Academy Awards 2015 Predictions

Best Picture

“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Kelly: I think this could go to The Theory of Everything, Boyhood, or Birdman, but I think Boyhood is going to take it.  
Christina: None of these movies seem to particularly blow everyone away (I haven’t even seen any of them), but my gut tells me Birdman is going to take it.  Its buzz just keeps growing as the Oscars loom.  Please for the love of everything don’t be American Sniper.

Best Actor

Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Kelly: EDDIE REDMAYNE!! That's all I've to say about that.
Christina: I’ll be shocked if anyone besides Eddie Redmayne takes it.  I think the only person with an outside shot would be Michael Keaton.

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Kelly: I know that we’re probably basing these predictions on who won the Golden Globe, but between the two of them, I think JK Simmons is going to win this.
Christina:  JK Simmons.  No doubt.  I want to see that Oscar on his desk in the State Farm commercials.
Kelly: Hahaha!  I would love that touch!

Best Actress

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

Kelly: Even though I have a general dislike for Julianne Moore, I think she's going to take this one home. 
Christina: Julianne Moore.  To make this even more fun for Kelly, did you know in this movie her kids are Kate Bosworth and Kristen Stewart?
Kelly: Dude.  Seriously.  Why do you do this to me?

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Kelly: I love that Meryl is getting recognition for her portrayal of The Witch in Into the Woods, but we can be pretty sure that Patricia Arquette is going to win this one.
Christina: Patricia Arquette seems to be a pretty sure bet in this group.  The potential spoiler could be Emma Stone.

Best Animated Feature

“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Kelly: It’s rare that I haven’t seen any of the films in the animated feature category and of course, it’s the year that we’re hosting an entertainment podcast that I don’t see any movies.  That being said, I think How to Train Your Dragon 2 should win.
Christina: How to Train Your Dragon 2.  This franchise is brilliant, and it’s nice to see Disney having to take a back seat.

Best 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

Kelly: I know that it’s had a lot of backlash surrounding it, but I think that American Sniper is going to take this category.  If not that one, then The Imitation Game could be a contender.
Christina:  I’m actually going to pick The Imitation Game on this one.  Partially because I refuse to pick American Sniper for anything, but also because I think the Academy may choose to avoid the hubbub that would come with a Sniper win in even a relatively minor category.

Best Original Screenplay

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Kelly: This is a toss-up between Birdman and Boyhood, but if you're going to devote 12 years of your life to one movie, you deserve an Oscar. Boyhood should get this.
Christina: I’m apparently going with a wide range of winners this year.  My money’s on The Grand Budapest Hotel. Boyhood was definitely a great cinematic feat, but I’m not sure how much of that comes from the screenplay.  The Grand Budapest Hotel’s strength and uniqueness is something that comes straight from the script, it seems to me.

Best Cinematography

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Kelly: I know next to nothing about cinematography and because of that, I’m just going to randomly pick one.  Birdman.
Christina: Birdman seems to be a pretty easy choice here for me.  Any movie that has the appearance of being made in a single shot has my vote here.

Best Costume Design

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Kelly: As a general rule, I like Colleen Atwood’s costumes and I think that all the thought and detail she brought to each character’s costume in Into the Woods should get recognition.  In case you didn’t see the film, you should know that she based each costume off the person’s story line and aspects of different time periods’ fashions and yet they all still seemed to mesh together well.  Because of that, she should get this award.
Christina: I’d love to give Colleen Atwood my pick here, but Milena Canonero’s work on The Grand Budapest Hotel felt the most visually grabbing here.  She gets my vote.

Best Director

“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

Kelly: As I said before, if you’re going to devote 12 years to a movie, you deserve recognition.  Four for you, Richard Linklater!  And none for Gretchen Weiners.  Bye.
Christina:  Alejandro Iñárritu could very well take this.  But I agree with Kelly.  Without Richard Linklater’s work for over a decade, Boyhood is a good idea in the back of a notebook.  He should win.

Best Documentary Feature

“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Kelly: Maybe I’m not as cultured or up to speed with current events as Christina, so I’m going to follow her lead and say CitizenFour.
Christina: CitizenFour is relevant and has garnered buzz outside of the documentary community.  Plus I’ve heard of it.  So there.

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Kelly: Should I just pick a random one?  Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Christina: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1.

Best Film Editing

“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

Kelly: Boyhood.  Even if they didn’t use technology to age the characters, they still had to make it look like it wasn’t shot so far apart.
Christina: Boyhood.  Just think about how many different techniques and editing software programs came and went during the making of this film.

Best Foreign Language Film

“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Kelly: Wild Tales?
Christina: Ida.  That’s my choice and I don’t know why.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Kelly: Let’s all take a long hard look at Karen Gillan in Guardians of the Galaxy and then you let me know who you think should win this….
Christina: I really really WANT to give this to Guardians of the Galaxy.  I really really do.  It DESERVES it.  But The Grand Budapest Hotel seems to be a movie much more geared towards the average Academy vote.  But I’ll still go with Guardians because I want to.

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 Jóhannsson

Kelly: Johann Johannson will most likely get this since he got the Golden Globe, even if I want it to be Hans Zimmer.
Christina: Jóhann Jóhannsson.  It’s beautiful score.

Best Original Song

Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood, "Lost Stars" — "Begin Again"
John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn, "Glory" — "Selma"
Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and The Lonely Island, "Everything Is Awesome" — "The Lego Movie"
Diane Warren, "Grateful" — "Beyond the Lights"
Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" — "Glen Campbell ... I'll Be Me"

Kelly: I would absolutely LOVE if The Lonely Island won an Oscar, but I think it's going to John Legend and Common for Glory.
Christina: Glory.  How weird is it to see their real names there?
Kelly: I didn’t even NOTICE it was their real names!  That’s awesome!  Dang it, my friend was right.  Legend as a last name WASN’T just a fortuitous coincidence.

Achievement in Production Design

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Kelly: I just want Into the Woods to win something!  Plus, it should speak to their awesome production design that the actors actually got lost in the “woods” pretty frequently while filming.
Christina: The Grand Budapest Hotel.  It’s so visually striking.

Best Animated Short Film

“The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
“A Single Life” Joris Oprins

Kelly: I’m going to pick The Dam Keeper.
Christina: I don’t think I’ve ever accurately predicted this category ever.  But I’m still going with Feast.

Best Live Action Short Film

“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Kelly: Aya...because that’s what we Chinese people say when we’re exasperated with someone.  Like Christina usually is with me….
Christina: The Phone Call.  Because this is our podcast/blog and I do what I want.

Achievement in Sound Editing

“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar” Richard King
“Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Kelly: Because you always win this stuff, Christina, I’m going to say American Sniper just to be contrary.
Christina:  I’m hearing American Sniper could take this.  So I’ll go with Interstellar.  Ha.

Achievement in Sound Mixing

“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Kelly: Interstellar?  What the heck is sound mixing?
Christina: Whiplash.  See reasoning above.

Best Visual Effects

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Kelly: This is the only category where fandoms are represented and because of that, there are a lot that I would like to win this.  However, I think Interstellar or Guardians of the Galaxy is going to win this one.
Christina: It’s going to be Interstellar, but oh how do I wish Captain America: TWS would take home an Oscar.