Picture from Best of 2015 - Academy Awards 2016
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Best of 2015 - Academy Awards 2016

The biggest and most prestigious show of them al, the Academy Awards, announced the Oscar winners at the 88 Annual Academy Awards event on 28 February 2016.

Here is a list of the contenders in top categories:

Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight Winner

Best Director
Adam Mckay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G Inarritu - The Revenant Winner
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant Winner
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Best Actress in a Leading role
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room Winner
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies Winner
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl Winner
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina Winner
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Inside Out Winner
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Boy and the Wild
When Marnie Was There

Other notable winners were:
The Revenant: won for Cinematography
Mad Max: Fury Road: won for Production Design, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Make-Up and Hairstyling
The Hateful Eight: won for Musical Score
Spectre: won for Original Song
Spotlight : won for Original Screenplay
The Big Short: won for Adapted Screenplay

More details about the movies mentioned in this post…

The Big Short

The Big Short

Every game has winners and losers.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies

An unsuspecting lawyer becomes the bridge between American and Soviet relations in a tense situation during the Cold War.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Can Irish eyes find a reason to smile in a new home?

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road

Expect road rage, burning sand and flying bullets.

The Martian

The Martian

Left behind.

The Revenant

The Revenant

Never mess with a man who's been mauled by a bear.

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Far away pastures seldom turn out to be greener.

Room

Room

Love cannot be contained.

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight

If three is a crowd, then eight is critical mass just waiting to explode.

Inside Out

Inside Out

Emotions can sometimes get the better of you.

Anomalisa

Anomalisa

In the vastness of humanity, where can human connection be found?

Ex Machina

Ex Machina

Intelligence: Real verses Artificial.

Spotlight

Spotlight

A news teams sheds light on a dark secret.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

The story picks up 30 years after the return of the Jedi.

Joy

Joy

One bright idea after another.

Trumbo

Trumbo

A Hollywood witch hunt is afoot.

Creed

Creed

You're not out until they count to ten!

Carol

Carol

Two women of opposite age and social standing find themselves attracted to one another.

Spectre

Spectre

James Bond won't stop until he's uncovered the secrets of SPECTRE.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

Genius. Visionary. Flawed.

The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl

Always Danish, but not always a girl.