Best Picture:
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- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman”
- “Boyhood”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Selma”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “Whiplash”
And the Oscar goes to… Birdman! Out of these eight films I believe Whiplash should win, but it won’t. It was intense from beginning to end. Oscars love to reward films that give us a behind-the-scenes look at the struggles actors face as their star rises and when their star fades and Birdman fits that description.
Best Actor:
- Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
- Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
- Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
- Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
- Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
And the Oscar goes to… Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton doesn’t make a lot of movies any more and this might be the last time the Academy gets to reward his marvelous career. Who should win? Eddie Redmayne. His transformation into Stephen Hawking was truly remarkable.
Best Actress:
- Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
- Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
- Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
- Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
- Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
And the Oscar goes to… Julianne Moore. This may be the easiest call out of all of the categories. Without Moore’s amazing performance as a woman battling with Alzheimer’s, Still Alice would have been nothing more than a Hallmark television movie.
Best Supporting Actor:
- Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
- Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
- Edward Norton, “Birdman”
- Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
- J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
And the Oscar goes to… J.K. Simmons. Once again, if you remove Simmons’ performance from Whiplash, you don’t have much of a film. He expertly tiptoes the line between brilliant mentor and a monstrous bully.
Best Supporting Actress:
- Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
- Laura Dern, “Wild”
- Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
- Emma Stone, “Birdman”
- Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
And the Oscar goes to… Patricia Arquette. I’m not saying she deserves it, which I don’t think she does, but the category is so weak that she looks better than most of her competition. I also believe the Academy wants to reward Boyhood, an ambitious 12-year project, in anyway that it can. This is one of the categories that they can do that.
Best Director:
- Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- Alejandro Iñárritu, “Birdman”
- Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
- Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
- Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
And the Oscar goes to… Alejandro Iñárritu. Birdman was artsy enough to win over pretentious voters, the cast was mainstream friendly and likable, and its seamless one-long-take editing will be parodied for decades.
Best Animated Feature:
- “Big Hero 6”
- “The Boxtrolls”
- “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
- “Song of the Sea”
- “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
And the Oscar goes to… Song of the Sea. This one is tough. I can’t see Big Hero 6 or How to Train Your Dragon 2 winning an Oscar. They’re just not the type of films that get rewarded by the Academy.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
- “American Sniper”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Inherent Vice”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “Whiplash”
And the Oscar goes to… The Theory Of Everything. Oscar loves to reward British productions with a win here or there. This is the best spot for that to happen if Redmayne loses to Keaton. Plus, Oscar loves to reward stories about overcoming/coping with debilitating illnesses.
Best Original Screenplay:
- “Birdman”
- “Boyhood”
- “Foxcatcher”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Nightcrawler”
And the Oscar goes to… Birdman.
Best Cinematography:
- “Birdman”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Ida”
- “Mr. Turner”
- “Unbroken”
And the Oscar goes to… Birdman. Be prepared for a Birdman night at the Oscars. We’ll soon grow tired of all of the one-long-take parodies, but as of right now it still feels fresh.
Best Documentary Feature:
- “CitizenFour”
- “Finding Vivian Maier”
- “Last Days in Vietnam”
- “The Salt of the Earth”
- “Virunga”
And the Oscar goes to… CitizenFour. Oscars like to send a strong political message when they can and there is no better subject than Edward Snowden. Some view him as a patriot and others as a traitor. Watch Oscar thumb its nose as the United States government with this pick.
Best Film Editing:
- “American Sniper”
- “Boyhood”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Whiplash”
And the Oscar goes to… Boyhood. Birdman will be the darling of the evening, but as I said before, the Academy wants to reward Boyhood any chance they can get and this is another opportunity to do so. It took 12 years to make. Also, the transitions from one year to the next were incredibly smooth.
Best Original Score:
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Interstellar”
- “Mr. Turner”
- “The Theory of Everything”
And the Oscar goes to… The Theory Of Everything. To be honest, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score was ten times more compelling than the story on screen. The score expertly danced on the edge of whimsical and heartbreaking.
Best Original Song:
- “Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
- “Glory” from “Selma”
- “Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
- “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me”
- “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
And the Oscar goes to… “Glory” from Selma. The Martin Luther King biopic was snubbed up and down the board, but this category is all theirs.
Best Production Design:
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Interstellar”
- “Into the Woods”
- “Mr. Turner”
And the Oscar goes to… The Grand Budapest Hotel. There is no way a Wes Anderson film is going home empty handed.
Best Sound Editing:
- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman”
- “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
- “Interstellar”
- “Unbroken”
And the Oscar goes to… Birdman. I don’t think they deserve it, but Oscars will toss them as many cookies as they can. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies probably deserves it more as it is Peter Jackson’s final adventure into Middle Earth. Don’t be shocked if they toss him a bone out of recognition of his accomplishments in the fantasy genre.
Best Sound Mixing:
- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman”
- “Interstellar”
- “Unbroken”
- “Whiplash”
And the Oscar goes to… Birdman. Honestly, you will get bored of hearing Birdman winning all of these awards. People might start shutting off their television sets halfway into the telecast if they feel like it is a Birdman landslide. Who should win? Whiplash. Come on, how could the film not win sound mixing.
Best Visual Effects:
- “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
- “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
- “Guardians of the Galaxy”
- “Interstellar”
- “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
And the Oscar goes to… Interstellar. Oscars aren’t ready to reward comic book movies. Sorry, that’s just how it is. Plus, any film that makes a gorgeous black hole without computer assistance is doing something right.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
- Foxcatcher
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Guardians Of The Galaxy
And the Oscar goes to… The Grand Budapest Hotel. Oscars love Wes Anderson, but know this isn’t his best film. Plus, Oscars aren’t ready to reward a comic book movie, no matter how brilliant the makeup and hairstyling was on James Gunn’s film.
Best Foreign Language Film
- “Ida”
- “Leviathan”
- “Tangerines”
- “Timbuktu”
- “Wild Tales”
And the Oscar goes to… Leviathan. Oscars like to send political messages. Here is an opportunity to reward a Russian film that its own government doesn’t feel comfortable supporting, but would make the people of Russia very happy to see win.
Best Costume Design:
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “Inherent Vice
- “Into the Woods”
- “Maleficent”
- “Mr. Turner”
And the Oscar goes to… The Grand Budapest Hotel. Personally, I would pick Into The Woods or Maleficent, but The Grand Budapest Hotel is destined to pick up wins in most of the secondary categories. Face it, Wes Anderson is Hollywood’s new Woody Allen.
I left out Documentary Short Subject, Short Film Animated and Live-Action categories. Why? Because your guess is as good as mine.
