Social Underground’s Predictions of the 88th Academy Awards
Another year of awards, and another year of controversy regarding the biggest night in Hollywood: the 88th Academy Awards. 2015 was a pretty solid year in movies. It was mostly dominated with Star Wars and the latest Avengers movies, but there was under the radar films in there as well. Ex Machina was one of the best films I’ve seen in the sci-fi genre for some time. Mad Max: Fury Road made me go to the theater 4 times to see it because it was such an experience that I would like to tell my kids about it one day. The movie Spotlight really highlighted how much of an impact one newspaper could have on the Catholic Church covering up the thousands of sexual abuses over decades. There was so much to love in movies this year… minus that whole diversity thing.
One big snub from the entire awards was Beasts of No Nation. It got ZERO nominations in any category. Idris Elba just won a SAG award for it, but wasn’t even nominated. The movie is a fictional film about African civil wars in a fictional country, but everything you see could happen and is 100% still happening in that part of the world as we speak. But still, it got no recognition from the Academy. I’m guessing they might not want to give anything big to films that come from Netflix. I don’t know.
The biggest story of the awards this year is practically no black actors are nominated. By “practically,” I mean none. I know Will Smith is complaining about there being no black actors nominated this year because his wife spoke up, but that movie Concussion wasn’t good, and he wasn’t very good in it. To add insult to injury, Will Smith was nominated twice before, but lost to 2 black actors. I don’t know if that signifies anything, but it’s an observation. Then there’s Spike Lee. He hasn’t made a good movie in 25 years. Every movie he has made since has been full of racism.
As a white person, I should really shut up, but there were fantastic performances by actors and actresses of color. Oscar Issac in Ex Machina? He killed it! Idris Elba and Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation? Wow! Benicio Del Toro in Sicario? He was spectacular. I could go on, but you get my point.
Let’s get to the predictions:
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“The Big Short” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“Bridge of Spies” Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
“Brooklyn” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers
“The Martian” Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers
“The Revenant” Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers
“Room” Ed Guiney, Producer
“Spotlight” Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers
Spotlight will win this one because of the subject matter that it tackled. Does it deserve to win? Nah. It was a good movie that was paint by numbers of what happened at the Boston Globe. You could practically write the script from the Wikipedia page about the controversy. It could be upset by The Big Short since that movie also portrayed one of the biggest economic disasters in recent memory that was caused by corruption. Mad Max: Fury Road winning would be amazing, but I doubt that would happen. I mean, why award a movie that is universally loved by critics and fans? Stupid, right?
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
I’d love this one to go to George Miller, but he will get snubbed because action movies never really win unless they are based on war. Alejandro G. Iñárritu will take it again this year because The Revenant was mind-blowing to watch. There are moments in it where I just sat wondering how they filmed scenes. Look for a possible upset with Adam McKay winning.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bryan Cranston in “Trumbo”
Matt Damon in “The Martian”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”
Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl”
Although I thought DiCaprio did a good job in the movie, he has done better in previous roles that he lost in. I could grow a beard, hardly talk, be cold, and eat raw fish, too. I thought Cranston was very good in Trumbo, but I doubt that he will win because of the movie highlighting how his pen name won Oscars because he was blacklisted for being a Communist. I’d Like Damon to win because he portrayed every emotion in the film flawlessly. He made you laugh and made you cry. That’s how it’s done. If Eddie Redmayne wins for his Oscar-bait portrayal of the first trans-woman, I’ll be pissed. Nothing against the trans community, but the movie was made purely for awards.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett in “Carol”
Brie Larson in “Room”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn”
Brie Larson by a mile. No one on this list other than Saoirse Ronan can come close to her.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale in “The Big Short”
Tom Hardy in “The Revenant”
Mark Ruffalo in “Spotlight”
Mark Rylance in “Bridge of Spies”
Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”
Bale was very good in The Big Short. He reminded me of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho but he wasn’t insane, was a genius, and was a kind-hearted guy that saw the financial collapse years before anyone. However, I’m going to have to give it to Stallone. It reminded me that he can still be a great actor if he tries to be. Ruffalo being nominated is just strange. He really didn’t do anything. Him over a nomination for Idris Elba? Pfft, yeah, okay.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara in “Carol”
Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”
Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”
Kate Winslet in “Steve Jobs”
Viklander was the best part of The Danish Girl and Ex Machina minus Oscar Issac). Rachel McAdams shouldn’t have been nominated. Like Ruffalo, she didn’t really do anything that screamed for awards. She just kinda knocked on doors and asked people stuff. That or she sat at her desk, talked on the phone, and asked people stuff. Jennifer Jason Leigh could steal this one, but I’m giving it to Viklander.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Big Short” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
