Entertainment Weekly — Prep for the end alongside Tom Hardy & Charlize...

Six Academy members discuss their picks for Best Picture at this year's Oscars

• The Actor: No film quite captured why you go to the movies in the way The Revenant did. This is the full package — the story, the acting, the directing, the scope, the cinematic expression. For me, it had everything.
• The Actress: Mad Max: Fury Road. This movie was the most engaging on every level. It’s a great example of why I want to go to the movies — to be completely absorbed in a fictitious world. And I loved that there were so many women in the movie. It was quite amazing.
• The Screenwriter: Brooklyn. It will never win, but it’s a sound film with a nicely complex emotional tone.
• The Director: I found the inventiveness of The Big Short immeasurable. I’m always fascinated when a movie can be something you’ve never seen before. In this case, it wasn’t due to any visual tricks — it was more about the script — which put it beyond any other movie this year.
• The Publicist: Spotlight. To me it was between Spotlight and The Big Short. But as a publicist, I’m fascinated by journalism and by the fact that a scandal like this couldn’t be buried today like it was back then. I loved the relevance of both films, but my vote goes to Spotlight.
• The Producer: Spotlight. I waver back and forth among four: The Revenant, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Big Short. But in the end, Spotlight took a “Who would want to see a movie about that?” subject and made it emotionally resonant with subtle and beautiful performances.