Predicting the Academy Award Winners!

I'm ready for the Oscars!  Here are my bold predictions, marked with gold stars.  The red hearts are for the ones I liked the most.

Best Picture

• American Sniper
• Birdman★
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game  ♥
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

This is a tight race.  I think the voters will go with Birdman because of its combination of technical wizardy, fantastic acting, and artistic vision.  But a lot of people really love Boyhood.  Should have been nominated: Ida.

Best Director

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman  ♥
• Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
• Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood★
• Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Birdman is an astounding directorial achievement.  But I think the voters will want to reward Linklater for his long-term dedication to the Boyhood project.

Best Actress

• Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice★ ♥
• Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
• Reese Witherspoon, Wild
• Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Finally the divine Julianne Moore will win her long-deserved Oscar, this time for a powerful performance that is among her best.  Marion Cotillard is perhaps equally deserving, but I’m happy that Moore will win.  Should have been nominated: Hilary Swank, magnificent in The Homesman.

Best Actor

• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game ♥
• Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
• Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything★
• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Oscar loves to see actors overcome horrible diseases, so Redmayne will beat out sentimental favorite Keaton.  Should have been nominated: David Oyewolo, Selma; Chadwick Boseman, Get On Up; Miles Teller, Whiplash.

Best Supporting Actress

• Emma Stone, Birdman
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
• Laura Dern, Wild ♥
• Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood★

What a fantastic year for supporting actresses!  I wish the Academy could have made room in this category for Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer), Agata Kulesza (Ida), and Oprah Winfrey (heartbreaking in Selma).

Best Supporting Actor

• Edward Norton, Birdman
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood ♥
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash★
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
• Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke was the best part of Boyhood, in my opinion. 

Best Adapted Screenplay

• American Sniper
• The Imitation Game★ ♥
• Inherent Vice
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m hoping that the voters will use this category to express their appreciation for the powerful, elegant Imitation Game.

Best Original Screenplay

• Birdman★
• Boyhood
• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel ♥
• Nightcrawler

This is another tough call.  For every ardent admirer of Wes Anderson there is another voter who “just doesn’t get” his movies

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

From the tesseract to the ice planet to the black hole, Interstellar was an amazing visual experience.

Best Production Design

• The Grand Budapest Hotel★
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Into The Woods ♥
• Mr. Turner

Best Original Score

• The Grand Budapest Hotel ♥
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Mr. Turner
• The Theory of Everything★

Best Original Song

• “Lost Stars” from Begin Again
• “Grateful” from Beyond the Lights
• “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glenn Campbell: I’ll Be Me★
• “Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie ♥
• “Glory” from Selma

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel★ ♥
• Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Costume Design

• The Grand Budapest Hotel★♥
• Inherent Vice
• Into the Woods
• Maleficent
• Mr. Turner

Best Cinematography

• Birdman★
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Ida ♥
• Mr. Turner
• Unbroken

Best Film Editing

• American Sniper
• Boyhood★
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Whiplash ♥

Best Sound Editing

• American Sniper★
• Birdman 
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar ♥
• Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing

• American Sniper★
• Birdman 
• Interstellar ♥
• Unbroken
• Whiplash

Best Foreign Language Film

• Ida ♥
• Leviathan★
• Tangerines
• Timbuktu
• Wild Tales

Best Animated Feature

• Big Hero 6 ♥
• The Boxtrolls
• How To Train Your Dragon 2★
• Song of the Sea
• The Tale of Princess Kayuga

Best Animated Short

• The Bigger Picture ♥
• The Dam Keeper★
• Feast
• Me and My Moulton
• A Single Life

Best Live-Action Short

• Aya
• Boogaloo and Graham
• Butter Lamp
• Parvaneh★
• The Phone Call ♥

Best Documentary Feature                                                   

• Citizenfour★ ♥
• Finding Vivian Meier
• Last Days in Vietnam
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

Best Documentary Short                                                      

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1★ ♥
• Joanna
• Our Curse
• The Reaper
• White Earth

I hope you all enjoy the show! 

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