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
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