Happy Oscar Day. It’s my favorite day of the year, and so much of the fun is simply predicting what is going to happen. Let’s dive in head first where I’ll tell you what to expect tonight at the 88th Academy Awards.

The big categories:
Best Picture: “The Big Short”
This is the closest race in years at the Oscar, but we should expect “The Big Short” to narrowly pull ahead of the competition after a win of the Producers Guild Award, a reliable predictor of Oscar success. Don’t be shocked if “Spotlight” or “The Revenant” takes home the gold though.

Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu for “The Revenant”
This will make him the first consecutive Best Director winner in 66 years after winning with “Birdman” last year. His hard work in the horrible conditions of the Canadian wilderness will be rewarded.

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Revenant”
Like Iñárritu, DiCaprio’s excellent work in harsh conditions will finally yield him a little gold man. Combine his strong performance with a general feeling of it being his time, expect the streak of losing to end tonight for Leo.

Best Actress: Brie Larson for “Room”
While oftentimes, the name of the actor overshadows the performance, here the academy will simply reward the best performance of the year as Brie Larson was nothing short of sensational.

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander for “The Danish Girl”
“Titanic” lovers might want Kate Winslet to win so she can be The Queen to Leo’s King of the World, but I still expect Vikander to take home the gold, especially after having a strong performance in “Ex Machina” in addition to “The Danish Girl.” An Oscar win would be the birth of a star.

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone for “Creed”
Thirty-nine years after Stallone won Best Picture but lost Best Actor for “Rocky,” Sly will finally take home an acting Oscar. Side bet: This will be the first award presented tonight, and he will receive a rapturous standing ovation.

Best Original Screenplay: “Spotlight”
A movie that preaches the power of written words deserves to win an Oscar for just that.

Best Adapted Screenplay: “The Big Short”
Adam McKay turned what should have been a boring movie about real estate and made it a fun, dark comedy. It’s the breakout hit of the year, and the writing is a huge reason why.

Best Animated Feature: “Inside Out”
Though Jennifer Lawrence won’t win the Oscar for “Joy,” there will be plenty of joy at Pixar as they, unexpectedly, pick up another well-deserved Oscar.

The still extremely important, but less publicized, categories:

Best Cinematography: “The Revenant”
Best Documentary Feature: “Amy”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul”
Best Film Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Costume Design: “Carol”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Production Design: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Score: “The Hateful Eight”
Best Song: “Til it Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground”  by Lady Gaga
Best Sound Editing: “The Revenant”
Best Sound Mixing: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Visual Effects: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Best Animated Short: “World of Tomorrow”
Best Documentary Short: “A Girl in the River: The Price of Freedom”
Best Live Action Short: “Shok”

Erik Benjamin is a sophomore television, radio and film major. He’s still mad “The King’s Speech” beat “The Social Network” for Best Picture. His column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email him at ebenjami@syr.edu or follow him @embenjamin14 on Twitter.

Published on February 28, 2016 at 7:34 pm