Moore Oscar Actuals

Well I gotta say. I did pretty dern good.

I am talking about Oscar nominations. If you didn't read my previous post please do so to see my thoughts on which lucky celebrities would be getting the honor of a nod this year. 

You done?

So yeah. I did pretty dern good.

Also if you haven't read the list of the 88th Academy Award nominees feel free to peruse those at your earliest convenience. Which would be now if you're reading this post.

As usual there were a few surprises this year. The biggest snub was Ridley Scott getting shut out of a nomination for his masterful work on The Martian. Many thought he was one of the front-runners, if not the one to win this year, because 1) he took the Golden Globe past Sunday and 2) he's never won for any of his earlier works. Hopefully one day! His spot went to Lenny Abrahamson for his work in Room.

Speaking of Room, there was more love for that film than I expected. A lot of people expected the Academy to overlook it because of its dark nature. Well they were wrong. I'm happy for Room because it really is a terrific little film. I didn't expect it to knock Carol out of a Best Picture spot though.

Tom Hardy getting a nod for his supporting role in The Revenant kind of came out of nowhere. He appears to be riding on the coattails of that film's late success. Which is great becuase he's an amazing actor. It just feels out of left field. His nod shut out a couple of bigger front-runners such as Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation or Benicio del Toro for Sicario.

Another major snub was Aaron Sorkin getting shut out of a nod for Adapted Screenplay for writing Steve Jobs. His spot instead went to either Room or Carol. Sorkin, like Scott, won the Golden Globe this past Sunday so many thought he was a lock for a nomination. Just goes to show how unpredictable the Academy can be.

All we can do is wait until February 28th to see who the big winners are. I'm very excited for Mad Max: Fury Road. It was my favorite film last year, and to see a genre work get so much love from a usually stuffy Academy is surprising. I don't think it will win either Best Picture or Best Director, especially with The Revenant currently gaining a ton of speed. It should win for a few of its techincal nods though, and that's pretty awesome. Go Mad Max go!

I'm not sure if anyone reading this has seen a majority of the nominees this year. I've got some catching up to do myself. I will say it's all kind of exciting. Other than The Revenant getting attention lately there isn't a true front-runner this year. It's all very up in the air, and that makes the broadcast so much more fun to watch. I'll be posting about the winners when the time comes, but until then that is a wrap!

Moore Oscar Predictions

Well ya know Happy New Year and stuff.

Okay let's get to this. The 2016 Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow morning. Here are my predictions for who will receive the honor (and who I wish had the slightest chance). 

The Best Supporting Actor category is set in stone at this point, but there's also more possible dark horses here than any other category.
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies, Sylvester Stallone - Creed, Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation, Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight, and Christian Bale - The Big Short
Dark horses: Benicio del Toro - Sicario, Michael Keaton - Spotlight, Michael Shannon - 99 Homes, Jacob Tramblay - Room
Shoulda been, won't happen: Paul Dano - Love & Mercy, Oscar Isaac - Ex Machina

The Best Supporting Actress category is kinda up in the air. Both Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander are being touted for this category for Carol and The Danish Girl respectively even though their roles are definitely Lead Actress material. However Vikander is also getting steam for her incredible turn in Ex Machina. But we'll see. Here's what I think.
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs, Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight, Rooney Mara - Carol, Rachel McAdams - Spotlight, Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina
Dark horses: Helen Mirren - Trumbo, Jane Fonda - Youth (the Academy loves their elders)
Shoulda been, won't happen: Elizabeth Banks - Love & Mercy

The Best Actor category is the only category with a definite front-runner, and that's Dicaprio. Der.
Leonardo Dicaprio - The Revenant, Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs, Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl, Bryan Cranston - Trumbo, Matt Damon - The Martian
Dark horses: Johnny Depp - Black Mass, Will Smith - Concussion 

As with Supporting, the Best Actress category all depends on where Mara and Vikander are placed. 
Cate Blanchett - Carol, Brie Larson - Room, Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn, Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl, Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Dark horse: Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Shoulda been, won't happen: Charlize Theron - Mad Max: Fury Road

The Best Director category has quite a few viable options.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant, Ridley Scott - The Martian, Adam McKay - The Big Short, Tom McCarthy - Spotlight, George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Dark horses: Todd Haynes - Carol, Steven Spielberg - Bridge of Spies (never underestimate the Academy's love for The Beard)

The Best Picture category forever changed when they shifted their possible nominees to between 5-10. I believe there's going to be 8 this year, but who knows.
Spotlight, The Big Short, The Revenant, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, Carol, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies
Dark horses: Room, Straight Outta Compton

So there you have it. There's about 12 hours until the nominations are released. Let's see who gets what! And don't forget to tune in for the Oscars, airing Sunday, February 28th at 7:00pm on ABC.