One of the biggest nights, if not the biggest night, in Hollywood is right around the corner, scheduled to broadcast live on ABC on January 15, 2015: the 87th Academy Awards, or the 2015 Oscars.
As a movie buff, I'm all for events like these, and what better to up my anticipation than predicting the results of all the categories in this year's Oscars, honoring the movies of the 2014 year, and hosted by the one and the only Neil Patrick Harris (who seems to host all the award shows in recent times).
There's some great films, some of which I've seen, so let's get it started:
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Unfortunately, because of the backstory behind this film, which if you don't know, took 12 years to make, with the same cast and crew the entire time, it seems like the kind of thing the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences would mop up to. But I hope it's also taken into consideration the actual quality of the film, and although Boyhood has gotten very positive reviews, let's just hope that Academy gives all the other films a chance as well, many of which are, in my opinion, better.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best Director
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
It seems that most of the time, the Best Picture director also brings home a second award for Best Director, and although I hope it doesn't happen, considering I already predicted Boyhood would win Best Picture, I'll give Linklater credit for sticking with a 12-year project like that. It's pretty impressive to me. I know I wouldn't be able to do it. It takes guts and charisma, so I wouldn't blame the Academy for this one...at least, not that much.
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)
Best Actor
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher as John du Pont)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper as Chris Kyle)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game as Alan Turing)
This is more of my personal bias than what I predict. I haven't seen the other four movies, which you may call as "unfair," and some would argue Benedict Cumberbatch is always getting praised, but dang it, the man's talented. I saw "The Imitation Game," and I would call it the best male performance of the year. After reading up more about the real-life Alan Turing, with his stuttering and what-might-seen-like-an-arrogant-jerk-like personality who saved millions of lives in World War II by cracking the German's Enigma Code, I concluded he'd fit the role perfectly.
Michael Keaton (Birdman as Riggan Thomson/Birdman)
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawking)
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night as Sandra Bya)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything as Jane Hawking)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice as Dr. Alice Howland)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl as Amy Elliot-Dunne)
I'm really just taking a guess on this one, but playing a husband-hating sociopath seems pretty difficult to me. Although, a nervous-breakdown-suffered young woman trying to keep her job, Stephen Hawking's first wife who stuck with him through the start of his infamous physically-disabling downfall, a professor suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's and a damaged, depressed woman hiking alone for more than a thousand miles seem to be fair runner-ups as well.
Reese Witherspoon (Wild as Cheryl Strayed)
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall (The Judge as Judge Joseph Palmer)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood as Mason Evans Sr.)
Edward Norton (Birdman as Mike Shiner)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher as Dave Schultz)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash as Terrence Fletcher)
I've seen "Whiplash," and there's no doubt that playing a emotionally/mentally-manipulative music teacher who spews horrible, sometimes homophobic obscenities and insults, throws chairs at students, and pushes them past their breaking point to stardom certainly seems like the kind of role that the Academy just loves. Not a role model of course, but just a silver screen character.
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood as Olivia Evans)
Lauren Dern (Wild as Bobbi Gray)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game as Joan Clarke)
Although all the "Actress" category nominees could be considered strong, independent female characters (because, boy, do people like strong independent female characters), Keira Knightley's performance in "The Imitation Game" was the best, or, second best, I should say (look at Best Actress). In the movie, she played a, you guessed it, strong, independent female character, smart enough to make the cut into Turing's team as the Enigma Code breakers and making feminists everywhere applaud for her role. Don't forget she also made Benedict Cumberbatch's character sexually confused. All and all, I thought, in all these roles where the female character steps out of her position as a "female character," Keira Knightley will and should accept her award for Best Supporting Actress.
Emma Stone (Birdman as Sam Thomson)
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods as The Witch)
Best Original Screenplay
Birdman (written by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Armando Bo)
Written by four people whose names I could butcher very easily, I do believe "Birdman," although without seeing it, will take the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, for it's got all the funny and dramatic, but all-and-all entertaining dialogue, the Academy can't seem to get enough of.
Boyhood (written by Richard Linklater [dang, he must've been committed])
Foxcatcher (written by E. Max Fyre and Dan Futterman)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (written by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness)
Nightcrawler (written by Dan Gilroy)
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper (written by Jason Hall from the book American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFlice)
The Imitation Game (written by Graham Moore from the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges)
Inherent Vice (written by Paul Thomas Anderson from the book Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon)
The Theory of Everything (written by Anthony McCarten from the book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking)
I only predicted this because I felt a little sorry for "The Theory of Everything." Most people aren't really very interested in writing that's been adapted from previous published works, but I'm rooting for you "Theory of Everything."
Whiplash (written by Damien Chazelle from his short film of the same name)
Best Animated Film
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
With "The Lego Movie" shockingly snubbed from the table, the next best resort is "How to Train Your Dragon 2," which isn't as good as the original, but is still a dang entertaining movie that is beautifully animated and beautifully written, tugging on heartstrings, tickling our funny bones and taking us on a wild adventure that only Pixar seemed to be able to pull off.
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Call me a documentary-hating xenophobe who likes his films full-length, but I'm skipping "Best Foreign Language Film," "Best Feature Documentary," "Best Short Subject Documentary," "Best Live Action Short Film," and "Best Animated Short Film." Sorry about that.
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel AND The Imitation Game)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
Oh, here's "Interstellar!" There's really no explanation needed, except that Hans Zimmer is the bomb-dot-com, and he blew me away once again in "Interstellar" (I also love the "Inception" and "The Dark Knight" trilogy soundtracks from him as well).
Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner)
Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)
Call me an anti-lyricist, but I'm skipping "Best Original Song" as well. Really, it's because I'm too lazy to write out all the titles and artists.
Best Sound Editing
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman (American Sniper)
Martin Hernandez and Aaron Glascock (Birdman)
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies)
It's a Peter Jackson Middle Earth movie. The sound is awesome.
Richard King (Interstellar)
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro (Unbroken)
Best Sound Mixing
John Reitz, Gregg Ruldolf and Walt Martin (American Sniper)
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and Thomas Varga (Birdman)
Gary A. Rizzo, Greg Landaker and Mark Weingarten (Interstellar)
This is just to give "Interstellar" another choosing. I don't even know what "sound mixing" is exactly, or why it's relevant.
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and David Lee (Unbroken)
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley (Whiplash)
Oh, did I mention I'm also skipping "Best Production Design," "Best Makeup and Hairstyling" and "Best Costume Design?" I'm sorry. Too many names, and I honestly don't really care. Do you?
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)
To make a film look like it's been shot in one-continuous shot takes spot-on cinematography and an eye as a director of photography, which is why I predict this will win.
Robert Yeoman (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski (Ida)
Dick Pope (Mr. Turner)
Roger Deakins (Unbroken)
Best Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach (American Sniper)
Sandra Adair (Boyhood)
Barney Pilling (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
William Goldenberg (The Imitation Game)
Tom Cross (Whiplash)
The scenes where the shots went back and forth to various instruments, with various close-ups, slow-motion shots, mixed in with the music, adding in perfectly-timed pans and focused shots takes a lot of work when putting these all together and making them mesmerizing eye candy for the viewer was spectacular in "Whiplash," which is why I predict and want it to win.
Best Visual Effects
Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Joel Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barret and Erik Winquist (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Those apes look real man.
Stephane Ceretti, Nicholas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher (Interstellar)
Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer (X-Men: Days of Future Past)
No comments:
Post a Comment