My Oscar Picks

Here's who I think should win - it certainly won't be who actually does.

Best Picture - With a review in 9 words or less.

1.  Room - Best movie of the year: original, suspenseful, meaningful.

2.  Mad Max: Fury Road - Crazy, unexplained shit going as fast as possible.

3.  Brooklyn - Quiet, lovely character study.

2.  The Revenant - Beautifully shot but a little long.

5.  The Big Short - Understood it more than the ending of Trading Places.

6.  Spotlight - Wanted to loooooove it but reading microfiche is boring.

7.  The Martian - Good movie.  Sure.  Oscar worthy?  Not so much.

8.  Bridge of Spies - It takes a long time getting to that bridge.

9.  Carol - Slow and methodical. 

Best Director

1. George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road - So much amazing visual stuff happening.  
2. Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant - A lot of great shots and scenes.
3. Lenny Abrahamson, Room - A much smaller, intimate film than 1 & 2.

4. Tom McCarthy, Spotlight - I loved The Station Agent, The Visitor and Win Win.  Those films are why I didn't put him last.

5. Adam McKay, The Big Short - He's directed 5 Will Ferrell movies.  That's why he's last.

Best Actress

1. Brie Larson, Room - She's frantic, desperate, broken yet hopeful.

2. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn - Very subtle but strong like a good Irish girl.

3. Cate Blanchett, Carol - She's always good - Australia's Meryl Streep.

4. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years – I didn't see it, but I liked DOA.
5. Jennifer Lawrence, Joy – Wasn't Meryl in a movie this year?  Because this one sucked.

Best Actor

1.  Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant – It's definitely unlike his other work.  He didn't even get nominated for The Departed, Catch Me If You Can, Django Unchained or Titanic.

2.  Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl - He looked great as a woman, but Hawking was his masterpiece.
3.  Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs - It's hard to make Fassbender unattractive, but white gym shoes and a T-neck did the trick.

4.  Matt Damon, The Martian - He lost some weight, but it's still just Matt Damon in space.

5. Bryan Cranston, Trumbo – Didn't get to see this, sorry Heisenberg.

Best Supporting Actress

1. Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight – She was awesome – funny and stood her own with the dudes.

2. Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl – She was quirky, emotional and endearing.

3. Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs – Not enough for an Oscar, so she'll win.
4. Rooney Mara, Carol – She stared off into space a lot; she's much cooler as Lisbeth Salander.
5. Rachel McAdams, Spotlight – She highlights a mean phone book.

Best Supporting Actor 

1. Tom Hardy, The Revenant - As I was watching it, I couldn't believe he wasn't considered a lock for a nomination.  A perfect foil to Leo's bubbling rage.

2. Christian Bale, The Big Short - Another complete transformation - didn't understand what he was talking about, but he said it well.

3. Sylvester Stallone, Creed - He's not known for his acting skills and there are a lot more  people that deserve a career award.

4. Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies - He was a fun treat in a dry movie.

5. Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight - He had an outburst, but it's not memorable enough.