2016 Oscar Predictions

It's that time of year again, where The Academy reflects of the previous year of film and distributes awards for various categories in the Oscars. Below you can find a listing of all the nominees in the major categories followed with who I want to see win the award and the most likely winner. Keep in my mind that I don't necessarily agree with all of the predicted results for who will probably win as you can see that my choice is the best representation of my personal feelings on the category. For example, as much as I love Star Wars and John Williams and his outstanding work and while his score for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was phenomenal, I have to admit that Ennio Morricone's score for The Hateful Eight is the superior score and feel he deserves the award. (Whoops, forgot to discuss it in my review because I rarely discuss film scores in my reviews but I'll try to incorporate that element more often in my reviews). I will be live blogging during the awards with the results in comparison to my predictions like last year, and will have to constantly update the post as the award continues so be aware that if I share a link to my post about the results, you will need to refresh till the awards are over if you are unable to watch the awards and want to see the results. 

Best Picture

"Bridge of Spies"

"Brooklyn"

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Big Short"
"The Martian"

"The Revenant"

"Room"

"Spotlight"
My choice: "Spotlight"
Likely winner: "The Revenant"

Best Director

Adam McKay, "The Big Short"

Alejandro G. Ińarritu, "The Revenant"

George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Lenny Abrahamson, "Room"

Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"
My choice: Alejandro G. Ińarritu, "The Revenant"
Likely winner: Alejandro G. Ińarritu, "The Revenant"

Best Actress

Brie Larson, "Room"

Cate Blanchett, "Carol"

Charlotte Rampling, "45 Years"

Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"

Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"
My choice: Brie Larson, "Room"
Likely winner: Brie Larson, "Room"

Best Actor

Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"

Matt Damon, "The Martian"

Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"

Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"

Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"
My choice: Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
Likely winner: Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"

Rooney Mara, "Carol"

Rachel McAdams, "Spotlight"

Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"

Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"
My choice: Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
Likely winner: Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl" or Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, "The Big Short"

Tom Hardy, "The Revenant"

Mark Ruffalo, "Spotlight"

Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"

Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"
My choice: Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"
Likely winner: Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"

Best Adapted Screenplay

Adam McKay, Charles Randolph, "The Big Short"

Nick Hornby, "Brooklyn"

Phyllis Nagy, "Carol"

Drew Goddard, "The Martian"

Emma Donoghue, "Room"
My choice: Drew Goddard, "The Martian"
Likely winner: Adam McKay, Charles Randolph, "The Big Short"

Best Original Screenplay

Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "Bridge of Spies"

Alex Garland, "Ex Machina"

Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, "Spotlight"

Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Josh Cooley, Meg LeFauve, "Inside Out"

Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus, "Straight Outta Compton"
My choice: Alex Garland, "Ex Machina"
Likely winner: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, "Spotlight"

Best Animated Feature

"Anomalisa"
"Boy and the World" 
"Inside Out" 
"Shaun the Sheep Movie" 
"When Marnie Was there"

My choice: "Inside Out"

Likely winner: "Inside Out"

Best Film Editing

"The Big Short"

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Revenant"

"Spotlight"

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
My choice: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
Likely winner: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Original Song

“Earned It” from "Fifty Shades of Grey" (written by The Weekend, Belly, TBD, and Stephan Moccio)
“Manta Ray” from "Racing Extinction"(written by J. Ralph and Antony Hegarty)
“Simple Song #3” from "Youth" (written by David Lang)
“Til It Happens To You” from "The Hunting Ground" (written by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)
“Writing’s On The Wall” from "Spectre" (written by Sam Smith and James Napier)

My choice: “Writing’s On The Wall” from "Spectre" (written by Sam Smith and James Napier)

Likely winner: “Til It Happens To You” from "The Hunting Ground" (written by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)

Best Original Score

Ennio Morricone, "The Hateful Eight"

Thomas Newman, "Bridge of Spies"

Carter Burwell, "Carol"

Jóhann Jóhannsson, "Sicario"

John Williams, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
My choice: Ennio Morricone, "The Hateful Eight"
Likely winner: Ennio Morricone, "The Hateful Eight"

Best Cinematography

Robert Richardson, "The Hateful Eight"

Edward Lachman, "Carol"

Roger Deakins, "Sicario"

Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Revenant"

John Seale, "Mad Max: Fury Road"
My choice: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Revenant"
Likely winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Revenant"

Best Costume Design

"Carol"

"Cinderella"

"The Danish Girl"

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Revenant"
My choice: "Cinderella"
Likely winner: "The Danish Girl"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out A Window and Disappeared"

"The Revenant"
My choice: "The Revenant"
Likely winner: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Production Design

Adam Stockhausen, "Bridge of Spies"

Eve Stewart, "The Danish Girl"

Colin Gibson, "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Arthur Max, "The Martian"

Jack Fisk, "The Revenant"
My choice: Arthur Max, "The Martian"
Likely winner: Colin Gibson, "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Sound Editing

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Martian"

"The Revenant"

"Sicario"

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
My choice: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
Likely winner: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Sound Mixing

"Bridge of Spies"

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Martian"

"The Revenant"

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
My choice: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
Likely winner: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Visual Effects

"Ex Machina"

"Mad Max: Fury Road"

"The Martian"

"The Revenant"

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
My choice: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
Likely winner: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"