Oscar predictions: What will win and what should win

Earlier this year, Rampling made some incendiary comments regarding the racial diversity controversy surrounding this year’s awards, so giving her a statue would work counter to the increased racial sensitivity the Academy is trying to foster. Superhero movies are ruling Hollywood, and a lot of them include sci-fi elements: radioactive spiders, gene mutations, exploding planets – one of the genre’s biggest hits, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, took place nearly entirely in space.

Only four times in Oscar history has a Best Picture victor come from a film that did not receive a Best Director nomination: 1927, 1932, 1989, and 2012.

The Oscars also have a bad habit of putting people in the wrong category-which can turn an also-ran into a victor.

Plus, let us remember that “The Big Lebowski” wasn’t even nominated.

“Spotlight”, about child abuse in the Catholic Church, and Wall Street satire “The Big Short” look like safe bets for the original and adapted screenplay honors after being recognized by the Writers Guild. That seems to be where the line is drawn. And while most of the country can’t stop talking about Fury Road, a few states – Maine, Nevada, Missouri, and Alabama – actually had more to say about The Martian than Mad Max.

Also in the mix but without a chance: “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “The Martian”, and “Room”. Including Brooklyn does bug a little bit mostly since it felt like it was such a lightweight and harmless movie – and, being an immigrant myself, that aspect of it felt like complete B.S. I would have gladly taken that one out for Carol. None of them should.

However, it seems the victor could just be who most are already thinking: The Revenant. It is far and away the most artistic picture of the year with a sense of style unlike any movie ever created.

Yet despite often rewarding mediocre films that fit a narrow standard, the Oscars matter. With a total of 12 nominations for the night, it’s clearly the favorite in the race.

Will Win: Alejandro Inarritu, and it’ll be deserved and an incredible achievement. There is, of course, a chance that Academy voter guilt will lead to a win here for “Straight Outta Compton“, which would just add to the awkward racial politics of the evening. Not to mention Inarritu himself is looking at really good odds at taking another Oscar home for Best Directing. The only fantasy film to ever win Best Picture was the 2003 movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and the only horror movie to win Best Picture was the 1991 psychological thriller “The Silence of the Lambs”. Michael Fassbender truly showed off his acting chops in Steve Jobs, Matt Damon beautifully depicted Mart Watney in The Martian, Bryan Cranston was absolutely brilliant in Trumbo in a way that we never believed he could, and Eddie Redmayne has once again showed his true strength in a challenging role in The Danish girl.

Maybe this could finally be DiCaprio’s year with his incredible performance in The Revenant, in spite of being a near wordless experience for the main actor. You can always catch up completely post Oscars.

But the 69-year-old sentimental favorite is facing a late surge in the talent-heavy supporting actor category from BAFTA victor Mark Rylance, who played real-life Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in “Bridge of Spies”.

Who will win: Brie Larsen for “Room”.

Oscar Awards 2016 are around the corner and fans have started rooting for their favourites, be it in the Best Film category, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Best Director or any other category.

As the night will go on, there are a couple of more predictions to be made on what will be hidden within that envelope. But the victory would definitely point toward a likely best-pic win.