AnksReview Oscar Prediction - 88th Academy Awards 2016 Predictions

It's that time of year again and I am just in time watched over almost all the nominated movies in popular categories to provide my prediction of 88th Academy Awards which is going to be telecast Live at 05:30 a.m. (IST) from Hollywood, Los Angeles.
I still have to write reviews of some movies I saw but didn't get time to put it as I want to catch my prediction before its get telecast tomorrow. 

In terms of box office 2015 was a great year for movie industry however if I see nominations of this year the last years seems to be having much better movies in terms of all aspects.

As I always says that even being nominated means all movies and artiste are quite at par with each other winning is just merely a voting figures and all nominees deserve equal recognition however I am surprised to see Mad Max being nominated over some better movies which could have taken place of Mad Max. 

So here is my prediction which is really difficult to choose among the nominated ones and also I am predicting alternate options on some cases.

Best Picture

AnksReview Winner - Spotlight

         Spotlight - { Predicted Winner } 

·         The Big Short

·         Bridge of Spies

·         Brooklyn

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Martian

·         The Revenant

·         Room

Alternate Options: Room

Best Director

AnksReview - Winner - Lenny Abrahamson for Room

          Lenny Abrahamson – Room {Predicted Winner} 

·         Adam McKay – The Big Short

·         George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

·         Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant

·        Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

Alternate Option: Tom McCarthy Spotlight

Best Actor

AnksReview Winner - Leonardo Di Caprio for The Revenant

          Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant as Hugh Glass {Predicted Winner}

·         Bryan Cranston – Trumbo as Dalton Trumbo

·         Matt Damon – The Martian as Mark Watney

·         Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs as Steve Jobs

·         Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl as Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener

Alternate Option: Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl, I personally feel Eddie did superb job and full justice to this role, however Oscar never given two Best Actors to same person in row so he may missed out.

Best Actress

AnksReview Winner - Brie Larson for Room

          Brie Larson – Room as Joy "Ma" Newsome - { Predicted Winner} 

·         Cate Blanchett – Carol as Carol Aird

·         Jennifer Lawrence – Joy as Joy Mangano

·         Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years as Kate Mercer

·         Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn as Eilis Lacey

No alternative here, she is by far best among all nominees.

Best Supporting Actor

AnksReview Winner - Sylvester Stallone for Creed

         Sylvester Stallone – Creed as Rocky Balboa - {Predicted Winner} 

·         Christian Bale – The Big Short as Michael Burry

·         Tom Hardy – The Revenant as John Fitzgerald

·         Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight as Michael Rezendes

·         Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies as Rudolf Abel

Alternate Option: Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight

Best Supporting Actress

AnksReview Winner - Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

          Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl as Gerda Wegener - {Predicted Winner} 

·         Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight as Daisy Domergue

·         Rooney Mara – Carol as Therese Belivet

·         Rachel McAdams – Spotlight as Sacha Pfeiffer

·         Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs as Joanna Hoffman

Alternate Option: It could be anyone between Kate Winslet or Jennifer Jason Leigh, however Alicia is by far best in this category. She should have been nominated for Best Actress this year as her role was equally strong in The Danish Girl.

Best Original Screenplay

AnksReview Winner - Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer - {Predicted Winner}

Best Adapted Screenplay

AnksReview Winner - Room – Emma Donoghue from Room by Emma Donoghue - {Predicted Winner}

Best Animated Feature Film

AnksReview Winner - Inside Out {Predicted Winner}

Best Cinematography

AnksReview Winner - The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki - {Predicted Winner}

Best Visual Effects

AnksReview Winner - Mad Max: Fury Road – Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams, and Tom Wood - {Predicted Winner}

These are my predictions for 88th Academy Awards, Please feel free to comments on same

Disclaimer: All the pictures used is downloaded from Google Search or from respective web sites available at public domain.

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Room - [ Drama ] - (5/5)

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Room - Small World Within

Room is a Canadian-Irish film directed by Lenny Abrahamson and written by Emma Donoghue, based on her novel of the same name. It's a story about a mother named Joy "Ma" (Brie Larson) and his five years old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) who has been abducted by a psychopath Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). Joy and Jack have been captive in that small room of Sean Bridgers for seven years. Jack was being born during captivity and never seen the outside world and share bathup, toilet, TV, bed, wardrobe with Joy. Joy describes Jack as Room it self is a whole real world and rest of the world exist only in television. Old Nick comes consistently and rapes Joy and Joy never wanted Nick to even touch Jack. One day they fight and Joy plans escape of Jack. With couple of attempts Joy successfully get Jack out of the Room and Jack dramatically rescued by cops who discover the Room and rescue Joy.

