Whatever you might think about the Oscars' diversity controversy, one thing's for sure - the Best Picture category is one of the most competitive in years.
In fact, it's so competitive that almost all the pictures involved are decidedly strong choices to bag the Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards. A good marker for what'll win on the night is the Producers Guild of America's annual awards. Almost every year, the PGA Awards' winner for Best Picture has been the winner of Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The last time there was a difference between the two was in 2006 when the PGA's Best Picture was Little Miss Sunshine, but the Oscar for Best Picture went to (gulp) Crash. Of course, Crash has widely been considered as one of the worst cases of daylight robbery so that's probably why the two were split that year.
For the most part, Big Short taking the win was widely seen as an upset by most. Many, ourselves included, tipped The Revenant or Spotlight to win at this year's Oscars. However, with The Big Short now in play, it's really shaking up the category. Don't surprise if some dark horse - say, Room - charges in and takes the gong on February 28th.
You can listen to our podcast with Big Short director Adam McKay right here, where he discusses how Big Short is basically 24-Hour Party People with financial institutions. Really.