Her Campus Ball State loves award shows, so we’re bringing you our predictions for the 2016 Academy Awards.
Best Picture
Nominees
- The Big Short, produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner
- Bridge of Spies, produced by Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, and Kristie Macosko Krieger
- Brooklyn, produced by Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey
- Mad Max: Fury Road, produced by Doug Mitchell and George Miller
- The Martian, produced by Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, and Mark Huffam
- The Revenant, produced by Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, and Keith Redmon
- Room, produced by Ed Guiney
- Spotlight, produced by Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, and Blye Pagon Faust
Our choice: The Revenant
It has the most nominations, with 12, indicating the widest Academy support. It also won big at the BAFTA Awards, another strong Oscar bellwether. Its lead actor is a shoo-in (finally), and the Academy has liked to pair Best Picture and Best Actor in the past. And as an epic period drama, it is also the most Best Picture-y movie among the nominees.
Best Actress
Nominees
- Cate Blanchett, Carol
- Brie Larson, Room
- Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
- Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
- Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Our choice: Brie Larson
She’s won just about every award she could for her complex, impossible-to-forget performance in Room. She’s been a grounded, gracious presence throughout the awards circuit. Expect her to win.
Best Actor
Nominees
- Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
- Matt Damon, The Martian
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
- Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
- Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Our choice: Leonardo DiCaprio
Barring catastrophe — like the world ending — Leo will finally, finally, finally win his first Academy Award. It helps that his competition this year is less than robust, in that none of the other nominees had to wear a hideous beard for nearly a year, eat raw bison liver and strip naked and step inside a disemboweled horse carcass for warmth.
Best Animated Feature
Nominees
- 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
Our choice: Inside Out
Since 2007, every time a movie from Pixar Animation Studios has been nominated for Best Animated Feature, it has won. Inside Out was acclaimed as one of the best movies of 2015, and it will undoubetdly continue Pixar’s winning streak.
Best Original Song
Nominees
- “Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey, music and lyric by the Weeknd, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Quenneville, and Stephan Moccio
- “Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction, music by J. Ralph; lyric by Anohni
- “Simple Song #3,” Youth, music and lyric by David Lang
- “Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground, music and lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
- “Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre, music and lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
Our choice: “Til It Happens To You”
Between its powerful subject matter — the epidemic of campus sexual assault — and the star power of co-nominee Lady Gaga, “Til It Happens To You” should finally snag Warren her first Oscar.