Antonia Cereijido
covers arts, culture and entertainment for LAist’s on-demand team.
Published October 9, 2024 9:39 AM
BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors (center) was joined by LA City Council members both past and present in calling for unarmed responses to mental health calls (January 17, 2023).
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Robert Garrova / LAist
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Topline:
Artist co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors speaks with "Imperfect Paradise" host Antonia Cereijido about the U.S. presidential election.
Who is Patrisse Cullors? Cullors is an artist, abolitionist and a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.
What will we hear in this episode? Cullors discusses leaving BLM in 2021, how L.A. shaped her art and activism, and what’s at stake in this year’s presidential election. And as a prison abolitionist, she shares her perspective on presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who rose to power within the criminal justice system.
Read on... for excerpts from the interview and to listen to the podcast episode.
In the lead up to the U.S. presidential election, "Imperfect Paradise" will be sitting down with four notable Californians to talk about a range of issues including gender, race and democratic values.
The series includes philosopher and gender studies scholar Judith Butler, Republican campaign strategist and author of “The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy” Mike Madrid, and newly inaugurated president of the Los Angeles City Council Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
This week’s guest is artist, abolitionist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors. Cullors grew up in Los Angeles, a city she says “shaped my brain and body and also my organizing activism and art.”
Cullors would spend nearly a decade organizing under the banner of Black Lives Matter. She would go on to head the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation — a nonprofit that aimed to create infrastructure within the decentralized movement.
Cullors left the organization in 2021 after she was criticized by both right wing media and others in the BLM movement for what many saw as mismanagement of funds after it became public that the Black Lives Matter Global Network foundation spent $6 million to purchase a property that included a mansion using funds that were donated in response to the murder of George Floyd. She later said she used the property for private events twice.
Cullors has now turned her attention away from organizing and towards her artwork. This past summer, she had her first solo show at the Charles James Gallery in Chinatown titled Between the Warp and the Weftinspired by her Ifá Yoruba spiritual practice. Cullors has said that one of the questions she is asking in her work is “can Black women protect themselves?” It’s a question Antonia Cereijido, host of LAist Studio's "Imperfect Paradise," explores with Cullors — to understand what it means to her personally given the controversy that has shrouded her. It’s also a crucial question within the social justice movement and for the upcoming presidential election, in which, for the first time, a Black woman is on the top of a major party ticket.
Interview excerpts have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Cullors on how Los Angeles influenced her
Everything about growing up Black and poor and over policed in Los Angeles shaped everything. I mean, truly everything that I've done – witnessing and experiencing multiple raids in my home growing up, or my brother being on probation, which meant that a probation officer can show up anytime they want and search homes, search anything…We forget L.A. is the largest jailer in the world. This city has shaped the carceral language, carceral attitude of a country. Not the South, this city, Los Angeles, and a state that's a liberal progressive state. And so this place's carceral attitudes and policing shaped my brain and body and also my organizing activism and art.
Cullors when asked about allegations she mismanaged BLM’s funds while she was executive director of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation
So many things happened with the money. It paid people. At that point, I ushered $25 million back into community. And also, the money came in a month. BLM received like $100 million in a month. And we were getting ourselves together. Right now, if you go on BLM's website they have a whole transparency hub, you can see everything. And the fact that like, that hasn't been the like, headline is on purpose.
Antonia: But to be specific the critique was that there was a $6 million property. And I just want to clarify that that $6 million property was not bought for you and your personal home.
Patrisse: No…if you look at the NAACP, if you look at any large civil rights organizations, they have brick and mortar [properties]. Also, from a financial standpoint, dollars depreciate. So putting money and investing it back into something for Black people actually appreciates. I got calls from Black people where they said, “Yeah, that makes sense.” And other people didn't like that. And that's actually okay. What the right wing media did is exploit those disagreements. And then lifted them up… And we actually have to understand the difference. If we don't understand the difference, especially journalists and media outlets, then we end up just recreating right wing propaganda. And that's very dangerous.
