By this time, you may have already heard of how awesome George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road is and how it's poised (or at least deserved to be) to gather an armful of Oscar nominations, if not wins.
I definitely agree. It is a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. On a purely technical level, it is a damn near perfect film.
Of the nominations that it could potentially get, here is the likeliest tier:
Makeup and Hairstyling (a highly probable win)
Cinematography (by the respected John Seale)
Production Design (those vehicles! those machines!)
Sound Editing (likely a win)
Sound Mixing
Visual Effects (always tough competition from the bigger movies)
If the voters really love it and the box office is great (fingers crossed for both), it may also get these nominations:
Film Editing (hyperkinetic, never lets go but does not tire)
Costume Design (vivid and imaginative)
Original Score (pulse-pounding and just perfect for the scenes)
And then, still within the realm of possibility but not very likely, is this third tier:
Directing
Picture
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
The directors branch have got to love what Miller did here. It's the most probable of the three, easily. A campaign can go a long way in helping the film gain traction in the Best Picture category, but I'm not holding my breath. Then there's Charlize Theron's amazing performance to root for in the Best Actress category. Of course, this year is expected to see a very crowded race there, but it would be nice to at least get a campaign started.
So for my May predictions, I'm putting the film in all of the above except Original Score, Directing, Picture, and Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. That's eight nominations, up from the six that I predicted in April.