Since Jack never saw world or met any people or saw anything since his birth he looks scared all time and learn to cope up whereas Joy also goes through huge mental turmoil to live peacefully. The movie is about how they finally cope to live a normal life.

The story of movie may be very simpler to writte about but one has to watch the movie the way Lenny depicted the story with amazing performance of Brie and Jacob. It's a gripping movie and will shock you the way entire story has been told. It's one excellent piece of art and deserve an Oscar for same, at least for Best Actress category. Must Watch.

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Spotlight - [ True Event ] - (5/5)

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Spotlight - Not so Good Godmen

Spotlight is movie based out of true event happened in 2001 regarding investigative journalism of Boston's famous newspaper The Boston Globe about sexual abuse of children by priests which was overlooked by cardinal and churches. The Boston Globe hires a new editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber)  who discovers Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton) heads the "Spotlight" team, a small group of journalist whose articles are investigative in nature, but can take upto a year to publish. Baron points out a small column in paper about a pedophile priest John Geoghan and a lawyer who claims Cardinal Law (Arch Bishop of Boston) knew that Geoghan have been sexually abusing children but did nothing to stop him. Baron asks spotlight team to investigate it further. By connecting dots and joining broken pieces the team finds out it's not a matter of one priest abusing children but there are many such cases which was buried by churches and it's people. With in depth interviews and investigation they finds out there could be around 90 such priest in Boston alone who have been molesting as well sexually abusing kids for years. The spotlight  teams (Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) as well few other journalist), prepares a strong story, however Baron still pushes them instead of taking on individual priests they must take it against the entire system where Cardinals & bigger authorities let these abuse happen and don't take any action against such bad as well as corrupt priests. Spotlight team then work out and make a strong story which gets published in early 2002 which gets huge responses and uncovers thousands of such cases across the world.

The movie has a theme of investigation where director Tom McCarthy does a superb job on keeping you engage through out the movie. Having superb cast of Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci etc there is no doubt all given great performance however Mark Ruffalo stands out with his fierce full acting. It's an amazing movie and chills you by thinking how in the name of god things happens where people at large suffer silently against power of churches. A must watch movie and I won't be surprised if it wins Best Film in Oscar.

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Sisters - [ Comedy ] - (2.5/5)

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Sisters : Partners in crime

Sisters is a comedy movie starring famous comedian of Saturday Nigh Live fame Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Maura Ellis (Amy Poeler) told by her parents (Dianne West & James Brolin) that they are planning to sell their home in Orlando and ask her to come and clean her rooms which still has her childhood stuff. They also ask Maura to tell this news to her sister Kate (Tina Fey) about it. Maura is successful and sorted nurse however Kate is wrecked stylist who is having trouble keeping her job and relationship with her daughter Haley (Madison Davenport). Maura and Kate goes to their Orlando house and feel nostalgic after going through stuffs from their childhood. They didn't like the idea of selling the house so have last fun they organise a wild party after calling all their childhood friends to their house. The party gets real wild and literally breaks the entire house down. The movie is about funny moments, about wild party and how their life comes to senses after that one eventful night.

It's a silly movie with lots of funny moment however it looses it's plot every now and then. I personally a big fan of Tina Fey and she was really funny in this movie, however looks like Tina and Amy is better as stand up comedian rather than being in a movie. This may be good home TV watch movie.

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The Danish Girl - [ Biography ] - (4/5)

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The Danish Girl - Inner Discovery

The Danish Girl is a biographical drama based on fictional novel of the same name by David Ebershoff and loosely inspired by lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegner. The movie was setup in mid-1920s of Copenhagen where a painter-artiste couple Einer Wegner (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegner (Alicia Vikander) lives their happily married and social life. Gerda who is a portrait painter, one day while she was working and her model were late so she asks Einer to pose as a girl for her new painting. While posing as a girl Einer rediscover a feminine inside him and wanted to do experiment the same by dressing as woman. Gerda takes this as sportingly and thought it’s just a game they are playing for fun however Einer feels he is more comfortable as his female form “Lilly” which makes him feel complete. Gerda tries to help Einer through doctor and fails however Einer starts believing himself as more of Lilly and goes through psychological turmoil where he even gives up painting. Gerda’s portrait of Lilly wins her accolades and she moves to Paris with Einer for her painting and also; so that she can help him with his gender confusion.  In the Paris Einer again reignite Lilly within him and thinks he is trapped in wrong body which compels him to go through sex change operation.

