Our Oscars Picks - 2016

Best Picture


Nominees:

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

Jack Thinks: 
This year's best picture category seems to be split between big action movies and big dramas. The standout however is the low-budget indie film Room. While it may not have been an easy watch, it was definitely enthralling.

Ed Thinks: 

This year feels like the race for best picture is closer than ever, with a few key contenders. The Big Short and Spotlight both have a decent chance of getting top prize. Many of the others like Room and The Martian were also very good but are less likely given the rigorous competition and their run at other awards ceremonies. As much as I’d love Fury Road to get the praise it so deserves, it would be very unlike the academy and is the improbable dark-horse of the category, so The Revenant seems like a deserving front-runner for Best Picture.

Best Director

Nominees:

• Lenny Abrahamson - Room
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
• Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
• Adam McKay - The Big Short
• George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

Ed Thinks:

Whilst Adam McKay and Tom McCarthy have a chance at getting honoured, it seems to me that this one’s a close race between Iñárritu and Miller. Given Iñárritu picked up Best Director last year for Birdman, and even though he deserves it more for The Revenant in my opinion, it seems more likely the academy will award George Miller the prestigious prize, especially given the incredible production hurdles involved with Fury Road. Though honestly this is one of those years where all the directors deserve it in one way or another.

Jack Thinks:
Unlike with last year's Birdman, Iñárritu did not really break any new ground with The Revenant, apart from making me squirm uncomfortably for two hours. Because people seem to equate real stunts and explosions with good direction might give George Miller a chance at the award. But again I really enjoyed Room and I think that Abrahamson did a remarkable job at bringing out such amazing performances from his two leads.

Best Actor

Nominees:

• Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
• Matt Damon - The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Jack Thinks:

Because Eddie Redmayne won last year for a role in which he takes a physical transformation, giving the award to him for the same thing would just subject us to an entire career where he does the same thing. Although Leo has been long overdue for his award, this film and performance is the wrong one for him to win for. Because Matt Damon really has nothing going for him, it boils down to Bryan Cranston and Michael Fassbender, who are both playing men who were important to their industries. Cranston's Trumbo is a fun portrayal of the man, but Fassbender gives a deep and twisted performance of the Apple CEO, so I have to choose him.

Ed Thinks: 
DiCaprio. Hands down. He’s been nominated for better performances in the past but his is still the absolute standout. The next best option would be Fassbender who was also great, but honestly Dicaprio and maybe Damon are the only two performances that don’t feel specifically tailored for awards season, and – putting aside the overwhelming public support for Leo – awarding Best Actor for another visceral performance might just prove that the Academy is willing to look outside the proverbial box of formula films that they have been stuck in for so long.

Best Actress

Nominees:

• Cate Blanchett - Carol
• Brie Larson - Room
• Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
• Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

Ed Thinks: 
A closer race than with Best Actor, Blanchett and Lawrence have both won in recent years and for better performances. Brie Larson is the standout and most likely to get it. The other performance I really enjoyed was Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years, by far the most genuine and understated of the lot.

Jack Thinks:
Jennifer Lawrence is awards darling having won both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress already, but I have to go with Brie Larson because her performance of the traumatised Ma is just heart-wrenching to watch.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

• Christian Bale - The Big Short
• Tom Hardy - The Revenant
• Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
• Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
• Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Jack Thinks:
The only one of these performances I have seen is Tom Hardy in The Revenant and he gives another hard to understand verbal performance with a character that wasn't too likeable. Whoever gets it, I just hope it isn't Stallone, purely because I can't stand Rocky.

Ed Thinks:
Everybody predicts the academy is going to go full nostalgia and give the award to Stallone, in my opinion the weakest in a category of incredible performances. But out of some misguided hope I’ll give my prediction to Mark Rylance who has absolutely earned it, both over the years in his previous performances as well as in Bridge of Spies.

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

• Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara - Carol
• Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Ed Thinks: 
This category’s even more difficult to choose from. Jennifer Jason Leigh was delightfully devilish in The Hateful Eight and Alicia Vikander deserves the nomination a lot more for Ex Machina than for The Danish Girl. I must say I’ve never been a fan of Rachel McAdams, but as a crucial part of the ensemble cast in Spotlight, she was extremely good. Ultimately though I think Winslet will get a safe and well-deserved win.

Jack Thinks:

While I am a huge fan of both Alicia Vikander and Rooney Mara, Kate Winslet's pivotal role in Steve Jobs as the titular character's confidant is so amazing to watch and see her transform as much as Fassbender did for his role, I think it would be very disappointing to give it to one without the other.

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees:

• Matt Charman & The Coen Brothers - Bridge of Spies
• Alex Garland - Ex Machina
• Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve & Josh Cooley - Inside Out
• Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer - Spotlight
• Jonathan Herman & Andrea Berloff - Straight Outta Compton

Jack Thinks:
Ex Machina had such a compelling and human script for a film about artificial intelligence that it's hard for me to overlook it. None of the other films in this category stick out to me.

Ed Thinks:

There are some great choices in this category with Ex Machina and Inside Out both totally deserving screenplays. Bridge of Spies was well written but not really a standout and unless the #OscarsSoWhite controversy pushes Straight Outta Compton to the top, it’s most likely Spotlight will win for a well-conceived, gripping piece of writing, especially for such a dialogue heavy screenplay.