The 88th Academy Awards are scheduled for Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I likely have seen very few of these movies, so I will mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth.
Best Original Screenplay
Matt Chapman, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen, Bridge Of Spies
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Peter Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, and Ronnie del Carmen, Inside Out
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, and Alan Wenkus, Straight Outta Compton
I haven’t seen any of these films yet, but if I had to guess, which I guess I do, I’m going to say that, partially thanks to the outrage over the relative whiteness of the acting nominees, Straight Outta Compton will take home the prize.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Emma Donoghue, Room
Another category where I have not seen any of the nominated work. I’m guessing, based on very little, that The Big Short will win this one.
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Boy & The World
Inside Out
Shaun The Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
No clue here either, but Inside Out was the only one I had heard of.
Best Cinematography
Ed Lachman, Carol
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger A. Deakins, Sicario
Well, I’ve almost seen one of these, since I have Mad Max home from Netflix. My guess is that Emmanuel Lubezki takes home the Oscar for capturing the rape of Leonardo DiCaprio by a bear.
Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell, Carol
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road
Jacqueline West, The Revenant
The odds do seem to be in Sandy Powell’s favor, but I’m guessing Paco Delgado brings home the prize for The Danish Girl.
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look Of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom
Amy is the only one of these that I have heard of, so this guess has very little behind it.
Best Documentary Short Subject
Body Team 12
Chau, Behind Enemy Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres Of The Shoah
A Girl In The River: The Price Of Forgiveness
Last Day Of Freedom
This is a total guess for a category that I know nothing about.
Achievement in Film Editing
Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
Stephen Mirrione, The Revenant
Tom McArdle, Spotlight
Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Finally, a category where I’ve seen one of the films. However, my pick is that Stephen Mirrione will win for The Revenant.
Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace Of The Serpent, Colombia
Mustang, France
Son Of Saul, Hungary
Theeb, Jordan
A War, Denmark
A group of films that I have never, and will never, see, so I’m picking one at random.
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Love Larson and Eva von Bahr, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared
Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, and Damian Martin, Mad Max: Fury Road
Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman, and Robert Pandini, The Revenant
It probably isn’t going to win, but I’ll go with Mad Max anyway and hope for the best.
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
Again, this may be wishful thinking, but I’m going with John Williams for the latest Star Wars film.
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
Earned It from Fifty Shades Of Grey, Music and Lyric by Ahamad Balshe, Stephan Moccio, Jason “Daheala” Quenneville, and Abel Tesfaye
Manta Ray from Racing Extinction, Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
Simple Song #3 from Youth, Music and Lyric by David Lang
Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground, Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren
Writing’s On The Wall from Spectre, Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
The theme to the latest James Bond film is the only one of these I’ve heard of, so I’ll pick that and dream about not having to live in a world where Lady Gaga is an Oscar-winner.
Achievement in Production Design
Bridge Of Spies, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
The Danish Girl, Production Design: Michael Standish; Set Decoration: Eve Stewart
Mad Max: Fury Road, Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
The Martian, Production Design: Celia Bobak; Set Decoration: Arthur Max
The Revenant, Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
I’m going with The Martian, for no particular reason.
Best Animated Short Film
Bear Story, Pato Escala Pierart and Gabriel Osorio Vargas
Prologue, Imogen Sutton and Richard Williams
Sanjay’s Super Team, Nicole Paradis Grindle and Sanjay Patel
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos, Konstantin Bronzit
World Of Tomorrow, Don Hertzfeldt
Best Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria, Eric Dupont and Basil Khalil
Day One, Henry Hughes
Everything Will Be OK, Patrick Vollrath
Shok, Jamie Donoughue
Stutterer, Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
These picks are based on nothing but pure alchemy.
Achievement in Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark A. Mangini and David White
The Martian, Oliver Tarney
The Revenant, Martin Hernández and Lon Bender
Sicario, Alan Robert Murray
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Matthew Wood and David Acord
I shall select the one nominated film that I have seen.
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
Again, I shall select the one nominated film that I have seen.
Achievement in Visual Effects
Ex Machina, Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst
Mad Max: Fury Road, Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams, and Tom Wood
The Martian, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, Richard Stammers, and Steven Warner
The Revenant, Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Jason Smith, and Cameron Waldbauer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan
For the third time in a row, I’m going with Star Wars.