Cullors on the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election
I feel like Vice President Kamala Harris has been put into a seat that is incredibly historic, not just because she may be the first Black woman president, but because she's up against a right wing movement that has also used their movement to lambast her. She's up against a historic moment to try to reposition very real things like abortion rights and the economy back into a place that many of us can feel proud of. So I have questions for her. I have questions for her around her relationship to what's happening in the Middle East in the region. I have questions for her around immigration. I have questions for her around policing and over policing of Black communities. And we should question any candidate. And I also understand the moment she is up against and the moment we are all up against.
Listen to the full interview on Imperfect Paradise here:
Artist, abolitionist, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors shares her perspective on what's at stake in the 2024 election and reflects on the current state of the BLM movement. Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido’s conversation with Cullors is part of a series of interviews with notable Californians in the lead up to the election, in which they talk about a range of key issues.
Patrisse Cullors on leaving BLM, racial justice, and the election
Artist, abolitionist, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors shares her perspective on what's at stake in the 2024 election and reflects on the current state of the BLM movement. Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido’s conversation with Cullors is part of a series of interviews with notable Californians in the lead up to the election, in which they talk about a range of key issues.
Gas prices at a station in Northridge on March 9, 2026. Gas prices have recently increased in the state as the U.S. war with Iran intensifies.
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Zin Chiang
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CalMatters
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Topline:
Iran war spikes gas prices, putting spotlight on California's refinery profit-cap rules and the state's shrinking fuel supply options.
The backstory: Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil markets turn calamitous. The legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed “California took on Big Oil and won.” Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a “landmark law” that “will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families.”
Why it matters: The law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.
Read on... for more about this law and why California hasn't used it now.
Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil markets turn calamitous. The legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed "California took on Big Oil and won."
Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a "landmark law" that "will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families."
But the law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.
Now, with gas topping $5.30 a gallon statewide, that decision is under a new spotlight. The Iran war has sent global oil prices soaring — but the war is only part of the story. California has a structural problem: fewer refineries, a captive market and no easy outside supply options. When prices rise nationally, they can rise even more here.
Proponents say this is precisely the moment the 2023 law was designed for. The commissioners last year left the door open to rescind the delay — and move forward with the rule before the five years — if they change their minds.
"These are the moments we need them, because when the price of a commodity goes through the roof — be it crude oil or refined gasoline — that's when companies make outrageous profits," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.
But those who backed the delay argue it was a necessary concession — that penalizing refiners risked driving them out of the state entirely. It's a tension that cuts to the heart of California's energy predicament: how to protect consumers today from an industry the state can't yet afford to lose, while still making good on its promise to leave that industry behind.
California’s unused gas-price tools
When the California Energy Commission met last August Newsom was already retreating from his confrontation with the oil industry. The question before commissioners was whether to move ahead with aggressive rules targeting refinery profits — or step back, as the governor was doing.
It was a sharp reversal. Newsom had declared special legislative sessions in 2022 and 2024, pushing through sweeping new powers to curb gasoline price spikes — including requirements that refiners store more fuel and replace lost supply during maintenance, and the profit-cap rules now sitting dormant. A new energy commission oversight division created by the law found an unexplained gasoline premium of about 41 cents per gallon between 2015 and 2024, costing drivers an estimated $59 billion.
Gas prices are displayed on a sign at a filling station in Fresno on March 6, 2026.
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Larry Valenzuela
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CalMatters
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“Those are critically important laws,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity. “What that information shows is that Californians are at the mercy of a very few refiners with immense power.”
California’s oil industry strongly opposed the measures, and some economists remain skeptical of them. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein warned that capping refinery profits during shortages could backfire.
“The last thing we need is to start trying to regulate refinery margins,” he said. “As much as people don't like high gasoline prices, they really, really hate gas lines.”
By last August, refinery closures were looming and warnings of $8-a-gallon gasoline circulated in Sacramento. Newsom and Democratic leaders were negotiating with the oil industry to boost production in Kern County — talks that produced a law that has since driven an uptick in drilling permits.
After Valero said it would close its Benicia refinery, Newsom directed Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, to “redouble the state’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning” and ensure a “reliable supply of transportation fuels.” Gunda responded with a series of recommendations that aligned largely with industry’s desires — among them a pause in the state’s profit-cap rule.
