Todd’s October Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

This evening we arrive at the final installment of my second round of Oscar predictions for 2015 (October Edition). Of course, that means the biggest prize of all: Best Picture.

In my initial round nearly two months back, I predicted that eight movies would get nods. As you may know, unlike every other category, the number of Picture nominees can fluctuate anywhere between five and ten. I now have 9 pictures vying for the top prize.

Of the original eight that I predicted, six remain: Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, The Hateful Eight, Joy, The Revenant, and Steve Jobs. It’s worth noting that half of them -have yet to be seen by anyone (The Hateful Eight, Joy, The Revenant) and I’m basing my inclusion of them mostly on the pedigree involved. And when you consider that pedigree is Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – who can blame me, right?

So what two pictures fell off? That would be Carol and Suffragette, whose buzz has seemed to fade in recent weeks. Carol certainly remains a possibility, but I’m not even including Suffragette as having a chance at this point.

This also means we have three newbies joining the list and all have been screened and seem like strong contenders: John Crowley’s Brooklyn (which I barely left off last time), Lenny Abrahamson’s red hot indie drama Room, and Tom McCarthy’s journalistic expose Spotlight, which some have pegged as the current soft front runner.

Of course, things are bound to change by the time my third round of estimates is released in November, but at this juncture:

TODD’S BEST PICTURE PREDICTIONS – OCTOBER EDITION

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

The Danish Girl

The Hateful Eight

Joy

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Steve Jobs

Other Possibilities:

The Big Short

Carol

Concussion

Inside Out

In the Heart of the Sea

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Sicario

Son of Saul

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Youth

And there you have it, my loyal readers! Expect the third round to be coming your way about Turkey Day time…