My personal ranking of this past year's Best Picture nominees, from the most to my least liked:
"The Imitation Game"
"Birdman"
"American Sniper"
"The Theory of Everything"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Whiplash"
"Selma"
JMO, and they are listed here so you'll have some clue as to where I'm coming from.
Now here are my guesses as to how the Academy will vote to award their Oscars.
The "Best" in each category is where I predict the Oscar will go.
"Second Place" is where I expect the Oscar to go should my prediction of the winner be wrong.
"My Dark Horse" is a nominee whom/which I believe is genuinely worthy, but I'd be surprised to see the Academy vote actually go that way.
"My Personal Favorite" is the nominee I, myself, liked the most of all this year, in that particular category.
So here are my Oscar predictions, which (btw) I found a bit more difficult to make this year than usual:
Best Picture: I believe "Birdman" will win.
Second Place: "Boyhood" here in a race almost too close to call.
My Dark Horse: "American Sniper."
My Personal Favorite: "The Imitation Game."
Best Director: Richard Linklater wins for "Boyhood."
Second Place: Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu for "Birdman" in a race that could go either way.
Best Leading Actor: Eddie Redmayne wins for "The Theory of Everything."
Second Place: Michael Keaton for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper."
My Personal Favorite: Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game."
Best Leading Actress: Julianne Moore wins for "Still Alice."
Second Place: Reese Witherspoon for "Wild."
My Dark Horse: Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl."
Best Supporting Actor: J. K. Simmons wins for "Whiplash."
Second Place: Edward Norton for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Ethan Hawke for "Boyhood."
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette wins for "Boyhood."
Second Place: Emma Stone for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Laura Dern for "Wild."
My Personal Favorite: Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game."
Those are the six "main" Oscar categories.
I'll also guess for these "minor" category nominees.
My personal favorites are also my predicted winners here unless noted:
Animated Feature Film: "How to Train Your Dragon 2" wins.
"Song of the Sea" is my second place guess.
"The LEGO Movie" was the best animated movie I saw this year and I think it should have been nominated.
Production Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Into The Woods" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
"The Imitation Game" is my personal favorite.
"Birdman" should have been nominated,
Costume Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Into The Woods" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
"Inherent Vice" is my personal favorite.
Cinematography: "Birdman" wins.
"Unbroken" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
Visual Effects: "Interstellar" wins.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is my second place.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is my personal favorite.
Film Editing: "Boyhood" wins.
"Whiplash" is my second place.
"American Sniper" is my dark horse.
"Whiplash" is my personal favorite.
"Birdman" should have been nominated, IMHO. Because its cinematic flow varied from seemingly seamless to purposefully punctuated (according to whatever was needed). Or did those nominating believe this entire movie actually was filmed in one long and continuous tracking shot???
Makeup and Hairstyling: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is my second place.
"Foxcatcher" is my dark horse.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is my personal favorite.
"Into The Woods" should have been nominated.
Original Score: "The Theory of Everything" wins.
"The Imitation Game" is my second place.
"The Imitation Game" is my personal favorite.
Original Song: "Glory" from "Selma" wins in another close race.
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You"" from "Glen Campbell......I'll Be Me" is my second place.
"Lost Stars" from "Begin Again" is my dark horse.
"Everything Is Awesome" from "The LEGO Movie" is my personal favorite.
Sound Editing: "American Sniper" wins.
"Birdman" is my very close second place.
These two sound categories were the hardest for me to predict.
Sound Mixing: "Whiplash" wins.
"American Sniper" is my very, very close second place.
"Birdman" is my personal favorite.
Much of the spoken dialog in "Interstellar" is impossible to hear, so I think it shouldn't have even been nominated in this category.
Adapted Screenplay: "The Imitation Game" wins in another close race.
"Whiplash" or "The Theory of Everything" in second place
"American Sniper" is my dark horse.
Original Screenplay: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Birdman" is my second place.
"Nightcrawler" is my dark horse.
"Nightcrawler" is my personal favorite.
Documentary Feature: I predict "CITIZENFOUR" will win,
I've seen almost all of the nominees in the categories for which I've predicted.
I've listened to each of the song nominees and paid attention to the nominated scores.
I didn't see any of the Foreign Films or Short Films up for awards this year and I've abstained in those categories.
We'll see how it all goes down on this coming Sunday, February 22nd.
Your thoughts?
