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 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
