Jessica Chastain

Sarah Taryam, Arts Editor

The biggest night in the world of film is fast approaching. On March 27 the 94th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. With less than a week to go before we find out the winners, we are looking at the lists of nominees and taking a few guesses at who we think will be winning.

In the Best Actress category we have the likes of Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Olivia Colman for “The Lost Daughter,” Kristen Stewart for “Spencer” and Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers.” While we have made our feelings clear on Lady Gaga being snubbed, we do think the rest of the nominees are more than deserving of their nods. We feel that Penélope Cruz should win for playing a mother whose baby was mistakenly swapped at birth. Critics have raved about Cruz’s raw performance.

In the Best Actor category some of the nominees include Javier Bardem for “Being the Ricardos,” Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Power of the Dog,” Will Smith for “King Richard” and Denzel Washington for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Judging by the whispers of the critics, Will Smith seems like a strong contender, but we think it should be Benedict Cumberbatch. “The Power of the Dog” is up for a whopping total of 12 awards. Cumberbatch plays the lead in the Western psychological drama film written and directed by Jane Campion based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel of the same title.

In non-Oscar related news this week, turn to our Health pages to read about why a younger person may suffer from a blood clot. Hailey Bieber, wife of popstar Justin Bieber, was taken to hospital recently after displaying “stroke-like symptoms” as a result of a small blood clot in her brain.