The story is very strong with perfect direction from Tom Hooper and flawless performance by Eddie & Alicia as painter couple. Eddie is so convincing in his role and depicts the pain of inner conflicts he goes through as Einer & Lilly and similarly Alicia’s portray of her character is also commendable. It is one of great cinema and worth winning few Oscar awards. Go for it.

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Bridge Of Spies - [ Drama / True Event] - (4/5)

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Bridge Of Spies - Perfect Negotiator

Bridges of Spies is a historical drama-thriller setup during cold war directed by Steven Spielberg. In 1957 at Brooklyn Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) gets arrested by FBI while he receives secret message from a bench. Rudolf is a Russian Spy during the Cold War is setup for trial in America Justice System. To give him fair trial FBI appoints James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) who specialised in insurance settlement as his lawyer. Donovan was expected to take the case as formality and bring Abel to Death Sentence however he takes his job seriously and argues Rudolf can’t be tried for sedition. Donovan convinces the judge with logic of not to give him death sentence and further appeals to Supreme Court which create lots of hatred against him among American people and attacks at his home. In the meantime a handful of selected Marines get trained by CIA to fly U-2 spy plane over Russia and one of American pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) gets arrested when his plane crashes in Russia. This incident compels USA to negotiate with Russia regarding release of Francis in exchange with Rudolf. CIA asks Donovan assistance to negotiate the inter change as private party as both country wanted this exchange to takes place through back door channel in Berlin. Donovan travels to Berlin and with his amazing negotiation skills he gets Francis as well as Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) an arrested economic graduate, also released.


Well no one doubts the magic when Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks get together for any movie. The movie is really well made with great amount of detailing of this historical event. This is all in a whole Tom Hanks movies with his perfect performance as stubborn lawyer. This is certainly an Oscar material and may win some accolades.

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The Revenant - [ Action / Drama ] - (4/5)

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The Revenant - Cold Wild West

The Revenant is an American biographical film directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu set in 1823 Montana and South Dakota, which was inspired by the experiences of Hugh Glass.

In 1823, a quasi-military hunting party of trappers and hunters led by Capt. Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) are hunting for pelts in the unsettled wilderness of the Louisiana. They have been attacked by Native American Tribe called Arikara who is looking out for one of their lost daughter. Only one-third of the hunters manage to escape the attack and try to find their way towards Outpost. Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the most experienced hunter suggests taking forest route however he gets attacked & severely wounded by mother bear which slows the hunter party. John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) who never liked Hugh Glass argues with Capt. Henry to kill him as he is nearly dead and they can move fast.  Henry offers payment of $100 for two men to stay behind with Glass. When two boys (Jim Bridger (Will Pounter) and Glass's son Hawk) volunteer, Fitzgerald argues that boys could get killed so Henry up the reward for third man and on which Fitzgerald volunteer himself for money promising proper burial. Fitzgerald stays back and tries to trick Glass and kill him where his son Hawk comes to save him and get killed during struggle. He lies to Jim about Hawk and leave Glass behind in a pit where they plan to bury him. Glass survives miraculously and he walks through the woods to take revenge for his son. The movie is about his dramatic survival and his revenge from Fitzgerald.

The Revenant is very different from typical Alejandro movie in a tone that either it may be liked or may be hated. The movie gives you amazing cinematographic experience & sequences shown will make you part of the era itself. It may not be as great as Birdman but it certainly good movie watching in general.

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The Hateful Eight - [ Thriller ] - (4/5)

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The Hateful Eight - A Bloodshed Winter

The Hateful Eight is the 8th movie of Quentin Tarantino, it's an edgy thriller shown in six  chapters. The movie is setup during winter of Wyoming, sometime after civil war where bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is traveling with his captive fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in a stage coach towards red rock to get her hanged. On his way he came across infamous bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Smauel L. Jackson) who asks John for a ride with his two dead bounties to red rock. They also come across Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) who claims to be sheriff. While on the movie they have been hit by strong blizzards and they seek refuge in Minnie's Cabin where they meet few unfamiliar people. John Ruth was suspecting foul play as he thought few of them may want to free his captive and the whole eight gets into to interrogative dialogues where no one trust anyone and the entire things end with deadly killings of all of them.

I might have described the entire movie, however with Quentin you must be rest assured as the pleasure of this movie is not only limited to story but the sequences, dialogues, music, visualisation and not to miss amazing characterisation and it's performances. It keeps you on the edge and the arguments and dialogues are uique to it's core and remind you of Reservoir Dogs. Everyone acted damm well in the movie however the one that stand out the most is Samuel Jackson with his awesome dialogue delivery and killer instinct shown by his character.

