We here at Mad About Movies have a great love for The Oscars. Flawed as they most certainly are, the Academy Awards are, at their heart, a celebration of film and we’re all about the celebration of film. Oscar nominations head our way on January 14th with the show itself to follow February 28th. In preparation, today we share our respective ballots for the Big Eight categories (Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, and Picture) were the Academy smart enough to give us votes.
Three quick notes:
1.) In the 12 or so years that I’ve been writing about film in some form or fashion, I can’t remember a year with more outstanding films and performances to choose from in virtually every category. 2015 was fantastic and we’ll all miss it greatly during the dark days of 2016.
2.) Because of note number one, not all of us have seen every film that could possibly matter to this discussion. For my part, I have not seen Carol, Beasts of No Nation, or The Danish Girl, among, I’m sure, any number of other significant films.
3.) Kent and I deliver our prospective Oscar ballots below while Richard went with the predictive method, meaning his choices are less his personal ballot and more what he expects from the Academy itself.
**WINNERS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN BOLD**
BEST ACTOR
BRIAN: Matt Damon (The Martian), Johnny Depp (Black Mass), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
KENT: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Will Smith (Concussion)
RICHARD: Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
It seriously bums me out that Bryan Cranston is going to take someone’s spot on this list when the actual nominations come out. I love Cranston (who doesn’t?) but Trumbo is of the quality of a Hallmark movie and that should eliminate Cranston’s chances. I also had a tough time leaving Steve Carell (The Big Short) off my list but couldn’t decide if he really belonged in the Actor or Supporting Actor category.
BEST ACTRESS
BRIAN: Emily Blunt (Sicario), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
KENT: Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)
RICHARD: Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Rooney Mara (Carol), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
There have been plenty of years wherein the Actress category is a wasteland. Not so this time around. Nine or ten actresses were in contention here and all have a claim to be included. Ridley had my favorite leading female performance of the year but Larson’s work is so superb, I couldn’t see voting against her in this setting.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BRIAN: Harrison Ford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Jacob Tambay (Room)
KENT: Paul Dano (Love & Mercy), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
RICHARD: Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
This is always the toughest category to sort through. Always. My list included no less than 12 actors and I already hate myself for excluding Russell, Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight), Jason Segel (The End of the Tour), and Michael Keaton (Spotlight). You could probably talk me out of Ford but I couldn’t so there he is. Honestly virtually all of these guys have a strong case to win but I’m pulling hard for Sly.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BRIAN: Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
KENT: Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful 8), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
RICHARD: Joan Allen (Room), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Another strong category for women. We’re making progress! Vikander seemed like the favorite earlier in the year but has faded. JJL has perhaps the showiest performance but in a film that is fairly divisive. And McAdams is my favorite and I love her and I want her to win because True Detective made me sad. But Winslet’s performance, while at times uneven in the accent department, provides a much needed human counterpart to Fassbender’s robot Steve Jobs and I think makes the film more relatable.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BRIAN: Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Emma Donaghue (Room), Drew Goddard (The Martian), Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short), Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)
KENT: Scott Cooper and Mark Mallouk (Black Mass), Emma Donaghue (Room), Drew Goddard (The Martian), Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short), Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)
RICHARD: Emma Donaghue (Room), Drew Goddard (The Martian), Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short), Phil Nagy (Carol), Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)
What this category lacks in quantity (there are really only six or seven films competing for a spot here) it makes up for in quality. The Martian is one of the smartest sci-fi scripts in years, Donague’s adaptation of her own book is staggeringly sobering, and McKay’s structure is hilarious and impeccable. But when I look back on 2015 and consider this category, the first thing I’ll think of is Sorkin’s fast paced work of art that makes Steve Jobs so much more interesting than it has any right to be.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BRIAN: Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington (Creed), Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (Inside Out), Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
KENT: Alex Garland (Ex-Machina), Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (Inside Out), Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
RICHARD: Matt Chapman, Joel and Ethan Coen (Bridge of Spies), Alex Garland (Ex-Machina), Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight), David O. Russell (Joy), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
Beyond the Supporting Actor category, this one was the toughest call for me. There were a ton of excellent, original scripts this year and they lent themselves to outstanding finished products. Choosing between Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight and Tarantino’s Hateful was difficult but I am of the opinion that it is Tarantino’s best script and when one of the three or four best screenwriters in the world turns in his best script, you vote for him.
BEST DIRECTOR
BRIAN: Ryan Coogler (Creed), Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen (Inside Out), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Adam McKay (The Big Short), Ridley Scott (The Martian)
KENT: Ryan Coogler (Creed), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ridley Scott (The Martian), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
RICHARD: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ridley Scott (The Martian), Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies)
This is, admittedly, a unique choice from me, given that Docter and Del Carmen probably won’t even be nominated next week. But I can’t ever recall having the emotional reaction to any film, let alone an animated one, like I did to Inside Out. It’s a brilliant film, plain and simple, and I love what Docter did with it. But all of the other directors listed and perhaps five or six more deserve a place on this list and have compelling cases for winning.
BEST PICTURE
BRIAN: The Big Short, Creed, Inside Out, Love & Mercy, The Martian, Room, Sicario, Spotlight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Steve Jobs
KENT: The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Ex-Machina, The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Spotlight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
RICHARD: Brooklyn, Carol, Creed, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room, Spotlight
For the record, I think Richard is right on the number of nominations, if not the actual films themselves. This is the drunkest award season in memory and when you have at least 20 films with legitimate claims at a spot on this list, I’m afraid the votes are going to split and several of these movies are going to cannibalize themselves. For my part, I gave serious consideration to no less than 18 films and I’m still not completely happy with my ballot. I think Spotlight, Inside Out, The Revenant, and (by hook or crook) Mad Max have locked up nominations and the rest of the ballot will be the source of much discussion in the coming weeks.