UPDATE 02.23.15:
Winners are now indicated. I correctly guessed only 9 out of the 24 categories.
PREVIOUS 02.22.15:
Here’s an at-a-glance look at my picks for tonight’s Academy Awards — projected winners are Xed at the lefthand side. Keep in mind: those Xes don’t represent whom I think should win Oscars but whom I think will win, based on what little I can grasp about how the Academy thinks. (I’ve also noted which nominees I think should win. Kindly note that this is not necessarily my take on who did the best performance/writing/FX/whatever of the year, but whom I think is best among the nominees.)
Also noted are the two films — The Salt of the Earth (a documentary nominee) and Wild Tales (a foreign-language nominee) — that I haven’t been able to see.
I suspect I won’t be able to make it through the ceremony tonight — it doesn’t start until 12:30am London time — so it’ll probably be sometime on Monday before I update this post with the actual winners and assess my prognostication skills.
PREVIOUS 02.03.15:
With links to my reviews. I’ll be adding reviews of as many additional films as I can between now and the Oscars.
I’ll also update the post at some point closer to the Oscars with my predictions.
(See the Academy’s site at Oscars.org and ABC’s site at Oscars.com for your further Oscar needs.)
(Click here for the ranking of 2014’s Oscar-nominated films for female representation.)
best picture
[ ] American Sniper
[ ] Birdman WINNER
[ X ] Boyhood
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel should win
[ ] The Imitation Game
[ ] Selma
[ ] The Theory of Everything
[ ] Whiplash
best actor in a leading role
[ ] Steve Carell, Foxcatcher should win
[ ] Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
[ ] Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
[ X ] Michael Keaton, Birdman
[ ] Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything WINNER
best actress in a leading role
[ ] Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
[ ] Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
[ X ] Julianne Moore, Still Alice should win WINNER
[ ] Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
[ ] Reese Witherspoon, Wild
best actor in a supporting role
[ ] Robert Duvall, The Judge
[ ] Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
[ ] Edward Norton, Birdman
[ ] Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
[ X ] J.K. Simmons, Whiplash should win WINNER
best actress in a supporting role
[ X ] Patricia Arquette, Boyhood should win WINNER
[ ] Laura Dern, Wild
[ ] Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
[ ] Emma Stone, Birdman
[ ] Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
best animated feature
[ X ] Big Hero 6 should win WINNER
[ ] The Boxtrolls
[ ] How to Train Your Dragon 2
[ ] Song of the Sea
[ ] The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
best cinematography
[ X ] Birdman WINNER
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel
[ ] Ida
[ ] Mr. Turner should win
[ ] Unbroken
best costume design
[ X ] The Grand Budapest Hotel should win WINNER
[ ] Inherent Vice
[ ] Into the Woods
[ ] Maleficent
[ ] Mr. Turner
best director
[ ] Alejandro Innaritu, Birdman WINNER
[ X ] Richard Linklater, Boyhood
[ ] Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
[ ] Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel should win
[ ] Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
best documentary feature
[ ] Citizenfour should win WINNER
[ ] Finding Vivian Maier
[ ] Last Days in Vietnam
[ ] The Salt of the Earth not yet seen by me
[ X ] Virunga
best documentary short
[ X ] “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press One” WINNER
[ ] “Joanna” should win
[ ] “Our Curse”
[ ] “The Reaper”
[ ] “White Earth”
best film editing
[ ] American Sniper
[ X ] Boyhood should win
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel
[ ] The Imitation Game
[ ] Whiplash WINNER
best foreign language film
[ ] Ida should win WINNER
[ X ] Leviathan
[ ] Tangerines
[ ] Timbuktu
[ ] Wild Tales not yet seen by me before the Oscars
best makeup and hairstyling
[ ] Foxcatcher
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel WINNER
[ X ] Guardians of the Galaxy should win
best original score
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel should win WINNER
[ ] The Imitation Game
[ ] Interstellar
[ X ] Mr. Turner
[ ] The Theory of Everything
best original song
[ X ] “Everything Is Awesome,” The Lego Movie
[ ] “Glory,” Selma WINNER
[ ] “Grateful,” Beyond the Lights
[ ] “I’m Not Going to Miss You,” Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me should win
[ ] “Lost Stars,” Begin Again
best production design
[ X ] The Grand Budapest Hotel should win WINNER
[ ] The Imitation Game
[ ] Interstellar
[ ] Into the Woods
[ ] Mr. Turner
best animated short
[ X ] “The Bigger Picture” should win
[ ] “The Dam Keeper”
[ ] “Feast” WINNER
[ ] “Me and My Moulton”
[ ] “A Single Life”
best live-action short
[ ] “Aya”
[ ] “Boogaloo and Graham”
[ ] “Butter Lamp”
[ X ] “Parvaneh” should win
[ ] “The Phone Call” WINNER
best sound editing
[ ] American Sniper WINNER
[ X ] Birdman should win
[ ] The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
[ ] Interstellar
[ ] Unbroken
best sound mixing
[ ] American Sniper
[ X ] Birdman should win
[ ] Interstellar
[ ] Unbroken
[ ] Whiplash WINNER
best visual effects
[ ] Captain America: The Winter Soldier
[ X ] Dawn of the Planet of the Apes should win
[ ] Guardians of the Galaxy
[ ] Interstellar WINNER
[ ] X-Men: Days of Future Past
best adapted screenplay
[ X ] American Sniper
[ ] The Imitation Game should win WINNER
[ ] Inherent Vice
[ ] The Theory of Everything
[ ] Whiplash
best original screenplay
[ X ] Birdman WINNER
[ ] Boyhood
[ ] Foxcatcher
[ ] The Grand Budapest Hotel should win
[ ] Nightcrawler
