Most people have noticed that it’s Oscar season. This means a lot of incredible films are all available to see in theaters at one time. The past two years, I’ve committed to seeing all of the Best Picture nominees before the big day. This year I decided to up my game and I’ve spent the past month seeing as many nominees as possible for all of the categories. I’ve made my choices so enjoy as I take you through the nominees, who is favored by film experts, and who I would vote for to win each Academy Award this year.

Original Screenplay:

Nominees: "Bridge of Spies," "Ex Machina," "Inside Out," "Spotlight," "Straight Outta Compton"

Favored to win: "Spotlight"

My pick: "Ex Machina"

Thoughts: In my opinion, screenplays that are based on true stories are cheating for this category. I believe "Ex Machina" deserves to win because it was such a unique plot and I was never sure of exactly where the story was going with its twists and turns.

Adapted Screenplay:

Nominees: "The Big Short," "Brooklyn," "Carol," "The Martian," "Room"

Favored to win: "The Big Short"

My pick: "The Martian"

Thoughts: This category contains screenplays based on novels, plays, TV shows, and other films. I’d choose "The Martian" to win because they took a book and flawlessly transformed it into a movie with all the thrill and excitement of original sci-fi adventure movies.

Visual Effects:

Nominees: "Ex Machina," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road" or "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

My pick: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Thoughts: This award is given based on both the art and skill of the visual effects, and how the effects contribute to the film. I think "Star Wars" should win because the effects are flawless and create an entirely believable other world without overusing digital effects. The past two years, this award has gone to space movies ("Gravity" and "Interstellar") so I would be surprised if "Star Wars" didn’t pull this one off.

Sound Mixing:

Nominees: "Bridge of Spies," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

My pick: "The Revenant"

Thoughts: It’s kind of confusing for a lot of people to distinguish between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, but the easiest way to define Sound Mixing is that it’s the art of taking everything you hear in a movie and putting it together. I saw "The Revenant" in Dolby Atmos so the sound was remarkably crafted to immerse the audience.

Sound Editing:

Nominees: "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant," "Sicario," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

My pick: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Thoughts: The easy explanation of Sound Editing would be that it is the finding and creating of the noises in a movie. For me, "Star Wars" gets this one because they had to get other-worldly sounds that create this universe. The sound of a lightsaber is one of the most recognizable made-up sounds ever.

Live-Action Short Film:

Nominees: "Ave Maria," "Day One," "Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)," "Shok," "Stutterer"

Favored to win: "Ave Maria"

My pick: "Day One"

Thoughts: To me, "Ave Maria" seemed like a good part of another entire movie. I’m not sure exactly why I loved "Day One" so much, but it was definitely my favorite. I’d like to give an honorable mention to "Shok" because it had an incredible moment at the end that was done so perfectly, you could feel the emotion in the theater.

Animated Short Film:

Nominees: "Bear Story," "Prologue," "Sanjay’s Super Team," "We Can’t Live without Cosmos," "World of Tomorrow"

Favored to win: "Sanjay’s Super Team"

My pick: "World of Tomorrow"

Thoughts: "World of Tomorrow" was so wonderfully weird and I found it hilarious in all the right ways. It’s on Netflix so you can check it out now!

Production Design:

Nominees: "Bridge of Spies," "The Danish Girl," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

My pick: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Thoughts: The award for Production Design takes into consideration the overall look, setting, and style of a film. "Mad Max: Fury Road" was unique in so many ways and created a tone that was consistent in all elements. They had some things that reflected the original "Mad Max" movies but took it up a notch to create this action extravaganza.

Original Song:

Nominees: “Earned It” ("Fifty Shades of Grey"), “Manta Ray” ("Racing Extinction"), “Simple Song #3” ("Youth"), “Til It Happens To You” ("The Hunting Ground"), “Writing’s On The Wall” ("Spectre")

Favored to win: “Til It Happens To You”

My pick: “Til It Happens To You”

Thoughts: Lady Gaga sings this incredible song which contains so much emotion and truth about the topic of sexual assault. It is a perfect match for this documentary that talks about sexual harassment and assault on college campuses.

Original Score:

Nominees: "Bridge of Spies," "Carol," "The Hateful Eight," "Sicario," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Favored to win: "The Hateful Eight"

My pick: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Thoughts: Can you tell I like "Star Wars?" The score for this movie is absolutely iconic.

Makeup And Hairstyling:

Nominees: "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared," "The Revenant"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

My pick: "The Revenant"

Thoughts: Did you see those beards? Every single person seen on screen in "The Revenant" showed attention to detail with making the characters who they were. The incredibly lifelike wounds on the main character were so well done and were shown in various stages of the healing process. It was very impressive and increased the believability of the film as a whole.

Foreign Language Film:

Nominees: "Embrace of the Serpent," "Mustang," "Son of Saul," "Theeb," "A War"

Favored to win: "Son of Saul"

My pick: "Son of Saul"

Thoughts: This was actually the only nominee I was able to see and I am so glad I did. It’s a wonderful movie that sets itself apart from the Nazi movies we are used to seeing. There was still the insane cruelty and complete tragedy, but we got a unique story within that context.

Film Editing:

Nominees: "The Big Short," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Revenant," "Spotlight," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

My pick: "The Big Short"

Thoughts: "The Big Short" was put together so seamlessly and the pace was perfect throughout the whole film. The editing was one of the best parts of the film.

Documentary Short Subject:

Nominees: "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"

Favored to win: "Body Team 12"

My pick: "Last Day of Freedom"

Thoughts: A lot of short documentaries that I’ve seen either don’t go deep enough into the story or feel too long for the short topic. "Last Day of Freedom" was the perfect length for its story and was interesting in every moment. None of it seemed force and I didn’t feel like the facts were being twisted to make the story a piece of propaganda. It’s on Netflix so you should definitely take the time to watch it.

