The big Oscars 2016 night is less than a week away. The voting has closed, and winners have been chosen. The 88th Academy Awards is among the most unpredictable ones in recent history. Let’s take a look at the potential winners and losers ahead of Sunday’s ceremony.
Oscars 2016: Best Picture
Nominees for the best picture are The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, Brooklyn, The Martian, Room, Spotlight, The Revenant. The four frontrunners are Spotlight, The Revenant, Room and The Big Short, with The Revenant leading the charge. The Oscars often mirror the top winner at the Baftas, and Alejandro G Iñárritu’s survival thriller had swept almost all the major awards at Baftas.
Best Director
It looks like Alejandro G Iñárritu’s is going to take home the Oscar for best director for a rare second straight year. Last year, he won it for Birdman. Only two people have won back-to-back best director Oscars: John Ford (1940, 1941) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (1949, 1950). What is working in Iñárritu’s favor is that he and Leonardo DiCaprio have gone all out to stress just how difficult it was to shoot the movie in harsh outdoor conditions.
Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated as many as four times in the past, but has never bagged the award. This year he has won the Bafta, the Golden Globe and the SAG Awards. On Sunday, he is sure to pick up his first ever Academy Awards. Four of the previous five Bafta best actor recipients have gone on to win the same title at the Oscars.
Best Actress
Just like Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson has won a Bafta, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for her powerful performance in Room. Larson played an abused, unadorned woman that came out of years of confinement. Brie Larson is as much of a slam dunk as DiCaprio this year.
Best Supporting Actor
Award for the best supporting actor is likely to go to Sylvester Stallone for Creed. He had received two nominations for Rocky way back in 1976. Stallone will win not on merit, but on nostalgia. He commands immense goodwill wherever he goes.
Best Supporting Actress
It is the most unpredictable category of the majors. First off, Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander were leads in their respective movies Carol and The Danish Girl. So, they should not have been nominated in this category. Though Vikander is leading the charge, she faces a formidable challenge from Kate Winslet, who has already won a Bafta for her supporting role in Steve Jobs.
