Tall Writer’s Oscar Picks

Comedian Chris Rock will host the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday, February 28 at the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. The producers will be introducing a new “ticker” visual at the bottom of the screen that will include thank-yous so the winners  can concentrate on telling personal narratives and inspirations during their acceptance speeches. ABC will televise the ceremony live.

Here are this year’s list of Oscar nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and my predictions (marked with an asterisk).

Best Picture

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

Best Director

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

Best Actor

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

Best Actress

Kate Blanchett, Carol
*Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Animated Film

Anomalisa
Boy and the World
*Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

Best Supporting Actor

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

Best Supporting Actress

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

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

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

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff, Straight Outta Compton
*Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight

Best Cinematography

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

Best Costume Design

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

Best Documentary Feature

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

Best Film Editing

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

Best Foreign Language Film

Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
Mustang (France)
Son of Saul (Hungary)
Theeb (Jordan)
*A War (Denmark)

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared
*Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

Best Music (Original Score)

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

Best Music (Original Song)

“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey (Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio)
“Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction (J. Ralph, Lyric by Antony Hegarty)
“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 Jimmy Napes)

Best Production Design

Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
*Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Best Sound Editing

*Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens

Best Sound Mixing

Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
*Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens

Best Visual Effects

Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
*Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens

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Short Film (Animated)

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

Short Film (Live Action)

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

Documentary (Short Subject)

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

12 Nominations

The Revenant

10 Nominations

Mad Max: Fury Road

7 Nominations

The Martian

6 Nominations

Bridge of Spies, Carol, Spotlight

5 Nominations

The Big Short, Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens

4 Nominations

The Danish Girl, Room

3 Nominations

Brooklyn, The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Sicario

2 Nominations

Ex Machina, Steve Jobs

One nomination: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared, 45 Years, Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Cinderella, Creed, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Hunting Ground, Joy, Racing Extinction, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Spectre, Straight Outta Compton, Trumbo, When Marnie Was There, Youth.