“Brooklyn” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“Carol” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
“The Martian” Screenplay by Drew Goddard
“Room” Screenplay by Emma Donoghue
I’ve read both The Big Short and The Martian. The Big Short is going to win it because it was a great adaptation, but The Martian was so well adapted that I feel Goddard is getting robbed. He managed to take a book that was full of so much scientific information and humanity that I don’t see why he shouldn’t win.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Bridge of Spies” Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
“Ex Machina” Written by Alex Garland
“Inside Out” Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
“Spotlight” Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
“Straight Outta Compton” Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
Spotlight will win because, again, the content involved. People will think it’s racist if Straight Outta Compton should win, but there are parts of that movie that are so horribly written that I laughed in the theater. There was a scene with Ice Cube was writing his moving Friday and laughing about how funny his own writing is. There was another scene where Dre was playing synth on his keyboard, randomly comes up with Nuthin’ But A G Thang, and then Snoop strolls up and freestyle the opening rhymes of it. No way.
Alex Garland has written some of the most enjoyable movies (Dredd, Sunshine, 28 Days Later), but continually gets robbed. Ex Machina would be a great upset, but I don’t see it happening.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
“Anomalisa” Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
“Boy and the World” Alê Abreu
“Inside Out” Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
“Shaun the Sheep Movie” Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
“When Marnie Was There” Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Inside Out is made by Pixar. Do we even need to debate this?
ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Bridge of Spies” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
“The Danish Girl” Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
“The Martian” Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
“The Revenant” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Fury Road looked like it took 10,000 people to build all the stuff you see in the film. There is so much world building going on in the film that you have to see it a few times like I did to really take it all the detail put into everything.
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Carol” Ed Lachman
“The Hateful Eight” Robert Richardson
“Mad Max: Fury Road” John Seale
“The Revenant” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Sicario” Roger Deakins
I wish Fury Road, but there’s no way The Revenant won’t win this.
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
Again with the above comments, but with The Danish Girl replacing The Revenant.
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 Markey
This one is purely a guess. Any of the movies except for Spotlight could win. Spotlight was just so… Lifetime Movie Channel in its filming, editing, and set up the tripod filmmaking. I also wish someone caught a mistake in the editing room where Michael Keaton parked in a handicap spot in front of the Boston Globe. He wasn’t handicapped. Just an observation, guys.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Amy” Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
“Cartel Land” Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
“The Look of Silence” Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom should win this one. It really nails every aspect of showing you what is going on in the Ukraine. Have you heard about it in the news lately? Yeah, didn’t think so. It’s still happening.
Anyway, Amy will take the win because it’s about a drug addict musician that died too young. I do wish that The Look of Silence would win… but only because there’s a Sørensen involved. I have to represent!
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Making everyone look like homeless people in The Revenant couldn’t have been that hard. I went out as a homeless person for Halloween and it looked just about the same. Fury Road will take this one.
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
John Williams didn’t really add a whole bunch to the movie since most of the music was already composed, so he won’t win. Ennio Morricone will win because his score is perfect for the movie.
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“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 Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre”
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
I think Sam Smith will win because for some insane reason, his song was chosen over the one that Radiohead wrote for Spectre. This song is way better some than anything on the damn list. It probably would’ve made me like the movie more:
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
This is another pure guess. Fury Road could upset it, but those Star Wars editors are relentless.
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
Same with what I said above.
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
Mad Max: Fury Road owns everyone in this category. Sure, Star Wars: The Force Awakens returned to form with more practical effects, but it has nothing on Mad Max: Fury Road. How they did some of the effects in the film blew my mind. How the mixed together everything blew my mind. Even when they explain it in the video below, it’s still impressive how you can’t even tell if they even use any CGI in the entire film. Everything looks dangerous, and in one scene near the end of the movie, one stunt driver was being prepared to be taken to the hospital after he completed the stunt because it was going to be so hardcore.
The 88th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. It will be hosted by Chris Rock, so expect fireworks.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post,UPROXX,BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com