The 2016 Optimist Oscar Picks!

By Anonymous
    It's that time of year again! The Super Bowl of movies has arrived and, even in the midst of controversy, it's still exciting, especially for us movie nerds! Once again, I've placed my bid on what and who I think will win the coveted golden statue. Below you'll find the official Optimist Selection of Winners. Let's see how many I get right!

*UPDATED 2/29/16 - CORRECT and INCORRECT predictions can now be seen. Got 10 out of 24, not too bad...but not too good either! There's always next year!

 BEST PICTURE:

 The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant
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
OPTIMIST PICK: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

 Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
OPTIMIST PICK: Brie Larson – Room

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
OPTIMIST PICK: Sylvester Stallone – Creed

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
OPTIMIST PICK: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

 Anomalise
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie was There
OPTIMIST PICK: Inside Out


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

 Carol - Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight - Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road - John Seale
The Revenant - Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario - Roger Deakins
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant - Emmanuel Lubezki

 BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

 Carol - Sandy Powell
Cinderella - Sandy Powell
The Danish Girl - Paco Delgado
Mad Max: Fury Road - Jenny Beavan
The Revenant - Jacqueline West
OPTIMIST PICK: Mad Max: Fury Road - Jenny Beavan

BEST DIRECTOR:

 The Big Short - Adam McKay
Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller
The Revenant - Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Room - Lenny Abrahamson
Spotlight - Tom McCarthy
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant - Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

 AMY - Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
Cartel Land - Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
The Look of Silence - Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
What Happened, Miss Simone? - Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom - Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
OPTIMIST PICK: AMY - Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

 Body Team 12 - David Darg and Bryn Mooser
Chau, beyond the Lines - Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah - Adam Benzine
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness - Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Last Day of Freedom - Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
OPTIMIST PICK: Last Day of Freedom - Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

BEST FILM EDITING:

 The Big Short - Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road - Margaret Sixel
The Revenant - Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight - Tom McArdle
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant - Stephen Mirrione

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

 Embrace of the Serpent - Colombia; Directed by Ciro Guerra
Mustang - France; Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Son of Saul - Hungary; Directed by László Nemes
Theeb - Jordan; Directed by Naji Abu Nowar
A War - Denmark; Directed by Tobias Lindholm
OPTIMIST PICK: A War - Denmark; Directed by Tobias Lindholm

BEST MAKE UP AND HAIR STYLING:

 Mad Max: Fury Road – Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window - Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
The Revenant - Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
OPTIMIST PICK: Mad Max: Fury Road – Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE:

 Bridge of Spies - Thomas Newman
Carol - Carter Burwell
The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone
Sicario - Jóhann Jóhannsson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - John Williams
OPTIMIST PICK: The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone

 BEST MUSIC – ORIGINAL SONG:

 "EARNED IT" FROM FIFTY SHADES OF GREY - Music and Lyric by The Weeknd, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
"MANTA RAY" FROM RACING EXTINCTION - Music by J. Ralph; Lyric by Antony Hegarty
"SIMPLE SONG #3" FROM YOUTH - Music and Lyric by David Lang
"TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU" FROM THE HUNTING GROUND - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
"WRITING'S ON THE WALL" FROM SPECTRE - Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
OPTIMIST PICK: "TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU" FROM THE HUNTING GROUND - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga 

 BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

 Bridge of Spies - Adam Stockhausen
The Danish Girl - Eve Stewart
Mad Max: Fury Road - Colin Gibson
The Martian - Arthur Max
The Revenant - Jack Fisk
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant - Jack Fisk

 BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

 Bear Story - Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
Prologue - Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
Sanjay's Super Team - Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
We Can't Live without Cosmos - Konstantin Bronzit
World of Tomorrow - Don Hertzfeldt
OPTIMIST PICK: Sanjay's Super Team - Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle

BEST SHORT FILM – LIVE ACTION:

