Chris Luckett

Tomorrow’s the Super Bowl of movies: The Oscars. More than in most years, the 88th Academy Awards’ nominations are relatively fair in recognition of what actually was the best in cinema in 2015. Of course, as protested snubs like Ridley Scott and Idris Elba illustrate, what’s nominated for Oscars is never exactly what you’d think should be. Now, if I nominated the Oscars…

(My selections for the ultimate winners are in *bold*. Movies that weren’t nominated for Oscars are in orange.)

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

*Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)*
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
Harrison Ford (The Age of Adaline)
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard (Macbeth)
*Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)*
Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

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BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Cinderella
*Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Mockingjay, Part 2
The Revenant

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BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Black Mass
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mockingjay, Part 2
Mr. Holmes
*The Revenant*

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BEST SOUND MIXING

The Force Awakens
*Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario

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BEST SOUND EDITING

The Force Awakens
*Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario

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BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Force Awakens
Jurassic World
*Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Martian

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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Anomalisa
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
*When Marnie was There*

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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies
The Force Awakens
The Hateful Eight
*Mad Max: Fury Road*
The Martian

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Hateful Eight
Macbeth
Mad Max: Fury Road
*The Revenant*
Sicario

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BEST FILM EDITING

*The Big Short*
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

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BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Feels Like Summer” (Shaun the Sheep Movie)
*“Fine on the Outside” (When Marnie was There)*
“Love Me Like You Do” (Fifty Shades of Grey)
“Shine” (Paddington)
“‘Til It Happens to You” (The Hunting Ground)

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BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
It Follows
*Sicario*
Mad Max: Fury Road

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Ex Machina
Grandma
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
*Spotlight*

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BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

*The Big Short*
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Martian
The Walk
When Marnie was There

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BEST DIRECTOR

*Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)*
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
Denis Villenueve (Sicario)
Robert Zemeckis (The Walk)

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BEST ACTOR

Matt Damon (The Martian)
Johnny Depp (Black Mass)
*Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)*
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

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BEST ACTRESS

*Emily Blunt (Sicario)*
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Lily Tomlin (Grandma)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

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BEST PICTURE

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Paddington
*The Revenant*
Sicario
Spotlight
The Walk

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(I haven’t seen enough movies to fairly comment on the following categories: Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Foreign-Language Film, and Best Live-Action Short.)

(Cover photo: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)