Kell Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The nominations are in for the 87th Academy Awards. Quite a few as expected, but with a few surprises, I think. Anyway here are my predictions for the winners – they’re the ones in red. I, for one, can hardly wait to see the results, and with it hosted by the legen… wait for it… dary Neil Patrick Harris, it’ll be a show and a half! Best Picture: America Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash This will be the first of quite a few wins for this film, I reckon… Best Director: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) Richard Linklater (Boyhood) Bennet Miller (Foxcatcher) Morten Tyidum (The Imitation Game) It’s surprising that James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) has seemingly been snubbed in this category, but I think his loss will be Tyidum’s gain here. I have the feeling that The Imitation Game will be losing out to The Theory of Everything in several categories, so I hope it wins here. Best Actor: Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher) Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) Michael Keaton (Birdman) Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) I think Redmayne has this one all sewn up. Although I’ve not seen it yet, and cannot personally comment on his performance, this one has multiple Oscar wins written all over it. 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) Again, without yet witnessing her performance (which will soon be remedied), I reckon The Theory of Everything has this one in the bag. Best Supporting Actor: Robert Duvall (The Judge) Ethan Hawke (Boyhood) Edward Norton (Birdman) Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) Duvall his this one coming – a classic actor with a stellar career. It’s another film I haven’t yet seen, but one I’m dying to watch as soon as possible). It’s been 32 years since his last statuette (Tender Mercies in 1983), but I think this one will be winging it’s way to him. Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) Laura Dern (Wild) Keira Knightly (The Imitation Game) Emma Stone (Birdman) Meryl Streep (Into the Woods) Streep is the single most Oscar nominated actress in the world, and I feel she may well be chalking up another win here. Let’s face it, any actress up against Streep should be quaking in her boots! Could this be another Oscar win for Streep? (Streep has now been nominated an amazing 19 times for her acting, and won three times, twice as Best Actress, and once as Best Supporting Actress!) Best Original Screenplay: Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr & Armando Bo) Boyhood (Richard Linklater) Foxcatcher (E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman) The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson & Hugo Guiness) Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy) I think this is where Birdman will convert a nomination into a win. It’s had a lot of chatter around it, so this could be where it scoops a statue. Best Adapted Screenplay: American Sniper (Jason Hall) The Imitation Game (Graham Moore) Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson) The Theory of Everything (Anthony McCarten) Whiplash (Damien Chazelle) Much as I’d love it to be The Imitation Game, I get the feeling The Theory of Everything will be the board sweeper. Best Animated Feature: Big Hero 6 The Boxtrolls How To Train Your Dragon 2 Song of the Sea The Tale of Princess Kaguya I’m not actually sure about this one. If I were judging on animation alone, I’d go for Boxtrolls, but taken as a film as a whole, I’d rather see this go to Big Hero 6 as the story is so much better Best Original Score: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat) The Imitation Game (Alexandre Desplat) Interstellar (Hans Zimmer) Mr Turner (Gary Yershon) The Theory of Everything (Jóhann Jóhannson) This one might be where The Imitation Game picks up another Oscar. Best Original Song: Everything Is Awesome (The Lego Movie) Glory (Selma) Grateful (Beyond the Lights) I’m Not Gonna Miss You (Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me) Lost Stars (Begin Again) Come on, the name of the song says it all, really. Much as I hate the song and disliked the film, I think they’re onto a winner in this category. Best Cinematography: Birdman Grand Budapest Hotel Ida Mr Turner Unbroken Much has been made of the “continuous take” look of Birdman, and as it’s not nominated for the editing award, it may pick one up here instead. Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Foxcatcher The Grand Budapest Hotel Guardians of the Galaxy A tough one to call, but I think Foxcatcher will just pip Guardians of the Galaxy to the post. That said, sci-fi films have won this category before, so you never know! Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel Inherent Vice Into the Woods Maleficent Mr Turner Another tough call, but I think the multi-fairytale platform of Into the Woods has more scope for the costuming award than the other films nominated for this category. Best Film Editing: American Sniper Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Whiplash Fourteen years in the making, this has the Best Film Editing award plastered all over it. 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 As Andy Serkis keeps getting overlooked for his acting prowess when doing motion capture, I sincerely hope Dawn of the Planet of the Apes at least picks up the prize for the best visual effects as some small compensation. You will have noticed I haven’t included all the categories, but these are the ones that actually mean something to me. I don’t watch shorts and very rarely see a documentary or foreign film (although I do occasionally seek out films from foreign climes), so those awards hold far less interest to me, as with the sound editing category, as I have no frame of reference with which to judge prowess in that area. So, those are my predictions for the big winners at the Oscars this year. Do you agree with my choices? I’d love to know, so leave a comment below with your own predictions. 