Finally, the day has arrived for which we have been laying ground all these months. DGA announced its line-up today, and that made it a little easier to predict Best Director — though it is not certain that all five will make the Oscar line-up too. Over the last few weeks or so, several other industry guilds (SAG, PGA, ACE to name a few) have also announced their nominations, and even though they do help in making the Oscar predictions, the truth is they can’t be trusted 100%. Ultimately, one has to rely on two things: past history of nominations and more importantly, one’s gut instinct.

Anyway, as you all know, we here at The Cinemaholic do our best to bring to you the most accurate Oscar predictions. (We can officially claim to be most accurate predictors on internet considering we have consistently and correctly predicted at least 85 nominees out of 106/107 in 21 main categories for the past three years — a feat no publication, other than us, can claim to make). But each year is different. And this year, I have realized, is particularly difficult to predict. Except for a few categories — which are more or less settled — every category has too many borderline players, any of which can make into the final five. Even the Best Picture category has seven films that are sure to make the nomination list, but the last one/two spots are very difficult to predict.

With that said, take your time to go through the predictions of all the 21 categories (we don’t predict the 3 shorts categories). It is a long list and will need some time to go through one by one. You can also come back, after the nominations are announced, to check how many correct predictions we made. Oscar nominations announcement will happen on Thursday, 14th January.

All the nominees are listed in alphabetical order.

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton



Potential Spoilers:

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Trumbo

Best Director

Adam McKay, The Big Short

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Ridley Scott, The Martian

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Potential Spoilers:

Todd Haynes, Carol

Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies



Best Actor

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Matt Damon, The Martian

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Potential Spoilers:

Steve Carrell, The Big Short

Michael Keaton, Spotlight



Best Actress

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Brie Larson, Room

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Potential Spoilers:

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Potential Spoilers:

Benecio del Toro, Sicario

Michael Keaton, Spotlight



Best Supporting Actress

Helen Mirren, Trumbo

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Rachael McAdams, Spotlight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Potential Spoilers:

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best Original Screenplay

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

The Hateful Eight

Inside Out

Spotlight

Potential Spoilers:

Straight Outta Compton

Sicario

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Big Short

Carol

Brooklyn

Room

Steve Jobs

Potential Spoilers:

The Martian

The Revenant

Best Cinematography

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

Potential Spoilers:

Bridge of Spies

The Martian

Best Editing

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Spotlight

Potential Spoilers:

Sicario

Bridge of Spies



Best Costume Design

Brooklyn

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road



Potential Spoilers:

Crimson Peak

Star Wars: The Force Awakens





Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Black Mass

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant



Potential Spoilers:

Mr. Homes

Concussion



Best Production Design

Bridge of Spies

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

Star Wars: The Force Awakens



Potential Spoilers:

The Martian

Carol



Best Original Score

Bridge of Spies

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Inside Out

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Potential Spoilers:

Spotlight

Mad Max: Fury Road



Best Original Song

“See You Again”, Furious 7

“Til It Happens To You”, The Hunting Ground

“Simple Song #3”, Youth

“Love Me Like You Do”, Fifty Shades of Grey

“Writings on the Wall”, Spectre

Potential Spoilers:

“Earned It”, Fifty Shades of Grey

“I’ll See You in my Dreams”, I’ll See You in my Dreams



Best Sound Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Potential Spoilers:

The Hateful Eight

Jurassic World

Best Sound Mixing

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens



Potential Spoilers:

The Hateful Eight

Straight Outta Compton



Best Visual Effects

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Walk

Potential Spoilers:

The Revenant

Ant-Man

Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa

The Good Dinosaur

Inside Out

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Potential Spoilers:

The Prophet

Boy and the World



Best Foreign Film

The Brand New Testament (Belgium)

Mustang (France)

Labyrinth of Lies (Germany)

Son of Saul (Hungary)

Theeb (Jordan)

Potential Spoilers:

A War (Denmark)

Viva (Iraland)

Best Documentary Feature

Amy

Cartel Land

The Hunting Ground

Listen to Me Marlon

The Look of Silence



Potential Spoilers:

Winter on Fire

Going Clear





Final Tally:

Mad Max: Fury Road: 8-10 nominations

The Revenant: 7-9 nominations

Carol: 7-9 nominations

The Martian: 6-8 nominations

Bridge of Spies: 5-7 nominations

Spotlight: 5-7 nominations

The Big Short: 5-6 nominations

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: 4-5 nominations

Brooklyn: 4-5 nominations

The Hateful Eight: 4-5 nominations

The Danish Girl: 3-4 nominations

Room: 3-4 nominations

Steve Jobs: 2-3 nominations