Following tradition, the epilogue to the countdown of the top films of the year brings me to a consideration of the most exemplary acting performances of the same span of time. If I’d been in possession of one of Actors Branch Academy Awards nominating ballots, knowing then what I know now, this is how I would have filled it out.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
2. Michael B. Jordan, Creed
3. Matt Damon, The Martian
4. Steve Carell, The Big Short
5. Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Besides Damon, I diverge pretty strongly from the Academy in this category, though that’s partially due to my decision to slot Ruffalo into lead instead of supporting for his tricky, engaging character work in Spotlight. I long ago resigned myself to the fact that Segel’s outstanding performance as David Foster Wallace was going to be one of this year’s afterthoughts, but I’m perplexed all over the place by what the awards community did and didn’t chose to celebrate. Carell gives exactly the sort of colorful performance that copped him an Oscar nomination for Foxcatcher, only this time more smartly considered and with less hollow hamminess. Similarly, I get that Sylvester Stallone gets the sentimental vote for Creed, but even the most distracted viewing of that film should make it clear where the most compelling acting is taking place. Of course, Sunday night’s almost certain winner in this category will be Leonardo DiCaprio, finally getting the hardware in his fifth attempt in an acting category. I think he should have one of these already (two actually: for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and The Departed, though he wasn’t even nominated for the latter as the Academy inexplicably gave the nod to his mediocre work in the same year’s flatly lousy Blood Diamond), but his acting in The Revenant is just one more bad part of a bad movie. The Onion offered the perfect counterargument to the pending victory. Fassbender just misses the list for me, and it pains me to leave him off.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Brie Larson, Room
2. Elisabeth Moss, Queen of Earth
3. Lola Kirke, Mistress America
4. Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

This is the one and only acting category in which I’m in agreement with Academy voters on the winner, barring a fairly major upset. It may be the sort of role that has Oscar glory built right into it, but Larson somehow manages to bring added poignancy to it. I have mixed feelings about Room, largely because it winds up as needlessly less than its source material. Larson reverses that, bringing more to the part than she was given. Other than Larson and fellow Oscar nominee Ronan, my selections are a jumble of performances that were never all that likely to gain traction in awards season, although I can’t quite figure out why Theron’s status as an Oscar winner didn’t stir some chatter of her as a potential nominee once it became clear that Fury Road was a film they’d need to take seriously.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Liev Schreiber, Spotlight
2. Christian Bale, The Big Short
3. Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
4. Emory Cohen, Brooklyn
5. Seth Rogen, Steve Jobs

The supporting categories are both fairly weak this year. I’m rounding up, for example, to get Rogen into that fifth slot. Then again, I am pleased that there are two Freaks and Geeks alumni on my ballot. If only Linda Cardellini were getting better big screen career options than thankless wife parts. Following the theme of my bafflement over which performances are being singled out for accolades in the year’s most celebrated films, I think Schreiber’s turn as Marty Baron is clearly the most fascinating piece of character-building in Spotlight. On Sunday, Stallone probably wins in this category, even though the Academy has been a little less driven by sentiment in their voting in recent years. It’s difficult for me to ignore the standing ovation he received at the Golden Globes.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
2. Julie Walters, Brooklyn
3. Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak
4. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
5. Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

This is the major category at the Oscars that could land on just about any of the five nominees, including Vikander. Too bad she was nominated for her solid lead performance in a drab drama instead of her crafty, nuanced supporting turn in Ex Machina. Were I placing a bet, I’d probably put my money on Rooney Mara, though I wouldn’t do it with a whole lot of confidence. I’ll say this for my quintet of nominees: this would make for a far more entertaining batch of Oscar clips that what we’ll actually get in this category on Sunday night.