EDITORIAL: OSCARS 2016 Winners Predictions

YES!!! It's finally here!! Its OSCARS week and the 88th Academy Awards are just a few days away. Pardon my extreme excitement, but some of us live to exist in this moment; the biggest night in film. Now while the stars are busy putting final touches to their frills and sequins for the red carpet, commentators are updating their predictions for this year's winners. Who will win, who should win?

When award season started out, "Spotlight" had been leading the race for best picture. However, it has now been overtaken by "The Revenant", which is nominated for 12 Academy Awards in total. The film has already triumphed at the Golden Globes and after sweeping the BAFTAs, it has certainly become a favourite to win best picture at this weekend's Awards. This puts Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu at the best odds to take best director (he picked up best picture, best director and best original screenplay in 2015 with "Birdman") and Leonardo DiCaprio for best actor (who is yet to win his first Oscar over the course of his lengthy Hollywood career and has been on a roll all award season). Sylvester Stallone's nomination for this year's supporting actor award came as a surprise, and although he has been nominated once for an Oscar before with Rocky in 1977, this would be his first win. 

Brie Larson is leading the pack up for the best actress award for her role in "Room". She has already won a Golden Globe and SAG award for the performance and it seems almost certain that she will take it home at the Oscars. Kate Winslet won in the best supporting actress category for "Steve Jobs" at the Golden Globes, but Alicia Vikander took home the honours at the Screen Actors Guild Awards three weeks later for "The Danish Girl"; and has been tipped by many to win this Sunday, but my gut feeling tells me that Kate Winslet might just take it. "Mad Max: Fury Road" definitely has quite a strong hand at creativity, and is certain to sweep away most of the design awards while "Inside Out" seems to be leading the best animated feature film category even though it never made it onto the best picture shortlist.

The awards will be held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on 28 February, with comedian Chris Rock as host.

Here are my predictions for the 88th Academy Awards winners (Winner picks in CAPS)

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

LEONARDO DICAPRIO (THE REVENANT)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

SYLVESTER STALLONE (CREED)

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

BRIE LARSON (ROOM)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara in (Carol)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

KATE WINSLET (STEVE JOBS)

Best animated feature film of the year:

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

INSIDE OUT

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

Achievement in cinematography:

Carol (Ed Lachman)

The Hateful Eight (Robert Richardson)

Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)

THE REVENANT (EMMANUEL LUBEZKI)

Sicario (Roger Deakins)

Achievement in costume design:

Carol (Sandy Powell)

Cinderella (Sandy Powell)

The Danish Girl (Paco Delgado)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (JENNY BEAVAN)

The Revenant (Jacqueline West)

Achievement in directing:

The Big Short (Adam McKay)

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

THE REVENANT (ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU)

Room (Lenny Abrahamson)

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)

Best documentary feature:

AMY

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Achievement in film editing:

The Big Short (Hank Corwin)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (MARGARET SIXEL)

The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)

Spotlight (Tom McArdle)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Marke)

Best foreign language film of the year:

Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)

Mustang (France)

SON OF SAUL (HUNGARY)

Theeb (Jordan)

A War (Denmark)

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling:

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared

The Revenant

Achievement in music written for motion

pictures (Original score):

Bridge of Spies (Thomas Newman)

Carol (Carter Burwell)

THE HATEFUL EIGHT (ENNIO MORRICONE)

Sicario (Jóhann Jóhannsson)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (John

Williams)

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):

EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY)

Manta Ray (Racing Extinction)

Simple Song #3 (Youth)

Til It Happens To You (The

Hunting Ground)

Writing’s On The Wall (Spectre)

Best motion picture of the year:

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road 

The Martian

THE REVENANT

Room

Spotlight

Achievement in production design:

Bridge of Spies (Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich)

The Danish Girl (Eve Stewart and Michael Standish)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (COLIN GIBSON AND LISA THOMPSON)

The Martian (Arthur Max and Celia Bobak)

The Revenant (Jack

Fisk and Hamish Purdy)

Achievement in sound editing:

Mad Max: Fury Road (Mark Mangini and David White)

The Martian (Oliver Tarney)

THE REVENANT (MARTIN HERNANDEZ AND LON BENDER)

Sicario (Alan Robert Murray)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Matthew Wood and David Acord)

Achievement in sound mixing:

Bridge of Spies (Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo)

The Martian (Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth)

THE REVENANT (JON TAYLOR, FRANK A. MONTAÑO, RANDY THOM AND CHRIS DUESTERDIEK)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and

Stuart Wilson)

Achievement in visual effects:

Ex Machina (Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (ANDREW

JACKSON, TOM WOOD, DAN Oliver and Andy Williams)

The Martian (Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner)

The Revenant (Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan

and Chris Corbould)

Adapted screenplay:

THE BIG SHORT

Brooklyn

Carol

The Martian

Room

Original screenplay:

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

SPOTLIGHT

Straight Outta Compton