The nominees are out, so in advance of the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, our film critic is arguing for his picks for who deserves to win in several major categories.

Best Supporting Actress: June Squibb, Nebraska. I greatly enjoyed both Lupita Nyong’o and Jennifer Lawrence in their nominated roles, but the 84-year-old Squibb practically stole “Nebraska” with her crackling performance as the feisty, outspoken wife of Bruce Dern’s disillusioned “millionaire” Woody.

Sample quote: “I never knew the S.O.B. even wanted to be a millionaire! He should have thought about that years ago and worked for it!”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club. If you’re in an Oscar pool, then betting on Jared Leto is about as surefire a bet as you can make. And that’s a good thing, too, because the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman’s performance as self-destructive drag queen Rayon was one of the most compelling things about Dallas Buyers Club.

Sample quote: “I guess you’re handsome, in a Texas, hick, white trash, dumb kind of way.”

Best Adapted Screenplay: Billy Ray, Captain Phillips. Screenwriter Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, State of Play, Breach) just knows how to create dramatic tension. In Captain Phillips, he penned a fast-moving, literate script that made Captain Phillips as much of a character study as an action thriller.

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her. No doubt about this one: Jonze’s beautiful, lyrical screenplay was the driving force of the extraordinary Her. It told the soaring love story between a man and his computer, but also tackled some of life’s biggest questions, like what it means to be human. Not just the best script of this year but maybe the best in five or 10 years.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that the best performance by an actress, that of Brie Larson in Short Term 12, was not even nominated — yet another example of the Academy showing no love to deserving indie films. But Blanchett’s terrific performance as an ex-socialite on the verge of a breakdown was nearly Larson’s equal, making Woody Allen’s drama far more watchable than it should have been.

Sample quote: “There’s only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.”

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club. This is by far the toughest category to pick because all of the performances were fantastic, not to mention those of Tom Hanks, Joaquin Phoenix, and Robert Redford, who weren’t nominated. But it’s McConaughey’s great work in both Dallas Buyers Club, as bigot-turned-hero Ron Woodroof, and Mud, as a drifter on the run from the law, that give him the edge for me. I’d love to see Bruce Dern win as well, but, to me, this is McConaughey’s year.

Sample quote: “Let me give y’all a little news flash. There ain’t nothin’ out there can kill Ron Woodroof in 30 days.”

Best Director: Alexander Payne, Nebraska. As a Nebraska native, Payne’s film was right in his directorial wheelhouse. But that doesn’t make his work any less impressive. His exquisite rendering of small town, Midwestern life has an intimacy and vitality that you just don’t see in very many films.

Best Picture: Nebraska. For all the reasons I stated above and many more, Nebraska is the year’s most essential film. Don’t let the bleak trailers keep you from seeing this funny, uplifting, and downright remarkable film.