My Oscar Ballot

It’s almost time for the Oscars, and I just finished my ballot. It’s a mix of my opinions along with semi-random guesses based on what “experts” like Entertainment Weekly are predicting.

I usually don’t do as well as I might because for some categories I go with what I think should win which is often not the same as what will likely win. I have a long history of going with the wrong Best Picture, but for once this year my pick lines up well with expectations.

For me the Best Picture I the one that connects with me emotionally. The Descendants, Gravity, Boyhood are examples of the films that did that. Of course, none of them won. This year however both Room and Spotlight really hit me.  Room was very emotional all the way through, but Spotlight was interesting in that it hit me all at once at the end. As the last scene faded into the credits, the tears started. Completely unexpected and just reinforced to me how powerful and how important the film is.

I also had a hard time picking the best animated short. I’m always a fan of anything from Pixar and Disney, but Bear Story and We Can’t Live Without Cosmos grabbed me by the heartstrings. Bear Story’s animation within the animation was an amazingly realistic mechanical play that told a heart-wrenching story of a bear torn form his family. We Can’t Live Without Cosmos started out as a very light-hearted and funny story of two Cosmonauts, but became something else entirely by the end. A touching story of two friends. I basically flipped a coin and went with Cosmos.

But enough about e and crying at the movies. Here are my picks for tonight:

Update: I’ve updated my ballot to strikeout the picks I was wrong about and noted the winner. I had 17 right out of 24, so that isn’t too bad.

Best Picture – Spotlight

Best Director – George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant

Best Actor – Leonard DiCaprio, The Revenant

Best Actress – Brie Larson, Room

Best Supporting Actor – Sylvester Stallone Creed Mark Rylance

Best Supporting Actress – Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best Animated Feature Film – Inside Out

Best Foreign Film – Son of Saul

Best Original Screenplay – Spotlight

Best Adapted Screenplay – The Big Short

Best Costume Design – Cinderella Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Original Song – “‘Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground “Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre

Best Original Score – The Hateful Eight

Best Documentary – Amy

Best Documentary (Short) – A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Best Makeup & Hairstyling – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Production Design – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Film Editing – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Cinematography – The Revenant

Best Sound Editing – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Visual Effects – Star Wars: The Force Awakens Ex Machina

Best Short Film (Animated) – We Can’t Live Without Cosmos (flipped a coin between this and Bear Story even though consensus is World of Tomorrow will win) Bear Story

Best Short Film (Live Action) – Shok Stutterer