Tall Writer’s 2016 Oscar Nomination Picks

Here are my guesses for this year’s Oscar nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which will be announced Thursday morning on January 14 by Guillermo Del Toro, Ang Lee and John Krasinski (13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi).

As always, look for several interesting honors, surprises and slights. Rooney Mara (Carol) and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) should get nominations, but they could be for best actress or supporting best actress. Every year these honors provide amazing excitement by celebrating various filmmaking fields. My predictions includes most film categories. Likely winners/frontrunners are marked with asterisks. Here are my picks that include one alternate choice each that could steal a nomination:

Best Picture

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• *The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight
• Straight Outta Compton

Alternate choice – Inside Out

Best Director

• Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
• Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
• Adam McKay, The Big Short
• *George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
• Ridley Scott, The Martian
• Alternate choice – Ryan Coogler, Creed

 Best Actor

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
• Matt Damon, The Martian
• *Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
• Alternate choice – Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

Best Actress

• Kate Blanchett, Carol
• *Brie Larson, Room
• Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
• Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
• Alternate choice – Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Animated Film

• Anomalisa
• The Good Dinosaur
• *Inside Out
• The Peanuts Movie
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• Alternate choice – The Prophet

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale, The Big Short
• Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
• Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
• Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• *Sylvester Stallone, Creed
• Alternate choice – Jacob Tremblay, Room

Best Supporting Actress

• Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara, Carol
• Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
• *Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
• Alternate choice – Helen Mirren, Trumbo

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• Emma Donoghue, Room
• Drew Goddard, The Martian
• Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
• Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
• *Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs
• Alternate choice – John McNamara, Trumbo

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
• Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
• Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton
• Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
• *Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight
• Alternate choice – Amy Schumer, Trainwreck

Best Cinematography

• *Roger Deakins, Sicario
  Janusz Kaminski, Bridge of Spies
• Ed Lachman, Carol
  Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
• John Seal, Mad Max: Fury Road
• Alternate choice – Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight

Best Costume Design

• Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road
• Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
• Odile Dicks-Mireaux, Brooklyn
• *Sandy Powell, Carol & Cinderella
• Alternate choice – Kate Hawley, Crimson Peak

Best Documentary Feature

• Amy
• Cartel Land
• He Named Me Malala
• *The Hunting Ground
• The Look of Silence
• Alternate choice – Going Clear

 Best Film Editing

• Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey, Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
• Hank Corwin, The Big Short
• Stephen Mirrione, The Revenant
• Pietro Scalia, The Martian
• *Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
• Alternate choice  – Tom McArdie, Spotlight

Best Foreign Language Film

• Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
• Mustang (France)
• Labyrinth of Lies (Germany)
• *Son of Saul (Hungary)
• Theeb (Jordan)
• Alternate choice – The Brand New Testament (Belgium)

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

• Black Mass
• *Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Alternate choice – Mr. Holmes

Best Music (Original Score)

• Carter Burwell, Carol
• Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl
• Michael Giacchino, Inside Out
• *Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
• John Williams, Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens

Alternate choice – Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies

Best Music (Original Song)

• “The Light That Never Fails” from Meru (Andra Day)
• “See You Again” from Furious 7 (DJ Frank E, Andrew Cedar, Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa)
• “Simple Song #3” from Youth (David Lang)
  *“Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground (Dianne Warren and Lady Gaga)
• “Writing’s On the Wall” from Spectre (Sam Smith and James Napier)
• Alternate choice – “None of Them Are You” from Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman and Carter Burwell)

Best Production Design

• Bridge of Spies
• *Cinderella
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
• Alternate choice – Carol

 Best Sound Editing

• Jurassic World
• *Mad Max: Fury Road 
• The Martian
• Sicario
• Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
• Alternate choice – Inside Out

Best Sound Mixing

• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road 
• The Martian
• Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
• *Straight Outta Compton
• Alternate choice – The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Best Visual Effects

• The Avengers: Age of Ultron 
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
  *Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
• Alternate choice – The Martian

Comedian Chris Rock will host the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday, February 28 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. ABC will televise the ceremony live. Good luck on your picks and office pools!