87th Academy Awards Predictions: Be prepared for snubs and surprises!

Less than a day before the 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced by Chris Pine, Alfonso Cuaron and J.J. Abrams. Do you spot anything they have in common? They are stars from star-related films such as Star Trek and Gravity. Does this hint Interstellar will have the most nominations? Very unlikely for the top honours. Therefore, which films will receive nominations for the major categories? To speak with confidence and experience:

Boyhood
Birdman
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma

The rest is still unclear, and seldom would I use the word 'confused' in the context of predictions. You may skip to the predictions section from here, but filmAEO has valid reasons as to why snubs and surprises would be expected tomorrow.

Best Picture links to Best Director

To get the predictions correctly, one tends to think about the preferences of Academy voters, even provided that they have not screened some films at all. Therefore, the best way to guess is to see if the strong contenders have a strong deck of other nominations. Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild nominations are great indicators of Oscars nominations, although Golden Globes winners are well known for not accurately matching Oscars winners. The dilemma comes when you see Clint Eastwood (American Sniper) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) were the surprising nominations for the Directors Guild of America (DGA awards), instead of Ava DuVernay (Selma) and David Fincher (Gone Girl). This issue backtracks the predictions for Best Picture, and one might think a nomination for Gone Girl would be gone. Also, the thought of Ben Affleck being snubbed two years ago for Argo would remain a classic example for those who did not get a DGA nomination. Thus, filmAEO thinks Ava DuVernay will make it to the five, especially when the Academy favours diversity and the fact that Selma is historically depicting Martin Luther King.

As we all know the Academy tends to think differently, supporters of Wes Anderson may have to be prepared for a snub at Best Director. On the bright side, his sure Best Original Screenplay nomination will solidify the ultimate win, similar to Ben Affleck receiving Best Picture for Argo despite the Director snub. The Directing category is always one of the trickiest to predict due to its limited number of voters within the Academy, unlike DGA which has over thousands of members.

Other tricky categories

Best Supporting Actress
- Jessica Chastain has done a lot of films this year, especially well performed in A Most Violent Year, yet Rene Russo in Nightcrawler can be a threat due to the momentum the film is picking up.
- Laura Dern in Wild can be nominated afterall, despite missing all the nominations for Globes and Screen Actors Guild.

Best Original Score
- Alexandre Desplat clashing his own votes on Unbroken, The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Alexandre Desplat ending up with two nominations.

Best Cinematography
- When Unbroken is not critically acclaimed, but its Cinematographer Roger Deakins is always appraised for whatever he does.

Best Film Editing
- The rule of thumb for most Best Picture nominees to have a least a nomination for editing. Will Lee Smith for Interstellar be nominated when the space-time travelling motion picture has confused most of the audience?

Overall impression

- The contenders for Best Picture that filmAEO has picked are as equally entertaining as one another, unlike last year when American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club were strongly preferred.
- Some potential contenders have an open-ended conclusion that is seen unclear, and their directors would moan themselves for this.
- In some categories, veterans are in the way of emerging talented artists, but these newbies can still make an impression with a nomination.
- Whatever the result is, be prepared for the snubs and surprises!

KEEP CALM and see predictions from filmAEO :)

filmAEO predictions for 87th Academy Awards

Best Picture

American Sniper

Boyhood

Birdman

Gone Girl

Nightcrawler

Selma

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Best Director

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Ava DuVernay (Selma)

Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Actor

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

David Oyelowo (Selma)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Best Actress

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Jennifer Aniston (Cake)

Best Supporting Actor

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

Robert Duvall (The Judge)

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Best Original Screenplay

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Boyhood

Selma

Birdman

Nightcrawler

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Imitation Game

Gone Girl

Whiplash

The Theory of Everything

Wild

Best Animated Feature

The LEGO Movie

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Big Hero 6

Song of the Sea

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film

Ida (Poland)

Tangerines (Estonia)

Wild Tales (Argentina)

Force Majuere (Sweden)

Leviathan (Russia)

