Reel Talk: Oscar Predictions 2016

This year has been one of the most unpredictable awards seasons in recent memory. While many awards groups have been rewarding Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant this year after failing to reward him for Birdman last year, the major awards group that did recognize him last year was the Academy. So the main question boils down to: will they recognize Iñárritu’s work two years in a row? Check my predictions below to find out.

 

KEY: in addition to who I think will win (WW), I’ve occasionally included two subjective categories of who I think should win (SW), and who I think should have been nominated (SN). If you want to check out the full list of nominations, click here.

 

BEST PICTURE

WW: The Revenant

SW: Room

SN: Carol; Sicario

 

BEST ACTOR:

WW: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

SW: Michael Fasbender, Steve Jobs

 

BEST ACTRESS:

WW: Brie Larson, Room

SW: Brie Larson, Room

SN: Emily Blunt, Sicario; Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WW: Sylvester Stallone, Creed

SW: Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

SN: Jacob Tremblay, Room; Paul Dano, Love & Mercy; Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation (they really need to expand the categories…)

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WW: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

SW: Rooney Mara, Carol

SN: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

 

BEST DIRECTOR:

WW: Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

SW: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

SN: Todd Haynes, Carol

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

WW: Spotlight, Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy

SW: Spotlight, Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy

SN: Sicario, Taylor Sheridan

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

WW: The Big Short, Charles Randolph, Adam McKay

SW: Brooklyn, Nick Hornby

SN: Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

WW: The Revenant, Emmanual Lubezki,

SW: Sicario, Roger Deakins

 

BEST EDITING:

WW: Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel

SW: Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel

SN: Room, Nathan Nugent

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

WW: Carol, Sandy Powel

SW: Carol, Sandy Powel

SN: Brooklyn, Odile Dicks-Mireaux; Far From the Madding Crowd, Janet Patterson

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

WW: Mad Max: Fury Road

SW: Mad Max: Fury Road

SN: Carol; Room

 

BEST SOUND EDITING: Mad Max: Fury Road

 

BEST SOUND MIXING:

WW: Mad Max: Fury Road

SW: Mad Max: Fury Road

SN: Love & Mercy

 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

 

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: Mad Max: Fury Road

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

WW: The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone

SW: Carol, Carter Burwell

SN: Steve Jobs, Daniel Pemberton

 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “Til It Happens to You," Lady Gaga and Diane Warren, from The Hunting Ground

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy, Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

WW: Son of Saul, Hungary

SW: Mustang, France

 

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

WW: Inside Out, Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera

SW: Inside Out, Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera

 

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: Sanjay's Super Team

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Body Team 12

 

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Ave Maria