Get set for the Oscar nominations

For months, filmmakers, actors and others racing towards the Oscars have been running an awards season gauntlet: gamely participating in a marathon of red carpets, film junkets, academy luncheons and countless film festivals – all created to convince the roughly 6,100 Academy Award voters to chose their names on the ballot. But don’t count out Michael Shannon (99 Homes), Paul Dano (Love & Mercy) or youngster Jacob Tremblay (Room).

Cate Blanchett is on career high in Carol, a tale of forbidden lesbian love in the 1950s. However, I’m calling it right now that “The Martian” or “Mad Max: Fury Road” will lead all contenders when it comes to nominations.

Each film that gets the nomination has to have earned either 5% of first-place rankings or 5% after an abbreviated variation of the single transferable vote nominating process used for nominations in other major categories.

The Danish Girl, starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, is a biopic of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe.

Damon will likely get a courtesy nod for “The Martian”, in which he plays an astronaut stranded on Mars. Will Smith will probably miss out for “Concussion”, leaving Idris Elba (“Beasts of No Nation”) as the lone black nominee in a decidedly white field. With her recent Globe win, Kate Winslet should grab a nomination for her performance in “Steve Jobs”.

This award is split into two categories, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, and Emma Donoghue stands a real chance of triumphing in the latter category with Room.

John Crowley did a charming job with “Brooklyn”. In the Best Original Screenplay category, Matt Charman and Joel and Ethan Coen will surely figure for their very clever writing on Bridge of Spies, as should Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight. Jennifer Jason Leigh appears to be the sole member of Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” who may get a nod. But Pixar’s mid-summer blockbuster Inside Out was an outstanding animation, and one of the company’s very best efforts. Ruffalo’s a dark horse, but nonetheless deserves to be in the running.