STACK #136 Feb 2016

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STACK ’ S 2016 OSCARS FORM GUIDE

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Cinematography and Sound Editing will be a dead heat between Sicario, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant and too difficult to pick. Original Screenplay: Alex Garland’s ingenious insight into creating AI, Ex Machina , will face fierce competition from the equally inventive and emotionally resonant Inside Out . Adapted Screenplay: Another dead heat between The Martian , Room and Carol ; a photo finish. Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul (Hungary), a harrowing Holocaust drama. No contest. Animated Feature: Inside Out – Pixar’s best and most beloved film in years. Apologies to Shaun the Sheep . Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road' s hyperkinetic assembly vs. The Revenant ’s long takes. 'Max has the edge. Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road – every frame is a work of art. Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road – so shiny, so chrome. However, The Revenant does boast the first truly convincing CGI bear. Makeup and Hairstyling: High noon in the salon, as Mad Max: Fury Road 's bizarre makeups and The Revenant 's flowing locks and hipster beards face off. Original Score: Ennio Morricone’s moody music for The Hateful Eight will beat Johann Johannsson’s equally brooding score for Sicario . Best Song: How did Sam Smith’s bland Bond ballad make the list? And how did Fifty Shades of Grey score an Oscar nom?! That leaves the three unknowns, making it anyone’s guess. Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant duke it out again. However, this could be the one Oscar that Star Wars: The Force Awakens wins. Documentary Feature: The Look of Silence . Indonesian genocide survivors face their family’s killers. Enough said. Best Documentary Short, Animated Short and Live Action Short: Can be the difference between winning and losing an Oscars’ sweep.

Squinting into our crystal ball in a chamber redolent of sandalwood incense, we predict the winners of this year’s Academy Awards (and hedge our bets).

captive mum devoted to her five-year-old boy – she already has the Globe and will soon have an Oscar to sit beside it; she will cry during her acceptance speech. However, the consistently luminous Cate Blanchett is still a chance to claim her second Oscar in as many years. Jennifer Lawrence being nominated for a David O. Russell film is now as predictable as Meryl Streep being nominated for anything (although not this year). Sorry Charlotte and Saorise, maybe next time. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR The nominees: Christian Bale – The Big Short , Tom Hardy – The Revenant , Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight , Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies , Sylvester Stallone - Creed Can Stallone finally win an Oscar for playing Rocky Balboa? He missed out in 1977, but could get lucky this year after being awarded a Globe. Tom Hardy will win an Oscar, but it won’t be this year. Of the two Marks, Ruffalo and Rylance, the former is an outside chance, but Christian Bale is likely to claim it for simply getting his head around the dynamics of investment fund management. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS The nominees: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight , Rooney Mara – Carol , Rachel McAdams – Spotlight , Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl , Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs Jennifer Jason Leigh makes a fantastic comeback, spitting blood and venomTarantino- style, however Academy elders could deem her performance too grotesque. Alicia Vikander should have been nominated for Ex Machina ; Rachel McAdams’ investigative journo stands out amongst a strong ensemble cast but is a long shot; and Kate Winslet already has the Globe for putting up with Steve Jobs. The Oscar goes to Rooney Mara , as Cate Blanchett’s lesbian lover.

Leo hunts an Oscar

BEST PICTURE The nominees: The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight This could be tougher to pick this year than it initially looks. The Revenant is the favourite, and The Academy love an epic, but the fact that Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman won the award last year could work against it. Genre films rarely win Best Picture Oscars (although The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was an exception in 2003), which reduces Mad Max: Fury Road ’s chances, even though it is undeniably the best movie of 2015. The brilliant Spotlight illuminates important and topical issues and could be the dark horse. The Martian was great popular entertainment, but not Best Picture material; Bridge of Spies is minor Spielberg; The Big Short has more chance in the Screenplay and Supporting Actor categories; captivity drama Room is an indie film; and Brooklyn is the one that nobody has seen. BEST DIRECTOR The nominees: Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant , George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road , Lenny Abrahamson – Room , Tom McCarthy – Spotlight , Adam McKay – The Big Short Iñárritu won last year and already has a Golden Globe, so in a perfect world it will be a case of The Revenant winning Best Picture

and George Miller winning Best Director. Fury Road is a masterclass in filmmaking that deserves to win more than a handful of technical awards. Everyone else can remain seated. Okay, we're not living in a perfect world. Iñárritu will win. BEST ACTOR The nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant , Matt Damon – The Martian , Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs , Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl , Bryan Cranston - Trumbo Leo. The fact that his throat’s been torn out by a bear reduces his performance to a series of vengeful stares, grunts and gestures, but he is good. And adored. But the fact that The Revenant was such an arduous production for all involved, does actually living the survival experience whilst making the film really count as acting? Matt Damon is as amiable as ever as a stranded astronaut, but he’s already won the Golden Globe. Eddie Redmayne won last year as Steven Hawking, and although the Academy loves a transformation, he won't make it two in a row. Michael Fassbender is always Oscar-worthy, but should have been nominated for Macbeth . And while we love Bryan Cranston, he’s there to make up the numbers. BEST ACTRESS The nominees: Cate Blanchett – Carol , Brie Larson – Room , Jennifer Lawrence – Joy , Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years , Saorise Ronan - Brooklyn Brie Larson is heartbreaking as a

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