Every award season is centered around the one big event that brings together nearly all of Hollywood’s biggest, best, and brightest stars: The Oscars. Everyone nominated that night hopes to hear their name following those five magical words: “and the Oscar goes to…”. We picked out who we think should win this year’s Oscar in some of our favorite categories.
Best Picture: The Big Short
What do you get when you combine Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt, and Christian Bale? You get our Best Picture Oscar winner, “The Big Short”! This movie, based on the book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine”, takes the all too well known economic crisis of 2008 and spins it in a humorous, daring, and clever way.
Actor in a Leading Role: Leaonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Okay, in all fairness … no one else had a chance in this category. If you are rooting against Leo finally winning an Oscar, you are also probably against cute puppies and warm blankets. Playing a character who was torn away from his home and has watched his family disappear from beneath his fingertips, DiCaprio delivers a powerfully emotional and incredibly realistic performance.
Actress in a Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
Every awkward girl’s Hollywood spirit animal wins our Oscar in this category. J.Law takes the world by storm as she acts out the character of Joy in the film of the same name. The story itself is essentially uplifting, and we can’t think of anyone else we would rather see pick herself up by the bootstraps than funny-girl Jennifer Lawrence.
Actor in a Supporting Role: Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Honestly, it seems impossible for Mark Ruffalo to play a role incorrectly which is why We give the Oscar for Actor in a Supporting Role to this man. He can easily go from the Hulk to an awkward investigative journalist that helps uncover a worldwide scandal, and that definitely deserves some recognition (as long as that recognition is in the form of an Oscar)!
Actress in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
We pick the personification of beauty and talent for this category. Kate Winslet plays the steady and guiding hand of Joanna Hoffman, Steve Jobs’ head of marketing. She delivers her performance with spot on precision and calamity. Plus, I mean, come on. If Leo wins, Kate has to win too. It’s just a law of nature.
Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
It would be really hard to beat having Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, and Phyllis Smith running around inside your head and giving voice to all of your emotions. We just don’t think it’s possible to get better than that, so our Oscar for Animated Feature Film goes to “Inside Out”! A brilliant and relatable ‘explanation’ for why we feel what we feel, this movie crosses generational gaps and many other audience splits making it truly enjoyable for everyone.
Costume Design: Cinderella
The classic cartoon wardrobe from the original “Cinderella” was perfectly portrayed in this live action film, so we are awarding our Oscar for Costume Design to this fairytale come to life. If only that costume designer had been around to make dresses for the prom …
Documentary (Feature): Cartel Land
“Cartel Land” wins our Oscar for Documentary Feature because it addresses real issues surrounding the drug cartels in Mexico. Not only does the film spotlight people in Mexico who have attempted to rise against the control of the drug cartels, but it features a paramilitary group in the United States who are fighting for the same things that people across the border are fighting for.
Documentary (Short Subject): A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
For almost all of us it’s impossible to imagine what it would be like to live like Saba lived. As a young woman, Saba fell in love and eloped to marry the man she loved and she was persecuted relentlessly for it – especially by her father and uncle. This powerful film gives us a brief look inside what that life could possibly be like and for that reason, “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” wins our Oscar for the Short Subject Documentary.
Obviously we don’t score using the same judging criteria as the Academy does, but our lust and emotions give us a pretty strong idea of who we would like to see win at the 2016 Oscars. Disagree with some of our picks for Oscar winners? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter!