Predictions for the 87th Academy Awards

Best Picture: Nominees: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash

And the Winner is...: Boyhood

Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel and American Sniper have all supposedly gained a lot of traction with Academy voters over the past few weeks, but I don't think any of them will gain enough supporters to knock off Boyhood. Boyhood has been the heavy favorite in this category for months and I believe the level of buzz surrounding it is insurmountable at this point in time.

Best Actor: Nominees: Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

And the Winner is...: Eddie Redmayne

This is the only acting race where there's any sort of serious suspense. Keaton and Redmayne have been locked in a dead heat all award season long and neither one of them have a serious edge heading into Oscar night. Ultimately I think Redmayne will walk away with it because he won at the BAFTA's- which are the last awards show before the Oscars- and the Academy loves to award actors who portray real people.

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 Winner is...: Julianne Moore

If I were to gamble on one award, it would be this. There's just no possible situation where I see Moore losing. She's won Best Actress at every other major awards show, it's an incredibly weak field, and the Academy is going to want finally reward her after sending her home empty-handed the previous four times she's been nominated.

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Duvall (The Judge), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

And the Winner is...: J.K. Simmons

This is another presumed lock. Simmons has all of the momentum leading up to the Oscars and there's not another actor in this field that went further out of their comfort zone for their performance than him.

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

And the Winner is...: Patricia Arquette

Put on your surprised face because this category appears to be yet another lock. Arquette has been racking up the awards over the past couple of months and is largely considered to give the best performance in the Best Picture frontrunner. If that's not a recipe for Oscar gold, I don't know what is.

Best Director: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood). Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Morten Tyldum(The Imitation Game)

And the Winner is...: Richard Linklater

This is a serious toss-up between Linklater and Gonzalez-Inarritu, who just won the Director's Guild Association's top honor. In the end, I think they'll end up awarding Linklater's ambition over Inarritu's technical virtuosity.

Side Notes:

Who I'd vote for If I could cast a ballot:

Best Picture: Whiplash

Best Actor: Michael Keaton

Best Actress: Rosamund Pike

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons

Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone

Best Director: Richard Linklater

Best Original Screenplay: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Damian Chazelle (Whiplash)

Best Cinematography: Birdman 

Best Score: The Imitation Game

Best Visual Effects: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Biggest Snub By Category:

Best Picture: Gone Girl

Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Best Actress: Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)
Best Supporting Actor: Tyler Perry (Gone Girl)

Best Supporting Actress: Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

Best Director: Damian Chazelle (Whiplash)

Best Original Screenplay: Chris Rock (Top Five)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)

Best Cinematography: Nightcrawler  

Best Score: The Guest

Best Visual Effects: Robocop

Nominees That Shouldn't Be Here By Category:

Best Picture: American Sniper

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon

Best Supporting Actor: N/A

Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern

Best Director: Bennett Miller

Best Original Screenplay: Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Hall (American Sniper)

Best Cinematography: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Score: Interstellar

Best Visual Effects: Captain America: The Winter Solider