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Oscars 2016: Predicting the Winners of Hollywood's Biggest Night

JamesArthurArmstrong JamesArthurArmstrong Tomorrow night is Hollywood's biggest night of the year. A star-studded group of white A-list actors will walk down a red carpet and hope to have their names read out.

It has been an unpredictable — and somewhat fun — awards season so far, with many snubs and surprise wins along the way. Hopefully that trend won't end this Sunday and we get an Oscars to remember. Anything is better than last year's very, very predictable show?

The lack of nominees of colour has caused huge controversy in Hollywood and around the world. Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith are among many black celebrities who have decided to boycott this year's Oscars to protest the lack of diversity. Host Chris Rock has an important position. He's a comedian known for his humour that touches on issues of race. In a perfect world, the Academy should allow him to just be himself. If so, we could be in for an entertaining night.

Below is our attempt to predict the 88th Academy Awards, or as Rock likes to call them, the White BET Awards.

DiCaprio Fire
DiCaprio Fire

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

The Revenant (WINNER)

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Big Short

Brooklyn

The Martian

Bridge of Spies

Room

Spotlight

The way this award season has gone I would be utterly shocked if The Revenant didn't win. It isn't over by any stretch of the imagination with PGA winner The Big Short and SAG winner Spotlight its biggest two challengers. But with all that buzz surrounding The Revenant, it is primed and ready to take the honour.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant, WINNER)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

It has to go to Leo, right? Don't get me wrong, I personally think he's had more rounded and precise performances in his career (re-watch Blood Diamond if you disagree). But this year reminds me of 2007 when the Academy finally came to their senses and realised Martin Scorsese deserved an Oscar.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Brie Larson (Room, WINNER)

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Bookmakers would suggest Brie Larson is on course to take this award but am not totally sure. Saoirse Ronan has been getting a lot more chatter these past few weeks; Jennifer Lawrence is very well-liked by Academy voters, as is Cate Blanchett. Maybe it's too little too late for those three, but Larson's name isn't as guaranteed to be read out as some may think.

Brie Larson in Room
Brie Larson in Room

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant, WINNER)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Lenny Abrahamson (Room)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

If it was up to me, George Miller would be heading up on stage to collect the gong, but the Academy will likely give it to Alejandro G. Inarritu — giving him the distinct honour of joining a select few. If he wins, the Mexican filmmaker will be the third director to win back-to-back Best Director Oscars. Quite the achievement.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Rooney Mara (Carol, WINNER)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Kate Winslet will head into Sunday's Oscars the slight favourite in what many see as the toughest category this year. I'm not totally convinced she'll win. Rooney Mara should have won more than she has this season and the same could be said for Rachel McAdams. Alicia Vikander has had a stellar twelve-months and probably deserves the recognition for her year of work — and if she wins — her performance in Ex Machina would've likely been taken into consideration, too. Who knows who'll win? Mara could pick up Carol's only win of the night, though.

Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan
Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sylvester Stallone (Creed, WINNER)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Before nominations were announced I had the opinion that if Sylvester Stallone gained a nomination he would win and I am sticking to that mindset.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Spotlight (WINNER)

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Straight Outta Compton

It's been given to Spotlight a whole heck of times at various other award shows and it'll likely nab the Oscar, too. Straight Outta Compton is it's strongest competitor if the Academy looks elsewhere.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short (WINNER)

Brooklyn

Carol

The Martian

Room

It's The Big Short's to lose. Although Brooklyn, Carol and The Martian are all perfectly fine adaptations, The Big Short is the more astute. Room could make a late charge.

Inside Out Joy and Sadness
Inside Out Joy and Sadness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Inside Out (WINNER)

Anomalisa

Boy & the World

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

Inside Out is the most guaranteed win of the night. Could Anomalisa steal it away? If it did, it would be one of the biggest Oscar upsets of all-time.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Mustang (WINNER)

Son of Saul

Theeb

A War

Embrace of the Serpent

Historically the toughest category to predict. Son of Saul was the early frontrunner but Mustang and Embrace of the Serpent have both made ground and one of them could nip ahead of Son of Saul.

Amy Winehouse in documentary Amy
Amy Winehouse in documentary Amy

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Amy (WINNER)

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Much like the Best Foreign Language category, Best Documentary has always been a hard-to-call bracket. This years nominees are a fine bunch of films and any one of them would be a worthy winner. However, Asif Kapadia's Amy is heading into the Oscars on a huge wave of momentum and that'll likely see it to victory.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant, WINNER)

Roger Deakins (Sicario)

Ed Lachman (Carol)

Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight)

John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

I expect Emmanuel Lubezki to win his second consecutive Oscar for his work on The Revenant. However, for the love of the film gods, Roger Deakins needs to win this award one day.

THE OTHER CATEGORIES

Mad Max: Fury Road will probably be the big winner amongst the visual and artistic categories. I can see it picking up Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Production Design.

The Revenant will also win its fair share of technical wins. It'll likely come out on top in Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

Best Original Song will head in the direction of “Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground. Best Original Score should land in the lap of Ennio Morricone for his work on Quentin Tarantino's, The Hateful Eight.

And lastly, I fully expect the Academy to give an award to the biggest motion picture of last year with Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking home Best Visual Effects.

The 88th Academy Awards air live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, February 28, at 8:30PM/ET on ABC.

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