UP at the Oscars

It’s been quite the year of scandal for the Academy this year, with not a single person of colour nominated among the 20 acting nominees - not to mention the Best Director category also being a whites-only affair. We’ve seen all the celebrities weighing in, with Spike Lee, Will Smith and wife Jada calling for a boycott and the globally trending #OscarsSoWhite. Regardless, the ceremony will still go ahead this month and celebrate the past year in film.

 

Following on from our nominees predictions (check out the QR code to see how we did!) here are our picks for who will win in the six major categories — and who from the nominees we think should win.

 

Best Picture
The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Should Win: Spotlight
Tom McCarthy’s topical critical report on Catholic Church cover-ups of abuse by pedophile priests was so masterfully executed, we think it deserves the gong.

Will Win: The Revenant
The Oscar usually goes to the film with the most nominations. The Revenant has 12; Mad Max: Fury Road got 10. It’s our second pick to win, but seemingly the favourite with the masses.

 

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

 

Should, and Will Win: DiCaprio.

With the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice awards under his belt for his work in the Revenant, DiCaprio is a shoe-in for this year’s takeaway. It’s Leo’s time.

 

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

 

Should Win: Blanchett
If Blanchett hadn’t just won for her performance in Woody Allen’s
Blue Jasmine last year, we’d put her in as our favourite this year for her
spellbinding performance in Carol, playing a lesbian who falls in love
with a young photographer in 1950’s New York.

Will Win: Larson
Larson is carrying Room though the Awards season, and with
nominations for film, directing and writing, Room is an Oscar-voter fave.

 

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

 

Should and Will Win: Stallone
Widely acclaimed for his work in latest Rocky incarnation, Creed, Stallone is the frontrunner in this year’s race. He lost out in 1976 Oscar (to Network’s Peter Finch) for playing Rocky the first time, let’s see if he can pull off a KO this time around.

 

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Should Win: Vikander
Both frontrunners Vikander and Mara actually share equal screen time to their best actor/actress counterparts this year. Vikander was powerful playing the wife of a pre-op transexual (played by last year’s winner Eddie Redmayne) in The Danish girl, but is still pretty green in Hollywood terms.

Will Win: Mara
Mara won the Best Actress prize at Cannes this year, and proved her
screen gravitas playing opposite one of the finest, Blanchett. With a
previous nomination under her belt for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
in 2012, this year looks set to be her big one.

 

Best Director
Lenny Abrahamson, Room

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Adam McKay, The Big Short

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

 

Should and Will Win: Iñárritu
Only twice in 88 years (the last in 1951) has a director won back-to-back
Oscars… And the Academy likes to make history. Iñárritu, with his keen
eye for detail, is poised to take the crown for a second year in a row
following his directorial win for Birdman in 2015.