88th Academy Award Winners


The winners of the 88th Academy Awards have been announced. Herein, the full list of winners. (Winners are notated with an asterisk and bold typeface.)
Best Picture
Yes! What a fabulous choice! This is everything a Best Picture should be: well-crafted, substantive, fantastic cast, and with something to say about our society. Excellent.  
Best Actor in a Leading Role
  • Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
  • Matt Damon, The Martian
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant*
  • Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
  • Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Y'all, I love Leo. It was all but a foregone conclusion that he was (FINALLY) going to win, and so the smart, thoughtful, passionate actor took the opportunity to craft a speech ahead of time. He not only spoke nicely about the professional achievement, but wove his work as an actor seamlessly into his work as an activist. Perfect speech for the best actor of his generation.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
  • Cate Blanchett, Carol
  • Brie Larson, Room*
  • Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
  • Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
  • Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
It seems like this couldn't have happened to a lovelier young lady. I remember Larson on the Showtime series The United States of Tara, and she was sensational in that, and the clips of Room that have been shown throughout this award season make it seem like that same talent is on display in this performance. Congratulations to Larson, who's just getting started.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
  • Christian Bale, The Big Short
  • Tom Hardy, The Revenant
  • Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
  • Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies*
  • Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Holy Hollywood, Batman. Three-time Tony winner Mark Rylance is now an Oscar winner! True, I haven't seen Bridge of Spies, but it's Mark Rylance. You know we was amazing. Although, for a moment I thought Patricia Arquette was about to say Mark Ruffalo, and I got really excited. In any case, bravo to Mr. Rylance, who opted for a lovely, sincere speech for this award rather than a poem like he recited for his first two Tony wins.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
  • Rooney Mara, Carol
  • Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
  • Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl*
  • Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs  
Did anyone else think this was the night's first big surprise. I had been expecting (as had many prognosticators) Jennifer Jason Leigh to win. I haven't seen The Danish Girl, but if Vikander's incredible performance in Ex Machina is any indication, this award is well deserved. Keep an eye on what she does next. It's sure to be impressive.
Best Director
  • Lenny Abrahamson, Room
  • Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant*
  • Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
  • Adam McKay, The Big Short
  • George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Inarritu is now a back-to-back winner in this category. He did a fabulous job translating his vision to the screen, no doubt corralling a giant team of technicians and designers and actors. And what a great speech, remarking on the diversity issue, expressing hope for the day when "the color of [our] skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair."       
Best Adapted Screenplay
  • Emma Donoghue, Room
  • Drew Goddard, The Martian
  • Nick Honrby, Brooklyn
  • Phyllis Nagy, Carol
  • Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, The Big Short*
I'm still bummed and surprised Aaron Sorkin wasn't even nominated for Steve Jobs. Having only seen one of the nominated films in this category, I can't say Randolph and McKay didn't deserve it. I will say that if you want to learn about the financial crisis, there's plenty you can read about it, including Matt Taibbi's Griftopia.
Best Original Screenplay
  • Matt Charman and Ethan Coen + Joel Coen, Bridge of Spies
  • Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley (original story by Docter and Ronnie del Carmen), Inside Out
  • Alex Garland, Ex Machina
  • Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff (story by Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, and Alan Wenkus), Straight Outta Compton
  • Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight*
I have such mixed feelings about this. Spotlight is incredible and important, but Ex Machina and even Inside Out are truly original. If we're talking about originality and the quality of a screenplay, I'd have voted for either Ex Machina. If you're thinking about these awards strategically, though, you can understand that Academy voters would go for Spotlight in this category if they're voting for someone/something else (like The Revenant) in the Best Director and Best Picture categories.
Best Animated Feature Film
  • Anomalisa
  • Boy and the World
  • Inside Out*
  • Shaun the Sheep Movie
  • When Mamie was There
Yay! And yay for the winners' exuberance and passion for expression and creativity, telling people to "make stuff."
