Big wins expected for ‘Chipmunks’ and ‘Pixels’
By Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor
This year’s Academy Award nominations were announced on January 14, and so far, it appears that these Oscars will be among some of the greatest to date.
In case you haven’t yet heard who is nominated for which category, here is a shortlist of this year’s nominees for the film industry’s most prestigious award:
Best Picture: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Pixels, Fantastic Four, Hot Time Machine 2, and The Human Centipede: Part 3.
Best Actor: Adam Sandler, Pixels; Kevin James, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2; Bill Murray, Rock the Kasbah; Seth McFarlane, Ted 2; and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant.
Best Actress: That Chick from- 50 Shades of Grey; Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip; Rihanna, Home; and everyone else just couldn’t hit the high expectations to receive a nomination.
Best Animated Picture: Minions, Hotel Transylvania 2, Home, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, and Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery
Best Director: Joe Wright, Pan; Adam Sandler, Cobbler; Walt Becker, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip; Chris Columbus, Pixels; and M. Night Shyamalan, Something, I Guess.
Snubs: Among films snubbed for the Academy Awards were Mortecai, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Entourage, and Terminator Genisys.
Predictions:
Best Picture:
Who should win: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Who will win: Pixels
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip blew the competition out of the water on December 17, opening to glowing reviews. Granted, it is not particularly difficult to one-up a film as pathetic as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, yet Chipmunks stands out with its gorgeous aesthetic and jaw-dropping soundtrack. However, I believe that Pixels will prevail and take the Academy’s most-prized award. It contains the lost nostalgia that viewers have waited years to recapture, all brought together with an outstanding performance by Adam Sandler.
Best Actor:
Who should win: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Who will win: Literally anyone else.
Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a stunning performance in The Revenant, a role that has earned him the Golden Globe for Best Actor. Still, DiCaprio will be snubbed, as he has been five times before, as risk of the Internet exploding in the event that he actually wins is much too high.
Best Actress:
Who should win: Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting – Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip
Who will win: Rihanna – Home
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting departs her frivolous role in The Big Bang Theory to take on a more serious part in Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip. Despite best efforts, the Oscar will go to Rihanna. Rihanna not only voices the main character in Home—alongside Cuoco-Sweeting’s Big Bang Theory co-star, Jim Parsons—but also sings most of the soundtrack, making Rihanna carry the entire film. She did more, so she’ll probably win.
Best Animated Picture:
Who should win: Minions
Who will win: Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip
Everyone’s favourite yellow friends have finally received a full-length feature in their name. Yet will their popularity be enough? Probably not. Although Minions remains the fan-favourite, the Academy will not overlook the raw artistry of Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip.
Best Director:
Who should win: M. Night Shyamalan
Who will win: M. Night Shyamalan
Even if M. Night Shyamalan didn’t actually direct a film this year, he will take the Oscar simply because he is a directorial mastermind that not even a current, active director could rival.
