Well, the Oscar nominations were announced and they were as I predicted and as I didn’t. Let’s do some quick analysis of the nominations. After this analysis you can see just how well I did in each category of the Oscar nominations as compared to my predictions.

The Good

  1. It’s truly tough to be mad at the Academy when they nominate Brooklyn for Best Picture, Ex Machina in Screenplay and VFX, and Charlotte Rampling in Actress.
  2. I’ve said all along that the critics would have to push Mad Max: Fury Road like nobody’s business in order for it to make it into the Academy and lo and behold I was right. Have we turned a corner with the Academy? They’ve been way more adventurous in their choices the past 5 years.
  3. Spotlight had a better day than I predicted including an interesting pair of acting nominations for the movie’s most overt (Ruffalo) and low key (McAdams) performances. Does it have enough to fend off The Revenant and The Big Short?

The Bad

  1. I knew The Revenant would be popular with the Academy but 12 nominations?! Geez. The Production Design and Supporting Actor nominations irk the most as neither of those was that strong in a film I didn’t particularly care for.
  2. Ridely Scott missing Director might qualify as the only true snub of these nominations.

The Ugly

  1. The rampant category fraud during campaigns actually took root as Vikander and Mara both landed in supporting. We could have had a way more interesting lineup.
  2. The fact that anything other than the score from The Hateful Eight got nominated, it’s a horrid film.
  3. Original Song could have been so much more interesting if they’d nominated the biggest hit of the year in See You Again or the real best song of the year “Who Can You Trust?” from Spy.
  4. This stupidity from Variety:Screen Shot 2016-01-14 at 8.53.48 AM

Finally, the Oscars continue to be Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde when it comes to how they honor diverse films. This year it seems that women are on top with 3 of the 8 Best Picture nominees and 4 of the 10 writing spots. Yet I can’t help but bemoan the fact that once again all the acting nominees are white. I’ve had many a colleague make the argument that the Academy can only nominate what is there in terms of roles, so how do you explain Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan missing? Or the guys from Straight Outta Compton? Or Benicio Del Toro? I know that art is incredibly subjective but it’s tough to time and time again see POC not making it into the elite circle. The Oscars are THE movie awards and to not have good work represented, even when its in their wheelhouse is a tough thing to swallow

Oscar Predictions vs Nominations

BEST PICTURE

  • “The Big Short” (Paramount Pictures)
  • “Bridge of Spies” (DreamWorks)
  • “Brooklyn” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road” (Warner Bros.)
  • “The Martian” (20th Century Fox)
  • “The Revenant” (20th Century Fox)
  • “Room” (A24 Films)
  • “Spotlight” (Open Road)

Verdict: 7/8 missing Brooklyn

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Lenny Abrahamson – “Room”
  • Alejandro G. Inarritu – “The Revenant”
  • Tom McCarthy – “Spotlight”
  • Adam McKay – “The Big Short”
  • George Miller – “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Verdict: 4/5, who’d have thunk Ridley would be the one getting bumped out

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

  • Bryan Cranston – “Trumbo”
  • Matt Damon – “The Martian”
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – “The Revenant”
  • Michael Fassbender – “Steve Jobs”
  • Eddie Redmayne – “The Danish Girl”

Verdict: 5/5

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

  • Cate Blanchett – “Carol”
  • Brie Larson – “Room”
  • Jennifer Lawrence – “Joy”
  • Charlotte Rampling – “45 Years”
  • Saoirse Ronan – “Brooklyn”

Verdict: 4/5, I knew I should have kept Jennifer Lawrence in. She’s quite good in Joy.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Christian Bale – “The Big Short”
  • Tom Hardy – “The Revenant”
  • Mark Ruffalo – “Spotlight”
  • Mark Rylance – “Bridge of Spies”
  • Sylvester Stallone – “Creed”

Verdict: 3/5, missing Hardy and Ruffalo

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Jennifer Jason Leigh – “The Hateful Eight”
  • Rooney Mara – “Carol”
  • Rachel McAdams – “Spotlight”
  • Alicia Vikander – “The Danish Girl”
  • Kate Winslet – “Steve Jobs”

Verdict: 2/5, missing Leigh, McAdams, and The Danish Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • “Bridge of Spies”
  • “Ex Machina”
  • “Inside Out”
  • “Spotlight”
  • “Straight Outta Compton”

Verdict:4/5, missing Straight Outta Compton

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • “The Big Short”
  • “Brooklyn”
  • “Carol”
  • “The Martian”
  • “Room”

Verdict: 4/5, with Brooklyn (yay!) replacing Steve Jobs

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

  • “Anomalisa”
  • “The Boy and the World”
  • “Inside Out”
  • “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
  • “When Marnie Was There”

Verdict 3/5

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • “Bridge of Spies”
  • “The Danish Girl”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Martian”
  • “The Revenant”

Verdict: 3/5

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • “Carol”
  • “The Hateful Eight”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Revenant”
  • “Sicario”

Verdict: 4/5

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • “Carol”
  • “Cinderella”
  • “The Danish Girl”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Revenant”

Verdict: 3/5

BEST FILM EDITING

  • “The Big Short”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Revenant”
  • “Spotlight”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Verdict: 4/5

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared”
  • “The Revenant”

Verdict: 2/3

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • “Bridge of Spies”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Martian”
  • “The Revenant”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Verdict: 4/5

BEST SOUND EDITING

  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Martian”
  • “The Revenant”
  • “Sicario”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Verdict: 4/5

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • “Ex Machina”
  • “Mad Max: Fury Road”
  • “The Martian”
  • “The Revenant”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Verdict: 4/5, NO JURASSIC WORLD HALLELUJAH

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

  • “Bridge of Spies”
  • “Carol”
  • “The Hateful Eight”
  • “Sicario”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Verdict: 5/5

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • “Fifty Shades of Grey” – “Earned It”
  • “Racing Extinction” – “Manta Ray”
  • “Youth” – “Simple Song #3”
  • “The Hunting Ground” – “Til’ it Happens to You”
  • “Spectre” – “Writings on the Wall”

Verdict: 3/5

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

  • “Amy”
  • “Cartel Land”
  • “The Look of Silence”
  • “What Happened Miss Simone?”
  • “Winter’s on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”

Verdict: 3/5

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • “Embrace of the Serpent”
  • “Mustang”
  • “Son of Saul”
  • “Theeb”
  • “A War”

Verdict: 3/5

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

  • Body Team 12
  • Chau, beyond the Lines
  • Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
  • The Girl on the River: The Price of Forgiveness
  • Last Day of Freedom

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

  • Bear Story
  • Prologue
  • Sanjay’s Super Team
  • We Can’t Live without Cosmos
  • World of Tomorrow

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

  • Ave Maria
  • Day One
  • Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
  • Shok
  • Stutterer