"The Imitation Game"
"Birdman"
"American Sniper"
"The Theory of Everything"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Whiplash"
"Selma"
JMO, and they are listed here so you'll have some clue as to where I'm coming from.
Now here are my guesses as to how the Academy will vote to award their Oscars.
The "Best" in each category is where I predict the Oscar will go.
"Second Place" is where I expect the Oscar to go should my prediction of the winner be wrong.
"My Dark Horse" is a nominee whom/which I believe is genuinely worthy, but I'd be surprised to see the Academy vote actually go that way.
"My Personal Favorite" is the nominee I, myself, liked the most of all this year, in that particular category.
So here are my Oscar predictions, which (btw) I found a bit more difficult to make this year than usual:
Best Picture: I believe "Birdman" will win.
Second Place: "Boyhood" here in a race almost too close to call.
My Dark Horse: "American Sniper."
My Personal Favorite: "The Imitation Game."
Best Director: Richard Linklater wins for "Boyhood."
Second Place: Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu for "Birdman" in a race that could go either way.
Best Leading Actor: Eddie Redmayne wins for "The Theory of Everything."
Second Place: Michael Keaton for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper."
My Personal Favorite: Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game."
Best Leading Actress: Julianne Moore wins for "Still Alice."
Second Place: Reese Witherspoon for "Wild."
My Dark Horse: Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl."
Best Supporting Actor: J. K. Simmons wins for "Whiplash."
Second Place: Edward Norton for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Ethan Hawke for "Boyhood."
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette wins for "Boyhood."
Second Place: Emma Stone for "Birdman."
My Dark Horse: Laura Dern for "Wild."
My Personal Favorite: Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game."
Those are the six "main" Oscar categories.
I'll also guess for these "minor" category nominees.
My personal favorites are also my predicted winners here unless noted:
Animated Feature Film: "How to Train Your Dragon 2" wins.
"Song of the Sea" is my second place guess.
"The LEGO Movie" was the best animated movie I saw this year and I think it should have been nominated.
Production Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Into The Woods" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
"The Imitation Game" is my personal favorite.
"Birdman" should have been nominated,
Costume Design: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Into The Woods" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
"Inherent Vice" is my personal favorite.
Cinematography: "Birdman" wins.
"Unbroken" is my second place.
"Mr. Turner" is my dark horse.
Visual Effects: "Interstellar" wins.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is my second place.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is my personal favorite.
Film Editing: "Boyhood" wins.
"Whiplash" is my second place.
"American Sniper" is my dark horse.
"Whiplash" is my personal favorite.
"Birdman" should have been nominated, IMHO. Because its cinematic flow varied from seemingly seamless to purposefully punctuated (according to whatever was needed). Or did those nominating believe this entire movie actually was filmed in one long and continuous tracking shot???
Makeup and Hairstyling: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is my second place.
"Foxcatcher" is my dark horse.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is my personal favorite.
"Into The Woods" should have been nominated.
Original Score: "The Theory of Everything" wins.
"The Imitation Game" is my second place.
"The Imitation Game" is my personal favorite.
Original Song: "Glory" from "Selma" wins in another close race.
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You"" from "Glen Campbell......I'll Be Me" is my second place.
"Lost Stars" from "Begin Again" is my dark horse.
"Everything Is Awesome" from "The LEGO Movie" is my personal favorite.
Sound Editing: "American Sniper" wins.
"Birdman" is my very close second place.
These two sound categories were the hardest for me to predict.
Sound Mixing: "Whiplash" wins.
"American Sniper" is my very, very close second place.
"Birdman" is my personal favorite.
Much of the spoken dialog in "Interstellar" is impossible to hear, so I think it shouldn't have even been nominated in this category.
Adapted Screenplay: "The Imitation Game" wins in another close race.
"Whiplash" or "The Theory of Everything" in second place
"American Sniper" is my dark horse.
Original Screenplay: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" wins.
"Birdman" is my second place.
"Nightcrawler" is my dark horse.
"Nightcrawler" is my personal favorite.
Documentary Feature: I predict "CITIZENFOUR" will win,
I've seen almost all of the nominees in the categories for which I've predicted.
I've listened to each of the song nominees and paid attention to the nominated scores.
I didn't see any of the Foreign Films or Short Films up for awards this year and I've abstained in those categories.
We'll see how it all goes down on this coming Sunday, February 22nd.
Your thoughts?
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