Final 2015 Oscar Predictions
Final 2015 Oscar Predictions:
By Lane J. Lubell
Best Picture:
Will: Birdman
Could: Boyhood
Should: Birdman or The Grand Budapest Hotel
Missing: Gone Girl and Under the Skin
Best Director:
Will: Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Could: Alejandro G. Iñarritu – Birdman
Should: Alejandro G. Iñarritu – Birdman
Missing: Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin and Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Best Actor:
Will: Michael Keaton – Birdman
Could: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything or Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Should: Michael Keaton – Birdman or Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Missing: Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel and Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Best Actress:
Will: Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Could: Reese Witherspoon – Wild
Should: Reese Witherspoon – Wild or Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Missing: Scarlett Johannson – Under the Skin (year’s best leading performance)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Will: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
Could: Edward Norton – Birdman
Should: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash (year’s best supporting performance)
Missing: Matt Damon – Interstellar and Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Will: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Could: Emma Stone – Birdman (but not really)
Should: Emma Stone – Birdman
Missing: Katherine Waterston – Inherent Vice
Best Original Screenplay:
Will: Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Could: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo – Birdman
Should: Either but I’d be happier to see Wes Anderson finally take home a trophy
Missing: No one but, if I had to, it would be either The Lego Movie – Dan & Kevin Hageman and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Chef – Jon Favereau (This was a pretty solid category)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Will: Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Could: Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Should: Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Missing: Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl and Wild – Nick Hornby
Best Animated Film:
Will: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Could: Big Hero 6 or The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Should: Anything other than How to Train Your Dragon 2 or Box Trolls
Missing: The Lego Movie (Biggest Snub of the Year)
Best Documentary:
Will: Citizenfour
Could: Virunga
Should: Finding Vivian Meyer or Citzenfour
Missing: Jodorosky’s Dune
Best Foreign Language Film
Will: Ida (Poland)
Could: Wild Tales (Argentina) or Leviathan (Russia)
Missing: Force Majeure
Best Cinematography
Will: Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Could: Roger Deakins – Unbroken
Should: Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman, though Deakins is severely overdue.
Missing: Hoyte Van Hoytema – Interstellar
Best Editing:
Will: Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Could: Tom Cross – Whiplash
Should: Tom Cross – Whiplash
Missing: Douglas Crise – Birdman and Martin Pensa & John Mac McMurphy – Wild
Best Original Score:
Will: Johann Johannson – The Theory of Everything
Could: Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel or Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Should: Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Missing: Mica Levi – Under the Skin (the year’s best score) and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Best Original Song:
Will: Glory – Selma – John Legend & Common
Could: I’m Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
Should: Everything is Awesome – The Lego Movie – Shawn Paterson (as well as others who are inexplicably not nominated for the award)
Missing: Big Eyes – Big Eyes – Lana Del Ray
Art Direction/Production Design
Will: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Could: Dennis Gasner and Anna Pinnock – Into the Woods or Suzie Davis and Charlotte Watts – Mr. Turner
Should: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Missing: Charles Wood and Richard Roberts – Guardians of the Galaxy and Karen Hannaford & Alex Holmes and Jennifer Drake – The Babadook
Costume Design:
Will: Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Could: Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods
Should: Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel or Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice
Missing: Alexandra Byrne – Guardians of the Galaxy and Sonia Grande – Magic in the Moonlight
Best Make-Up & Hairstyling
Will: Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy
Could: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel or Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher (this category is really a toss-up)
Should: Any of them
Missing: Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland, and Matthew Smith – Into the Woods
Best Visual Effects:
Will: Interstellar – Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott
Could: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
Should: Interstellar
Missing: Godzilla (I have no idea who to credit for this)
Best Sound Editing:
Will: American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Could: Interstellar – Richard King or Unbroken – Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro
Should: American Sniper
Missing: Whiplash and Guardians of the Galaxy (I have no idea who to credit for either film)
Best Sound Mixing:
Will: Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, and Thomas Curley
Could: American Sniper – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, and Walt Martin or Birdman – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, and Thomas Varga
Should: Whiplash
Missing: Into the Woods and Wild
Best Short Film – Live Action
Will: Bugaloo and Graham
Could: The Phone Call
Best Short Film – Animated
Will: Feast
Could: The Bigger Picture
Best Documentary – Short Subject:
Will: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Could: Joanna