For the first time in years, we have an honest-to-God, down-to-the-wire race between three Best Picture nominees — thanks to confusing splits between the Producers Guild of America (“The Big Short”), the Screen Actors Guild (“Spotlight”) and the Directors Guild of America (“The Revenant”). The Post’s Lou Lumenick and Kyle Smith predict the night’s big winners.
Best Picture
- “The Big Short”
- “Bridge of Spies”
- “Brooklyn”
- “Mad Max: Fury Road”
- “The Martian”
- “The Revenant” – LOU PICK
- “Room”
- “Spotlight” – KYLE PICK
LOU: “Spotlight” may be the least objectionable choice (and the worthiest), but I bet the “diversity crisis” will help “The Revenant” squeak out a win over its #ohsowhite competition.
KYLE: What movie does nobody hate? To me, the answer is the solidly built “Spotlight,” which is bound to benefit from Oscar’s weighted-ballot system by finishing in everybody’s top three.
Best Director
- Adam McKay, “The Big Short”
- George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
- Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “The Revenant” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
- Lenny Abrahamson, “Room”
- Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”
LOU: After winning last year for “Birdman,” Alejandro Iñárritu will not only become the first-ever director of back-to-back Best Picture winners in Oscar history, but only the third winner of back-to-back Oscars overall — and the first since 1951.
KYLE: Iñárritu won the Directors Guild award, which usually predicts the Oscar — plus the degree of difficulty on “The Revenant” makes him hard to top.
Best Actor
- Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”
- Matt Damon, “The Martian”
- Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
- Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”
- Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”
LOU: Leonardo DiCaprio will triumph for “The Revenant” in what’s always been a one-man race — unless Bryan Cranston of “Trumbo” pulls off one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history.
KYLE: Leo, you’ve paid your dues, now collect your prize.
Best Actress
- Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
- Brie Larson, “Room” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
- Jennifer Lawrence, “Joy”
- Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”
- Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
LOU: Brie Larson, who’s amazing, has been hoovering up awards since the Golden Globes.
KYLE: Brie, mainly for looking sufficiently ugly in the ridiculous psychodrama “Room.”
Supporting Actor
- Christian Bale, “The Big Short”
- Tom Hardy, “The Revenant”
- Mark Ruffalo, “Spotlight”
- Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
- Sylvester Stallone, “Creed” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
LOU: Sylvester Stallone did the best work of his career reprising Rocky Balboa, a role he was previously nominated for (he lost) — plus he gets a diversity pass from the black star (Michael B. Jordan) and director (Ryan Coogler of “Creed”).
KYLE: Apparently, Stallone is a colossal jerk, but he deserves to win for his touching, humble performance in “Creed.”
Supporting Actress
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”
- Rooney Mara, “Carol” – KYLE PICK
- Rachel McAdams, “Spotlight”
- Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl” – LOU PICK
- Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”
LOU: Alicia Vikander swiped “The Danish Girl” from under Eddie Redmayne’s powdered nose. Rooney Mara is great in “Carol,” but she’s been blatantly gerrymandered into this category so as not to go up against co-star Cate Blanchett for Best Actress.
KYLE: My one wild-card pick: Rooney Mara for her quietly riveting work in “Carol.”
Cinematography
- “Carol”
- “The Hateful Eight”
- “Mad Max: Fury Road”
- “The Revenant” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
- “Sicario”
LOU: Emmanuel “Chivo’’ Lubezki definitively demonstrated with “The Revenant” that digital cinema can look every bit as good as film.
KYLE: I predicted Lubezki (“Gravity,” “Birdman”) would three-peat in my review of “The Revenant” in December. It’s a dazzling piece of cinema.
Animated Feature
- “Anomalisa”
- “Boy and the World”
- “Inside Out” – LOU AND KYLE PICK
- “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
- “When Marnie Was There”
LOU: “Inside Out” would be competing for Best Picture if there weren’t an Animated Feature category.
KYLE: “Anomalisa” was far superior, but Pixar’s “Inside Out” successfully faked having ideas.