Here they are! My
predictions for the 2015 Academy Awards have arrived. First things first though, having caught up
on many films from 2014 in preparation for the awards, here is a revised list
of the Top 15 Films of 2014:
1. Birdman
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Gone Girl
5. The Lego Movie
6. Whiplash
7. Snowpiercer
8. Nightcrawler
9. Selma
10.
Foxcatcher
11.
Frank
12.
Noah
13.
The Normal Heart
14.
Blue Ruin
15.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
And
so, without further ado, here are my picks for the 2015 Academy Awards. The actual winners will be announced on Sunday, February 22. (An asterisk (*) denotes a film I haven’t
seen yet. Furthermore, I won’t be
weighing in on the Short Subject categories, as the availability of said shorts
is extremely limited and beyond my reach.)
Best Picture
LIKELY WIN: Boyhood
SHOULD WIN: Birdman
OTHER NOMINEES: American Sniper
The
Grand Budapest Hotel
The
Imitation Game
Selma
The
Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Boyhood is almost
assuredly going to win Best Picture, considering its place at the top of many
other awards ceremonies and critics’ top film lists. And while it is a damn fine film (the
honorary #16 on my above-iterated list), I don’t think it’s so great beyond its
technical achievement. Birdman on the other hand is a
masterwork of writing, acting, and cinematography that could possibly upset Boyhood, though I doubt it. Side note: American Sniper, The
Imitation Game, and The Theory of
Everything don’t deserve to be here.
Best Director
LIKELY WIN: Boyhood – Richard
Linklater
SHOULD WIN: Birdman - Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu
OTHER NOMINEES: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes
Anderson
Foxcatcher
– Bennett Miller
The
Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum
With the exception of Morten Tyldum, all these directors
deserve a place on this list, and though Birdman’s
Inarritu deserves the award, I
predict Linklater will sweep this one up along with Best Picture. I can potentially see the Academy splitting
the baby and giving the award to Inarritu, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Best Original
Screenplay
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
–
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guiness
OTHER NOMINEES: Foxcatcher – E. Max
Frye and Dan Futterman
Nightcrawler
– Dan Gilroy
Birdman - Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone,
Alexander
Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Birdman may have some smartly written dialogue, but that film was made more so
by the performances than the screenplay.
The Grand Budapest Hotel,
however, is slyly and craftily written, with lines meant to be delivered
quickly and cuttingly. The buzz is that
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guiness are likely to win this one, and I whole-heartedly
support that.
Best Adapted
Screenplay
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: Whiplash – Damien
Chazelle
OTHER NOMINEES: American Sniper –
Jason Hall
The
Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent
Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The
Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash’s
position on this list is odd, considering that it is an “adaptation” of a short
film that Damien Chazelle also wrote, but whatever. In my opinion, the only other real contender
I see here is Inherent Vice, but it
is a definite second place. The Imitation Game has been getting some
love from analysts, but that safe and hackneyed script doesn’t deserve the
recognition.
Best Lead Actor
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD WIN: Birdman – Michael Keaton
OTHER NOMINEES: Foxcatcher
– Steve Carell
American
Sniper – Bradley Cooper
The
Imitation Game – Benedict Cumberbatch
The
Theory of Everything – Eddie Redmayne
What a pitiful category this year. The only two who really deserve to be here
are Keaton and Carell, seeing as Cooper is mostly dull and stoic throughout Sniper, Redmayne portrays a disability
rather than a character, and Cumberbatch was okay, but his performance is
hardly award-worthy. And while I really
want Foxcatcher to receive some love
at the awards this year, Keaton takes the cake for his nuanced portrayal of an
aging actor past his prime. If Redmayne
ends up beating Keaton as many analysts are predicting, this will be a sad year
at the Oscars for the representation of disability.
Best Lead Actress
LIKELY WIN: Still Alice –
Julianne Moore
SHOULD WIN: Gone Girl – Rosamund Pike
OTHER NOMINEES: Two Days, One Night - Marion
Cotillard*
The
Theory of Everything – Felicity Jones
Wild
– Reese Witherspoon
Julianne Moore seems to be the favorite, and while I do
believe she deserves her nomination, I don’t think hers is the most nuanced or
subtle of the nominees. Witherspoon may have acquitted herself admirably in Wild,
but Rosamund Pike deserves the Academy’s love for her complicated portrayal of
a troubled housewife in Gone Girl, a
film that really merited more Oscar love overall.
Best Supporting
Actress
LIKELY WIN: Boyhood – Patricia
Arquette
SHOULD WIN: Birdman – Emma Stone
OTHER NOMINEES: Wild – Laura Dern
The
Imitation Game – Kiera Knightley
Into
The Woods – Meryl Streep
This has to be the weakest category of the year. I get the feeling Arquette is going to win
based solely on Boyhood’s prestige
and the necessity that it win something other
than Best Picture. Streep and Knightley
feel like filler on the list, and while I’m happy to see Dern get some
recognition, she doesn’t deserve the win either. Of the five, Stone is the one who deserves
this the most, if only because she had such great material to work with.
Best Supporting
Actor
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: Whiplash – J.K. Simmons
OTHER NOMINEES: Birdman – Edward
Norton
The
Judge – Robert Duvall
Boyhood – Ethan Hawke
Foxcatcher – Mark Ruffalo
Duvall and Hawke feel a bit superfluous on this list, and as
much as I love Ruffalo, I don’t think he’s got the award this year. I had a hard time deciding whether I liked
Simmons or Norton better, but based purely on the intensity necessary to pull
his role off, I have to recognize that Simmons deserves his inevitable award.