Against that backdrop, energy commissioners voted on Aug. 29 to delay the rules for five years. Ahead of the vote, Gunda said the delay would help boost “investor confidence” in the state’s oil refiners, “thereby ensuring a reliable in-state refining capacity.”
Oil industry representatives say the decision made sense – the profit-cap measures, they argued, miss the real problem.
“The real problem is California is an energy island — we’re losing 17% of our refining capacity,” said Zachary Leary, a lobbyist for the Western States Petroleum Association.
But Court, of Consumer Watchdog, said the governor “panicked,” leaving the state without the “hammer” it now needs.
“When you have this type of level of gas run up, you're going to need those tools,” Court said.
The difficult middle of the energy transition
California has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045 — but it still depends heavily on gasoline, and it is losing the refineries that produce it.
Phillips 66 last year shut its Los Angeles refinery, citing concerns about the sustainability of the California market. Valero is closing its Benicia refinery next month, pointing to a challenging regulatory environment.
“If you start losing refineries — as we are going to — and you don't have an alternative source of supply, we're going to start getting price spikes when there's any sort of disruption at one of our refineries,” Borenstein said. “Or just during high demand periods.”
The challenge of reducing fossil fuel use while maintaining adequate supply has created what Gunda — Newsom’s point person in negotiations with the oil industry — calls the “mid-transition.
“This is not going to be a smooth transition,” Gunda said last month in testimony to a state Senate committee. “Every time you lose a refinery, it’s going to be a double-digit percent of refined fuel lost in California. So that abrupt transition will mean an abrupt increase in imports.”
A global oil shock hits California
The recent jump in gasoline prices reflects a global oil shock tied to the war with Iran — not a policy change unique to California, experts said. But the surge highlights how exposed the state remains to global energy markets as it loses refining capacity and imports more crude and gasoline.
Since the conflict began, the international benchmark for crude oil has climbed more than $25 a barrel — a shift that typically translates to about 60 cents per gallon at the pump, in line with the increase in California retail prices, argues Borenstein, of UC Berkeley.
“All of the change we've seen in the last couple of weeks is in line with the change in crude oil prices, and therefore is not California specific,” he said.
Newsom has made a similar argument, blaming the spike on global oil markets and the war with Iran rather than California policies. But analysts note that the state's shrinking refinery base means global shocks land harder here than elsewhere.
A key concern is the Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, the narrow waterway carried more than 20 million barrels of oil a day — roughly one-fifth of global supply. Traffic is now at a standstill, and crude prices topped $100 a barrel again — even after more than 30 countries announced releases from emergency reserves.
Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking, said a prolonged closure could push crude prices above $130 or $140 per barrel — driving California prices closer to $7, with a worst-case scenario approaching $10 at some stations.
Most analysts consider that outcome unlikely but no longer unthinkable.
“Right now, this doesn't appear likely, but it is a worst-case scenario that is growing by the day,” Cummings said.
Competing ideas for what comes next
Siegel, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said California should move forward immediately to implement the profit-cap rules and require companies to hold larger fuel inventories.
“Our leaders shouldn't rest until the rules are in place to prevent price gouging on top of volatility, and should not rest until people get their money back,” she said.
Economists say California’s biggest challenge may be infrastructure. Valero plans to close its Benicia refinery, which produces about 10% of the state’s gasoline, next month. In an analysis posted last year, Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Cummings said California could offset lost refinery production with gasoline imports – if permitting allows refineries like Benicia to convert to fuel import terminals. Newsom said in January his administration is working with the company to continue importing gasoline into Northern California after its refinery operations close.
“If I was in the Legislature right now, all of my energies and effort would be built on, one, making sure that Benicia gets turned into an import terminal — and two, making sure whoever owns or operates that is not an incumbent,” Cummings said.
Court, of Consumer Watchdog, pointed to a proposed Phillips 66 pipeline that could bring refined gasoline from Midwest refineries into the state – something California has never had, relying instead on in-state refining and marine imports. Dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline, the project would build a new pipeline and reverse an existing one to move gasoline and diesel from central U.S. refineries to Arizona and California.
One state lawmaker has proposed expanding access to E85, a cheaper ethanol blend. Both ideas remain proposals without clear timelines.
