It’s that time of year again! Thursday morning reveals what the film industry would like us to think was the best work in cinema of 2014 (and not to get into a whole thing, but for such a remarkably good year at the movies, the Oscar race has made room for a lot of not very good films, even by Oscar standards), and because I do not gamble, bet on horses, or watch sports, I like to indulge myself once a year by trying to predict what those will be. I’m not going to muck about with commentary, but feel free to grill me on any of these in comments. Or put your neck out on the chopping block with me, and share your own prediction!
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
There can be anywhere from 5-10 nominees for Best Picture. These nine are my official predictions, but if it goes up to ten, I would expect it to be:
Nightcrawler
Best Director
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Morton Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Alternate: Ava DuVernay, Selma
Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Alternate: Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Best Actress
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Alternate: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Alternate: Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Rene Russo, Nightcrawler
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Alternate: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Best Adapted Screenplay
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game, by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, by Damien Chazelle
Alternate: American Sniper, by Jason Hall
Best Original Screenplay
Boyhood, by Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel, by Wes Anderson
Nightcrawler, by Dan Gilroy
Selma, by Paul Webb
Alternate: Foxcatcher, by E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman
Best Cinematography
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Emmanuel Lubezki)
The Imitation Game (Óscar Faura)
Interstellar (Hoyte van Hoytema)
Mr. Turner (Dick Pope)
Unbroken (Roger Deakins)
Alternate: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert D. Yeoman)
Best Editing
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione)
Boyhood (Sandra Adair)
Gone Girl (Kirk Baxter)
The Imitation Game (William Goldenberg)
Whiplash (Tom Cross)
Alternate: American Sniper (Joel Cox, Gary Roach)
Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Adam Stockhausen; Anna Pinnock)
The Imitation Game (Maria Djurkovic; Tatiana Macdonald)
Interstellar (Nathan Crowley; Gary Fettis, Paul Healy)
Into the Woods (Dennis Gassner; Anna Pinnock)
Mr. Turner (Suzie Davies; Charlotte Watts)
Alternate: Unbroken (Jon Hutman; Lisa Thompson)
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Milena Canonero)
The Imitation Game (Sammy Sheldon Differ)
Into the Woods (Colleen Atwood)
Maleficent (Anna B. Shepherd)
Mr. Turner (Jacqueline Durran)
Alternate: Inherent Vice (Mark Bridges)
Best Hair & Make-Up
Foxcatcher
Maleficent
The Theory of Everything
Alternate: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat)
The Homesman (Marco Beltrami
The Imitation Game (Alexandre Desplat)
Interstellar (Hans Zimmer)
The Theory of Everything (Jóhann Jóhannsson)
Alternate: Unbroken (Alexandre Desplat)
Best Song
From Begin Again: “Lost Stars”
From Big Eyes: “Big Eyes”
From The Lego Movie: “Everything is Awesome”
From Noah: “Mercy Is”
From Selma: “Glory”
Alternate: From Unbroken: “Miracles”
Best Sound Mixing
Fury
Godzilla
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Alternate: American Sniper
Best Sound Editing
American Sniper
Fury
Godzilla
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Alternate: Unbroken
Best Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Godzilla
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Alternate: Transformers: Age of Extinction
Best Foreign Language Film
Force Majeure (Sweden)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Alternate: Tangerines (Estonia)
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Alternate: Song of the Sea
Best Documentary
Citizenfour
Keep On Keepin’ On
Last Days of Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters
Alternate: The Case Against 8
Best Documentary Short
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
The Lion’s Mouth Opens
Our Curse
White Earth
Alternate: One Child
Best Animated Short
The Damkeeper
Duet
Feast
Me and My Moulton
Symphonie No. 42
Alternate: Coda
Best Live-Action Short
Baghdad Messi
Carry On
Parvaneh
The Phone Call
Summer Vacation
Alternate: Aya