Academy Awards

: There will be up to 10 nominees for Best Picture and five each in other categories for the Feb. 28 Academy Awards, according to Toronto Star. But some suspects are more likely than others. It also signals the start of Oscar season, a months-long campaign of air kisses and advance kudos by aspirants who are obliged to feign humility, but who are really hoping to be nominated come Jan. 14. Herewith, my best bets for Oscar glory from contenders emerging at TIFF 2015:BEST PICTURERidley Scott outer space adventure The Martian could easily convert TIFF premiere cheers into Oscar attention, with its heart-stopping, eye-popping and utterly believable saga of a stranded Mars astronaut requiring an impossible rescue. Michael Keaton leads an ensemble cast of stars recreating the Boston Globe investigators who doggedly unmasked pedophile priests in a Vatican-shaking series of exposés beginning in 2002. Back on Earth with an equally engrossing story is Tom McCarthy Spotlight, a journalistic procedural that plays like the best of thrillers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.