It’s that time of the month again!
No, not that time! I mean that it’s time for me to, once again, attempt to guess which films and performers will receive Oscar nominations next January!
This year’s Oscar race is shaping up to be an interesting one. Even though some favorites have finally started to emerge, there doesn’t yet seem to be any true consensus choices. For instance, last year, from the moment the film premiered at Sundance, we all knew that J.K. Simmons was going to win an Oscar for Whiplash. There was never any doubt. This year, however, has yet to see any such certainty.
Up until a few days ago, I thought a best picture nomination for Carol was about as close to a sure thing as we could hope for. But now, word is coming in that American audiences are not reacting quite as enthusiastically to the film as the audiences at Cannes. Much like last year’s Foxcatcher, it’s starting to sound as if Carol might be a film that people respect more than they like.
Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies has been getting positive but not exactly rapturous reviews, which is pretty much what I was expecting. Spotlight seems to be becoming more and more of a certainty. A lot of self-appointed award divas are going crazy over Cate Blanchett in Truth, a film that looks incredibly tedious. Myself, I’m hoping that Suffragette turns out to be great and gets all sorts of nominations. Unfortunately, this means that I’m now in the rare position of actually agreeing with Sasha “I am the game” Stone of AwardsDaily.
And who would have thought that The Room would suddenly emerge as an Oscar front runner!? Way to go, Tommy Wiseau! Oh, wait. It’s a different Room?
Well, never mind then.
Anyway, below you can find my predictions for October and no, I’m still not hopping on the Revenant bangwagon, I don’t care how great the damn trailer is! (Actually, the trailer is really good…but I made my choices for this month and I’ll live with them.)
Be sure to check out my previous predictions for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September. (Daaaaaaaaaaamn…that’s a lot of predictions!)

Best Picture
Brooklyn
The Danish Girl
Joy
Room
Sicario
Son of Saul
Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Straight Outta Compton
Suffragette
Best Director
Danny Boyle for Steve Jobs
Tom McCarthy for Spotlight
Laszlo Nemes for Son of Saul
David O. Russell for Joy
Denis Villenueve for Sicario
Best Actor
Michael Caine in Youth
Bradley Cooper in Burnt
Johnny Depp in Black Mass
Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett in Carol (and not Truth, so fug off with that commie crap!)
Brie Larson in Room
Jennifer Lawrence in Joy
Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
Lily Tomlin in Grandma
Best Supporting Actor
Paul Dano in Love and Mercy
Benicio Del Toro in Sicario
Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation
Kurt Russell in The Hateful Eight
Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies
Best Supporting Actress
Joan Allen in Room
Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara in Carol (though I’m sure Noomi Rapace would have been even better in the role)
Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs
