Because a vote for Deepwater Horizon is a vote for Mark Wahlberg’s almost cringing obsession with real-world tragedy, and because there’s no reason to think that Star Wars: A Placeholder can win if The First Actual Star Wars Movie That Has No Personality couldn’t beat the lo-fi Ex-Machina, the spoils here are likely to go to one of three class acts. And since Oscar voters will think Kubo and the Two Strings’s efforts are better rewarded in the animated film category (it’s only the second cartoon in Oscar history to be nominated here), and Doctor Strange must contend with the Academy’s stubborn bias against comic-book franchises, the smart money remains on The Jungle Book. The Jon Favreau film isn’t only critically acclaimed, it also made bank at the box office and features tons of animals, which over-perform in the film in gloriously photorealistic ways. Not to mention that a vote for The Jungle Book is to stand proudly alongside “potential grizzly” Baloo and his fellow wildlife now that they’re in Betsy DeVos’s crosshairs.
Will Win: The Jungle Book
Could Win: Doctor Strange
Should Win: The Jungle Book
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