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“The Big Short”
“Bridge of Spies”
“Brooklyn”
“Mad Max: Fury Road” 
“The Martian” 
“The Revenant” 
“Room”  
“Spotlight”

Have some catching up to do, but I think The Revenant should win the award for best picture. Even though I did think it was a bit too long, it is amazing how they filmed it in the blistering cold using only natural light. It was an entertaining movie that kept on surprising and therefore I think it will win. I think Mad Max is too crazy for the Academy, Spotlight is dangerous because it criticises the church, Room was a bit too indie, and even though in my opinion The Martian should win this one because it is fun, it is exactly the fact that is fun that might keep it from winning.

Actress
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Brie Larson, “Room” 
Jennifer Lawrence, “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”

Already wrote a blog about this. I think the little guy from Room should win an Oscar for his performance, Brie Larson was good, but I think Cate Blanchett was magical in Carol. Too easy? May be. I heard Joy is very feminist, so I should see that and then I might change my mind, who knows!

Actor
Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”
Matt Damon, “The Martian” 
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”
Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”

No-brainer.

Supporting actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara, “Carol”
Rachel McAdams, “Spotlight”
Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”
Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”

Tricky one as I am not a Tarantino fan, but in Steve Jobs Kate Winslet (yay Kate!) is being a bit weird with her accent, and I thought Rooney Mara in Carol was a bit too boring, so definitely Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight, as she played her part really well.

Supporting actor
Christian Bale, “The Big Short”
Tom Hardy, “The Revenant” 
Mark Ruffalo, “Spotlight”
Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Sylvester Stallone, “Creed”

This is a rare category in which I have seen the other films but still nominate a film I haven’t watched. The reason is that I found Mark Ruffalo amazing in The Normal Heart and therefore I really want him to win. Even though I have the hots for Tom Hardy! 😉

Director
Adam McKay, “The Big Short”
George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “The Revenant” 
Lenny Abrahamson, “Room”
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”

I think Mr. Miller has an amazing creative vision that Mad Max has been the outcome of, and it was amazing. The Revenant was a bit too much Leonardo’s performance to really say that the director did a great job, although he did manage to keep everybody on the project, even though they were having some rough times. Oh well, anyone may win if it’s upto me, Room was amazing too, but on such a different level.

Animated feature film
“Anomalisa”
“The Boy and the World”
“Inside Out”
“Shaun the Sheep Movie” 
“When Marnie Was There”

I have seen Inside Out a second time a week ago, and I must say that I did not absolutely love it this time, but as I havent got a lot of material to compare, it will have to be Inside Out. (still thinking about how stupid it was that Song of the Sea didn’t win last year though!)

“Bridge of Spies,” by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
“Ex Machina,” by Alex Garland 
“Inside Out,” screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
“Spotlight,” by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
“Straight Outta Compton,” screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff 

This is probably going to sound stupid but I feel that the original screenplays for all other movies in this category (except for Inside Out) are all ‘easier’ to write because they are based on actual events. Ex Machina was a bit predictable, but it did offer a totally new story.

Adapted screenplay

“The Big Short,” by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
“Brooklyn,” by Nick Hornby
“Carol,” by Phyllis Nagy
“The Martian,” by Drew Goddard
“Room,”  by Emma Donoghue

Room does deserve an Academy Award and the way this story is told is mindblowing.

Foreign language film
“Embrace of the Serpent” (Colombia)
“A War” (Denmark) 
“Mustang” (France)
“Son Of Saul” (Hungary)
“Theeb” (Jordan)

Haven’t seen these, but I love Scandinavian stuff!

Animated short film

“Bear Story”
“Prologue”
“Sanjay’s Super Team”
“We Can’t Live without Cosmos”
“World of Tomorrow”

Really loved that Indian influence, though I was not IN love with it.

Live action short

“Ave Maria”
“Day One”
“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)”
“Shok”
“Stutterer”

The Academy loves flaws, like alcohol abuse and people issues, so Stutterer at least sounds like something they might like (but I haven’t got a clue).

Documentary feature

“Amy” 
“Cartel Land”
“The Look of Silence”
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” 
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”

Amy was very popular in the Netherlands, I haven’t seen it yet unfortunately, but I think it might win due to being so famous it must be good then!

Documentary short

“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”
“Body Team 12”
“Chau, Beyond the Lines”
“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah”
“Last Day of Freedom”

Absolutely no idea.

Cinematography

“Carol,” Ed Lachman
“The Hateful Eight,” Robert Richardson 
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” John Seale 
“The Revenant,” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Sicario,” Roger Deakins

I thought Sicario was an excellent action movie, but cinematography should be going to Mad Max which was the most original one.

Visual effects

“Ex Machina,” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
“The Martian,” Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
“The Revenant,” Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

When I can pick Star Wars, I will. I cannot believe how excellent that movie turned out to be.

Makeup and hair styling

“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared,” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr 
“The Revenant,” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini 

This is a no-brainer.

Film editing

“The Big Short,” Hank Corwin
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Margaret Sixel 
“The Revenant,” Stephen Mirrione
“Spotlight,” Tom McArdle
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

See above 😉

Costume design

“Carol,” Sandy Powell
“Cinderella,” Sandy Powell 
“The Danish Girl,” Paco Delgado
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Jenny Beavan
“The Revenant,” Jacqueline West

Tricky one, but I thought the whole idea of that bear skin was really something.

Original song

“Earned It” from “50 Shades of Grey,” music and lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction,” music by J. Ralph; lyric by Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3” from “Youth,” music and lyric by David Lang
“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground,” music and lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre,” music and lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

The movie was dreadful, but I love The Weeknd and this song introduced me to his amazing music.

Sound editing

“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Mark Mangini and David White
“The Martian,” Oliver Tarney 
“The Revenant,” Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
“Sicario,” Alan Robert Murray
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Matthew Wood and David Acord 

I don’t really have an opinion on sound editing to be fair. I just know the sounds in Mad Max were very organic which was a nice touch.

Sound mixing

“Bridge of Spies,” Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
“The Martian,” Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
“The Revenant,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

This is probably the category I know least about.

Production design

“Bridge of Spies,” Adam Stockhausen (production design); Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich (set decoration)
“The Danish Girl,” Eve Stewart (production design); Michael Standish (set decoration)
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Colin Gibson (production design); Lisa Thompson (set decoration)
“The Martian,” Arthur Max (production design); Celia Bobak (set decoration) 
“The Revenant,” Jack Fisk (production design); Hamish Purdy (set decoration)

It must have been hard to find a place on earth that looked like Mars so much! 🙂

Original score

Thomas Newman, “Bridge of Spies”
Carter Burwell, “Carol” 
Ennio Morricone, “The Hateful Eight” 
Jóhann Jóhannsson, “Sicario” 
John Williams, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

John Williams has so many Academy Awards already, and that beginning of The Hateful Eight was truly intense thanks to Mr. Morricone.

So, if you are watching tonight, enjoy! I will be checking it out tomorrow morning, even though I love these shows, I gotta work guys. Last day…