Now it's on to costumes, music, editing and the scripts. I think most of these are less iffy, except for one big one.
COSTUME DESIGN
- Cinderella
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Danish Girl
- Carol
- The Revenant
And this is the one. This category is giving me a major headache, because Mad Max won the Bafta and the guild, but I just cannot imagine the Academy being cool enough to pick that movie here. They have a strong history of always picking the brightest, loudest, most colorful period costumes, and being a Best Picture nominee doesn't really matter too much. My instinct (and that's all it is) is telling me this is gonna be Cinderella. But the guild and Bafta win is too strong a combo to ignore.
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Alternate: Cinderella
FILM EDITING
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Big Short
- The Revenant
- Spotlight
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Well, this looks to be Mad Max's, again after winning the Bafta and guild awards. I used to think this was going to The Big Short, back when I thought it was going to take Best Picture- if I was still predicting that for picture I'd have to pick it for this as well. But now it seems to be Mad Max's to lose.
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Alternate: The Big Short
Dark Horse: The Revenant (this is possible since the BP frontrunner always has a chance in editing)
ORIGINAL SCORE
- The Hateful Eight
- Carol
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Bridge of Spies
- Sicario
Ennio Moriconne has been winning every music award for his Hateful Eight score, and there's no real momentum for another movie here, so that looks to be the one. I think it's more of a career award for Moricconne, who's never won, but if you're going to give those out, he's not a bad person to give it to.
Winner: The Hateful Eight
ORIGINAL SONG
- 'Til It Happens to You,' The Hunting Ground
- 'Writing's on the Wall,' Spectre
- 'Earned It,' Fifty Shades of Grey
- 'Simple Song 3,' Youth
- 'Manta Ray,' Racing Extinction
None of these songs have any relevance this year to anything, which leaves me to predict Lady Gaga and Diane Warren's song from The Hunting Ground, mostly because they're the biggest names on the ballot. It's years like this when you wonder why this category still exists, frankly. I really hope that Bond song doesn't win though. I'm already dreading having to listen to it one more time on the show.
Winner: 'Til It Happens to You,' The Hunting Ground
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- The Big Short
- Room
- The Martian
- Brooklyn
- Carol
An easy win for The Big Short, which took the WGA, Bafta and Scripter. Looks like a consolation prize, but it's deserving.
Winner: The Big Short
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Spotlight
- Straight Outta Compton
- Inside Out
- Bridge of Spies
- Ex Machina
Spotlight's in the same boat- it took the WGA and Bafta, and will win the Oscar for the script and likely nothing else (although being the SAG winner means there's a slight chance it could pull off a huge upset in picture, but very tiny).
Winner: Spotlight
