Four Oscars for Glen Coco

March 12, 2026

And none for Timmy Chalamet bye! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 12, 2026

Greetings, Meteor readers,

I take back all the bad things I’ve said in the past about men’s baseball. As a matter of fact, does anyone know how I can get this job with the MLB?

In today’s newsletter, Rebecca Carroll shares her Oscars predictions and hopes. Plus, some bloodthirsty chatbots to avoid.

Take me out to the ball game,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

It’s that time of year again: Let’s give out some shiny statuettes to movie stars! The 98th Academy Awards is this Sunday, so here are some of my (Rebecca’s) selective predictions and/or hopes for the winners.

Jessie Buckley should and will win Best Actress

In Hamnet, Irish actress Jessie Buckley gives a career-defining performance as Agnes, the fiercely independent wife of a young William Shakespeare. The film is a powerfully intimate adaptation of the 2020 novel of the same title by Maggie O’Farrell, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Chloé Zhao. It imagines the raucous courtship between Agnes and William, their subsequent marriage, the family they create together, and the devastating loss of their 11-year-old son Hamnet to plague. Opposite Paul Mescal, who is quietly extraordinary as William, Buckley depicts the messy, raw anguish of a mother who has lost her child with everything she has. It is as much a physical performance as it is an emotional one, and it is absolutely one for the books.

Michael B. Jordan deserves Best Actor

DONNA JORDAN, THE WOMAN WHO GAVE US THE GIFT OF MICHAEL B. JORDAN. WE OWE YOU SO MUCH, MS. DONNA. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

After the drama of the last few weeks, it almost certainly won’t be Timothée Chalamet, despite an egregiously self-serving and overindulgent press campaign for Marty Supreme. (Shouldna been talking shit about the opera and ballet, Timmy.) He also doesn’t deserve it. The award for Best Actor should go to Michael B. Jordan, who plays twins and (spoiler) a twin-turned-vampire, so he actually gives three transformative performances in one brilliant movie. In case you’ve been without wi-fi for the past year, Sinners is the story of twin bootlegging brothers who return to the Jim Crow South from Chicago. They put up a juke joint, and the rest is history.

Benicio del Toro and Teyana Taylor NEED to get Best Supporting Actor/Actress

Benicio del Toro’s performance in One Battle After Another is maybe the only reason to see this film—it’s that good. Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s political drama-cum-action thriller is meant to be about former white guy revolutionary Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), who got soft, smokes weed all day, and has a Black and biracial daughter. But as soon as the film introduces del Toro as karate sensei Sergio St. Carlos, he becomes the understated star. There’s something del Toro does as an actor in a supporting role (see: The Usual Suspects) that transcends the time his character is afforded, and he does it with a glorious, breathtaking ease.

My guess is that Sean Penn (who also stars in One Battle After Another) will win, because his portrayal of Colonel Lockjaw is a classic Oscar performance—broken, stilted, deranged. And Hollywood loves a straight white man playing a damaged, disabled, or otherwise impaired person.

Teyana Taylor plays Black revolutionary Perfidia Beverly Hills in the same film. It’s a problematic role that has stirred a lot of discourse. It screams Black woman tropes to some, real-talk empowerment to others. But trope or not, Taylor nails it. She is that bitch, and I admire her commitment. She deserves to win, but she is also favored to win, since she won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA for supporting actress.

Sinners should win everything else

Its collaborative ingenuity, elegance, and masterful storytelling are simply undeniable. Ryan Coogler gathered a team of actors, filmmakers, musicians, and dreamers, and created a miracle.

Honorable Mention: Bugonia

THE BRILLIANT MINDS BEHIND BUGONIA (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

I’ve seen Bugonia three times. It’s a haunting, subdued prophecy about human nature that feels acutely on point. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring his longtime collaborator Emma Stone, Bugonia is a remake of the 2003 Korean film Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan. In it, Stone plays Michelle, a high-profile CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, who is kidnapped by part-time beekeeper and full-time conspiracy theorist Teddy (a pitch-perfect performance by Jesse Plemons) and his neurodivergent cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis). It’s hard to describe the plot further without including spoilers, and also without making it sound wacky or predictable. Trust me: It is neither. Somehow, the arc of this film manages to be melancholy, torturous, and eerily beautiful all at once.

—Rebecca Carroll

AND:

In a disturbing new report, researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN found that eight out of 10 AI chatbots were “regularly willing to assist users in planning violent attacks, including school shootings, religious bombings, and high-profile assassinations.” Among the bots encouraging bloodlust, including violence against women, were ChatGPT and Character.AI, the latter of which prompted users to “beat their ass” when asked about how to deal with bullies. The two AI bots that actively discouraged violence were Claude and Snapchat My AI.
ICYMI (and you may well have): Last week, the Justice Department released new documents in the Epstein files that featured several mentions of Donald Trump, including an allegation that he sexually assaulted a teenager in the ‘80s. (White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called these allegations “completely baseless.”) The documents had been previously omitted from the three million files released in January, in what some saw as a deliberate attempt to shield Trump from the fallout. Can you imagine an allegation of this magnitude being lost in the shuffle in 1998, when the Kenneth Starr report, chronicling Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky in excruciating detail, became an instant bestseller? Or even in 2016, when “Access Hollywood’s” audio of Trump bragging about grabbing women by the pussy forced an apology from the guy who never apologizes? BRING. SHAMING. BACK. (And a functional impeachment process!)
A new survey from the National Federation of State High School Associations has found that girls’ participation in high school basketball has dropped by 21 percent since 2000. The states with the largest decline are Kansas, Louisiana, and North Dakota. It’s certainly just a coincidence that those same states also have aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ policies applied to girls’ and women’s sports, which studies have shown also negatively impact cisgender athletes. Definitely unrelated!
On Tuesday, the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women convened to adopt a set of previously agreed measures to improve the well-being of women worldwide. The United States was the only country out of 45 to vote “no” on the proposed document, citing “ambiguous language promoting gender ideology,” potential censorship of AI, and reproductive health language “implying abortion rights.” (It’s worth noting that even anti-abortion countries like Pakistan and Nigeria voted “yes.”)
Nearly one-third of Americans are skipping meals or delaying having children in order to keep up with medical expenses, new polling from Gallup finds. “Even many Americans with six-figure incomes report making financial sacrifices,” researchers note, “underscoring that affordability challenges are systemic rather than isolated to any one group.”
Another Oscar nominee to watch: HBO’s documentary short The Devil Is Busy. The film follows a day in the life of Tracii, the head of security at Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center, as she tries to do her job amid Georgia’s post-Dobbs six-week abortion ban. Much of this understated tearjerker is set against the megaphoned hum of protesters (many of whom Tracii knows by name) droning on about Jesus, the Devil, and premeditated murder while patients enter the clinic. This barrage “pierces [patients] in their spirit” says Tracii, a devout Christian who begins and ends her day with prayer. But “God gives everybody the power of choice.”
Please stop doing this.
Katherine Heigl, erstwhile foe of sexism, paid a visit to Mar-A-Lago for some reason? (Okay, a dog-related reason, but still.)

HEIGL’S RESPONSE TO CRITICISM WAS, “ANIMALS DON’T VOTE.” GIRL? GIRL. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

If Jeff Probst stops this man from being on “Survivor”, we will riot in the streets. Do it for the children, Jeff!
The valley is alive with the smell of flowers—or however that song goes.