Academy Awards predictions
CODINUNDRUM | a column about random pop culture stuff, mostly Beyoncé.
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The 2015 Academy Awards have been called unpredictable on several levels this season. Though the acting categories seem to be locked, the film categories are much more ambiguous. With no real front-runner, it’s anybody’s game for Best Picture and most of the other film categories.
Regardless, here are my humble predictions for the greatest night of the year:
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” | Written by Alejandro G. Iñarritu, Ncolás Giocobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo
“Boyhood” | Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” | Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” | Screeplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” | Written by Dan Gilroy
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“American Sniper” | Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” | Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” | Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” | Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” | Written by Damien Chazelle
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”
Sound Mixing
“American Sniper”
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
“Whiplash”
Sound Editing
“American Sniper”
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
Production Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Interstellar”
“Into the Woods”
“Mr. Turner”
Music (Original Song)
“Everything is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
Music and lyrics by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”
Music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me”
Music and lyrics by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
Music and lyrics by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
Music (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 Jóhannsson
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Foxcatcher”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Ida” | Poland
“Leviathan” | Russia
“Tangerines” | Estonia
“Timbuktu” | Mauritania
“Wild Tales” | Argentina
FILM EDITING
“American Sniper”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Whiplash”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“CitizenFour”
“Finding Vivian Maier”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Virunga”
COSTUME DESIGN
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Inherent Vice”
“Into the Woods”
“Maleficent”
“Mr. Turner”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Ida”
“Mr. Turner”
“Unbroken”
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
DIRECTING
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” | Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” | Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” | Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” | Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” | Morten Tyldum
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette | “Boyhood”
Laura Dern | “Wild”
Keira Knightly | “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone | “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep | “Into the Woods”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Robert Duvall | “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke | “Boyhood”
Edward Norton | “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo | “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons | “Whiplash”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Marion Cotillard | “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones | “The Theory of Everything”
Julian Moore | “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike | “Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon | “Wild”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Steve Carrell | “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper | “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch | “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton | “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne | “The Theory of Everything”
BEST PICTURE
“American Sniper”
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”
With top prizes at the SAG, DGA and PGA awards and a loss at the WGAs only to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (because of ineligibility), it’s unlikely “Boyhood” will overtake “Birdman.” Historically, and I say this hesitantly, the guilds have determined Best Picture winners with few exceptions. “Boyhood,” which has picking up most of the critics awards, did not take home a single major guild award. But it did win the BAFTA best picture prize, the winners of which have gone on to win the Oscar for the past six years.
Really the Best Picture statue is anyone’s in a game with no true frontrunners, but my money is on “Birdman.”
Codi Mohr can be contacted at [email protected].
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