less than the national average of 27%. And it's only getting hotter. By 2050, average temperatures in the county are expected to rise by almost four degrees.
