<strong>Nominees:</strong> "The Big Short," "Bridge of Spies," Brooklyn," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian," "The Revenant," "Room" and "Spotlight"<br><br><strong>Will win: </strong>Last year's Best Picture champ, "Birdman," nabbed the three top-tier guild prizes, distributed by the Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild and Directors Guild. That made it a virtual shoo-in for Best Picture, no matter how much hope we had for "Boyhood." This year, each of those awards went to different movies, leaving us with the most open-ended Best Picture contest in recent memory. SAG, which has a large overlap with the Academy's biggest voting branch, honored "Spotlight," while "The Revenant" won favor with the Directors Guild and "The Big Short" took the Producers Guild kudos. Its recent BAFTA victory signals an added lead for "The Revenant," which would be the most expensive Best Picture winner, and the first to miss out on a screenplay nod, since "Titanic." I'm not totally convinced "Spotlight" or "The Big Short" won't abscond with the hardware thanks to their resonant social messages, but you're probably safest betting on <strong>"The Revenant."<br><br></strong><strong>Should win: </strong>My response to "The Revenant" is as chilly as Leonardo DiCaprio's experience making it. In fact, there's only one rightful winner here, and that's the thunderingly original <strong>"Mad Max: Fury Road."</strong> And to think it's a reboot! "Mad Max" will have to settle for a slew of technical accolades, so in its place, it would be lovely to see something as effortless and unfussy as "Spotlight" or "Brooklyn" strike gold.<br><br><strong>Biggest snubs: </strong>This category has two vacant spots, which should easily be filled by <strong>"Carol" </strong>and <strong>"Star Wars: The Force Awakens." </strong>
Paramount/DreamWorks/Fox/Warner Bros/A24/Open Road
