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OSCAR PREDICTIONS-2015
2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006

2015 ACADEMY AWARDS
OSCAR PREDICTIONS by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
The 2015 Academy Awards are coming up and our movie critic emeritus "JR" is back with his picks for Oscar Night. How close will he be? We'll find out on Sunday February 22nd.
Boyhood…Birdman. Birdman…Boyhood. Which one comes out on top? The 2015 Oscar race has been as confounding as Birdman’s final scene. My bet is that Oscar voters are going to honor both their favorite films by splitting Best Picture and Best Director. This has happened only 24 times in the Academy Awards’ 86-year history, though it’s occurred more often in the past decade, most recently in 2014, when Alfonso Cuarón won for Gravity and 12 Years a Slave claimed Best Picture. So, let's dispense with the usual grousing about the films that got nominated that weren't deserving and vice versa. On with the predictions.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Robert Duvall, "The Judge"
Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
Edward Norton, "Birdman"
Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
And the winner is: The sure thing of the year. Bet the ranch on this one. J.K. Simmons.
2015 WINNER: J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
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
And the winner is: "Grand Budapest" for the vibrant, parallel world displayed in Canonero's costumes.
2015 WINNER: "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Milena Canonero
BEST MAKE UP & 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

And the winner is: Best picture nominees usually win here.
2015 WINNER: "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

"Ida"
"Leviathan"
"Tangerines"
"Timbuktu"
"Wild Tales"

And the winner is: "Ida's" economical running time and cinematography nomination give it the advantage over "Leviathan."
2015 WINNER: "Ida"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Laura Dern, "Wild"
Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
Emma Stone, "Birdman"
Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"
And the winner is: Arquette for investing a dozen years and so much of herself into "Boyhood."
2015 WINNER: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
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

And the winner is: "Interstellar." Flawed film, but the effects were spectacular. And scientific! Although Apes really deserves this nod.
2015 WINNER: "Interstellar," Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter & Scott Fisher
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
"Big Hero 6"
"The Boxtrolls"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"Song of the Sea"
"The Tale of the Princess Kaguya"
And the winner is: Sadly "Dragon 2". Hey Academy!! Lego Movie!! Duh!!
2015 WINNER: "Big Hero 6"
BEST 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
And the winner is: "Budapest." And it's about time a Wes Anderson movie won this category.
2015 WINNER: "The Grand Budapest Hotel," production design: Adam Stockhausen; set decoration: Anna Pinnock
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
"Birdman," Emmanuel Lubezki
"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Robert Yeoman
"Ida," Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
"Mr. Turner," Dick Pope
"Unbroken," Roger Deakins
And the winner is: Lubezki makes it back-to-back wins after taking his long-delayed first Oscar last year for "Gravity"
2015 WINNER: "Birdman," Emmanuel Lubezki
BEST 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
And the winner is: "Boyhood." Shaping a dozen years into a 166-minute movie more than earns this Oscar.
2015 WINNER: "Whiplash," Tom Cross
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

"Citizenfour"
"Finding Vivian Maier"
"Last Days in Vietnam"
"The Salt of the Earth"
"Virunga"

And the winner is: "Citizenfour" has a tremendous advantage in terms of awareness.
2015 WINNER: "Citizenfour"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Everything Is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie," music and lyrics by Shawn Patterson
"Glory" from "Selma," music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn (a.k.a. John Legend and Common)
"Grateful" from "Beyond the Lights," music and lyrics by Diane Warren
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from "Glen Campbell … I'll Be Me," music and lyrics by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
"Lost Stars" from "Begin Again," music and lyrics by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
And the winner is: "Glory." The academy won't miss the chance to honor "Selma" and the urgent majesty of this song.
2015 WINNER: "Glory" from "Selma," music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn (a.k.a. John Legend and Common)
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
And the winner is: Prominence of lush score in "Theory" gives it slight edge over "Budapest."
2015 WINNER: "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Alexandre Desplat
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
"Birdman," Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo
"Boyhood," Richard Linklater
"Foxcatcher," E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Wes Anderson; story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
"Nightcrawler," Dan Gilroy
And the winner is: Give the edge to "Budapest" over "Birdman" and "Boyhood." Anderson wins his first Oscar.
2015 WINNER: "Birdman," Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
"American Sniper," Jason Hall
"The Imitation Game," Graham Moore
"Inherent Vice," Paul Thomas Anderson
"The Theory of Everything," Anthony McCarten
"Whiplash," Damien Chazelle
And the winner is: This will likely be the one Oscar going to "The Imitation Game," though the popular "Whiplash" could surprise.
2015 WINNER: "The Imitation Game," Graham Moore
BEST DIRECTOR:

Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, "
Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
Morten Tyldum, "The Imitation Game"

And the winner is: Iñárritu. Tight race goes to the Directors Guild of America winner. It will be a photo finish, but I believe that the Academy will reward technical bravura over unobtrusive innovation, and Iñárritu will edge out Linklater.
2015 WINNER: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, "Birdman"
BEST ACTOR:
Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"
Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"
Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
Michael Keaton, "
Birdman"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
And the winner is: Redmayne. Keaton could prevail, but tough to pick against the history of the Screen Actors Guild winner taking this Oscar.
2015 WINNER: Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
BEST ACTRESS:
Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"
Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"
And the winner is: Moore wins her first Oscar on nomination Number 5.
2015 WINNER: Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
BEST PICTURE:
"American Sniper"
"
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"The Imitation Game"
"Selma"
"The Theory of Everything"
"Whiplash"
And the winner is: “Boyhood”. Another year of the director/picture split. But Richard Linklater’s indie epic will be the quiet rebel that steals the show.
2015 WINNER: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"
FINAL TALLEY:
JR PICKED: 14 out of 19

OSCAR © Copyright 2015 Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. No right given or implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.

Article © 2015 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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