 Ave Maria - Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
Day One - Henry Hughes
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut) - Patrick Vollrath
Shok - Jamie Donoughue
Stutterer - Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
OPTIMIST PICK: Stutterer - Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

BEST SOUND EDITING:

 Mad Max: Fury Road - Mark Mangini and David White
The Martian - Oliver Tarney
The Revenant - Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
Sicario - Alan Robert Murray
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Matthew Wood and David Acord
OPTIMIST PICK: The Revenant - Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender

BEST SOUND MIXING:

 Bridge of Spies - Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
Mad Max: Fury Road - Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
The Martian - Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
The Revenant - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
OPTIMIST PICK: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

 BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

 Ex Machina - Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
Mad Max: Fury Road - Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
The Martian - Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
The Revenant - Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
OPTIMIST PICK: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

 BEST WRITING – ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

 The Big Short - Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
Brooklyn - Screenplay by Nick Hornby
Carol - Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
The Martian - Screenplay by Drew Goddard
Room - Screenplay by Emma Donoghue
OPTIMIST PICK: Room - Screenplay by Emma Donoghue

BEST WRITING – ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

 Bridge of Spies - Written by  Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Ex Machina - Written by Alex Garland
Inside Out - Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Spotlight - Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
Straight Outta Compton - Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
OPTIMIST PICK: Straight Outta Compton - Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Reviews

Quarantine Movie Round-Up #3

By
Image
Another round of movie reviews for you! Though quarantine is still in effect, we're still blessed with new movies to watch, and that's fantastic. This week I tackle a mixture of brand new movies and some earlier 2020 offerings. Enjoy! Mulan - Disney+ (with premiere access)   Disney’s latest live-action adaptation is now available on Disney+ for a premium. A lot of flak has been flung at Disney for this move, requiring subscribers who are already paying a monthly fee to pay an additional $30 to watch their sprawling new epic. This is especially interesting because in weird fashion Disney announced—mere days before Mulan ’s release—that the movie will be available on the service for free starting December 4. So, it begs the question then: why pay when I can wait to see it for free?   I could write a whole article on why I think it’s worth the price, but that’s not the reason for this post. I will say, though, that if you are a fan of the movies; if you appreciate the art form or
Read more

Jackman Shines in the Captivating Musical "The Greatest Showman"

By Anonymous
Image
       About thirty seconds into the opening number in  The Greatest Showman , my wife leans over to me and says "Is this a musical?! How did I not know this! I already love this movie!" Indeed, the new film featuring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron is, in fact, a musical, and a pretty good one at that. As I try to catch up with 2017's releases, The Greatest Showman was one of those movies that I figured "I'll get around to it." I'm glad I finally did. There's something to be said about walking out of a movie theater feeling joyful, inspired, and thoroughly entertained, and The Greatest Showman offers that in spades. With dazzling musical numbers, an inspiring story, and performances that truly captivate the emotions being displayed, The Greatest Showman is a fun night out at the movies, and well worth your time.    Loosely based on the true story of P.T. Barnum (and I mean loose because this version is nothing like the exploitative nature of the
Read more

A Secret Sequel and A Couple of Oscar Noms!

By Anonymous
Image
     As competition for our time heats up amongst the giants of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other streaming companies, the movie industry has begun to shift perspective. Adapt or die, right? Well, the world witnessed history this past week when, during the Super Bowl, Netfilx and Paramount Studios released a trailer for an unknown movie called The Cloverfield Paradox , the third in the quirky franchise. The kicker was that this movie wasn't going to be coming to a theater near you, but straight to Netflix that very night! There's always been an air of mystery surrounding the Cloverfield franchise, and this sort of mysterious marketing was a perfect way to generate buzz. I thought it was a genius move, frankly. For a film produced by a major motion picture studio to be bought and released via streaming just goes to show how the film industry could possibly shift its gears in order to maintain viewership. The numbers of patrons heading out to the cinema aren't nearly as hig
Read more