Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Visual Effects

The competition: Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Previous winners: Ex Machina, Interstellar, Gravity, Life of Pi, Hugo, Inception, Avatar, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
My winner: To be announced soon!
The facts: Last year I made a comment about there being a staggering three Best Picture nominees in this category - this year, we have zero. Sci-fi films often win unless there is a major frontrunner out there, which there really isn’t this year. Last year, “Ex Machina” pulled off a shocking victory, so who knows what will happen this year. This is the seventh nomination for a “Star Wars” film in this category, and the series won for its first three installments. “Kubo and the Two Strings” is the first animated film since 1993 to be nominated here. While Marvel has earned a number of nominations in the past, it has yet to win this award, and could do so for the first time this year with “Doctor Strange.” From the “Deepwater Horizon” team, Burt Dalton has three previous nominations and one win, for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” From the “Doctor Strange” team, both Stephane Ceretti and Paul Corbould were nominated two years ago for “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The team behind “The Jungle Book” collectively has four previous nominations and two previous wins, both for James Cameron movies (“Titanic” and “Avatar”). The “Kubo” team is all brand-new. The “Rogue One” crew collectively has twelve previous nominations, with wins for “Gladiator,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and “Gravity.”

Who should win: I was pretty wowed by what I saw in the opening scene of “Doctor Strange” and I think that would be my pick. The rest are all good choices too!
Who will win: The consensus seems to be The Jungle Book, which I’ll also predict with “Doctor Strange” as my daring alternate.