The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 7 Golden Reel Awards Edition)

Alrighty, folks. The nominees have just been announced for the 7th Golden Reel Awards. For this awards-centric edition of The Roundup, I will go through each category and tell you who I think should win the award, who I think actually will win the award, who I think has no chance to win, and who I think could be considered a snub - followed by a brief thought on the category this season.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Who Should Win: The Carpet Makers
Who Will Win: The Carpet Makers
No Chance: Trip
Biggest Snub: Mass Effect: Silent Assasins

Thought(s): I'm shocked Mass Effect: Silent Assassins went completely un-nominated. Meanwhile, this is precisely the type of award a film like The Carpet Makers was made for.

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Who Should Win: Revolution
Who Will Win: Revolution
No Chance: Numero Uno
Biggest Snub: N/A

Thought(s): Aside from the nominated films, it was a weak line-up of soundtracks for the season.

MOST WANTED SEQUEL
Who Should Win: The Question: The End
Who Will Win: Numero Uno
No Chance: Gargoyles
Biggest Snub: Halo 3

Thought(s): The buzz for Gargoyles died down some time ago. Numero Uno is still garnering talks, with multiple writers hashing out franchise ideas, which should garner it some extra votes.

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Who Should Win: Revolution
Who Will Win: Revolution
No Chance: Numero Uno
Biggest Snub: The Carpet Makers

Thought(s): Revolution has arguably one of the all-time great Hollywood casts. While the keads of Numero Uno are great, it's just not the type of film that earns awards like this.

BEST STARRING COUPLE
Who Should Win: Ryan Gosling & Christina Hendricks - The Question: The End
Who Will Win: Matthew McConaughey & Bel Powley - Stained
No Chance: Olivia Cooke & Katherine Langford - Trip
Biggest Snub: Owen Wilson & Reese Witherspoon - Revolution

Thought(s): The Question series deserves any awards it can get its hands on, and it all starts with Gosling and Hendricks. With the strong pairings on display, Revolution was surprisingly not nominated. Personally, I think they campaigned the wrong couple. Amy Adams and Ben Affleck made for a much more interesting couple in the film.

BEST VILLAIN
Who Should Win: Michael Shannon - Obsession
Who Will Win: Michael Shannon - Obsession
No Chance: Armie Hammer - The Squared Circle
Biggest Snub: Patrick Wilson - Triple Identity

Thought(s): Triple Identity is a highly underrated film, and part of that is the strong supporting performances from actors like Patrick Wilson. Ultimately though, this is Michael Shannon's category. If he doesn't win, there will be mass confusion throughout the industry.

BEST ADAPTATION
Who Should Win: The Question: The End
Who Will Win: The Lady in the Lake
No Chance: Paradiso
Biggest Snub: The Carpet Makers

Thought(s): This category feels a little weaker than in previous seasons. Maybe it's due to the lack of a John Malone-penned film in the category, with the Best Adaptation juggernaut sticking with original stories this season.

BEST ORIGINAL STORY
Who Should Win: The Squared Circle
Who Will Win: The Death of the Honest Man
No Chance: Obsession
Biggest Snub: Mr. Big

Thought(s): This is a category that is getting stronger every single season as the studio's writers become more comfortable with their original ideas. I feel like it comes down to Chad Taylor's The Squared Circle of Dominic Wilkins' The Death of the Honest Man this season though.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who Should Win: Amy Adams - Revolution
Who Will Win: Amy Adams - Revolution
No Chance: Abbie Cornish - The Lady in the Lake
Biggest Snub: Allison Tolman - Stained

Thought(s): Amy Adams knocked her role in Revolution out of the ballpark. She earned the award. Allison Tolman had a far juicier part in Stained than Naomi Watts, and should have been nominated instead, but Watts got the nom because she played the more famous character, simple as that.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who Should Win: Ben Affleck - Revolution
Who Will Win: Tom Hardy - The Squared Circle
No Chance: Joaquin Phoenix - Trip
Biggest Snub: Dan Fogler - Plastic Man

Thought(s): This is a super strong category this season. Phoenix probably won't win since his character has the least amount of screen time between all the roles. I would have liked to see a perfect comedic performance like the one Dan Fogler gave in Plastic Man get a little buzz, but no dice.

BEST ACTRESS
Who Should Win: Christina Hendricks - The Question: The End
Who Will Win: Christina Hendricks - The Question: The End
No Chance: Katherine Waterston - Dark Places
Biggest Snub: Reese Witherspoon - Revolution

Thought(s): Reese Witherspoon was great as the conflicted lead in Revolution, and probably deserved a nomination more so than Waterston or Powley. Christina Hendricks has put the work in and given life to arguably the best female character in comic book movie history.

BEST ACTOR
Who Should Win: Mel Gibson - The Squared Circle
Who Will Win: Colin Farrell - The Death of the Honest Man
No Chance: George Clooney - The Lady in the Lake
Biggest Snub: Wyatt Russell - Pressing Luck

Thought(s): Mel Gibson should be the favorite to win here, but despite the critical acclaim The Squared Circle received, it has had a surprising lack of buzz around awards season.

BEST DIRECTOR
Who Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson - The Squared Circle
Who Will Win: Paul Thomas Anderson - The Squared Circle
No Chance: Joel & Ethan Coen - The Lady in the Lake
Biggest Snub: Nicolas Winding Refn - The Question: The End

Thought(s): Paul Thomas Anderson is arguably the most talented director of his generation. But then again, so are the Coen Brothers. This is as much of a toss-up as Best Picture this year, so who knows...

BEST PICTURE
Who Should Win: The Squared Circle
Who Will Win: The Death of the Honest Man
No Chance: Stained
Biggest Snub: The Question: The End

Thought(s): This one is a real toss-up. It could realistically go to either of the four nominees, but I feel like Stained has the smallest chance to win. This is only the second time that all of the nominees for Best Picture have been original stories.