Gautam Anand
Finally, the time has arrived for which we have been laying ground all these months. Oscar nominations announcement will happen on Thursday, 15th January. I have been doing Oscar predictions for last three years, and let me tell you, I am finding this year to be the most challenging in terms of predicting the nominees. Except for acting categories — which are more or less settled — every category has too many borderline players, any of which can make into the final five. Even the Best Picture category has six films that are sure to make the nomination list, but the last one/two/three spots are very difficult to predict.
Golden Globes announced its winners on Sunday, but it would hardly influence Oscar votes since the Academy members had already submitted their votes on the Thursday before the ceremony. Though, the Guild awards nominations do throw some light, but their membership is not exactly the same as Academy’s.
Anyway, as you all know, we here at The Cinemaholic do our best to bring to you the most accurate Oscar predictions. This year will be no different. So, take your time to go through the predictions of all the 21 categories (we don’t predict the 3 shorts categories). It is a long list and will need some time to go through one by one. You can also come back, after the nominations are announced, to check how many correct predictions we made.
All the nominees are listed in alphabetical order.
(The Cinemaholic correctly predicted 85 out of 107 Oscar nominations, and 23 out of 24 Oscar winners last year.)
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Potential Spoilers:
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl
Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Potential Spoilers:
Clint Eastwood, American Sniper
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
David Oyelow, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Potential Spoilers:
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Best Actress
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Potential Spoilers:
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Hilary Swank, The Homesman
Best Supporting Actor
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
J K Simmons, Whiplash
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Potential Spoilers:
Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
Tom Wilkinson, Selma
Best Supporting Actress
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightly, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Rene Russo, Nightcrawler
Potential Spoilers:
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Naomi Watts, Birdman
Best Original Screenplay
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Potential Spoilers:
Selma
Mr. Turner
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Potential Spoilers:
Unbroken
Wild
Best Cinematography
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
Unbroken
Potential Spoilers:
The Imitation Game
Ida
Best Editing
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Potential Spoilers:
American Sniper
Gone Girl
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
Potential Spoilers:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Selma
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Theory of Everything
Potential Spoilers:
Foxcatcher
Maleficent
Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner
Potential Spoilers:
Birdman
Maleficent
Best Original Score
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
The Theory of Everything
Potential Spoilers:
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Judge
Best Original Song
“Everything is Awesome”, The Lego Movie
“Glory”, Selma
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, Glen Campbell: I’ll be me
“Lost Stars”, Begin Again
“Mercy is”, Noah
Potential Spoilers:
“Big Eyes”, Big Eyes
“Split the Difference”, Boyhood
Best Sound Editing
American Sniper
Fury
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
Unbroken
Potential Spoilers:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Birdman
Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Guardians of the Galaxy
Into the Woods
Unbroken
Potential Spoilers:
Whiplash
Interstellar
Best Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Potential Spoilers:
Godzilla
Maleficent
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Potential Spoilers:
The Book of Life
Song of the Sea
Best Foreign Film
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Force Majeure (Sweden)
Potential Spoilers:
Tangerines (Estonia)
Accused (Netherlands)
Best Documentary Feature
CitizenFour
Life Itself
Last Days in Vietnam
Keep on Keepin’ On
Virunga
Potential Spoilers:
The Case Against 8
Finding Vivian Maier
Final Tally:
Birdman: 9-11 nominations
The Imitation Game: 8-10 nominations
The Grand Budapest Hotel: 8-10 nominations
Boyhood: 6-7 nominations
The Theory of Everything: 5-6 nominations
Selma: 4-5 nominations
American Sniper: 4-5 nominations
Whiplash: 4-5 nominations
Nightcrawler: 4-5 nominations
Guardians of the Galaxy: 4-5 nominations
Interstellar: 4-5 nominations
Gone Girl: 3-4 nominations
Mr.Turner: 3-4 nominations
Unbroken: 2-3 nominations