Best Animated
Feature
LIKELY WIN: How To Train Your
Dragon 2
SHOULD WIN: The Tale of Princess
Kaguya
OTHER NOMINEES: The Boxtrolls
Big
Hero 6
Song
of the Sea*
With the shocking exclusion of The Lego Movie, this race became a lot closer. Realistically, the race comes down to Big Hero 6 and How To Train Your Dragon 2, and I think the latter has the more
realistic shot this year. However, of
the films I was able to see in this category, Princess Kaguya is the one that blew me away.
Best Documentary
Feature Best Foreign Language Feature
Citizenfour Ida
Finding Vivian Maier Leviathan
Last Days in Vietnam Tangerines
The Salt of The Earth Timbuktu
Virunga Wild
Tales
Many of the films in these two categories have been
unavailable either through streaming or in cinemas in my area, so I decided I
wasn’t even going to try. I hear that Citizenfour and Ida are likely to win in their respective categories, and having
seen Ida, I’m okay with that.
Best Original
Score
LIKELY WIN: The Theory of
Everything – Johann Johannsson
SHOULD WIN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
– Alexandre Desplat
OTHER NOMINEES: Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
Mr.
Turner – Gary Yershon*
The Imitation Game
– Alexandre Desplat
There’s been a lot of praise for Zimmer’s score in Interstellar, but quite frankly, I don’t
get it. It felt like he was trying to
capture the magic and whimsy of a John Williams score and failing just as bad
as Christopher Nolan’s faux-Spielberg direction. Now, the only other score I really remember
from the nominees was Desplat’s work on The
Grand Budapest Hotel, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the buzz seems to indicate The Theory of Everything is likely to
take the award, though I honestly couldn’t tell you why.
Best Original Song
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD WIN: Selma – “Glory”
OTHER NOMINEES: The Lego Movie –
“Everything Is Awesome”
Beyond the Lights – “Grateful”
Glen Campbell…
I’ll Be Me – “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”
Begin
Again – “Lost Stars”
I initially really wanted “Everything Is Awesome” to be The Lego Movie’s avenue to Oscar
recognition, but having seen Selma
and realizing just how snubbed it was in the other categories, it really
deserves to get at least this award.
And, on top of that, “Glory” is a really good song.
Best Cinematography
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD WIN: Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
OTHER NOMINEES: The
Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Ida - Lukasz Zal
and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner - Dick Pope*
Unbroken - Roger Deakins
All of these (excepting that which I haven't seen) have gorgeous
cinematography, and while The Grand
Budapest Hotel is a tempting choice, I have to go with Birdman, which is both gorgeous and meticulously complex. That isn’t to say Yeoman’s work isn’t, but
Lubezki’s is moreso.
Best Film Editing
LIKELY WIN: Boyhood – Sandra
Adair
SHOULD WIN: Whiplash – Tom Cross
OTHER NOMINEES: American Sniper – Joel Cox and Gary
Roach
The
Grand Budapest Hotel – Barney Pilling
The
Imitation Game – William Goldenberg
Though Adair’s clever editing gave a grand illusion of the
passage of time, Cross’s intense frenetic pacing made me sit at the edge of my
seat in a film about fucking drumming.
Enough said.
Best Costume
Design
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
OTHER NOMINEES: Into
The Woods
Inherent Vice
Maleficent
Mr. Turner*
The combination of pseudo-European World War and dollhouse
sensibilities of Wes Anderson’s The Grand
Budapest Hotel are more than deserving of the Academy’s love, and
fortunately that’s who many experts think will take the gold.
Best Makeup and
Hairstyling
LIKELY WIN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
SHOULD WIN: Guardians of the Galaxy
ALSO HERE: Foxcatcher
Is this even a realistic contest? The alien transformations
of Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan and virtually the entire rest of
the cast are nothing short of masterful and inspired. However, Guardians
isn’t exactly an Academy-friendly film, so expect The Grand Budapest Hotel to win this one.
Best Sound Editing
LIKELY WIN: American Sniper
SHOULD WIN: Birdman
OTHER NOMINEES: Interstellar
The
Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
Unbroken
So, to be completely honest, this is the category I
understand the least about. However, I
don’t want American Sniper to win
anything, and there are only two films on this list I think is worthy of any
awards, and I only want Interstellar
to win one. Not exactly a professional critique, but there you go.
Best Sound Mixing
LIKELY WIN: American Sniper
SHOULD WIN: Whiplash
OTHER NOMINEES: Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Again, I really don’t want American Sniper to win this one, even if the sound mixing was
noticeably good in its bland sea of otherwise monotonous tripe. Whiplash,
particularly due to its editing, made me actually tense as drumbeats played the
rhythms of achievement and the potential for failure. The sound mixing is part of what made that
film’s climax so damn engaging, and it deserves to be recognized.
Best Production
Design
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
OTHER NOMINEES: The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into
The Woods
Mr.
Turner*
To praise the hand-crafted sets of Wes Anderson is a
no-brainer.
Best Visual
Effects
LIKELY WIN/SHOULD
WIN: Interstellar
OTHER NOMINEES: Captain
America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn
of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians
of the Galaxy
X-Men:
Days of Future Past
Say what you will about Interstellar’s
faults, you cannot deny that it is a gorgeous film, lovingly rendering
real-life spatial phenomena as breathtaking spectacle.
So, how do my predictions line up with yours? Think I’m wrong about who will or who should
win? Leave your predictions in the
comments below.
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