Must watch it if you love Quentin's work.

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Ricki and The Flash - [ Drama ] - (2/5)

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Ricki and The Flash - Not at all Rocking

Ricki and The Flash is comedy & drama starred by Meryl Streep, a story about ageing struggling Rockstar Ricki (Meryl Streep) who has a band called Flash who plays her gig in small bar. Ricki also known as Linda who has a daughter and two sons at Indianapolis and she has to visit them as her daughter attempts for suicide. The movie is about her troubled family & career and how she overcomes the same.

It's not only average but a very mediocre movie from everything be it screenplay, acting and characterisation. Having Meryl Streep in the movie it may attract some attention, on the average it's just another dud movie. You can give it a miss.

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The Walk - [ Adventure Drama / True Story ] - (5/5)

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The Walk - Getting High Over Wires

The Walk is a movie about famous french wire walker Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) of 70s era who has taken a quest of setting up wire between twin tower of Wold Trade Center of New York and walking over it. The movie starts with narration from Philippe about his childhood in France and his passion of wire walking on most unimaginable places. While doing his initial learning of professional wire walking from Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) and practicing wire walking on Paris's street, Philippe stumbles upon a magazine article about world's tallest twin towers Word Trade Center in New York which he makes his quest to walk over it illegally. He builds his team of accomplices comprises of his girl friend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), his photographer friend Jean-Louis (Clément Sibomy) and to go to The New York City for the real walk. The movie is about how he manages to make his impossible dream possible against all odds he faces as the day of Walk arises and entirely focuses on quest of final Walk over WTC buildings.

The movie is spectacle and will leave you speechless in each part of it's story. The cinematography and camera work is so perfect that it will literally make you feel as if you are walking on wire and experiencing the thrills as Philippe. A thumbs up to Joseph Gordon who performed the character of Philippe superbly and he portrayed Philippe's passion so convincingly for all of us to believe it.
The real star of movie is Robert Zemeckis who after great movies such as Forest Gump, Back To The Future Series, Cast Away, Flight etc. has pulled another great movie with full perfection.
It's his great direction, story telling style and moments will keep you on the edge.

Watch it with 3D IMAX Screen and I am sure you will have feeling vertigo and adventure over here.

MUST NOT MISS THIS ONE.

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Minions - [ Comedy / Animation ] - (3.5/5)

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Minions : History Of Finding Great Villain

First it was Puss in the boots, Penguins and now it's Minions a most loved characters from a great movie Despicable Me. Minions is a movie about history of Minions who have only one purpose which is to serve most villainous boss. They successfully finds several bosses  in history from T-Rex Dinosaur, Caveman, Dracula, Pharaoh to Neoploeon and every time they screw up something, so they decided to Isolate them shelves and live the life in Antarctica. The lack of a master drives them into depression, so fearless lead Minion Kevin comes up with a plan to find a new one for his Minion-kind with another rebel Minions Bob and Stuart. The movie is about their plan to discover new boss and mis-adventures when they land after meeting Scarlet (Sandra Bullock).

As usual Minions makes you laugh and rollover with their extra cuteness and funny, however the story lacks it soul which they had in Despicable movies with Gru. Still it is fun to watch for the sake of our fanaticism with Minions.

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Jurassic World - [ Action / Adventure ] - (2.5/5)

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Jurassic World : Another Dinosaur On The Run

Just like previous Jurassic Park movies, the plot are nearly same. After twenty two years of accident at Jurassic Park, a theme park populated with cloned dinosaurs with more security. To get more funding for the park Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), owner of Jurassic World and Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), scientist on InGen creates a dinosaur called Indominus Rex, designed by using the DNA of several predatory dinosaurs and modern-day animals. This genetically designed dinosaur is not only is deadliest but also has intelligence to put a trap, kill for fun, communicate with other dinosaur, camouflage etc. With it's intelligence he breaks his cells and on the run by killing every moving things comes in front of him. There are also raptors which was trained by Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) which Vic Hoskins, head of InGen security, believes raptors can be trained for military use, but Owen disagrees.

With Indominus out on open which is threat to thousands of Jurassic World visitors, Owen and Jurassic World Operation Manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) plans to kill Indominus by attacking it with trained Raptors. The movie is about how to finally kill the dinosaur to save humans which is created by humans only and finish it with great special effects & action sequences.
It is one of those movies which you can't avoid but know what to expect out of it. For me it's an average make quite similar to what we expect from our Indian 100 crore plus blockbuster movies. No wonder this movie is highest grossing movie worldwide with same logic.

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