Meanwhile, some oil companies and even some Democrats are warning California’s climate policies could raise production costs enough that refineries reconsider operating in California — adding another pressure point to an already strained supply picture.
The profit-cap rules that could penalize oil companies remain on hold until 2029. By then, California may have lost more refineries — and may still be grappling with the problem Newsom once promised to solve: gasoline price shocks in the country’s most unaffordable market.
Monica Bushman
produces arts and culture coverage for LAist's on-demand team. She’s also part of the Imperfect Paradise podcast team.
Published March 13, 2026 5:00 AM
Conan O'Brien hosts the live ABC telecast of the 97th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on March 2, 2025.
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Trae Patton
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AMPAS
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Topline:
Want to watch the Oscars this weekend with other movie lovers, but don’t want to host a watch party yourself? Many Los Angeles bars and restaurants have you covered.
The details: The 98th Academy Awards are this Sunday, March 15. Hosted for the second time by Conan O'Brien, the show is airing on ABC and Hulu at 4 p.m. and there are lots of watch parties (some with Oscar ballot contests) happening in and around the city too.
Read on ... for a list of Oscar watch parties in L.A.
Wanna watch the Oscars this weekend with other movie lovers, but don’t want to host a watch party yourself? Many Los Angeles bars and restaurants have you covered.
While the fifth annual “Official” Oscars Watch Party held at The Academy Museum is sold out, there are still plenty of places showing the Academy Awards live. Here are a few to check out below:
(And when it comes to your Oscar ballot, LAist has you covered with expert predictions — and heated debates — from FilmWeek’s 24th annual Oscars Preview.)
Brazilian Oscars Watch Party
Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. Dusty Vinyl 11326 W Pico Blvd., West L.A. COST: $50; MORE INFO
LAist events columnist Laura Hertzfeld suggests checking out this unique watch party: “Why not celebrate with the Brazilians and their nomination for (the excellent film) The Secret Agent? Dusty Vinyl is being turned into a 1977 secret-agent-themed hideout for the occasion, with a bespoke menu (food is included) and live music before the show starts; '70s costumes encouraged.”
The Hollywood Roosevelt’s Academy Awards Viewing Gala
Sunday, March 15, 3-10 p.m. The Hollywood Roosevelt 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood COST: $375; MORE INFO
If you’re looking to splurge on a four-course dinner and get as close to the actual Academy Awards (held at the Dolby Theatre) as possible, the gala at The Hollywood Roosevelt is your spot. There’s also the added fun of watching the show in the ballroom where the very first Academy Awards were held in 1929.
Beers, Burgers and Best Picture
Sunday, March 15, 3:30 p.m. 33 Taps, all locations Culver City, Silver Lake, DTLA, WeHo COST: Free; MORE INFO
All 33 Taps sports bars will be showing the Oscars live on Sunday.
Oscars Watch Party at The Greyhound
Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m. The Greyhound Bar & Grill 5570 N Figueroa St., Highland Park COST: Free; MORE INFO
The Highland Park bar and grill will have an Oscar ballot contest with a $5 buy-in for a chance to win a cash prize.
Rooftop Red Carpet Dinner + Watch Party
Sunday, March 15, 2:30 p.m. Elevate Lounge 811 Wilshire Blvd., DTLA COST: $39; MORE INFO
If a “celebrity-style atmosphere” with a red carpet, rooftop views and 360 degree photobooth is what you’re looking for, Elevate Lounge has got you. Your VIP ticket includes complimentary hors d’oeuvres for the first two hours of the event from Takami Sushi & Robata.
Oscars Trivia + Screening Party
Sunday, March 15, 2 to 10 p.m. 2636 Huron St., Cypress Park COST: Free; MORE INFO
This trivia night, Oscar ballot contest and watch party is free, but formal attire is required. Trivia begins at 3 p.m., before the show starts.
Dinner in WeHo + the Oscars
Sunday, March 15, 4 p.m. La Boheme 8400 Santa Monica Blvd, WeHo COST: Free admission; MORE INFO
The West Hollywood Mediterranean restaurant will be showing the Oscars on their projector screen and offering Happy Hour specials all night (which they also offer every Monday-Thursday and Sunday).
