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Best Original Score

This category tends to be an embarrassment of riches and this year was no different. Making the cut were Bridge of Spies, Carol, Sicario, Star Wars, and The Hateful Eight. Credible alternatives would have included the beautiful Alexandre Desplat score of The Danish Girl, while the subtle music of Spotlight was nothing to sneeze at. Alas, in the one showing of weakness all morning, Spotlight did miss out here when nominations were announced. The Revenant, meanwhile, was disqualified under branch rules relating to the amount of original material in the score - it may have made it 13 nominations otherwise.

This category is the easiest call of the night here. Johan Johansson, who scored Sicario and was nominated for The Theory of Everything last year, is once more along for the ride. I was surprised in a way to see John Williams get in again for Star Wars, mostly because the original elements of the soundtrack take one or two passes to appreciate over the more familiar and recognizable aspects. Thomas Newman did it again, providing Bridge of Spies a sweeping and beautiful score worthy of John Williams, who normally scores Spielberg pictures but was busy with The Force Awakens. Sadly, Newman will remain Oscar-less despite his ever growing number of nominations. Only Carter Burwell’s Carol score may have a chance at an upset, as the movie is paced consistently by the emotional, melodramatic tones.

But, no, this year belongs to famed Italian composer Ennio Morricone, a multiple nominee but winner of only an honorary Oscar, for his stunning score of The Hateful Eight. Despite Tarantino’s movie not being a Best Picture nominee (and you have to go back to Friday in 2002 to find a non-BP nominee winning here), this is one of those undeniable achievements - the score of the movie grabs you from the beginning but does not go overboard like many other Tarantino soundtracks tend to. Morricone already won the Globe and he will win the Oscar in a landslide.

Will win: The Hateful Eight
Could win: N/A

Best Make-up and Hairstyling

Where other branches like to give left-field type nominations, the makeup artists in the Academy seem to pride themselves in selecting purposefully terrible movies (from Norbit, to Jackass) to show their independent thinking. This year was no different, with a nod going to The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, along with the more conventional nods for - guess who - The Revenant and Mad Max.

The first movie, which I dutifully watched (thank you makeup branch for making me sit through two hours of old Swedish people screaming like crazy), has no chance. The prosthetics to make the actor look old are not particularly impressive, at least no more so than the ones used on Johnny Depp in Black Mass (which tells me they really just like to screw with us). And not since Men in Black robbed Titanic of what would have been the record-setting 12th Oscar has a non-Best Picture nominee triumphed over a Best Picture contender in this category.

So, the frostbite effects and the bear scar and wounds makeup of The Revenant, or the psychedelic artistry of Mad Max? This one is closer for The Revenant - a significant portion of Leo’s performance is helped by the memorable makeup. Indeed, there is precedent for an acting win to go along with a makeup win when it is present - The Iron Lady and La Vie En Rose are but two recent examples. So I’m going to risk The Revenant here, though the more obvious choice is again Mad Max.

Will win: The Revenant
Could win: Mad Max

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