Best Documentary Feature
  • Amy*
  • Cartel Land
  • The Look of Silence
  • What Happened, Miss Simone?
  • Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
Best Documentary Short
  • Body Team 12
  • Chau, Beyond the Lines
  • Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
  • A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness*
  • Last Day of Freedom    
Best Foreign Language Film
  • Embrace of the Serpent, Columbia
  • Mustang, France
  • Son of Saul, Hungary*
  • Theeb, Jordan
  • A War, Denmark
Best Cinematography
  • Roger Deakins, Sicario
  • Ed Lachman, Carol
  • Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant*
  • Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight 
  • John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Obviously. You have to go with Chivo. He made nature another character, Leo's companion and foe. I don't know how you go with anyone else. This was a no-brainer. 
Best Costume Design
  • Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road*
  • Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
  • Sandy Powell, Carol
  • Sandy Powell, Cinderella
  • Jacqueline West, The Revenant
Best Film Editing
  • Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Hank Corwin, The Big Short
  • Tom McArdle, Spotlight
  • Stephen Mirrione, The Revenant
  • Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road*
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
  • Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, and Robert Padini, The Revenant
  • Love Laron and Eva van Bahr, The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
  • Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, and Damian Martin, Mad Max: Fury Road*
Best Original Song
  • "Earned It," Fifty Shades of Grey, written by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville, and Stephan Moccio
  • "Manta Ray," Racing Extinction, music by J. Ralph, lyrics by Antony Hegarty
  • "Simple Song #3," Youth, written by David Lang
  • "Til it Happens to You," The Hunting Ground, written by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
  • "Writing's on the Wall," Spectre, written by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith*
Really? My only exposure to any of the nominated songs was the Oscar performance, and based on that, who in the world would have voted for "Writing's on the Wall"? That song was terrible and it was a horrendous performance. "Til It Happens to You" has resonance and power and actual skill behind it.
Best Original Score
  • Carter Burwell, Carol
  • Johann Johannsson, Sicario
  • Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight*
  • Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
  • John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I'm glad to see Morricone was there to accept the award, unlike at the Globes. Bravo to the veteran composer.
Best Production Design 
  • Jack Fisk (production design) and Hamish Purdy (set decoration), The Revenant
  • Colin Gibson (production design) and Lisa Thompson (set decoration), Mad Max: Fury Road*
  • Arthur Max (production design) and Celia Bobak (set decoration), The Martian 
  • Eve Stewart (production design) and Michael Standish (set decoration), The Danish Girl
  • Adam Stockhausen (production design) and Rena DeAngelo  and Bernhard Henrich (set decoration), Bridge of Spies 
Best Sound Editing
  • Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender, The Revenant
  • Mark Mangini and David White, Mad Max: Fury Road*
  • Alan Robert Murray, Sicario
  • Oliver Tarney, The Martian
  • Matthew Wood and David Acord, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Mixing
  • Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, and Ben Osmo, Mad Max: Fury Road*
  • Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, and Mac Ruth, The Martian
  • Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, and Drew Kunin, Bridge of Spies
  • Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Randy Thom, and Chris Duesterdiek, The Revenant  
Best Short Film (Animated)
  • Bear Story*
  • Prologue
  • Sanjay's Super Team
  • We Can't Live Without Cosmos
  • World of Tomorrow
Best Short Film (Live Action)
  • Ave Maria
  • Day One
  • Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
  • Shok
  • Stutterer*     
Best Visual Effects
  • Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver, and Andy Williams, Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith, and Cameron Waldbauer, The Revenant 
  • Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, and Steven Warner, The Martian
  • Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington, and Sara Bennett, Ex Machina*
This win broke the Mad Max streak, and while I haven't seen Mad Max, I have seen Ex Machina, and am so pleased with this win. If you haven't seen Ex Machina, watch it. Then prepare to be frightened about the future.

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