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Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published March 13, 2026 5:00 AM
Beverly Soon Tofu's original menu, shown here painted on this gourd, is on display at the Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library for the rest of March.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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Topline:
Tien Nguyen, a food writer and Los Angeles Public Library creator in residence, has been digging through the library’s archives of restaurant menus from Koreatown to show the changes the neighborhood has been through over the decades.
One example: Nguyen points to a restaurant from the 1960s, called The Windsor. At the time it served mostly European dishes, like pasta. In the 1990s, however, under new ownership it became a Korean restaurant, called The Prince, which now offers comfort food favorites like bibim mandu and its signature Korean fried chicken.
How that reflects K-Town’s history: Nguyen ties the changes in menus to the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which allowed many more Koreans to emigrate to and settle in Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before local restaurants reflected the new demographic settling in the area.
See the menus: Nguyen will be presenting her talk “Menus as Neighborhood Maps: How Los Angeles Restaurant Menus Tell Stories of Community Formation” at 10:30am Saturday, March 14, at the L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
To learn more about K-Town’s culinary history: Keep reading.
It’s hard to look at a restaurant menu without being able to order anything from it, but Tien Nguyen has made it her mission to do exactly that.
Nguyen, a food writer and Los Angeles Public Library creator in residence, has been digging through the library’s archives of restaurant menus, some of which go back to the early 1900’s. She’s specifically focused on the neighborhood we now know as Koreatown, and says tracing the evolution of dishes offered can help us understand its history.
“ L.A.'s Koreatown is a really great example of the ways we can look at menus and see how the neighborhood has changed over time,” she said.
She’s been sharing her research with the public, and will be giving a talk this Saturday at L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
How restaurants reflect K-Town’s history
In the early 20th century, Koreatown was mostly known as Wilshire Center. Its Art Deco apartments were freshly built, and landmarks like the Ambassador Hotel were trendy spots for celebrities and dignitaries.
“There's one menu that I remember that is in honor of Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa, and you could see there was a big feast and banquet for them,” Nguyen said. “There were also menus for the king and queen of Greece.”
But soon after, other L.A. neighborhoods became in vogue and Koreatown hit a period of decline, even as high-rise buildings started to go up in the mid-20th century.
Following that, Koreatown started to take shape as into the diverse ethnic enclave it is today. Nguyen ties the changes to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed the United States’ highly restrictive quotas on immigration from certain countries, especially those in Asia.
About the menus
Nguyen told LAist the menu of the Korean restaurant The Prince is one of the best examples of this evolution. The restaurant now offers comfort food favorites like bibim mandu and its signature dakgangjeong. But in the middle of last century, it was known as The Windsor, and offered European continental fare.
The Windsor's food offerings from 1958.
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Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library
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“ It looks like they have great cocktails, they have really great fresh fruit alongside steaks and all sorts of different types of pastas,” Nguyen said. “When I look at those menus, you do have a bit of FOMO, but at the same time, I also am a person of color. So there's also this recognition that maybe I wouldn't have been welcome in some of those spaces as well.”
In the 1990s, the space came under new ownership and became The Prince – a Korean restaurant that still preserves its Old Hollywood charm.
“The thing to get there really is the Korean fried chicken, the tteokbokki – the rice cakes – and the Korean pancakes,” Nguyen said.
Another example which shows the emerging Korean influence of the area comes from the restaurant Beverly Soon Tofu, which opened in 1986. The restaurant’s menu was painted onto gourds, one of which is currently on display at Koreatown’s Pio Pico Branch Library until the end of the month.
Nguyen, who co-authored a cookbook with Beverly Soon Tofu’s founder Monica Lee (not to mention twobooks written with Kogi’s Roy Choi), said the menu was inspired by Korean countryside decor.
Monica Lee of Beverly Soon Tofu, pictured soon after her restaurant's opening in 1986, along with a letter announcing the opening.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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“ These dried gourds were also used as lanterns, so that was her inspiration for wanting to make it look like a menu, because her restaurant at the time was decorated kind of like a countryside restaurant,” she said.
As Korean-Americans settled in what Monica Lee called a sometimes “hot, busy and bothersome” city when she founded her restaurant in 1986, they shaped the neighborhood into the largest Koreatown in the United States – and also shaped the way Americans far and wide eat.
An translation of Beverly Soon Tofu's opening announcement.
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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
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“ You go to Trader Joe's, and there's that kimbap that was really popular for so many years,” Nguyen said.
Korean-Americans did this alongside many other immigrant populations that call Koreatown home – many of its strip malls represent cuisines from several different countries.
“What's kind of amazing about that to me is that it is something that feels natural,” Nguyen said. “ Koreatown has a large Oaxacan population, for example. It has a very big Bangladeshi population. And so all these foods, all these cultures, [mingled] together to create a food culture that I think is so distinctly Los Angeles.”
Nguyen also credited Korean restaurants with sourcing fresh ingredients locally – even though they aren’t as celebrated as other Californian restaurants for doing so.
How to attend the talk
Nguyen will give her talk “Menus as Neighborhood Maps: How Los Angeles Restaurant Menus Tell Stories of Community Formation” at 10:30am Saturday, March 14, at the L.A. Central Library’s Taper Auditorium.
Larry Mantle
is an avid movie fan and longtime host of LAist's FilmWeek show.
Published March 13, 2026 5:00 AM
The Oscars will be handed out this Sunday in Hollywood. We have some thoughts on who should and will win.
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Valerie Macon
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The Oscars are this Sunday in Hollywood. We gathered nine of our regular FilmWeek critics together last weekend to do our best to predict who will walk away with the statuette — and who really deserves to win.
Keep reading ... for a full viewing of the FilmWeek Oscar preview, or just to jump ahead to get the picks for your Oscar ballot.
For 24 years, I've been bringing together audiences here in Southern California ahead of the Oscars so we can review our favorites together.
Last week, we had a packed house at the Alex Theater in Glendale for our annual Film Week Academy Awards Preview.
We gathered nine of our regular FilmWeek critics, whose voices listeners hear on LAist 89.3 on our weekly review of movies. Hundreds of LAist listeners and readers who attended also got to vote for their personal favorites.
If we missed you March 7, we have clips of all 10 of the best picture nominees and the favorite for best animated feature. I have to say, I really loved sharing the experience of the movies with so many people. We'd love to see you in person at next year's event.
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Listen
2:19
Best Director: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
"Ryan Coogler, it's the only one I would watch again unless they were holding my cat prisoner on the edge of city."
— Charles Solomon
Some other critics said that while they wanted Coogler to win, they thought the Oscar would go to Anderson.
Best Actress
Nominees
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
Listen
4:54
Best Actress: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet
Audience choice: Emma Stone for Bugonia
"Bet it all on Jessie Buckley."
— Christy Lemire
Lemire said that while she'd love to see the win go to Rose Byrne, she called Buckley the "only lock of the night"
Best Actor
Nominees:
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon Michael B. Jordan, Sinners Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Listen
3:46
Best Actor: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Michael B. Jordan for Sinners
Audience choice: Michael B. Jordan for Sinners
"I think Chalamet is going to lose to Michael B. Jordan, who has the momentum right now. This race, though , is ridiculously stacked."
— Justin Chang
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value Amy Madigan, Weapons Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Listen
5:47
Best Supporting Actress: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Amy Madigan for Weapons
Audience choice: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
"This is maybe the toughest category for an acting category I've seen in years. Any one of these actresses could win in any given year... they're that strong."
— Wade Major
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein Delroy Lindo, Sinners Sean Penn, One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Listen
5:23
Best Supporting Actor: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Audience choice: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
"This was the most difficult category for me because all of these performances are so unique in the way that they are executed."
— Tim Cogshell
Best Original Screenplay
Nominees
Blue Moon, written by Robert Kaplow It Was Just an Accident, written by Jafar Panahi; script collaborators: Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian Marty Supreme, written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie Sentimental Value, written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler
Listen
4:52
Best Original Screenplay: quick picks
Critics' consensus: Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler
Audience choice: Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler
"Out of the top 10 grossing movies of this year, only one of them came from an original screenplay, and that's Sinners, and that does not often happen anymore."
— Charles Solomon
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees
Bugonia, screenplay by Will Tracy Frankenstein, written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro Hamnet, screenplay by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell One Battle after Another, written by Paul Thomas Anderson Train Dreams, screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