Documentary Feature:

Nominees: "Amy," "Cartel Land," "The Look of Silence," "What Happened Miss Simone?" "Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom"

Favored to win: "Amy"

My pick: "Amy"

Thoughts: First of all, it is interesting to note that two of the nominees are Netflix originals. You go, Netflix. I’m biased in my choice of "Amy" because I was initially much more interested in that story than any of the others.

Directing:

Nominees: "The Big Short," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Revenant," "Room," "Spotlight"

Favored to win: "Mad Max: Fury Road" or "The Revenant"

My pick: "The Revenant"

Thoughts: This was one of the hardest categories for me to decide because they are all equally worthy in my eyes. I ended up siding with "The Revenant" based on what the director had to endure. He just won last year for "Birdman" which means he had already been working for about six months before starting "The Revenant" which took about nine months. For those who don’t know, directing films is grueling work so working this hard for that long is pretty remarkable.

Costume Design:

Nominees: "Carol," "Cinderella," "The Danish Girl," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Revenant"

Favored to win: "Cinderella"

My pick: "Cinderella"

Thoughts: This is one of the less sure categories among experts but to me, "Cinderella" is a clear win. They brought the magic of Disney to life largely with the incredible costumes.

Cinematography:

Nominees: "Carol," "The Hateful Eight," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Revenant," "Sicario"

Favored to win: "The Revenant"

My pick: "The Revenant"

Thoughts: This movie was incredible to look at. Even though the story was not my favorite, I loved watching it because the things they did with a camera were almost unbelievable.

Animated Feature Film:

Nominees: "Anomalisa," "Boy and the World," "Inside Out," "Shaun the Sheep Movie," "When Marnie Was There"

Favored to win: "Inside Out"

My pick: "Inside Out"

Thoughts: "Inside Out" was so incredibly cool because they took the concepts of the mind and emotions and turned them into physical places and characters. It was a beautiful new way to look at human thought and feeling. I do think "When Marnie Was There" would also be a worthy winner however. That story was also very cool and a lot more mysterious than you typically get with animated movies.

Actress In A Supporting Role:

Nominees: Jennifer Jason Leigh ("The Hateful Eight"), Rooney Mara ("Carol"), Rachel McAdams ("Spotlight"), Alicia Vikander ("The Danish Girl"), Kate Winslet ("Steve Jobs")

Favored to win: Alicia Vikander

My pick: Jennifer Jason Leigh

Thoughts: This was an incredibly strong category this year and I wish all these women could win. However, I choose Jennifer Jason Leigh because she created a ridiculous character that she made entirely believable in every moment of her performance. Also, think of all she had to endure for this role, if you’ve seen the movie then you know what I mean.

Actor In A Supporting Role:

Nominees: Christian Bale ("The Big Short"), Tom Hardy ("The Revenant"), Mark Ruffalo ("Spotlight"), Mark Rylance ("Bridge of Spies"), Sylvester Stallone ("Creed")

Favored to win: Sylvester Stallone

My pick: Christian Bale

Thoughts: This is actually my favorite role that Christian Bale has ever played. He was so remarkably good for it. Even though he didn’t have the same types of big emotional scenes that people like to see in acting categories, he brought a character to life flawlessly. Shout out to Tom Hardy though because he was in five different movies released in 2015 and I’m not even sure how that’s possible because filming one movie takes about six months and one of those movies was Legend where he played the two main characters. He deserves an “Accomplishments in One Year” award.

Actress In A Leading Role:

Nominees: Cate Blanchett ("Carol"), Brie Larson ("Room"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Joy"), Charlotte Rampling ("45 Years"), Saoirse Ronan ("Brooklyn")

Favored to win: Brie Larson

My pick: Brie Larson

Thoughts: I am incredibly passionate about this category because I have absolutely loved Brie Larson from the first time I saw her back when she was on United States of Tara. Prior to this year, I believe she was the most underrated actress in the business. I am so overjoyed that she is being recognized for her work in this great movie. I’ll probably cry when she wins. And if she doesn’t win, I’ll cry a different type of tears.

Actor In A Leading Role:

Nominees: Bryan Cranston ("Trumbo"), Matt Damon ("The Martian"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant"), Michael Fassbender ("Steve Jobs"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Danish Girl")

Favored to win: Leonardo DiCaprio

My pick: Eddie Redmayne

Thoughts: I know a lot of you are probably scowling at me through the screen because I’m not on Team Leo, but this just wasn’t the role I believe he deserves to win for. Yes he played his scenes of vicious bear attack and agonizing pain very well, but the scenes where he was just “man who wants revenge” did not have me sold. To me, an acting award is about selling the role in every moment of your performance and creating visible depth within the character. Eddie Redmayne did just that. He is very unlikely to win, but he was incredible. His role in The Danish Girl was extremely complex in a way many people will never understand. He nailed it in every way, and I’ll be rooting for him as the underdog.

Best Picture:

Nominees: "The Big Short," "Bridge of Spies," "Brooklyn," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant," "Room," "Spotlight"

Favored to win: "Spotlight"

My pick: "Spotlight"

Thoughts: Some people have been surprised that with all of the nominations and all of the hype, "The Revenant" is not favored to take the biggest prize. However when you look at a movie as a whole, the most important thing is story. Everything is done to tell and enhance the story. "Spotlight" tells a gripping and essential story that is so rich with natural drama that is never forced. This movie made me feel a lot of feels and I truly believe it should get all the respect in the world for it.