The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), takes place on Sunday 28th February at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The ceremony will be hosted by Chris Rock and will be broadcast live exclusively on Sky Movies in the UK.
There are plenty of big names vying for the top prizes this year with The Revenant, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, Carol and Mad Max: Fury Road all proving popular with critics over the year. With gems like Creed, The Martian, Sicario, The Danish Girl, Steve Jobs and the biggest film of all time; Star Wars: The Force Awakens also in contention, it should prove to be a great night – hopefully with a few surprises in store too.
As awards season draws to a close, the favourites are clear to see. The Oscars usually follow the winning trends of all the ceremonies that have preceded it and don’t often go against the grain of popular opinion. It remains to be seen if 2016 will follow suit, but in a year where the Oscars have taken a battering for their linear choices, it will be interesting to see how the Academy has eventually voted.
Here are a few ways we think the 2016 Academy Awards could go for the big 15 categories.
Best Picture
The Nominees: The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room, Spotlight
Who should win? Brooklyn or The Big Short – both 5 stars efforts that deserve accolades come the big day.
Who will probably win? The Revenant – the Leo-led drama has struck a real chord with voters.
Wild Card? Mad Max: Fury Road – A film loved by many and a real dark horse contender should the Academy wish to be a bit unpredictable.
Best Actor
The Nominees: Bryan Cranston -Trumbo, Matt Damon -The Martian, Leonardo DiCaprio -The Revenant, Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs, Eddie Redmayne -The Danish Girl
Who should win? Fassbender and Cranston were good shouts this year but DiCaprio deserves his moment in the sun.
Who will probably win? Surely the wait is over for Leo.
Wild Card? Eddie Redmayne did a great job in The Danish Girl.
Best Actress
The Nominees: Cate Blanchett – Carol, Brie Larson – Room, Jennifer Lawrence – Joy, Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years, Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Who should win? Saoirse Ronan was a revelation in Brooklyn and really deserves the win. But she’s very unfortunate to come up against Brie Larson this year.
Who will probably win? Brie Larson was excellent in Room and would win in any year with that performance.
Wild Card? Hollywood loves a bit of J-Law…
Best Supporting Actor
The Nominees: Christian Bale – The Big Short, Tom Hardy – The Revenant, Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight, Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies, Sylvester Stallone –Creed
Who should win? Christian Bale was superb in The Big Short but for a sheer fairytale ending, it would be amazing to see Sylvester Stallone walk away with Oscar gold.
Who will probably win? It could well be Stallone’s year.
Wild Card? Mark Rylance is loved by the Academy and his BAFTA win won’t have hurt his chances.
Best Supporting Actress
The Nominees: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight, Rooney Mara – Carol, Rachel McAdams – Spotlight, Alicia Vikander -The Danish Girl, Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Who should win? Kate Winslet was brilliant in Steve Jobs
Who will probably win? Kate and Leo will be reunited, each with Oscar gold in-hand.
Wild Card? Vikander has worked so hard these past few years and always delivers.
Best Directing
The Nominees: Adam McKay – The Big Short, George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road, Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant, Lenny Abrahamson – Room, Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Who should win? Adam McKay and George Miller each deserve a nod for stellar work this year.
Who will probably win? Auteur Iñárritu has this in the bag.
Wild Card? Lenny Abrahamson did a remarkable job with some tricky technical challenges in Room.
Best Foreign Language Film
The Nominees: Colombia – Embrace of the Serpent, France – Mustang, Hungary – Son of Saul, Jordan – Theeb, Denmark – A War
Who should win? A War was stunning, and fully deserves recognition
Who will probably win? Son of Saul seems to be the voters favourite.
Wild Card? Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang could gallop in for the win for.
Best Original Score
The Nominees: Thomas Newman – Bridge of Spies, Carter Burwell – Carol, Ennio Morricone – The Hateful Eight, Jóhann Jóhannsson – Sicario, John Williams – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Who should win? Carter Burwell has done wonderful work in the past and Carol was no exception.
Who will probably win? Star Wars: The Force Awakens was rousing but familiar.
Wildcard? Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Sicario score was sublime.
Best Visual Effects
The Nominees: Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Who should win? Mad Max: Fury Road without doubt.
Who will probably win? The biggest film of all time – Star Wars will take some beating.
Wildcard? The Revenant stands a better than average chance of winning this.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Nominees: The Big Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian, Room
Who should win? Brooklyn deserves some love for Nick Hornby’s sensational work.
Who will probably win? The Big Short – a worthy winner thanks to a brilliant effort bringing this tricky story to the masses.
Wildcard? Carol could get a look-in
Best Original Screenplay
The Nominees: Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton
Who should win? Bridge of Spies perfectly captured the essence of the classic spy thriller.
Who will probably win? Spotlight has some weight and a worthy story behind it.
Wildcard? Straight Outta Compton would surprise everyone.
Best Animated Feature Film
The Nominees: Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson & Rosa Tran, Boy and the World – Alê Abreu, Inside Out – Pete Docter & Jonas Rivera, Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton & Richard Starzak, When Marnie Was There – Hiromasa Yonebayashi & Yoshiaki Nishimura
Who should win? Anomalisa did something exceptionally original in the world of animation.
Who will probably win? Inside Out was a giant success and endlessly inventive. A strong and popular winner.
Wildcard? Anomalisa would be a real shock but I can’t see it happening against Inside Out.
Best Cinematography
The Nominees: Carol – Ed Lachman, The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson, Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale, The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki, Sicario – Roger Deakins
Who should win? Any would be worthy winners in their own right, but it should go to Mad Max: Fury Road’s insane visual style.
Who will probably win? Another win for gorgeous look and feel of The Revenant.
Wildcard? Carol was a perfect time-piece for its depicted era.
Best Costume Design
The Nominees: Carol – Sandy Powell, Cinderella – Sandy Powell, The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado, Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan, The Revenant – Jacqueline West
Who should win? Jenny Beavan did incredible work on Mad Max: Fury Road.
Who will probably win? Jenny Beavan deserves it, especially after all that post-BAFTA malarkey.
Wildcard? If you play then numbers game then Sandy Powell has the best shot with two nominations.
Best Documentary – Feature
The Nominees: Amy – Asif Kapadia & James Gay-Rees, Cartel Land – Matthew Heineman & Tom Yellin, The Look of Silence – Joshua Oppenheimer & Signe Byrge Sørensen, What Happened, Miss Simone? – Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby & Justin Wilkes, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom – Evgeny Afineevsky & Den Tolmor
Who should win? Amy for sure.
Who will probably win? Can’t see anything beating Amy.
Wildcard? The Look of Silence could have an outside chance.
Who would you like to see win at the 2016 Oscars? Leave your comments in the usual place.