Best Cinematography

Interstellar

Mr. Turner

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Unbroken

Best Costume Design

Into the Woods

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Mr. Turner

Maleficent

Big Eyes

Best Film Editing

Nightcrawler

Boyhood

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

Birdman

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Production Design

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Interstellar

Into the Woods

Mr. Turner

Best Original Score

Interstellar

Gone Girl

The Theory of Everything

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Best Original Song

"Glory" (Selma)

"Everything is Awesome" (The LEGO Movie)

"Mercy Is" (Noah)

"Lost Stars" (Begin Again)

"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (Glen Campbell… I'll Be Me)

Best Sound Editing

Interstellar

Godzilla

Unbroken

American Sniper

Fury

Best Sound Mixing

Interstellar

American Sniper

Whiplash

Into the Woods

Birdman

Best Visual Effects

Interstellar

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Godzilla

72nd Golden Globes Predictions

                                                                                                                       Courtesy of Vulture

It is a crucial week ahead for Hollywood because the 87th Academy Awards will be announced on 15th January (Thursday). What is more exciting ahead in a few hours (GMT 01:00, 12th January) would be the 72nd Golden Globes Awards hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the third consecutive time. Although the Globes has a limited base of voters within their committee, winners of the night will boost momentum in their race for the ultimate honours, the Oscars. At these striking hours of reviewing the nominees for the Globes, filmAEO makes the daring predictions once again.

Motion Picture, Drama

Prediction: Boyhood

Reason: Never has a film done so to put this amount of effort on filming for 12 years. Director Richard Linklater has been making great films over the years and this has truly topped his career. Partricia Arquette's performance which is likely to win Best Supporting Actress would anchor the film's position for this award title.

Motion Picture, Comedy

Prediction: Birdman

Reason: Cinematography utilising natural lighting and contrast, coherence of the story all in one shot with nearly no editing at all (actually there was) and its great cast ensemble etc. These main factors contribute to the win of the title. Possible wins for Best Director and Best Actor, Comedy/Musical increase its chances as well.

Director

Prediction: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Reason: Lost this title to Martin Scorsese few years ago when he filmed Babel. An overdue for sure and the Globe committee owes him big time. Linklater may take over the title for his 12 years' effort and commitment to Boyhood, yet Inarritu filmed Birdman with less effort and demonstrated the art of filming well balanced in every aspect.

Actor, Drama

Prediction: Eddie Redmayne (Theory of Everything)

Reason: Two words: Stephen Redmayne. His performance, in particular facial expressions, bears a great resemblance to Stephen Hawking in person.

Actor, Comedy/Musical

Prediction: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Reason: Been quiet for many years and his acting potential is yet to be noticed since Batman. All you need is one film in your acting career to take away the top prizes, and this is the moment for Michael Keaton.

Actress, Drama

Prediction: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Reason: Seeing the changes of an Alzhemier patient and understanding them through Julianne's performance, they are simply the winning elements when emotions convert into votes. Julianne is also nominated in Actress, Comedy/Musical category this year. This is the right moment to give her the title, which is also an appraisal for her amazing performances throughout these years.

Actress, Comedy/Musical

Prediction: Emily Blunt (Into the Woods)

Reason: If Amy Adams did not win last year, the title would have been hers. However, Emily Blunt's singing and acting is equally as amazing as Amy in Big Eyes.

Supporting Actor

Prediction: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Reason: This is the tempo you need as a supporting actor. Simmons' character has amplified the intensity of Whiplash.

Supporting Actress

Prediction: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Reason: She is the center of mass for Boyhood as the Mother to bring up the Boy. Great performance all the way through the film, meanwhile seeing her physical changes (aging) and the audience will always remember her last scene before the film ends.

Screenplay

Prediction: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Reason: The Grand Budapest Hotel has become the highest grossing film of Wes Anderson's works. This is the category in which he would be recognised and rewarded for. 

Animated Feature

Prediction: The LEGO Movie

Reason: Everything is AWESOME! Lego has been a childhood memory for most of these Globes voters, and the many characters will be the everlasting collective memory for audience and future generations.

Foreign Language Film

Prediction: Ida 


87th Academy Awards Predictions up soon at filmAEO. Stay tuned!