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Kylie Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks, Kell, for taking the time to type this all out and for adding your commentary. I tend to agree with most of your choices, as well as the logic behind them. So glad that Neil Patrick Harris is hosting again. He's an awesome showman! I'm afraid I've only seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar and Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd love for the TGBH to win an Oscar or two. It was really a marvellous movie. And Interstellar just blew my mind! I can't believe it hasn't been nominated for more awards. Not even Best Picture! What the?? But it does sound like The Imitation Game and Birdman might have things wrapped up. I can't wait to see both of these movies. Is it right that I'm surprised that Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't nominated for best actor? I haven't seen The Imitation Game, but I've heard rave reviews, and I know enough of BC's acting to be surprised that he's not nominated (or is that just the fangirl in me talking? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 And Interstellar just blew my mind! I can't believe it hasn't been nominated for more awards. Not even Best Picture! What the?? Ditto on that, I was at least expecting original screenplay and hoping for director/actor/picture. I'm glad to see Wes Anderson getting a nomination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I am embarrassed to say that out of all the movies Kell has listed, I have only seen three. I don't even recognise a lot of the titles. I suppose not all of them might've made it to the Netherlands so I might not hear much about them. Good luck though to all the nominees! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Don't worry, Athena, I haven't heard of many of them either. These awards always take place before most of the movies even make it to Australia! On the upside, watching the awards gives me an idea of what movies I should check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 So far, of the Oscar nominated films, I have seen: America Sniper (4/5) The Imitation Game (5/5) Foxcatcher (2/5) Gone Girl (4/5) Big Hero 6 (4/5) The Boxtrolls (2/5) How To Train Your Dragon 2 (4/5) The Lego Movie (1/5) Guardians of the Galaxy (2/5) Maleficent (3/5) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3/5) X-Men: Days of Future Past (4/5) The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (2/5) (nominated for Best Sound Editing, which I didn't include on my predictions) I also have plans to see: Birdman The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game The Theory of Everything The Judge Into the Woods Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I just got back from seeing Birdman. I thought it was brilliant! The acting was just fantastic, and the plot was great. The 'continuous take' thing was very well done indeed. There was a plot point that I saw coming a mile off (perhaps because it reminded me of another movie), although there was a little twist to that that I didn't see coming. I would be very happy to see Michael Keaton win an Oscar for his performance (although I want Eddy Redmayne to win as well—I haven't seen his movie yet, but I just know he will be brilliant). The friend I saw it with wasn't particularly happy with the ending, but I liked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Of the nominees for best picture, we've only seen The Imitation Game, so it isn't fair for me to really pick a favorite. The Imitation Game is however, an excellent film, well done in every aspect as far as I am concerned. Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant in the role of Alan Turing, catching all the nuances of the man. I can't find it, but one of the reviews of Cumberbatch's performance said that he'd been various things in his to this date roles, but his performance in this film combined all of the nuances of all his performances rolled into one. That is high praise, indeed. Although I haven't seen American Sniper, I've watched Bradley Cooper mature as an actor, and I have to say he is an extremely talented guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melodious Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I really want to see Birdman. The only other film on that list I've seen is The Grand Budapest Hotel which is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 I've now also seen: The Imitation Game (5/5) Into the Woods (4/5) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolf woolf Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 If I were the one to decide, "The Theory of Everything" would win this year. I think the film is very well made, with an iconic performance from Eddie Redmayne and a great score by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Felicity Jones was very good and from what I've seen she gets the award, but Marion Cotillard is an amazing actress in european cinema and this year she was praised beyond end for two of her roles. It's more remarkable, considering that the persons who work in and watch european cinema are usually reserved about praising anything, but I can't judge for myself since I haven't yet seen them. Best cinematography would go to "Ida", one of the most beautiful films in recent years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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