INTRO: Here we are again. My favorite three hours of the year. The Oscar season seems to only increase in length with each passing year and an hour after the Oscars end I find myself already reflecting on the almost two months of films I have seen for this year as well as what has potential this fall/winter to get nominated come next January. It is a never ending cycle of screenings and campaigning and I love it that way. My first four years in the Marine Corps I didn’t have nearly as much free time to watch all the movies I wanted to. For my last year however, I found myself taken out of the infantry and working a desk job which gave me more free time to watch as many Oscar nominated films as possible. There are 45 full length feature films nominated this year (I am not counting the shorts) and I had time to watch 34 of them (I only saw two of the five documentaries nominated and two of the films nominated for Best Song). But like I have every year since 2005 I watched every film nominated for Best Picture and also the MAJOR nominated films (Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay). This way, much like an educated voter voting for the President, I am well aware of who I think should win but then of course who actually will win. 2014 has possibly been the hardest year to predict overall since I started compiling my annual list of predictions but to be honest, 2014 was one of the weakest years for film in recent memory. A summer full of disappointments followed by a lot of these Oscar nominated films up for Best Picture that frankly do not deserve it, while others who deserved nominations didn’t receive them. I won’t even get started on the bullshit controversy of the Academy nominating too many white people. I’m not here to get political. Despite it being not that great of a year for film, I found myself enjoying a lot of movies and picking the best of the best. This year I again continue my tradition of competing against fellow film buff James Wogan to see who gets more predictions correct and takes the winner to a movie. I won last year by a single prediction (although we only differed on three). We could all predict the same winners and have a stalemate but I have a feeling our predictions will be even more varied this year. I went 21/24 last year and will update how I did this year after the Oscars are over. Without further ado, here are my picks…
BEST PICTURE
What will win: Birdman
What should win: Whiplash
BEST DIRECTOR
Who will win: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Who should win: Wes Anderson
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
What will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
What should win: Nightcrawler
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
What will win: The Imitation Game
What should win: Whiplash
BEST ACTOR
Who will win: Eddie Redmayne
Who should win: Eddie Redmayne
BEST ACTRESS
Who will win: Julianne Moore
Who should win: Julianne Moore
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who will win: J.K. Simmons
Who should win: J.K. Simmons
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who will win: Patricia Arquette
Who should win: Patricia Arquette
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
What will win: How to Train Your Dragon 2
What should win: How to Train Your Dragon 2
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
What will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
What should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
What will win: Birdman
What should win: Birdman
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
What will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
What should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST DOCUMENTARY
What will win: Citizenfour
What should win: Citizenfour
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
What will win: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
What should win: N/A
BEST FILM EDITING
What will win: Boyhood
What should win: Whiplash
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
What will win: Ida
What should win: Leviathan
BEST MAKE-UP & HAIR STYLING
What will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
What should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
What will win: The Theory of Everything
What should win: Interstellar
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
What will win: Glory from Selma
What should win: Grateful from Beyond the Lights
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
What will win: Feast
What should win: N/A
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
What will win: The Phone Call
What should win: N/A
BEST SOUND EDITING
What will win: American Sniper
What should win: American Sniper
BEST SOUND MIXING
What will win: Whiplash
What should win: Whiplash
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
What will win: Interstellar
What should win: Interstellar
CLOSING:
Thanks to everyone who actually took the time to read all this. I hope you all enjoy watching the Oscars. Feel free to make your own predictions and comment on here to say what or who you think should or will win certain Oscars. Was I way off in some of my predictions or pretty spot on? What are you looking forward to about the Oscars this year? Since I am moving back home to Phoenix in April, I hope I can go see some movies with any and all of you. Maybe even dress up at some midnight premiers! Until next year, keep watching movies and I will see you at the cineplex 🙂
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