Age of the Nerd’s 2016 Oscar BATTLE!!!

With the 88th Academy awards mere days upon us, the staff of Age of the Nerd have convened to give our pics for the culmination of 2015’s awards season. There’s been a lot of build-up to this years Oscars ceremony, with many (other than ourselves) pretty much expecting The Revenant to take the night’s top prize going into this year’s awards race. But as the awards season rolled on, we learned something–this has been amazingly diverse year for film. Unlike many previous years in recent memory, this year’s academy awards seem more split than ever. With the sudden emergence of such awards-contenders as The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Martian coming into the best picture race, it’s really tough to tell who will come out on top after this Sunday’s ceremony. If our picks are any indication, this year is sure to be one of the most split years in Oscar history. Suffice to say that we probably won’t be getting any movie with 10+ wins this year. So, without further adieu, here are our staff picks for this year’s oscars ceremony:

Jason ‘s Picks — Best Picture: The Martian
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Supporting Actress: Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Animated Feature: Anomalisa
Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road
Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road 
Documentary:  Amy
Documentary Short: Last Day of Freedom
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Film: Son of Saul
Make-up & Hair: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: “Til It Happens To You”, The Hunting Ground
Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Animated Short: World of Tomorrow
Short Film: Shok
Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Visual Effects: The Martian
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Original Screenplay: Straight Outta Compton

Pete’s Picks — Best Picture: The Big Short
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Animated Feature: Inside Out
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Documentary: Cartel Land
Documentary Short: Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Film: Son of Saul, Hungary
Make-up & Hair: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Original Song: “Til It Happens To You”, The Hunting Ground
Production Design: The Revenant
Animated Short: Sanjay’s Super Team
Short Film: Day One
Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Chris’ Picks — Best Picture: The Revenant
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Animated Feature: Anomalisa
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Cinderella
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Documentary: What Happened, Miss Simone
Documentary Short: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Film Editing: The Revenant
Foreign Film: Theeb
Make-up & Hair: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: – “Earned It” Fifty Shades of Grey
Production Design: Bride of Spies
Animated Short: Sanjay’s Super Team
Short Film: Ave Maria
Sound Editing: The Martian
Sound Mixing: The Martian
Visual Effects: Ex Machina
Adapted Screenplay: The Martian
Original Screenplay: Straight Outta Compton

Kristyn’s Picks — Best Picture: The Revenant
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Animated Feature: Anomalisa
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: The Danish Girl
Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Documentary: The Look of Silence
Documentary Short: Body Team 12
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Film: Son of Saul
Make-up & Hair: Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: “Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre
Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Animated Short: Prologue
Short Film: Day One
Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Adapted Screenplay: Room
Original Screenplay: Straight Outta Compton

Sean’s Picks — Best Picture:The Revenant
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Supporting Actor: Slyvester Stallone, Creed
Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Animated Feature: Inside Out
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Documentary: The Look of Silence
Documentary Short: Last Day of Freedom
Film Editing: The Revenant
Foreign Film: Son of Saul, Hungary
Make-up & Hair: The Revenant
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song:”Earned It” 50 Shades of Grey
Production Design: Bridge of Spies
Animated Short: Sanjay’s Super Team
Short Film: Day One
Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing: The Martian
Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Taylor’s Picks — Best Picture: The Big Short
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Actress: Brie Larson, Room
Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Animated Feature: Inside Out
Cinematography: The Revenant
Costume Design: Cinderella
Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Documentary: Amy
Documentary Short: Last Day of Freedom
Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Foreign Film: Son of Saul
Make-up & Hair: The Revenant
Original Score: The Hateful Eight
Original Song: “Writing’s on the Wall”, Spectre
Production Design: Bridge of Spies
Animated Short: Sanjay’s Super Team
Short Film: Day One
Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Visual Effects: Ex Machina
Adapted Screenplay: The Martian
Original Screenplay: Straight Outta Compton

So there you have it readers! These our 2016 Oscar predictions. We thought we could bring some fun to this hollow spectacle, by once again making a game amongst the Age of The Nerd editorial staff. Very simple: whoever has the most correct number of predictions wins. The winner will gets to skip out on news coverage for a week, and focus on a passion piece. The LOSER (whoever comes in dead last) will have to write up our “Oscars Recap Article”. Should it feature their personal, and most likely controversial breakdown of #OscarsSoWhite? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below!