Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction”
Music by J. Ralph and 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
Without Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” (the clear favorite throughout the critics’ awards) in here, this is another category where we have to base a choice on buzz, and right now it’s circling around Diane Warren and Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground. It’s true that “Writing’s On the Wall” won the Golden Globe, but very few believe that the Academy is going to make the same awful mistake.
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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
After winning the Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and the BAFTA, this category seems to be all wrapped up for Ennio Morricone’s excellent score to The Hateful Eight, marking the legendary composer’s first win for a competitive Oscar.
Achievement in Production Design
“Bridge of Spies” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
“The Danish Girl” Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
“The Martian” Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
“The Revenant” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Before we even get to who’s going to take this category, it needs to be pointed out just how bizarre these nominees are. How did Cinderella, Carol, and Brooklyn get left out in favor of Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, and The Martian? Stranger still is the fact that Mad Max appears to be the frontrunner for the category, especially after having won the BAFTA and several honors throughout the critics’ awards. However, don’t count out The Revenant quite yet, as, like Mad Max, it won a top award from the Art Directors Guild, so we could see a switch here, especially if The Revenant goes on a bit of a sweep with its 12 nominations.
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Speaking of really strange choices, apparently Mad Max: Fury Road is the current frontrunner here as well, especially after winning the BAFTA and top honors from the Make Up & Hair Stylists Guild. How it beat out films like Brooklyn, Carol, Cinderella, and The Danish Girl to get into this category remains a fascinating mystery that will perhaps never be explained. However, once again, I wouldn’t count out The Revenant here, not only because it has superior makeup, but because it could be a part of a potential sweep.
Achievement in Costume Design
“Carol” Sandy Powell
“Cinderella” Sandy Powell
“The Danish Girl” Paco Delgado
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Jenny Beavan
“The Revenant” Jacqueline West
This is where one of the most embarrassing decision of the evening is likely to take place, for it appears as though Mad Max: Fury Road is the frontrunner to win the category over far more deserving nominees like Carol, Cinderella, and The Danish Girl. That’s right, first BAFTA chose to embarrass themselves by selecting it over much better costumes, then the Costume Designers Guild also decided to give it best costumes in a fantasy (which itself is a fantasy). There is a little bit of hope, though.
The Danish Girl won best period costumes at the CDG awards, and the Oscar goes to a period film a vast majority of the time. This is on top of the fact that the Oscars tend to go with something far more flamboyant than rags (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina, The Artist, Alice in Wonderland, etc.).
There’s also the interesting statistic showing that the CDG has named the Oscar winner only half the time in its relatively brief existence. All of this, however, has to be weighed against the fact that the BAFTA has matched the Oscar for the last seven years in a row. It really doesn’t take a genius to see which ones are better, so in the end, we can only hope that the Academy it not as blind as the other groups have been, leaving us with a category where I actually hope that my prediction is wrong.